Lisa Hendrickson, Owner and Principal
Lisa Hendrickson is an award-winning communications professional who has spent her entire career helping organizations communicate effectively. Her extensive experience includes positions as a communications director, media relations professional, journalist, editor and writer.
She is the author of Burning the Breeze: Three Generations of Women in the American West, to be published by Bison Books / University of Nebraska Press in September 2021. Burning the Breeze is the true story of three generations of pioneering women. Julia Bennett, a big-game hunter whom friends described as “a clever shot with both rifle and shotgun,” flouted gender conventions to build guest ranches in Montana and Arizona that attracted world-renowned entertainers and artists. Bennett’s entrepreneurship, however, was not a new family development. During the Civil War, her widowed grandmother and her seven-year-old daughter—Bennett’s mother—set out from Missouri on a ten-month journey with little more than a yoke of oxen, a covered wagon, and the clothes on their backs. They faced countless heartbreaks and obstacles as they struggled to build a new life in the Montana Territory.
Lisa co-wrote, with Dick Hall, Kiritsis and Me: 63 Hours at Gunpoint, which documents Hall’s 1977 kidnapping by Tony Kiritsis, a national news story that year. In addition, she edited a series of three books commissioned by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission for the state’s 200th anniversary in 2016.
Before starting her business, Lisa was director of communications at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis, a college-preparatory private school with nearly 1,000 students in junior kindergarten through grade 12. She previously served as media relations manager at Ameritech, Indianapolis (now AT&T), where her work garnered numerous industry awards. She has additional experience as a public relations officer and assistant director of communications for Merchants National Corporation (now PNC) and worked as an executive producer, producer, and statehouse reporter for Indianapolis broadcast media.
Lisa serves on the executive committee of the Indianapolis Public Relations Society. She is a former board member of Dance Kaleidoscope and currently serves on its marketing committee. In addition, she has served on the boards of the Alpha Association of Indiana Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the International Center of Indianapolis.
She holds B.A. degrees in English composition and French (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from DePauw University. Fluent in French, she was awarded a Rotary Scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne) and the Institut de Touraine (Tours, France).
Awards and Honors
» Indianapolis Association of Business Communicators (IABC) EPIC Award for Excellent Performance in Communications, Overall Communications Program
» Indianapolis Association of Business Communicators (IABC) National Finalist, Gold Quill awards program, “Total Programs-Domestic”
» Women in Communications, Inc. Great Lakes Region Annual SHO-ME Awards Competition, Award of Merit, “Brochure-Profit”
» Women in Communications, Inc. SHO-ME Award of Excellence, “Video”
» AdFed Silver Addy Award, “Park Tudor Admissions Brochure,” Indiana Design Consortium
» Awarded grant from the Matthew Hansen Foundation, University of Montana, to support the writing of Burning the Breeze: Three Generations of Women in the American West
Lisa Hendrickson Communications 
Lisa,
I just finished your book “Burning The Breeze” this past weekend. What a trilogy! I allowed myself a long time each morning to sit with a cup of coffee and dive into the lives of Lizzie, Lulu and Julia. Having recently spent the month of September in Colorado, on the western side of the Rockies, it was as if I could continue seeing the mountains, the rivers, the aspens and the elk through new eyes…of women who lived there. A treasure for anyone who appreciates the west, westward expansion and understanding how the land was deployed from the natives.
In Chicagoland I am currently researching my husband’s German ancestry and relatives that expanded west leaving Grieth, Germany in 1854 on the ship Andrew Foster, to land in Milwaukee, WI, to then move to farm in Bremer, IA and then, incredibly, to trek to Washington territory in 1883. A span of only 30 years! It turns out these were also some hardy pioneers.
I will now reread “Burning The Breeze” and make comparison notes in relationship to the Wynhoffs. Your time tables of when towns, roads, trains and cars came to Montana (and beyond) will add some insight for me. Unfortunately I do not have journals so am speculating how they traversed the land.
Thank you for offering a wonderful window into these remarkable women and their impact on the west.
Respectfully,
Mary Claire
Dear Ms. Hendrickson ~ I so enjoyed ‘Burning the Breeze: Three Generations of Women in the American West’. I feel as if I came to know Julia Bennett personally with each word I read.
My ancestors were pioneers in Florida and my maternal grandmother and great-grandmothers were all determined women as you described Julia to be. My Granny’s favorite book was ‘A Land Remembered’ by Patrick D. Smith because it rang true to her experience as a little girl riding in the family’s covered wagon on their way to a new life in Homestead, Florida in the 1920s. Granny would have loved ‘Burning the Breeze: Three Generations of American Women in the West’ for many of the same reasons.
I look forward to reading your other books. Thank you for telling me about Julia Bennett and the strong women who came before her, as well as those who followed her.
~ Tracy
Dear Tracy,
Thank you so much for your kind email. I’m so glad you enjoyed “Burning the Breeze.” Your grandmother’s life sounds fascinating! I’m intrigued that she came to Homestead, Florida in a covered wagon in the 1920s. It sounds like she deserves a book of her own! I appreciate you reaching out. It’s always wonderful to hear from readers who enjoy reading about adventurous women.
Lisa