From nurse to founder, Lisa Lucas is building a movement to help healthcare professionals thrive

A generational calling

When I sat down with Lisa Lucas, she spoke candidly about her journey from emergency nurse to entrepreneur and why she’s on a mission to help healthcare professionals build careers and lives they love.

“I come from three generations of nurses,” she says. “It was bred into me. I was made for it.”

Her career began in oncology before she found her home in emergency care, where she spent more than 18 years across clinical, management and executive roles. But after two decades of service, she noticed something about her success that others were missing.

“After Covid, my career kept taking off while others were burning out,” she recalls. “When I looked at why, I realised it came down to two things: personal growth and mentoring. I was investing in myself and surrounded by people who guided me. It became an obligation to give that back.”

That sense of purpose led Lucas to found The Hive Development Group, a fast-growing ecosystem built to empower healthcare professionals to create careers and lives that align with their values.

Building an ecosystem for care

What started as a mentoring program quickly evolved into a multi-branch business: Hive Mentoring, Hive Personal Development and Hive Experiences, which hosts retreats and events across Australia and overseas.

“The Hive was born from my own experience,” Lucas explains. “But as we grew, I realised we needed partners to support the whole person, not just their career.”

Today, The Hive partners with educators, finance specialists, nutritionists and wellness experts to deliver holistic programs that cover everything from leadership and professional growth to mental health and money management.

“If a nurse or midwife needs it, I want them to be able to come to The Hive,” she says. “And if we can’t provide it, we’ll connect them to someone who can.”

Leadership lessons from the frontline

Lucas credits her time in healthcare with shaping the kind of leader she’s become.

“Empathy is everything,” she says. “You can’t assume what someone else is going through. Leadership isn’t about power, it’s about purpose. If you’re not being followed, you’re not a leader. You’re just going for a walk on your own.”

She believes a leader’s job is to ensure every team member sees themselves in the vision. “When I was Director of Education, I didn’t write the vision statement; the team did. Because if they don’t believe in it, they won’t follow it.”

Her business philosophy remains the same. “The focus isn’t profit, it’s value. Did we provide what the person needed? Did we help them grow? If we do that, everything else falls into place.”

Lisa Lucas’s practical career and mindset tips

For healthcare professionals ready to reset and refocus

• Know your values. “If you don’t know your highest values, you’ll stay stuck. They’re what get you out of bed each morning.”
  
• Look back to move forward. “Think about what you loved doing at ten years old – it reveals what truly drives you.”
  
• Don’t try to do everything. “Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. That’s how vision comes to life.”
  
• Invest in yourself. “If you can’t fill your own cup, you can’t pour into others. Self-care is leadership.”
  
• Start where you are. “It doesn’t matter where you start, only that you do. Six months from now, you’ll thank yourself.”
  

The retreat that started a ripple

At the heart of Lucas’s movement is a deep belief that healthcare professionals deserve time to reset, reconnect and rediscover what they love.

Her Hive Retreats, hosted across destinations from the Gold Coast hinterland to Bali, combine professional mentoring with holistic wellbeing practices like yoga, breathwork, education and nutrition.

“You can’t pour from an empty cup,” she says. “If we don’t teach nurses and healthcare professionals how to look after themselves, how can they look after others?”

Each retreat is designed to create tangible change: helping participants prevent burnout, rediscover their purpose and build practical skills for resilience and career direction.

All Hive retreats and events are CPD-recognised, giving participants the opportunity to invest in both their personal and professional growth while meeting AHPRA requirements.

“The ripple effect is powerful,” Lucas says. “One person finds their spark again, and that energy spreads to their patients, their families, their teams. That’s the impact we’re building.”

Find out more about upcoming retreats.