A Renaissance Woman in Sedona

By Staff Writer | Sedona.biz

What no one could predict, however, is the important contribution Lisa has made to this small Arizona community.

Lisa K. Hering was born in Houston, TX in 1959, and it was witnessing the majesty of Sedona firsthand as a child, and later as an adult hiking its trails, that ignited her passion to study geology and to become a park ranger at the Grand Canyon. 

A hiring freeze by the national parks, however, created a small detour and her first permanent job was working in the oil industry at the Exxon Production Research Lab in Houston. But the "call of the canyon" was strong and Lisa knew that she would eventually move here.

In the 1990's she gathered up enough money to purchase a Victorian home on Galveston Island fifty miles from Houston that she converted into a bed and breakfast.  Her dream was to make enough money to move to Sedona.  Where Lisa found the courage and will to make this leap is hard to say.  Perhaps the spirit of Sedona had a little to do with it.

The bed and breakfast was successful and, after a few years, she sold it and moved to Sedona, putting a placard on the door of her inn that simply read, "Gone to the Southwest."

Using her real estate experience as a spring board, she purchased a vacation home here that she rented.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Today Lisa owns and rents a number of different properties in the greater Sedona area.  This was followed by a real estate license, and Lisa is currently a real estate agent for Real Estate 101.

As all Sedonans know, however, this place brings out the most creative aspects of a person, and this happened with Lisa.  She became interested in designing and producing beaded jewelry, taking advantage of her knowledge of minerals from her geology studies, and opened a bead shop "on the side."  

When working in the bead shop, a woman closing down her yarn shop wanted to trade Lisa yarn for jewelry.  It wasn't long before Lisa was designing and producing beautiful crocheted and knitted clothing. 

But what comes next is truly amazing. 

One day she was talking to one of her property renters who owned an alpaca. An alpaca is a domesticated South American mammal that's related to the llama. Alpacas are bread for their fine, long fiber.  Having worked with yarn, alpacas peaked her interest.   Who knows, maybe Lisa inadvertently walked through a spiritual vortex, but she decided to invest.  Today, like with her rental properties, Lisa owns a number of alpacas.

Most recently, she has combined all of her skills and interests into a new venture.  She has secured a 5,000 square foot historical building on Main Street in old town Cottonwood.  Lisa's dream is to create a "Fiber & Bead Center" that has a studio, a retail and educational center, and a cafe.  The studio will have work space for fashion design, painting and printing fabrics, dyeing yarns, weaving, sewing, and jewelry making.  The retail area will display yarn, beads, jewelry, fabric, clothing, bedspreads, pillows and accessories.  The educational center will house classes, seminars, workshops, and videos and be available for private rental.  The central area, used for retail during the day, can be rearranged for a large showroom and exhibit hall for social events.

Contact

Lisa Hering

[Home Page] [Business Home Page]