RiseLive Presents
Asking Why
COMING SOON
OJAI PLAYHOUSE
145 E. OJAI AVE, OJAI, CA 93023
About RiseLive
In 2025, we executive-produced our one and only TEDx event. What was discovered was, out of 3422 events held in 2024, only 23% of TEDx talks have more than 1,000 views.
But out of our TEDx, in less than six months:
75% of ours had over 1,000 views
Half of them are now over 50k views and 25% of our talks have over 100k views
One of our talks was chosen as a TEDx editors pick (only .07% of talks get chosed for this)
But the other facts were:
TEDx doesn’t support and fund any part of the event
TEDx doesn’t allow businesses to promote themselves or connect to the production of the event
Event organizers are not compensated nor do they participate in the revenue from YouTube received by TEDX and its parent organization
Two of our talks were highly censored and disclaimers were attached despite strict adherence to community guidelines
We weren’t the only organizers who felt like they had dedicated an enormous amount of time, money and energy only to discover the other side of TEDx
RiseLive is a new speaker series aimed at liberating the keynote talk from the confines of PowerPoint presentations and apolitical policies. Now more than ever, our world requires us to speak up and to share our truths, even the scary ones.
Each RiseLive speaker series will consist of ten speakers, giving ten-minute talks, with a moderated discussion in the middle of the day between two writers, thinkers, or creatives, both sharing and engaging in the best ways to answer the questions posed by each RiseLive stage. This moderated conversation will distill the focus of each theme while creating a unique dimension to the day of talks and performances.
As previous TEDx curators, though we loved and appreciated the TEDx stage, we also recognized its limitations and its saturation. After experiencing both the best of TED as well as its more challenging aspects, we decided that it was time to build a new stage, one which provided speakers with editorial feedback, embodied coaching, and the chance to not just tell their story but speak their truths, without fear of censorship or reprise.
Just as we have done in book publishing, RiseLive works to implement the best of what corporatized storytelling has to offer but through a more curated lens, offering our speakers the chance to learn the craft of storytelling and speech making both for the talk they will give on the RiseLive stage, but also, for the talks we hope they might give in the future.
Meet the Team
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Kristen McGuiness
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Kristen is a best-selling author, editor, and long-standing publishing professional. She is the founder of Rise Literary and the Licensee of this event.
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Lauren Schwarzfeld
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Lauren is a best-selling and has spent the past 25 years working in sales, fundraising, and marketing through various industries.
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Raya Whittington
CONTENT DIRECTOR
Raya is a publishing associate who believes in the power of literature to foster community, provoke thought, and provide much-needed escapism.
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Vyana Novus
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Vyana is an ecological artist, educator, and creative director based in Ojai, California, whose multidisciplinary background bridges art, trauma-informed facilitation, and holistic healing.
Meet Our Creative Partners
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Sonali Fiske
STORY ARCHITECT
TEDx event organizer and public speaker Sonali Fiske, will be crafting our best practices for both the coaching process and editorial review for all RiseLive speakers to develop an equitable and inspired format and standards.
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Jonathan Gravenor
DIGITAL ARCHITECT
TEDx speaker and founder of From Zero 2 Sixty, Jonathan Gravenor, on building out our YouTube channel to offer our speakers maximum reach once their speeches have been uploaded to the RiseLive site, creating SEO impact from day one, and building out a channel that will offer them a new stage with less saturation and more exposure.