About Lisa

That's me, being happily devoured by baby pink rhododendrons at Lea Gardens in Matlock

Ah, hello, friend! 👋

I’m Lisa Kissane, a freelance writer, and host of Flow’s non-parent business community.

But before all that, I was a corporate cog ⚙️

For nearly 20 years, I tried to fit into traditional employment. I worked as an administrator, account manager, social worker, teacher—just about everything in between. But the anxiety of being visible and available for eight hours a day drained me. I felt chained to my desk, exhausted, and suffocated. Mental health struggles have been a feature of my life for as long as I can remember, but I managed, mostly.

Then, out of nowhere, my dad died.

It was completely unexpected and shattered my world into tiny, irreparable pieces. Grief swallowed me whole, and working for other people became unbearable. I pushed through until I couldn’t anymore. They say grief never truly goes away but in my experience it’s more sinister than that; I thought I was doing okay, until I wasn’t. And it wasn’t until my mask slipped off that I saw how much I really wasn’t okay.

So, I did the only thing that made sense: I started working for myself.

Beginning as a copywriter, I wrote websites for friends and clients. Then the breakthrough happened—I started writing for myself. Now I write what I want, where I want, and I’ve never felt more like the person I’m supposed to be. Freelancing hasn’t ‘cured’ me, but it’s given me space to breathe, grow and figure out who the fuck I am.

I’m a writer.

I’m a woman.

And I’m a childless step-parent.

It took me a long time to talk openly about not being able to have children, and then living a life which felt more like embracing being childfree (read about the difference between childless and childfree here).

But once I did, things started to click into place.

I learned that other people struggled with traditional networking groups and business communities because the seemingly innocuous ‘small talk’ of asking about someone’s family and parental status can be deeply personal.

So I created Flow, my business community sensitive to the childless and childfree experience (and a place where you know no-one’s going to ask you if you’ve got kids), and I found homes for my writing here and on Medium and Substack.

It became clear that people needed to read about women like me, who are so often invisible in our pronatalist society. Because by reading other people’s stories, we can begin to accept our own—whatever that looks like.

On the right is a brown and white dog (Pan) and he's looking at a small statue which looks just like him — Pan vs Fake Pan Staring Competition

Oh, and then there’s Pan.

Pan is my best friend and business partner. He’s a shih tzu/toy poodle mix who came into my life two months after my dad died, and he’s been my greatest source of joy ever since. Some of my most productive meetings have been just the two of us. He’s a great listener.

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