By Nina Livingstone
In the late ‘90s, Lisa Schiller was a movie producer working with Hollywood stars Tyne Daly and Ally Sheedy. By the 2000s she was vice president of operations for a Fortune 500 company serving clients that included Procter & Gamble, TD Ameritrade, Wells Fargo, among others, across more than 50 countries.
“My life was insulated: business travel, work, household management, and caring for my aging mother and daughter,” said Schiller. “It wasn’t unusual for me to work 18-hour days.”
Then the headaches began. It was while in the ER that Schiller learned she had a massive tumor, and it was crushing her brain. “I went into shock,” Schiller said, adding that her first thought turned to her daughter, Kajal, a 5-year-old she’d adopted in India as a single parent.
Lisa following brain surgery
“Just after hearing my diagnosis, not knowing if I’d live through the day, a nurse asked if there was anything she could do for me. At that moment, all I could think of was, ‘Is there a dog in the hospital?’”
A therapy team brought a small Corgi to Schiller, who wrapped him in her arms, “and for a few moments, I forgot my fear and pain.”
It was at that moment Schiller vowed that if she survived, she would pay it forward.
“The results of my brain tumor and the emergency brain surgery I underwent forced me to leave my corporate life behind,” she said. “That wasn’t how I wanted to live anymore. I wanted my life to mean more.”
Schiller, who has sat on the boards of numerous nonprofits, said she realized that having a therapy dog was just the beginning of her dream. “I wanted to build a nonprofit that would bring animals and humans together in an environment of healing,” she said.
Today Schiller is the co-founder and president of TimberKnolls Spirit Cove, which provides animal therapy, primarily with giant Newfoundland dogs, to veterans, first responders, health care workers, and people battling serious illness, trauma, or substance abuse.
“My daughter is still the center of my world. She’s now attending Princeton University, but my work to help heal humans through animals and the written word is my passion and new life mission,” Schiller said, who has also shared her story in her first book, “Borrowing Hope,” which has been followed by children’s books featuring Newfies as the central characters.
When asked if she could share a favorite dog story, Schiller spoke of her first Newfoundland dog, Chewie. “I got him just two months after my brain surgery and was determined to make him a therapy dog,” she said. “After surgery, I experienced TBI (traumatic brain injury) and had a long recovery journey. Chewie could tell when my head was in pain, and he would lean his head against mine, licking my forehead. It may sound crazy, but it helped!”
Lisa and Chewie
Lisa and Abraham
Schiller also remembers the time Chewie met a child who was hospitalized for a serious illness. The little boy was about 7 years old and in tremendous pain. “I asked him if he believed in magic, and the child shook his head no. Tears were falling down his face. When I asked him if he’d like to pat Chewie, he hesitated in fear. Chewie is HUGE (reaching over 7 feet tall standing on his hind legs). He looks like a giant black bear. I told the boy that Chewie was magical and that his magic could help people feel better. So the child let us approach his bed and reached out his hand to pat Chewie. Chewie seemed to know this was a big deal. He leaned against the hospital bed and rested his massive head on the child’s lap. The little boy patted him and his tears stopped flowing. As Chewie and I headed for the door, the boy spoke for the first time, ‘Now I believe in magic.’”
Since sharing her life with Newfoundland dogs Schiller said things have indeed changed in other ways. “Their average size is 130-150 pounds, but it’s not unusual to meet one who weighs close to 200 pounds.” A full-size male can eat 50 pounds of dog food a month, plus anything they can sneak from the counters. “Chewie ate a dozen cupcakes in less than 3 minutes, and he’ll eat a pound of butter box and all,” Schiller said.
I asked Lisa Schiller to answer a few questions for my Nina’s 9 column. Once more she opened her heart and let us in.
Can you elaborate on your career background and share a favorite story?
I studied business in college and became a recruiter right out of school. I took a break when my friends asked for help raising funds for [the film] “The Autumn Heart” and to executive produce it. But I returned to the corporate world when I realized that as much as I enjoyed filmmaking, it just didn’t pay the bills. Before I knew it, I moved up the corporate ladder and ended up in an executive position managing teams around the world. It was exciting flying from China to Denmark to meet with global executives. But as exciting as that was, I’ve never felt so complete as I do with animal therapy work. I’m not the same person I was before the first brain tumor (it’s growing back). I experience a lot of head pain during the day and tire quickly, but I’ve found a way to be of value in this world through my writing and animal therapy work, and that’s what matters. I’ve heard from people from all walks of life who have read my book “Borrowing Hope,” and they’ve written to me to tell me how much it touched them, that they couldn’t put it down. They cried and laughed and walked away feeling hopeful, no matter what was going on in their life. That is my all-time favorite professional accomplishment.
Lisa with Davidlee Willson of The Autumn Heart
Borrowing Hope cover
What do you like most about yourself?
My capacity for loving others comes easily, and I genuinely find joy in connecting with them.
What should we know about you before meeting you?
I’m from New England and will always be a Bostonian at heart.
What would you say is your happiest moment?
The moment my 5-year-old daughter put her hand in mine and walked out of the orphanage in India, without looking back.
Lisa with her daughter Kajal
What streaming series (Netflix, HBO, Hulu etc.) got you through the past pandemic winters? And which ones do you recommend or what are a few of your favorites?
All of them, including Showtime! I could “24” series, “Dexter” and “Madame Secretary” from beginning to end and be in heaven.
If you could be anywhere in the world, where would it be?
With my daughter at Caneel Bay on St. John.
What is your go-to place to relax?
The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, South Carolina or on the back porch in Tennessee watching the Newfoundlands run and play. Pilgrim [a Gypsy Vanner horse that has been training for therapy since he was 3 months old] peacefully grazing in the pasture.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
There are two, my daughter and my dogs.
If you could invite four celebrities, (actors, historic figures, astronauts etc.) for dinner, who would they be? And what would you serve?
Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Hilary Clinton, Idris Elba. Lobster Salad.
Picture it: You’re 25 years old, where would you be and what would you do differently?
Sailing with friends in Boston Harbor. I’d tell myself to focus more on finding my own voice versus what I looked like, and care more about loving than finding love.
