Renaissance woman. Multihyphenate. Networking wonder. Social grandmaster. All of these are apt descriptions of Lisa Grigsby. Almost. If you just called her a force, you wouldn’t be wrong. Grigsby stands in the middle of Dayton, Ohio’s connective tissue, and at times, manipulates the strands. Grigsby is at once arguably the Miami Valley’s biggest cheerleader and one of its most influential players.
Because of Grigsby’s position(s) in our region, I wanted to interview her and hear her thoughts on a number of important topics, and also some really, really cool stories (she’s lived an amazing life). Below is our fascinating, funny, and honest conversation.
GS: Would you call yourself a ‘power player’? An influential person? How would you describe yourself in a nutshell?
LG: I’d just call myself a connector. I try to help folks find support or opportunities to make our community a better place. My mom always taught me not to complain about things, but find ways to make them better and that’s what I try to do.”
GS: What are your current roles, professionally?
LG: 1. Co-founder of Planned2Give, my partner Jeff Jackson and I create and execute high profile special events that will raise awareness and funds for local non-profit organizations.
We can be hired to execute events for local groups: like the Glo Gala for the Epilepsy Foundation, The Wright Dunbar Walk of Fame Induction Luncheon, The 150th anniversary luncheon for the Widows Home and Artini for Culture Works. We also create our own events to partner with rotating charities, like the Dayton Donut Festival, Bloody Mary Showdown, Mimosa Madness and the Holiday Pub Crawl in the Oregon District.
2. Owner- Dayton937.com - a website that shines the spotlight on things to do in the region that features Dayton’s largest community calendar.
3. Film Commissioner- FilmDayton - where I work to get films made here. Connecting productions with crew and locations, issuing film permits and helping to grow our local crew base.
GS: Your adventures/travels brought you here to Dayton years ago. Why did you stay here, knowing that with your exceptional knowledge and talents, you could’ve easily moved on to another, bigger city?
LG: I came here in 1991 for a 90 day consulting gig at a Jokers Comedy Cafe and ended up buying the club. Dayton was an easy city to base out of while I continued to consult with clubs in other cities. I became very involved in the community serving on the board of Clothes That Work and the Miami Valley Restaurant Association, where I launched Restaurant Week in 2005.
At one point I was considering a move to New York City, and while visiting there I went to a nonprofit that was similar to Clothes That Work to see about getting involved. Tickets to their fundraising luncheon started at $2500. Kinda made me rethink if I wanted to live there, or just go visit on occasion. Also the thought of having to make all those new connections in a big city, when I found Dayton so easy to network in, convinced me to stay here. Kevin Bacon refers to seven degrees of separation, in Dayton it’s more like three. People here are so willing to help you connect and getting things done here is so much easier than in really big cities. So after 30-plus years, Dayton is home!
GS: What are your thoughts about the current state of the greater Dayton area?
LG: I feel like our region was on a great trajectory upwards prior to the pandemic, but the past three years really sent us backwards. Downtown is still a ghost town, with so many employees working remotely. Housing downtown continues to fill up, but the hospitality business is still incredibly challenged to fill their staffing needs. Health care and educational institutions are our largest businesses…we need to do more to help our entrepreneurs succeed.”
GS: What do you think should be Dayton’s next direction? Socially? Economically? Creatively?
LG: I think we have several large challenges to address- racism is still a huge issue here and we need to work to find ways to break down those barriers. We also need to find ways to stop spotlighting the same folks all the time. We have over one million residents, yet it seems we keep hearing about the same few being named to boards and committees and it’s just not helping us reach our potential. The 'powers that be' need to open more doors and mentor more leaders that come from different backgrounds, races and upbringings.
GS: You once owned a popular Dayton comedy club. Are there any stories you can tell us?
LG: At Jokers we had so many comic’s come through. Some long before they were famous, some on their way down.
I’d worked with Ron White for 20-plus years and the last time he played Jokers, the Blue Collar Comedy Tour CD had been released and as Ron would start a bit, the audience would finish it with him. At one point he just leaned about the stage wall and said, “Grigs- what’s going on?” I replied from the back mic- “You’re famous now! Guess it’s time to write some new material!”
After the show we just laughed about it, and Ron was like, "It’s taken me 20-plus years to create this act. What am I gonna do?” We talked about him buying material from some other comics and that’s what he ended up doing.
Another comic I’d worked with named Dan Whitney had stayed in the comedy condo and run up a $200 bill calling phone sex lines. When I got the bill weeks after he left, I called him and told him he needed to pay me the money. He laughed and said he was just asking the girls if they’d seen his Comedy Central set and wanted to know if they thought he was funny. I didn’t care what he asked them, I just wanted my money. I told him I wouldn’t book him again until he paid. Fast forward years later and his success on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with his Larry the Cable Guy character convinced me to book him again. He killed, sold out each show and when I went to pay him at the end of the weekend, I deducted $200 from his pay and handed him a bill marked paid for the years old phone bill. He laughed and said, “I can’t believe you’re making me pay that.” I laughed too and said he could sure afford it now!
