Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Loucks-Christenson.
Hi Lisa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been telling stories and creating art for as long as I can remember. By age three, I illustrated my first fan art book—a retelling of Sleeping Beauty—and picked up photography by eight. My passion for capturing life’s beauty continued to grow, winning my first national photography contest at fourteen and becoming published by fifteen. As a teen, I helped with Sunday school projects, and as an adult, I served as a Girl Scout leader, nurturing the next generation through community and outdoor education.
I started writing early too—by age eleven I’d written my first book for school, which has evolved over fifty years into Rueben’s Diaries, about a young boy fending for himself in the outdoors, a story I’m preparing to release. I also narrated school slide programs and worked as a student assistant at Quarry Hill Nature Center in Rochester, Minnesota, putting together educational presentations that combined my love of art, nature, and storytelling. It truly feels like my entire life has been leading me to where I am now.
Family history is important to me. Inspired by my relative Dorothy Palmer Malloy and her landmark Saga of the Taney Rainbow Trails, I’m carrying on that legacy by compiling interviews, angel stories, and millions of photographs to document my family’s story forward for future generations.
I’m proud to have built one of Minnesota’s largest female-owned independent publishers, with over 400 original titles I’ve worked on and illustrated, including the award-winning Don’t Eat Bees! franchise and the Story Antics® series from Australia. I’ve embraced exclusive rights publishing, where I control ebooks, print, merchandising, animation, and film, expanding the life of my creative work.
As a broadcaster, I host shows like Lisa’s Walk The Talk Show and The Lisa LC Show, where I’ve interviewed authors, musicians, and creatives, sharing stories that connect people, nature, and faith. My wildlife documentaries, especially my self-funded bald eagle project with over 3,000 trips to Minnesota’s Whitewater Valley, have produced best-selling books, award-winning art, and upcoming films.
Beyond creating, I’m passionate about giving back. I judge various writing and photography contests, host school events, and support humanitarian and wildlife projects. Currently, I’m buying small parcels of land to preserve vital wildlife habitats, a stewardship deeply inspired by firsthand experience.
In 2026, I will launch WILDLY PERSONABLE, a Christian outdoor radio show dedicated to sharing animal stories and inspiring stewardship wherever I travel. Meanwhile, I’m advancing illustrated stories and comics under my GraceLit™ and DareWing™ imprints and moving forward with animation and photo-based religious films.
As my husband and I face life’s health challenges, I’m shifting more behind the scenes—focusing on online publishing and production—trusting God’s guidance to nurture my creative legacy, conservation efforts, and the stories that have shaped my life.
Thank you for joining me on this lifelong journey of storytelling, creativity, faith, and caring deeply for the world around us.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life has thrown me many unexpected and heavy challenges. When my daughter was just born, my father passed away suddenly, a loss that deeply shook our family. I found myself trying to keep memories alive for my nephew and nieces—sharing old photos and stories about their grandparents, hoping they’d understand how important family has always been to us. Then, losing my older sister, my first best friend, felt like losing a piece of my own heart.
Family members often call me the “rock,” but I’ve struggled to stay grounded while keeping everyone connected through faith, especially as life threw curveballs one after another. Losing half my family over a decade has been almost unbearable. At the same time, shifts in telecommunications, the collapse of stock photography markets, fewer assignments and fan trips, and ongoing audits and harassment tested my resilience. I faced hackers, stalkers, and break-ins, endured over four years on oxygen, chose to continue my documentaries instead of giving up, and anchored myself in deeper faith and trust.
I survived sepsis twice, only to face the devastating impact of COVID-19 on my business. Then my husband battled cancer not once, but twice, while our home and sanctuary were taken from us—equity lost, rumors swirling, and harassment leaving us with nowhere safe to go. This past year changed everything I thought I knew about life.
Through it all, I carried the weight of these trials in five documentaries I’ve created, soon finishing the last one. I can look back and point to moments where I gave everything to God, trusting in His promise to be there for us through every hardship.
This year and the next mark significant anniversaries for projects and stories I’ve covered over the past 20 years. After decades of pain, tears, and ashes, I believe that beauty will rise again. I’m embracing every chance to preserve our family’s legacy—not just in photographs and documents, but in faith, storytelling, and memories shared with those I love.
To keep these memories alive, I archive and digitize old photos, letters, and interviews, often sharing them with family to strengthen connection and awareness of our roots. Documenting family history, writing memoirs, and creating tangible heirlooms are heartfelt acts of love that ensure our story endures for generations to come.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What I’m most proud of is the work I’ve poured my heart and soul into—the stories I tell, the lives I touch, and the legacy I’m building for those who come after me. What sets me apart is my relentless commitment to raw, honest storytelling, particularly in my documentary Struggling for Existence: What Nature Shared. For over twenty years, this deeply intimate portrayal of the Whitewater Valley has been my labor of love. It reveals nature’s most intimate moments, highlighting the struggles and survival of wildlife amidst challenges like illegal hunting, predator-prey dynamics, and the ever-changing balance between man and nature.
Initially, I dedicated fifteen years to this project, traveling thousands of miles and witnessing firsthand the fierce yet fragile life of that valley. When urban wildlife issues came to the forefront, I shifted focus and created the Laurie (Loucks) Burt Wildlife Sanctuary, named after my sister Laurie, who was a constant source of love, encouragement, and inspiration. This sanctuary stands as a tribute to her memory—it’s her home as much as it is mine. We shared everything in life, and I want her kindness, her support of my art and writing, to be remembered through this place.
Everything else I’ve done—my publishing, my hosting, my photography—has helped others in ways I’ve witnessed myself. One way I cherish is my guest book, started for visitors to my med-city-based business. Over time, it became a haven, a crypt of prayers and hopes for those who faced medical uncertainties. Many have returned to those pages, finding comfort and glimpses of hope that helped them keep going. It reminds me daily why my work matters.
I also stand with the homeless and unhoused, feeding dogs and offering support because I believe in peace and compassion for every life. To me, faith isn’t just words; it’s what I live every hour of every day. I listen for signs, for God’s direction in the work I’m uniquely equipped to do, and I follow where He leads.
This is my legacy. It’s the stories recorded in pages and films, the sanctuary I protect, the lives I nurture through kindness and creative expression. I want to be remembered as someone who stood firmly for nature, for family, and for those whose voices too often go unheard. Through triumphs and trials, I remain a survivor—steadfast in faith, in commitment, and in hope for a future strengthened by the stories I tell and the work I leave behind.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
When I was only three, I vividly remember illustrating that Sleeping Beauty book on continuous paper my dad brought home. My sister had just finished working on her own book, Snow White. It was back in the 60s, and we used to toss our crayons—shared between us—into an empty bleach jug that my mom had decorated with cute, hand-drawn characters. She was an artist too, and that creative environment surrounded me from the very start.
The illustrations of that era often involved simple shapes and bold colors, influenced by the mid-century children’s book style where imagination flourished. While printing techniques then were more limited, artists found wonderful ways to capture stories through expressive, tactile art. Those early experiences—drawing with crayons on continuous paper, feeling my dad’s proud reaction—planted the seed that I should create my own stories, bringing them to life with my art, just like my family before me.
That memory shapes my work to this day. It reminds me that storytelling and art have always been intertwined in my life, and that each story I tell carries the joy and encouragement I felt from those early moments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://archives.lisalc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llchristensonbooks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LLChristenson/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-loucks-christenson-75838431a/
- Twitter: https://x.com/lisasbookstores
- Other: https://lisalouckschristenson.com
