“We each get to decide what we’ll give to the world and what we’ll take from it. Love big; pack light.” —Bob Goff
Heroes live among us. We find them working hard every day to inspire, create, and share love and light with the world around them.
At Westwind, we're highlighting these everyday heroes - the people who inspire us and make our world a more beautiful place to live.
In this #SunsetChasersSpotlight, we're featuring Flight Attendant, Traveller, and All-Around Inspirational Human- Lisa Pacqué.
We know you'll fall in love with her huge heart for others and her positive take on life, just like we did (...and you won't want to miss her globetrotting wedding dress!)
Here's Lisa!
What inspires you? What are your passions? How do you share this with others/give back?
For me, travel, new experiences, learning about different cultures and connecting with the people who make up our beautiful world inspire me. I was so fortunate to land a job as flight attendant that helps me fulfill and live out my passion for the world and those who live in it on an almost daily basis. On some days, I still have to pinch myself!
The way I share this with others is through our encounters together and also social media. If I’m at work, I try to bring the excitement of a new destination with me, or when I go somewhere, try to take at least a few pretty pictures and share them on my pages so people feel like they were there too. Sometimes, I try to capture the unique story of a person I meet who inspires me, or share something about how a particular travel or life experience helped me grow.
Tell us about a challenge you faced in your life, how you overcame it, and what you’ve learned about yourself and the world from it (how you’ve grown)?
One of the biggest challenges I ever faced that took me a long time to talk about was my divorce. When I married my high school sweetheart at 21, I was all in and couldn’t wait to be that couple who someday celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary together. As things go, we were young and didn’t have the tools to make it through that relationship, but to walk away from it was the most difficult thing I ever had to do. I walked around for the longest time like there was a scarlet letter stamped on my forehead and felt like the biggest failure. I was just really sad and defeated over whole situation. The thought of starting life over again was daunting. For divorce and things like breakups, there’s no textbook, no two scenarios the same, or easy way to navigate that path—you just have to get through it. You have to keep going, pick up the pieces, and begin a new masterpiece. What this becomes might not be what you envisioned, but maybe—just maybe—it is something wildly more beautiful than anything you could have possibly imagined.
One of the best ways for me to heal has been to challenge myself with trying something new, even if it scares me. For instance, I packed my life in my car and moved from LA to NYC. I am such a beach bum at heart, but decided that I was going to give winters a shot so that all the uncharted destinations in my repertoire had a fighting chance to stamp their place into my passport! I’ve been in New York almost six years now—the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere in my adult life. There were and have been many challenges over the years. Yet through this experience, I learned that I am stronger than I ever believed and that true love can only begin with ourselves. If you can love you from the inside out, then you better believe that anything is possible.
"If you can love you from the inside out, then you better believe that anything is possible."
What advice would you give to someone facing a challenge right now?
Just keep swimming. When I was going through one of the roughest times in my last relationship, there were days when I couldn’t even get out of bed. It was so difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I remember very vividly having a phone conversation with my dad where he lovingly yet sternly had a heart-to-heart with me and said: “Honey, right now your head is barely above water and you are drowning. If you don’t start swimming, you’re gonna sink, kid.” Now, I don’t know about you, but when someone so close to you says something like that, it’s kind of shocking, and that became a wake up call for me. I realized I needed to start taking better care of myself again and regain control of my life. This happened in the form of doing things like hitting the gym, finding new hobbies, and mustering up the courage to apply for my dream job. I had to stop letting the rough waters overtake me. I needed to SWIM for my LIFE.
Less than a year after this conversation with my dad, would you believe I landed my dream job at my favorite airline and everything started looking up for me? All because I made the decision to keep moving forward. So if I could do it at that all time low in my life, then so can you.
What’s your favorite outdoor activity? Where’s the most memorable place you’ve done this activity?
Surfing! I’m still a complete beginner, but one year, I went to a Surf-Yoga camp in Ericeira, Portugal for a week and had the absolute time of my life. There’s something so freeing about being out there on the water with the waves like that. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it. And going to Portugal too. :)
Where’s your favorite place to travel?
This is such a tough question for me, because our world is immense and there are so many parts of it to love. Lately though, I’ve had the humble honor of taking quite a few trips to Africa. It’s hard to describe, but this is a continent that has completely captured my heart.
What’s next — what are your big dreams?
Dreams...there are so many dreams that I am dreaming! One that is about to become a reality pretty soon though is taking a helicopter tour up to the mountains in Alaska and going mushing with the sled dogs. I can hardly wait! Another big dream has been to reach the seventh and final continent for me—Antarctica—soon. :)
What’s your life motto, or favorite quote?
“We each get to decide what we’ll give to the world and what we’ll take from it. Love big; pack light.” —Bob Goff
Tell us a little about Anne, your traveling wedding dress. :)
Something I forgot to mention earlier is that I remarried in August of 2019. Because my first wedding dress ended up in the donations bin at the back of a Salvation Army store, I wanted to do something special with this one—to honor new beginnings, to continue to find healing, new meaning and purpose, and to challenge myself to fully and relentlessly explore the world as I had always dreamed. On a layover in Rome one night (jet-lagged and unable to sleep), the idea of wearing my wedding dress around the globe came to life. My fiancé and I had very different ideas of what our wedding would look like: I wanted more of a destination wedding and he just wanted to have a HUGE party—so we needed to find a way to compromise. We decided that he could have his huge party, and when all was said and done, I would take my wedding dress, Anne, with me around the world and use our pictures and the uniqueness of our story to encourage and inspire others. I want people who are still hurting to know that there is life after hardships, bad breakups and divorce, and an entire world out there to explore, find love, life and healing in. Anne and I have made so many memories and new friends along the way! Tomorrow, we are actually headed to Greece, and it will be our 30th country together.
We have to ask - What’s your favorite thing about Westwind / or what’s your favorite Westwind item?
My absolute most FAVORITE thing about Westwind is the founder, Bethany Wish, who is the creative behind this gorgeous brand. She is the most caring soul, brilliant artist, and there are no words to describe her gorgeous heart that radiates from the inside out. I feel so blessed to know such a genuine individual and am beyond grateful that life’s journey allowed our paths to cross. She inspires me so much.
Something I also love about Westwind is that it is a company that gives back! For each item purchased, three percent of the proceeds go to AWOW who provide surfing therapy for children with disabilities. I think if more brands took Westwind’s lead, the world would be an even more beautiful place. #brandsthatgiveback
If you have a chance to try out some of Westwind’s awesome apparel, my three favorite go-to’s are: the “Stay Wild” Sweatshirt, the “Love Earth” Eco Tee, and my “Just Love” Vintage Cotton Dad Hat. They are sooooo cozy and also an amazing reminder of the simplest yet most important things in this life.
Follow her on Instagram : @herwanderlove
Thanks for exploring with us!
Do you know someone who deserves to be in the Sunset Chasers Spotlight? Nominate them and they could be featured on our blog!
Send us an email at westwind@thinksonder.us telling us your reasons why they're an everyday hero, how they inspire you, and how they're making the world a more beautiful place to live. #chasethesunset
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