If you were a kid in the '80s and '90s, you either owned a Lisa Frank folder or sat next to someone who did.ย
She ran the big-eyed animal sticker and school-supply empire from a factory in Tucson painted with hearts and stars. There was a Lisa Frank store in the Tucson Mall.
By the mid-2000s the factory was no longer bustling, the local store was closed and the iconic notebooks and stickers were hard to find.ย
But the nostalgia is strong for Lisa Frank. Urban Outfitters had some Lisa Frank products, though they're no longer available. There was a successful kickstarter for Lisa Frank makeup brushesย and a company making Lisa Frank leggings. Adult Lisa Frank coloring books have been sold out at local Dollar Generals since they were announced (they're like $50 on Amazon!!)ย
Great Big Story, "a video network dedicated to the untold, overlooked, and flat-out amazing," produced a short video about the Tucson business maven, exploring her notorious secrecy and the company's 30-year history and how it's changed with the times.
The now rarely photographed Lisa Frank posed at her company's Tucson headquarters in 2003. It once bustled with hundreds of employees and now has six staff members.
In the video Lisa Frank only appears in the dark or from behind. She's notoriously camera-shy.
Check out the video. It's was originally posted in 2015 but is has been bouncing its way around the internet recently:
