Lisa’s Life Hacks

Our dear friend and Lofty camper (’24 & ’25) Lisa Schneider Fabes passed away on September 25th, 2025. We are so thankful for all the joy, love and wisdom that she shared with us.  To celebrate her memory, we are naming our annual tradition of sharing life hacks around the camp fire, Lisa’s Life Hacks. Read Lisa’s obituary to learn more about her legacy.

“Live life with intentionality. Die with zero. Live your 30s to 50s to have experiences instead of working your ass off so all you have is money. Be intentional in five and ten year increments. Live life so that when you look back you have been intentional.”

Lisa’s life hack at Lofty Camp 2025
  1. At the end of my day, I list out three happinesses with my wife and three things I need to do better. Jeff Stone
  2. At whatever point in a process you reach pain, you can always tolerate it so take a step back before moving forward again. Jake Taylor
  3. Instead of asking a question or for a favor, ask for advice. Ask what someone would do if they were in your situation instead of pitching them. Nicole Weldon
  4. Whenever you’re doomscrolling or can’t get up, get your brain out of it by counting down five seconds. Physically count down, move, and get yourself out of the rut. Nico Aguilar
  5. The world is about perception and how you perceive it, you can choose how you perceive things. See the things that you can control, the portion of it that you can control, and fixate on that. It’s the serenity prayer, find the wisdom to know the difference. “Serenity now, insanity later.” Osa Osarenkhoe
  6. In a small house, forego central air. It’s so much easier to maintain and replace a window unit, and three can get the house real cold. Jeremy Marsan
  7. The ONE thing is the best book for resetting your mindset. Multi-tasking doesn’t work, it costs you to switch from task to task. Do the one thing today that makes everything easier. Luisa Castellanos
  8. Celebrate the things you like in life, the power of moments. Acknowledge the existing parts in life and don’t let them go by. Remember to celebrate everything you do that’s an accomplishment. Mary Doctor
  9. The most challenging thing for founders in building a start-up is rejection. It can be hard to deal with uncertainty and process rejection. Recognize uncertainty in the moment and be very specific in moving forward. Brendan Burns
  10. To give myself perspective, when I want something but can’t get it, I try to do it for someone else. It’s easier to see it for someone else, and sometimes I don’t even want it for myself anymore. Christian McKenzie
  11. There are no bad days, just bad attitudes. Choose a perspective that serves you. Do the next best thing to change your life. Remember that for any human behavior, there’s an unmet human need behind that behavior. Be curious and compassionate, rather than applying judgment. Alex Nova
  12. Live life with intentionality. Die with zero. Live your 30s to 50s to have experiences instead of working your ass off so all you have is money. Be intentional in five and ten year increments. Live life so that when you look back you have been intentional. Lisa Schneider Fabes
  13. Do really hard stuff, find the most difficult thing to do and do it, do physical stuff that’s hard. Drive somewhere into the mountains and try to survive. Wake up, get half way out and take one more step than half way. Then you’re close to the end. Get half way there and take one step more, eventually you will get to the finish line. Jeremie Bacon
  14. If there’s ever someone I’m thinking about in my life, I always reach out. Be better at creating meaningful moments to talk to someone about, make it always meaningful.Peter Miles
  15. When talking with people, don’t try to fill the silence, just listen. Wait, and the real stories will come out, this is where trust is engendered. Morgan Culbertson
  16. As a first time founder, I recruited a team and we were motivated to build something together. As a second time founder it is harder it is just me. One key thing I’ve changed is to turn off all notifications except for texts, e-mails and calls. It’s all a grab for attention, social media sneaks up on you. The daily average for Americans on their phones is eight hours a day, and it’s important to protect productivity and mental health. Erikc Perez-Perez
  17. I call my mom every day. Piper Harris
  18. When having a first encounter or conversation with someone, while staying in the moment, think about what your second encounter or conversation would be. That helps to add value and steer the future course of your relationship, why you would connect and collaborate further instead of just trading LinkedIns you won’t use again. Jeffrey Koh
  19. I used to love to read. Read every day and apply what you learn to the world. Applying something that you learn every day helps you keep growing. Jeff Stone
  20. If you freeze some fruit, you can put it into wine and it doesn’t water it down. You can put the frozen fruit in water too. Dillon Duchesne
  21. Wear mouth tape when you sleep. You wake up refreshed and able to get all the things done. Sergio Perkovic
  22. Instead of being a law firm partner that yells, put associate misses on a transaction on a bullet list to think about for next time. Instead of win or lose, win or learn. Also, save 10-25K by applying to a foreign university directly instead of going through an exchange program. Josh Klein
  23. My tenth wedding anniversary, and our marriage is in the best phase it’s ever been with a 4.5 year old. Couples therapy is amazing and it teaches you how to speak to and listen to each other. Sometimes people think that they are validating their partner but are in fact actually doing the opposite. Highly recommend a good couples therapist. Elizabeth Deutsch
  24. Dollar cost average a little bit of bitcoin, a little bit every month. Read Adam Grant’s “Give and Take,” surround yourself with givers, avoid takers like the plague, navigate the matchers. I hate the term “networking,” unless you’re in IT, strike networks and networking from your vocabulary, it’s by definition transactional, packets of information going back and forth. Say community or relationship building instead, be human and let people get to know you. Christopher Deutsch
  25. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, it happens for a reason. Look up more often at how vast it all is. Rule of nature, leave it nicer than you found it. Don’t make your good time someone else’s problem. Ronny Sage
  26. When you’re high, remember your lows. When you’re low, remember your highs. If something bad happens, like running out of runway or a term sheet being pulled back, remember that there are seasons to life, some are bad and some are good. Jamie Paul
  1. Boil lemon water to clean microwave
  2. Planning stuff and invite people is the best way to see them
  3. Cook a ribeye over a campfire, eating as it cooks
  4. Refrigerate moisturizer for sun burns
  5. Only have one type of sock
  6. Use Tovala
  7. Two For Ones / Three For Ones: invest where there are returns and positive externalities
  8. Eat fruit before eating desert to reduce a sugar craving
  9. One minute rule – if it takes less than 1 minute to do, just do it immediately
  10. Order pancakes immediately to share upon arrival at brunch if hungry
  11. Travel hacks: use Skiplagged and TripIt; always select window and aisle seats when traveling with a partner; get a duty free bag for more space at check in
  12. Try everything once so not have regrets
  13. Take a walk / walk the dog when having issues
  14. Buy concentrated gardening/lawn chemicals vs pre-diluted
  15. Create “Found time” side item list
  16. Arm mount your monitor at home
  17. Physically celebrate your wins
  18. Spend one hour telling someone else your life story to quickly get to know someone
  19. Listen to audiobooks
  20. Atomic habits: make your good habits as easy as possible and bad habits as hard as possible
  21. Share three happinesses with your significant other before bed every single night
  22. Electrolytes before bed and after waking up to minimize hangover and improve recovery time 
  23. Open a banana from the bottom go avoid banana strings
  24. Schedule in person meetings for one day a week
  25. If selling product, email the company and tell them you be in town and ask if they want to get lunch, then book flight
  26. Ask people to join in on something you already have planned
  27. Password that are happy short sentences and phrases are a safer password than short passwords with symbols
  28. Get TSA Pre-check and global entry
  29. Grocery lists: keep a running list that gets crossed out and can be reused
  30. Create a fake assistant and cc him, blame him if made mistake
  31. Spray your backyard every 2 weeks with mosquito spray