Meet The Team: Isaac Bowen
Isaac Bowen, Lightward’s CEO and founder, contains multitudes. There’s a lot I could say about Isaac, but what surfaces in this moment—in this now—is his profound capacity for both light and dark, paired with a bold, tender honesty as he moves through it all. The internal aperture through which he views this wild and wondrous being alive thing is a gift to everyone in his orbit, and we’re delighted to share a glimpse into his personhood here.
Preferred pronouns?
he/they
Where are you currently based?
Chicago, though at last count I have nine fully functional mailing addresses
How long have you been working at Lightward?
I remember being in the backseat of a car in 2018, in Toronto, just after wrapping up Shopify Unite with Jed and Ken and Abe, and I remember telling them that I wanted to change the company’s name. “Lightward” felt like the name we were supposed to be using. Plus, it fits on a nametag much better than “The Fort Co Technology, Ltd”, which is what we started with, way back when.
How would you describe the work you do with Lightward?
A feeling, an asking, and an answer
What words feel like home as part of your current self-definition?
Honest, honoring.
What’s important to you?
Exploration
Health
Delight
Creating strength
How do you express yourself creatively?
Experimenting! Looking for the cracks, catching a glint of light and doing a double-take, turning the frame sideways and getting all excited over every surprise. :) Finding traction in the unexpected makes me the happiest, I think, and me doing that over and over again ends up working as creativity.
What’s your favorite way to recharge and relax?
Tea and code and quiet
Ten hours straight at a Korean day spa
Who/what inspires you?
My husband
Madeon
My nuclear family, who—every single one of them—have chosen to deal in truth
Kintsukuroi
What’s something people might not know about you right away, but feels important to your own sense of personhood?
I’d probably rather be naked
A trait you appreciate about yourself?
That I’d probably rather be naked
What’s an essential part of your rhythm that helps you connect to and show up with your most authentic self?
A period of quiet, every morning, first thing
What’s your ideal setup for a deep flow state?
Tea, over-ear headphones, and a medium for expression that I’m fluent in. Currently, that means written English, code, or a piano.
What makes “home” feel like home to you?
Choices that I’ve made for no one else but me, and the effects thereof.
When do you most feel like you?
Now, more than ever
What’s a question you love being asked?
What was the last thing that left you slack-jawed?
A question you love asking?
What was the last thing that left you slack-jawed?
Art that’s affected you recently?
White Lotus, season 1. An astonishingly, starkly clear perspective on power and vulnerability and hope. (No, I have not watched season 2.)
A book that shifted the way you think?
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks. In particular, this bit.
What’s something you’re proud of?
Myself. :) My husband. My family. Everyone.
What brings you joy?
Watching Abe be who he is.
What’s a dream you have?
I think I’m living it? I think? I’ve been having more nested dreams lately, and I wonder how many levels deep we are already, you know?
What’s sparking your interest/something you’re curious about right now?
My serotonin disorder has been properly addressed (yay SSRIs!), and I’m living in a home and in a city that I fucking love. I wonder what will happen next, when I’m grounded in place and health like this?
Where/how do you tend to gather new ideas and put yourself in the way of expansion?
Ohhhh everywhere. I think I’m naturally watchful for anything out of place, or anything that feels like it wants to be in a different place. I’m a slow emotional processor, it takes me time to move through things, and that’s relevant here because I just kind of hang out in my own life, watching for and accumulating my notes on all the things that feel like they’re about to vibrate out of their positions, and when I’ve gathered enough information and I’ve processed it far enough, then I move. Or I change. Or I make something. Or whatever it means to meet the future in its expansion. :)
What song’s playing in the credits of your life’s movie?
Turn Back Time – Deorro
What does “Lightward” mean to you?
;)