About Lisa

Lisa Paradise has been a college admissions consultant for 13 years, combining her expertise as an award-winning writer, a top publicist, and years of teaching writing to help her students achieve their college dreams. Throughout her life, she has served as an advocate for children and a mentor for young people.

After graduating from the University of Nebraska, Lisa began her career as an investigative newspaper journalist, earning awards for feature writing and news reporting. Recognized for her investigative work about crimes against children, she earned a fellowship to the prestigious Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families at the University of Maryland. After moving to Boulder, she worked in publishing as the Publicity Director for Westview Press, a division of Harper-Collins, where she represented over 300 authors. She continues to do public relations and copywriting on a contract basis.

Since 1996, she and her husband Mike, a former college professor who works in school administration, have been active members of the Berthoud, Colorado, community. While raising their two children, Lisa was recognized yearly for over a hundred hours of volunteer service to the Thompson School District.

She worked as an elementary school writing coach for five years, has coached spelling bee teams for District and State since 2007, taught Junior Achievement, founded a book club for teens, served as president of the School Accountability Committee, and spearheaded numerous fundraising drives.

Her many years of mentoring students and teaching writing evolved into her practice as first an essay coach and then as a comprehensive college consultant. She loves combining her talent as a writer and teacher with her marketing and publicity skills to help students craft successful applications. Since her students often return to her for help, her practice has developed to include services for medical, PA, and graduate school applications, as well as assistance with resumes and job interviews.

Lisa also does pro bono college consulting through Larimer and Weld County Social Services, helping students in the foster care system and Youth in Transition program apply to college. Lisa’s son is a graduate student and teaching assistant at the University of Colorado, and her daughter is an undergraduate at Colorado State, which leads to family arguments during football season. As empty nesters, Lisa and her husband enjoy bonding with their border collie, receiving occasional texts from their children, and wondering what they’re supposed to do with their free time now.