Meet Lisa Loomis

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lisa Loomis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lisa below.

Hi Lisa , thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism and hope come from my belief that all things being equal, at least 50% of people will do the right thing (for other people) at least 50% of the time. That’s not a hugely high bar, but it is one way I keep myself hopeful. I need to believe, and see, that most people will do the right thing for the right reasons most of the time. And I think they will and I think they want to. I also find great solace in the world around me, the birds singing impossibly early in May and June, my first sip of coffee watching the sunrise, the bright, biting crisp taste of 19 degree air in my lungs in the winter.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a native of Michigan (Traverse City) who came to Vermont via Germany and Connecticut. I worked in Dow Chemical in Germany as a public relations intern. My first day on the job, Greenpeace warriors stormed our offices, throwing dead fish and collapsing on the floor pretending to be dead. Writing a press release was my first assignment. When I ended up in Vermont to be a ski bum for one season, the season ended and leaving Vermont seemed like an awful choice. I saw an ad in the local paper, the one I own and edit now, for a staff writer. I figured I could certainly do that, tell the truth versus what I’d done for Dow. I got hired and here I am still. The job is amazing and recording the history of the five towns and two ski areas in The Mad River Valley is an honor and privilege. Every week, there is something new to write about. Community journalism is so incredibly important to healthy democracy and healthy government.

When people know, via community journalism, what is going on, they can participate and when they participate, they’re engaged. Also, when communities lose their local papers, they lose a layer of connection that no amount of national news consumption can replace and people actually become more partisan. It’s also awesome to celebration the people who live here, their contributions, the schools’ achievements, births, deaths, epic snowstorms etc. It’s those things that connect us and while we may disagree about national or international politics, we can connect and relate on things like our high school sports teams, whether to pave a road or not etc. Those things bring us together and remind us that we have more in common than we don’t.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Curiosity -everything is interesting if you listen with an open mind

Empathy – this is hard but sometimes you have to bear witness

A tough skin – people love to criticize your work and tell you why they didn’t like your coverage. You get used to it.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

Loved me and told me I could do anything. And they always told me they were proud of me.

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