Lisa Ann Oliveira's life reads like a story too powerful for fiction. Born in San Francisco, she fled a painful past as a young woman — homeless, a runaway, and a mother navigating survival with sheer will. Most would have broken. Lisa rose.

She became a high school math teacher, then a top-producing Realtor, then a competitive triathlete — competing in her first triathlon in 2006 and never looking back. Today, she's an 18-time Ironman finisher with her sights set on Kona, the most prestigious finish line in the sport.

Her mission is singular: to prove that surviving trauma isn't the end — it's the ignition. Through her books, her TEDx talk, and her keynote stages worldwide, Lisa shows audiences that the underdog can — and does — rise.