Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Lisa P. Turner, Sc.D.
Lisa grew up taking things apart and playing with the boys. After graduating from college, she started a bicycle shop, attended night school for an engineering degree, and took on odd jobs in residential and commercial construction.
In 2006, Lisa started Your Achievement Coach, a coaching and teaching practice that focused on delivering planning skills to people wanting to reach their goals. Lisa believed that whether it was starting a business, writing a book, or building an airplane, developing the skills of disciplined goal setting could get you there. Lisa said to her clients, “Shine the light of possibility on your dream, and it will leap to action.”
Lisa has worked for 3 major U.S. corporations at the executive level, most notably as Chief Training Officer for Tyco Fire and Security Services, a $10B public corporation in Boca Raton, Florida. She was certified as an ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt and Quality Engineer; she holds a 50-ton coast guard captain’s license, and is a licensed building contractor. Lisa was a volunteer in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary for 15 years.
Lisa has written and published three books prior to Your Simplest Life.
In Team Steps Guide to Problem Solving, her first business management book (2015, Turner Creek), Lisa reveals the shortcuts that work to solve problems on the production floor – and in life itself. In her career as a manufacturing engineer, Lisa saved thousands of dollars that were being spent unnecessarily by eliminating waste in the manufacturing process.
Two years later, in House Keys – The Essential Homeowner’s Guide (2017, Turner Creek), Lisa took her principles into the area of home inspection. In her career as a home inspector and general contractor, she discovered and wrote about all the things that builders were missing or doing wrong in home construction. She’s saving homeowners thousands of dollars now by revealing the tips and tricks to get a great home built for a small price, and time and money saving tricks on home maintenance and home organization.
Switching gears, Lisa decided to write her own story – an adventure memoir – in Dream Take Flight (2019, Turner Creek). In this inspiring story, Lisa “breaks the rules” for women in the 1970s, working high-rise construction and starting a bicycle shop. She goes on to build an airplane in her garage, flying the small airplane from Florida to Maine and back and reconciles with her family in the process.
The theme that runs through Lisa Turner’s life is one of high achievement born of the ability to choose the most important things to work on. At the end of her memoir is a goal setting section that high schools are now using to help students discover values and set goals that are achievable and meaningful.
In her latest book, Your Simplest Life, you can learn the secrets that Lisa uses to “get things done” and make sure they are the right things that bring happiness and joy to life every single day.
Lisa holds a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) and Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Nova Southeastern University, A Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Washington College (English, Education), and an Associates in Engineering (A.S.) from Palm Beach College. She has served as adjunct faculty at Nova Southeastern University, Palm Beach College, and Tri-County Community College.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Your Simplest Life: 15 Unconventional Time Management Shortcuts – Productivity Tips and Goal-Setting Tricks So You Can Find Time to Live. This book grew out of the last book, where I talked about picking the thing that are most important to do in your lefe and not let time rob you of your dream.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wait for the writing to flow out. I don’t have a set schedule.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Brian Tracy has heavily influenced my writing and my thinking. He is the “guru of personal achievement” in my opinion. Ken Atchity is also a favorite author, because he “breaks the rules.”
What are you working on now?
A biography of a local craftsman who restores antique aircraft.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Get the word out. Call and write ALL your friends, even if you only have a few! Give books away and speak at the library. Don’t expect to MAKE money, expect to spend it. What you have created as an author leaves a legacy for others. Your reward in in their delight.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Creative minds may not be detailed. You have got to be detailed and spend time getting your book exactly what it should be. Don’t settle for less.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
We each have the choice to decide how we will perceive something. Recognize and use this personal power of choice. It will bring happiness and peace of mind.
What are you reading now?
“How Emotions are Made,” by Lisa Feldman Barrett.
What’s next for you as a writer?
The biography I am working on now, then a book of poetry; then a sequel to House Keys; then a children’s book.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Any book by Douglas Preston; an anthology of American poets; a blank journal with pencil; “I Am That,” by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Author Websites and Profiles
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