19 Aug It’s Never Too Late!

By Jennifer Davis Dodd

Three years ago, Lisa Cook and Leslie Heins co-founded a nonprofit dedicated to women’s empowerment and connection.

The two have worked together in their event planning business for decades. “We started out as business partners, not friends,” Cook said. “But now we’re sisters.”

Their conversations were turning to what’s next after event planning when Cook’s father passed suddenly in 2015.

“That whole summer,” she said, “the phrase, ‘It’s never too late’ kept coming to me. I shared with Leslie that the whisper was very insistent and I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

The phrase became the vision statement and clarion call of their nonprofit, the Lotus Network.

Through Lotus Network, Cook and Heins aim to cultivate connections and inspire women to embrace purposeful living through actions and steps they find fulfilling.

“It’s about attitude, looking at life in a positive manner and understanding it’s never too late to reach your full potential, it’s never too late to move yourself up on your priority list, it’s never too late to be happy,” Heins said.

“I just want to shout it from the rooftops,” Cook said. “There’s more to life than being a mom. That isn’t what defines you. Your job doesn’t define you. Whatever you thought you might or should be in your life by now may have changed. We can—and should—evolve. It’s never too late!”

Year-round Lotus Network events help members and guests discover the power of connection and purposeful living. Through a variety of small gatherings, community events and the annual Signature Experience, Connect Now, Lotus Network inspires women of all ages to take on new challenges physically, mentally and spiritually.

The power of connection was certainly revealed over the past year-and-a-half or so—as was the debilitating impact of loneliness and isolation. So in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Lotus Networks produced 14 virtual programs with topics that included finding calm: nourishing hope, resilience and gratitude; owning your story; racial healing; redefining inclusion and burnout relief.

On Sunday, August 29, 2021, they’re staging their third annual Signature Event: Connect Now. It’s their largest event of the year, as well as their major fundraiser. In 2019, they drew 700 attendees for a powerful day of what Cook calls “branching out and reaching out.”

“One attendee told us, with tears, that she hadn’t known just how badly she needed to be there,” Cook shared.

The sentiment can only be more genuine and more intensely felt after a year of lockdowns, social distancing and uncertainty. Registrations have already topped their highest count—and are still coming in.

This year’s keynote speaker was a bit of a moonshot: “We all dream,” Cook said, “never thinking it can happen. But we knew our messages aligned with hers, and so we went for it.”

Going for it entailed writing a letter to Maria Shriver—“It took us two weeks to draft that letter!”—inviting her to be the keynote speaker for their 2022 Signature Event.

“We’re only a three-year-old nonprofit, and she is the former first lady of California who is also an award-winning journalist and founder of The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement and a media enterprise designed to inspire hearts, open minds and move humanity forward. But we felt if Maria understood what Lotus Network was about, she would see that we’re kindred spirits. We speak the same language. We share the conviction that it’s never too late to lead fulfilling lives and the mission of inspiring purposeful living, personal growth, and meaningful connections,” Heins shared. “And she agreed!”

Shriver not only responded that she’d love to be involved, but she also asked if they consider working together, instead, on a virtual event—in 2021.

Could anyone other than two professional event planners—backed by a dedicated board and experienced nonprofit executive director—have pulled off this whirlwind feat?

We spoke to these two champions for female empowerment less than 14 days before the virtual event to get the lowdown on what promises to be an extraordinary Sunday. They explained Shriver will join Lotus Network members and Signature Event ticketholders for a 10 a.m. (MST) virtual chat on August 29. From the emotionally safe space and cozy comfort of attendee’s own homes, they’ll literally have the best seat in the house while Shiver shares motivational thoughts and inspirational life stories over the course of a meaningful conversation.

“Attendees will be immersed in a community of like-minded women who envision a world where all women, regardless of age, stage of life, geography or identity, feel meaningfully connected to others and empowered to find their unique purpose,” Heins said.

“Maria will illuminate the myths we tell ourselves and reveal the truth of each,” Cook said. “It goes back to the power of really listening to the whispers in your heart and mind that are encouraging you to move yourself up on your own priority list, to nurture your own aspirations and cultivate life-affirming and energizing connections.”

Lotus Network may be based in Denver, CO, but in three short years membership has spread across the country like wildfire—and gone international: There are already more than 1,950 members in 37 states and eight countries. That number is growing hourly as women continue to register for their Signature Event with Maria Shriver.

“Our eventual aim is to have chapters in other cities, states, even countries,” Heins said. After all, it’s never too late to branch out and make new connections.

There’s still time to register to attend the Lotus Network’s extraordinary Sunday with Maria Shriver—and start your bonus membership!—for only $50. The first 1,500 to register will receive a copy of Shriver’s “I’ve Been Thinking Journal” with a bonus, one-year membership in Lotus Network.

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