Meet Trisha Cole

We had the good fortune of connecting with Trisha Cole and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Trisha, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I’ve done a few risky things in recent years, and I think timing, age, and a general sense of self have all played vital roles in where I am in life and my career(s) today. My favorite thing to do is connect good people with good things and good places, which is essentially how I look at all my work. As a true Gemini, I straddle between my job as a publicist and my other job of author/artist/partner/mom.

One of the biggest risks I took was when in the Spring of 2021, I quit my job as a VP and Partner at a PR agency where I had been working for over 20 years. My husband and I realized that a little money we had come into would be enough to cover a couple of months of me not working, and rather than reinvest it, we decide to invest in our family instead. I took our girls, then ages 14 and 11 on a 45-day, 9,000-mile road trip and my husband met up with us occasionally along the way. I had no idea what was going to happen when I got back and I even accidentally, or maybe subconsciously, deleted my entire database of contacts.

Towards the end of the trip a previous client resurfaced and basically told me he was hiring me to promote these incredible new treehouses he was building at his regenerative resort on the beach (see Playa Viva). Luck was on my side and before I knew it, I had a few more new clients, and this time I was working on my own terms. Now I get to work with hotel and restaurant clients to help them tell their stories and I develop partnerships and plan and host travel retreats and on-property experiences.

The other risks I took fall more into the creativity category. There’s a through line in my desire to connect good places and things with good people.

On a whim I started writing a newsletter in March of 2020 entitled “Life at the Dumpling.” We call our house in Glassell Park the Dumpling, as in some may have called it a “dump” when we bought it nearly 20 years ago, and we in turn saw it as a “dump-ling.” I had wanted to write to a friend, and I thought other people might appreciate some good news, via snail mail, too, so without much thought I put my head down and started writing, and drawing and sharing my observations about a variety of topics – recipes, favorite songs and quotes, games, poems, travel tips, etc. I am now up to Volume 26. I make a new one every few months and send it out to anyone who wants it. It’s my Mitzvah to the Universe.

By March of 2023 I had created 20 newsletters, and I realized there was a story here—our collective story of life during a particularly challenging time, and my own story as well.
I wanted to hold the story in my hand, I wanted an index, and I wanted to make a workbook for good living that anyone could use. I took the idea out to a few agents and after a few initial rejections I decided to take control of the project myself and in May of this year I self-published a book also entitled Life at the Dumpling.

I never would have thought of myself as a risk-taker before. I realize now that quitting my very sensible teaching job in the Bay Area in my 20s and moving to L.A. with my boyfriend (now my husband) was risky, too, but I didn’t have anything to lose then. For a long time, I lived a pretty complacent life, one that allowed me to buy a house and raise kids and grow into myself. Over the past few years, I got brave. I had more time to listen to myself and weed out the noise from the outside world. I think I’ve learned that when you have the luxury of listening to yourself that’s when the risk taking happens, it becomes a part of you without even thinking about it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Continuing the theme of taking risks, I am even doing so now by calling myself an Author and a Creative. For so many years I have told other people’s stories and what I didn’t realize was that all that time I was building up to share my own knowledge and my own way of doing things with the world. At my core I love to introduce people to ways and things that I know will bring them joy.

I named the work side of my business Trust Trisha because people are always reaching out to ask where to stay or eat or visit and they jokingly say #trusttrisha. It’s also about people trusting me with their business and at the same time it’s a reminder to me to trust myself.

And in this new phase of my life where I am writing freely, creating books and newsletters and products, I can share everything more of what I have learned along the way and continue to find ways to give people opportunities for happiness.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We have watched from our perch on our hill as the world of Northeast Los Angeles has come to life in the most exciting ways over the years. If I had a week to plant myself in this corner of Los Angeles, I would find a great, cozy Airbnb, get on my walking shoes or grab an electric bike, and get out into it.

Here’s where I’d be sure to go:
EAT Dunsmoor, Queen Street, Mariscos ZaZa, Joy on York, Skaf’s on York, Sam’s Place
DRINK The Grant, Dunsmoor Wine Bar, Checker Hall
COFFEE Civil, Collage, La Colombe Frogtown, Proof
VISIT Self-Realization Fellowship, Lummis House, Lodge Room, a hike in the Arroyo, the Norton Simon Museum
SHOP LA HOMEFARM, Dotter, READ bookstore

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Living joyfully and always learning is how I value success. I could write a never-ending list of people and places and all the words and things that shape me continuously. A few that lift me up daily:

• My sweet Dumpling dwellers, Bruce and Faye and Jem and our wily cats and dog
• Our neighborhood crew that is the first circle of kindness that radiates out from the top of our Cazador Street hill
• The Mermaids and Mermen of the Glassell Park 6 a.m. swim crew who keep me accountable
• Always a visit to the Temple of Leaves and a moment with Paramahansa Yogananda

Website: www.trusttrisha.com

Instagram: @trishacole

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coletrisha/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trisha.walrath

Image Credits
image of Trisha Cole by Talia Helvey Rest of Images by Trisha Cole