We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lisa Von Felden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

Yes, I have chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds from my children’s book, “Ellie with the Belly” to BeingWellCA. A non profit organization dedicated to bringing mental health into the light and to enhance mental health services in California schools.
My book is dedicated in loving memory of a very dear friend of my younger son’s, who passed away in 2020. His name was Riley and I sat down with his parents to ask if there was an organization they would like the donation to go to and they didn’t hesitate to share BeingWellCA with me. After meeting the founders, Graham and Caroline Wiseman, I knew that this was the right organization to support. They have been a huge support to me on this new and unfamiliar adventure.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up as an athlete in Northern California with my three sisters. I enjoyed writing poems and short stories throughout my youth. When I was 10 years old, I experienced a defining moment when I became the target of a cruel classmate. I learned the power of hurtful words. I also learned the power of a courageous classmate whose kindness and action helped mend my broken heart.
As the years went by, my desire to write began to slip away, but I was always a wild idea kind of kid. So, at the age of 18, shortly after graduating high school, while working at a quick service restaurant that went up for sale, I decided I wanted to buy it! Kind of a crazy idea considering I didn’t even have a checkbook at the time, let alone any money!
But I was determined that I could do it. I sat down with my parents and the owner, and we figured out how I could finance the restaurant and within 5 years I paid it off. I loved my store, and I loved my customers! Then, in 1997 I met my husband at my restaurant, and we were married a year later. In 1999 and 2002 we welcomed our beautiful baby boys into the world. Raising two little boys reignited my desire to write again. I wrote a couple of little stories for my boys and then one day while trying to think of what I wanted to write about next, I found myself watching an episode of Dr. Phil. He was talking about how we all have a number of defining moments in our lives, and so I began to think of what some of mine might be. That is when my memory of that day when I was 10 years old came to the surface and it was like flashing lights highlighting that day!! I knew I had to write about it but this time I was going to re-define that moment. That became the inspiration for my next story, “Ellie with the Belly” which I wrote within a few hours. After reading it back to myself, I thought it was pretty good and began to wonder if it might make a good children’s book especially since the topic was about bullying, courage and kindness. I had no idea where to begin so I started googling information right and left.
Revisions, revisions and more revisions. Every little detail was under a microscope, and I even hired an independent editor to help with my final revisions. When we were finished, he told me the words I was thrilled to hear, ” Lisa, this is really good!” I was so excited to begin my search now for a publisher. I researched the biggest ones in the country and although I did not have an agent, I was convinced that when they read my manuscript it wouldn’t matter! So, I chose three of the best children’s book publishers in the country, wrote my query letter and packed them in their envelopes and sent them on their way. I knew it would take weeks if not months for my letter to come back saying they wanted to publish my book. Week after week I waited and then one after the other, I received rejection letters from all of them. One was just a form letter with no insight just a rejection. Two of them were kind enough to personally respond and give some insight as to why they were not interested. My reaction to this was so personal. I was almost embarrassed of myself that I had felt the confidence that what I wrote was good enough to be published. I actually felt cringy! So, I packed up my story and I put it in the garage where it sat for the next 21 years!
Then, in 2023 while at church, I received a divine message to get that book published. And so…I did. I took my story out of the garage, re-read it and started revising it again, and again and again. Then I was soon led to illustrator Mark Sean Wilson, who has brought my story to life above and beyond what I had imagined. Mark and I worked tirelessly for the next 16 months on ‘”Ellie with the Belly” and on October 19, 2024, I had my launch party where more than 150 showed up with amazing support. We are now selling the books on Amazon and the reviews have been amazing. I am just starting to reach out to schools and teachers as this book and our website will be an amazing tool for teachers and parents to utilize in teaching empathy and kindness when dealing with the subject of bullying.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal for “Ellie with the Belly” is to give teachers and parents a genuine tool to help teach empathy, courage, kindness and forgiveness. I, along with countless professionals in education and mental health believe if you can teach a child early in life about caring for other people’s feelings, the action and effects of bullying can be lessoned if not eliminated.
My younger son had a friend who took his own life at the age of 18 and through his parents, I was introduced to a wonderful non-profit whose mission is to help bring mental health into the light in our communities beginning in CA where we live. A portion of the proceeds from my book are going to BeingWellCA. We are just beginning to figure out how our two entities can partner to share the message in “Ellie with the Belly”.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think the biggest lesson I had to unlearn is that I don’t have to rely on just myself to figure things out and to get things done. As I had mentioned at the beginning of the interview, for most of my adult life I have owned and operated my small little restaurant, Lisa V’s in Concord CA. Micromanaging became my method of operation as I have to watch every penny spent in order to make things work, so other than my wonderful sister, Dayna, who works there with me, I tend to just do most of it myself. That is a heavy burden to carry.
So, when I was at church in February 2023 and was invited up for prayer by our pastor, I jumped at the chance for prayers for my restaurant. What I was NOT expecting was that GOD would call me out for another work…my children’s book,
“Ellie with the Belly”!
During the prayer, I received a divine message to “GET THAT BOOK PUBLISHED!” I have never experienced anything like that in my life. I knew God was speaking directly to me that day and after taking a number of days to question and doubt what He was telling me to do, I decided to speak to a trusted faith filled Christian friend of mine to ask if what I was hearing was accurate. Does God really speak to people like this? And why me? But He does! And so, my journey to bring “Ellie” to life began. Although I did not have the time, the money or the knowledge to publish my own book, I knew he was going to lead me and so, I let him lead. Every step of my journey these last 16 months has been Christ lead, from how I found my illustrator, to how I was blessed with the funding that I needed, to the young adults at my church rallying behind me to teach me and help me with social media. I was led to dedicate the book to our family friend, who lost his life in 2020, which led me to the non-profit, BeingWellCA that I am partnering with now on many different levels. I have only just begun with “Ellie” as we had my Launch party just a couple weeks ago where over 150 people showed up in support.
So, my new lesson is to walk with the Lord and let him lead my steps and do the work he wants me to do. I truly believe
‘Ellie with the Belly” will make an impact on not only the children but the adults that read it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://booksbylisav.org
• Instagram: booksbylisav
• Facebook: Lisa Von Felden (Books By Lisa V)

Image Credits

Illustrations by Mark Sean Wilson
Pioneer article: Tamara Steiner