Welcome to "Women of G FUEL," an interview series where we shine a spotlight on the ladies of the #GSQUAD. This time we’ll be talking to Lisa, also known as STPeach.

The day that I spoke to Lisa for this profile was a pretty scary day for me—for reasons unrelated to the interview, of course. I had just been told to work from home due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, and each minute seemed to bring news of another event being cancelled due to the virus, both within the world of esports and elsewhere. But my chat with Lisa was a wonderful break from the chaos, 20 minutes of honest and interesting conversation during a day filled with stressful uncertainty. Even from our brief talk, it was clear to me why so many viewers flock to Lisa’s streams in order to relax and unwind.

Like many members of the #GSQUAD, Lisa’s first exposure to video gaming came through her older brothers. “My middle brother, he hogged all of the games,” said Lisa, “so I was able to just watch for like the first four years of my life—and then I finally was able to play a bit.”

After she finally received a game system and game to call her own—Earthworm Jim for the Game Boy Advance—Lisa was hooked. By the time she was in seventh grade, she’d started playing games online, and they soon became the center of her social life. “I could meet some really cool friends doing it—since I don’t really have a lot of friends,” said Lisa with a chuckle.

Throughout Lisa’s small-town adolescence, video games were one of her primary hobbies and social outlets. But as she trained to enter the workforce as a dental assistant, gaming remained just that—a hobby. “I did a 10-month program to get a certificate,” said Lisa. “It’s usually two years, but I did an expedited program.”

Dental assisting turned out to be a suboptimal fit for a strong-willed individual like Lisa. “I really enjoyed being kind of my own person to decide what I’m going to be doing,” said Lisa. “Dental assisting is very, like, your dentist tells you to do this, this, this, this.”

So, in 2015, when a friend suggested Lisa try out Twitch streaming, she jumped on the opportunity—and struck gold. As her fanbase began to grow, Lisa quit her job as a dental assistant and struck out as an independent streamer. The rest—with Lisa’s army of followers, her G FUEL sponsorship, and more—is history.

One statistic that sets Lisa apart from many other streamers is the non-gaming nature of much of her content. According to TwitchTracker, Lisa spends more time streaming IRL or in Twitch’s “Just Chatting” mode than she does playing her most frequent game, League of Legends. “I will be the first to admit, I am not a pro gamer at all,” said Lisa. “In terms of in real life, I feel like I really try my best to take the time to respond to everyone’s message and make it feel like we could just all hang out and have a conversation.” Indeed, Lisa has met some of her best friends through Twitch chat, and some even attended her wedding last year.

This openness defines Lisa’s streaming style. While some Twitch streamers go to great lengths to separate their personal lives from their gaming lives, Lisa is loud and proud about her relationship with her husband Jay, even after receiving flak from some viewers for doing so in the past. “To each their own, right?” said Lisa. “If there’s girls that don’t feel comfortable posting their significant other, then no shame. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that...I just am very straightforward with everyone. So if I were to try to hide the biggest part of my life, it would be almost impossible for me, because I’m just so used to being open with everyone. And I’m proud of my husband!”

There’s plenty to be proud of in Lisa’s relationship, particularly the way she met her future husband, which was one of the most gamer-tastic meet-cutes I’d ever heard. It all happened through MapleStory: Jay’s best friend was a member of Lisa’s guild, and he introduced the couple via Skype. “Jay and I actually never played MapleStory together before,” said Lisa, “but it’s just easier to say we met on MapleStory.”

Moving forward, one aspect of Lisa’s streaming and content strategy that she hopes to lean into is fitness content. As a kid, Lisa was bullied for her skinny physique, and at age 19 she decided to do something about it. Since then, she’s become a bona fide gym rat. “I have a bit of a competitive nature to me,” said Lisa. “So being able to get stronger, improve, and do better in anything—it just feels great.

“And then people would always ask me, like, ‘can you share your fitness routines?’ Or like, “how do you have such a big butt?’ And things like that. So I started incorporating it into my YouTube, and I do some in real life streams where I do fitness streams and stuff like that.” It took some time for these streams to build an audience—but as Twitch’s real-life streaming sector has continued to grow, Lisa is confident that her fitness audience will rise as well.

For now, Lisa is comfortable with the streamer lifestyle and has no plans to change career paths. But whether or not she sticks with streaming in the long run, she’s primed for success: she’s got a loyal following, a rock-solid marriage, and genuine fitness skills.

One thing’s for sure: she’s not going to go back to dental assisting any time soon. “I could,” said Lisa, “but I don’t think I would.”

It’s clear enough why Lisa doesn’t want to go back. Better pay aside, streaming is simply a perfect fit for someone who is extremely open about her life and genuinely interested in gaming. “For me, it was never, like, ‘oh, I want to make this my career,’” said Lisa. “It was just like, ‘I want to do this because it’ll be fun—and I’ll be able to meet really cool people!”

Top image via Instagram/@lisapeachy

This article was written by Alexander Lee, an esports journalist, lifelong Nintendo fan, and proud cat dad. Follow him on Twitter @alexleewastaken, and check out more of his work on his website www.alexlee.work.