EXCLUSIVE: Rise Literary has recruited the likes of former Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff, skateboarding legend Tony Alva, conservationist Eric Goode and more to kick off its new live speaker series later this year.
Beginning with its first event on April 26 in Ojai, California, RiseLive will feature ten-minute talks from ten visionaries reshaping culture through story. Per Rise, the series will prioritize thinkers, writers, creatives, and academics delivering their first major keynote talk.
“We wanted to create a space where speakers can show up fully – intellectually, emotionally, and creatively – without being boxed in by traditional format,” Kristen McGuiness, founder and publisher of Rise Literary, said in a statement to Deadline. “RiseLive is about honoring the power of story as a lived, embodied experience, not just as a corporate thinkpiece.”
The speakers for the upcoming April event, which will take place at The Roblar, include:
Krista Vernoff (Showrunner and screenwriter of Grey’s Anatomy, Shameless, and Charmed)
Eric Goode (Emmy-nominated filmmaker of Tiger King and Chimp Crazy, entrepreneur, and conservationist)
Lynnette Ramirez (Executive Producer and President of Bassett Vance Productions)
Tony Alva (Skateboarding legend and entrepreneur)
Katie Hendricks (Renowned expert in body intelligence and founder of The Hendricks Institute)
Dr. Jennifer Mulan (Author of Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice)
Christoper Rivas (Actor and author of Brown Enough)
Kamin Samuel (Award-winning author of Increase Your Abundance Starting Today! and Wealth Creation for Coaches and internationally renowned business transformation coach)
Áine Rock (Upcoming Rise Literary author, Certified coach and pleasure priestess)
Vyana Novus (Chief Creative Officer of Rise Literary)
Rise Literary will host another RiseLive event in Bedford, New York on October 26. In 2027, the company plans to take the event global with talks once again in Ojai and Bedford as well as Tulsa, Oklahoma; Byron Bay, Australia; and Dublin, Ireland internationally.
Beginning in 2028, RiseLive plans to host ten stages annually worldwide, with future locations slated to include Costa Rica, Vancouver, South Africa, Greece, and Sri Lanka.
Every stage will be filmed and shared globally. RiseLive will also work directly with curators to help them organize and attain sponsorships, as well as offer revenue participation in the YouTube channel.
Rise Literary is a hybrid book publisher that focuses on book coaching and publishing for emerging writers. The company has a distribution partnership with Simon & Schuster. In February, Rise Literary expanded into book-to-screen with strategic advisory from TV producer Joy Gorman. Their first collaboration will be on the upcoming suspense novel, The Revenge Party, by Emily Paulson, releasing May 2026.
