Alex Fisher’s Ladue studio is full of light and color and art—much of which she’s drawn or painted herself. As co-founder and chief creative officer of former tech company Sherpa, she helped humanize the senior living industry as well. The Argentina native moved to St. Louis in 2000 with her three young children after visiting her brother at Saint Louis University. At the time, she desperately needed a job, and she found one in sales at the Gatesworth senior living facility in University City, where she met David Smith, who would later become her business partner at Sherpa. Together, they developed a customer relationship management (CRM) tool “that would help a salesperson [at a senior living facility] really paint a portrait, so to speak, of the person in front of them,” Fisher says. “And in the process, the person would feel empowered and validated to make their own decisions.” The CRM tool was a guide to help gather relevant information about a potential resident’s values, hopes, and fears about senior living. Sherpa’s clients grew from 50 communities in 2015 to almost 1,800 by late 2022, when a private equity firm acquired the company and merged it with other businesses to create Aline. Fisher still serves on the board, though these days she spends time in her home studio, where she reads, writes, paints, and reflects on her experiences in the business world.
ELEMENTS OF AN IDEAL WORK SPACE
- Desk/table: Fisher ordered this versatile desk/worktable from Turkey. She uses it in different ways throughout the day, such as while writing, by wheeling it over to her easel, or by moving it out of the way entirely to use the space for yoga.
- Light fixture: Fisher chose the light fixture because she’s drawn to warm, wooden tones—something that’s evident throughout her home. “I really think creativity needs warmth,” she says.
- Wood ceiling: She also loves the warmth that the wood ceiling brings to the space: “I looked at a lot of inspiration pictures of studios, and I was always drawn to those with wood ceilings.”
- Garage door: Consultant Jassen Johnson used garage doors in the design of Sherpa’s office in Midtown Alley back in 2016. “I loved it,” Fisher says of the unexpected door choice. “There’s something about opening a garage door that is like saying, Come on in.”
- Artwork: “I like to surround myself with faces,” she says. Most of the art hanging in her studio is her own original work, done either by hand or on an application on her iPad.
- Rug: While looking for an authentic kilim rug, Fisher came across this beautiful orange one on Etsy. “It’s so nice to be surrounded by things that small businesses or artisans have made,” she says. “That was important to me.”
GO-TO BUSINESS INSPIRATION
- How to Know a Person by David Brooks: “This is one of my favorite books. I think it applies to any business,” Fisher says.
- Think Again by Adam Grant: In this book, Grant helps readers rethink preconceived notions and open their minds. “With all the changes happening in the world, businesses have to catch up and be agile,” Fisher says. “I love Think Again. We had a book club at work, and we read this all together.”
- Inspired by Marty Cagan: “More specifically for the tech business, Inspired talks all about designing and creating your technology with your customer in mind. [At Sherpa] I always wanted our customers to love our product, not just benefit from it,” Fisher says.
- How I Built This podcast: Host Guy Raz talks to different entrepreneurs about how they developed their businesses. Fisher loves to listen because it shows her that “there really is no template” for building a company. “Business is personal,” she says.
- Hidden Brain podcast: “This is something I’m listening to now about how people behave. I find that most of the things you can listen to about deeper knowledge about ourselves, and others, will help you run a business,” she says.
- Elizabeth Gilbert: The journalist and author spoke at one of Sherpa’s conferences a few years ago, and Fisher still thinks about it. “She talked about curiosity, and I feel that this particular industry really needs to be more curious,” Fisher says. “People want to be inspired, and first you have to be inspired by something and then find a way to inspire back.”
- StoryCorps podcast: Fisher loves the StoryCorps podcast because she knows how powerful it is when a person tells their story to an interested listener. “One of the things I always said is it’s not that it’s so important that you learn somebody’s story. What’s most important is that you listen. In the telling of your own story, you make new meaning of it and have these personal aha moments.”
