Lisa Sternfeld is a wellness-driven designer and the founder of WLLW (pronounced willow), a platform exploring how the built environment influences human health. With nearly two decades of experience in high-end residential design, she is a WELL accredited professional and a Global Wellness ambassador with the Global Wellness Institute. Her work focuses on the often-invisible environmental conditions that shape how we feel in our homes, from air quality and materials to light and spatial flow.
Her focus on healthy homes began after her young son developed severe respiratory issues, compelling her to look more closely at how indoor environments influence health. That experience reshaped how she approached design and ultimately led to the creation of WLLW.
Today, Sternfeld brings emerging research in environmental health into the way homes are designed and experienced. Through her design studio and editorial platform, she works with private clients and residential developers while sharing research and ideas about health and the built environment with a growing global readership. Here, she shares how she practices what she preaches.
What does wellness mean to you?
Wellness is the quiet foundation that allows us to live fully. It’s shaped by the environments we move through every day: the air we breathe, the materials around us, the light in a room, and the rhythms of daily life. Most of the time we don’t notice it until something feels out of balance.
What is your greatest wellness achievement?
Turning a deeply personal health challenge in my family into meaningful work that helps others. When my son developed severe respiratory issues, it forced me to look much more closely at the environment inside our home. I began to realize how profoundly indoor air, materials, and everyday exposures can influence health. That experience completely reshaped how I think about design and ultimately led to the creation of WLLW, a platform focused on helping people create healthier homes.
What is the most exciting wellness innovation you have discovered recently?
One of the most exciting shifts in wellness right now is the growing recognition that our homes are part of the healthcare conversation. Research continues to show how air quality, light, materials, and environmental exposures influence long-term health. The places where we live are quietly shaping our wellbeing every day, whether we realize it or not. I think we are only beginning to understand how powerful thoughtful design can be in supporting human health.
What person in wellness do you most admire and why?
I admire people who bridge science and everyday life, researchers and thinkers who translate complex health knowledge into guidance people can actually use. I deeply admire Dr. Frederica Perera, whose research on environmental toxins and children’s health has helped illuminate how profoundly our surroundings shape wellbeing from the very beginning of life.
What is the most overused word in wellness?
Biohacking. Wellness is often framed as something we need to engineer or optimize, when many of the most powerful practices are actually very simple and timeless. Fresh air, sunlight, good sleep, and meaningful connection still work remarkably well.
Do you have a secret wellness tip?
Never underestimate the power of opening your windows and letting fresh air in. I try to do this daily. I grew up in a home where the front door and windows were often open, and I’ve always appreciated how much that simple connection to the outdoors can change how a space feels. Even a small moment of fresh air moving through a room can make a real difference.
What is your favorite self-care routine?
I’ve become very deliberate about how I start my mornings and have been setting my alarm earlier to give myself that time. It’s often the only quiet moment of the day before everything else begins. I try to begin the day by setting one intention and being mindful of the information I take in first thing. I don’t immediately check my phone or email or turn on the news. Protecting that quiet space helps set a much calmer tone for the rest of the day. I also do a 10-minute stretch, which helps wake up my body and ease into the day.
Is there a wellness company or brand that impresses you?
I’m deeply impressed by the work being done at Grace Farms in Connecticut. Many people know it for the beautiful River building and the way it flows through the landscape, but what resonates with me most is their Design for Freedom initiative. They are doing the rigorous work of examining global supply chains to help ensure that building materials are not linked to forced labor. That kind of ethical thinking feels incredibly important. For me, wellness must include how something is made and the human impact behind it. Grace Farms is helping bring that conversation into the open in a very meaningful way.
What wellness books or authors do you recommend?
Healing Spaces by Esther Sternberg is powerful. It explores how our environments influence stress, healing, and wellbeing. I also love Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s a book I return to often. At its heart, it’s about relationship, reciprocity, and learning to pay closer attention to the living systems we are all part of.
What aspect of your wellbeing do you struggle with the most?
Finding enough quiet time to think. Creative work really requires uninterrupted space, and protecting that time can be harder than it should be. The modern world is very good at filling every available moment, and I’ve had to become much more intentional about protecting those quiet pockets of time.
How do you celebrate small victories?
I probably don’t acknowledge them enough. Life has so many moving parts that it’s easy to keep going without pausing to notice the small wins. I feel immense gratitude for being able to do the work I do and impact people’s lives in a positive way. Giving myself that same grace is something I’m still working on.
