Our wedding rings represent the deep love and respect we have for each other and the way we interact. Tim is the extrovert, Lisa the introvert. Lisa is the planner, and Tim is the operations guy. We have been friends and colleagues for decades, having met in 1980 at a professional conference, and in 2008, we were married in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Tim’s background includes the following job titles: outdoor education camp director (IL); park ranger (IL); nature center director (CO); director of innovations and biosphere reserve management (KY); science director (TX); nonprofit executive director (CO); lecturer and adjunct professor (CO, HI); and interpretive planning & training consultant (HI).
Lisa’s background includes: special events director (TX); day and resident camp director (MS, TX); veterinary technician (TX, MS); equine massage therapist (TX); nonprofit associate director (CO); and interpretive planning, writing & training consultant (CA, TX, CO, HI).
Between the two of us, we have nearly a century of experience working with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and privately owned businesses in over two dozen countries around the world, helping them function more efficiently and communicate more effectively. We’ve written half a dozen textbooks and an award-winning novel, and have had the reputation of being leaders in our field, having been the originators of National Association for Interpretationʻs internationally recognized certification program in 1997 and that organizationʻs executive staff for many years (Tim as Executive Director from 1995-2012 and Lisa as Associate Director from 2002-2012).
Now that we have retired (for the most part), we continue to enjoy traveling to interesting places around the world. We still do a little bit of work on request, but most of our time is spent enjoying our farm in the Kona District of Hawaiʻi Island where Tim experiments with new varieties of coffee, mangoes, cacao, and other plants and Lisa experiments with various craft projects amidst a variety of furred and feathered family members. Lisa volunteers at Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawaiʻi and Ke Kai Ola (the monk seal rehab facility) and studies Hawaiian culture, language, and hula as part of a hālau. Tim contributes to the community by picking up litter on his daily 2-mile walk with Akamai, his personal trainer with a Yorkie/mixed breed bloodline.
In 2024 Tim took an acronym we have used for more than a decade, HEART, to remind us of the most important concepts in heritage interpretation and developed a fundamentals curriculum using the model. He also incorporated ways of using AI to more quickly and effectively develop new interpretive experiences. He offers training through both the HEART Approach to Communications for beginning guides, interpreters, docents and students and the Trainers’ Curriculum Course via Zoom. Details are available at heartfeltassociates.com/training.
Our Heartfelt Associates mission is “Inspiring others to care for each other and the world in which we live.”
heartfeltassociates.com 