Lisa Kelly is an American trucker and television personality, born on December 8, 1980 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. She is known for her appearance on the History Channel’s show “Ice Road Truckers” and its spin-off “Deadliest Roads”.
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early life
Lisa Kelly’s childhood was spent in Sterling, Alaska after her family moved there when she was six years old. She quickly got used to the new lifestyle in her family’s mini-farm, learned to ride horses and became interested in dirt bikes from an early age. However, the most important knowledge she gained from this time came from her father: ‘I grew up on a farm and my father was good at instilling a work ethic, so I always do my best.’
After graduating from high school, Lisa returned to her hometown of Michigan to attend Cornerstone University.
Career
First steps
Although Lisa enjoyed her time in college, she never finished her studies because of her new-found interest in outdoor activitiesshe told Esquire, “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I had gone to university and liked school. I started delivering pizzas and I decided I liked being out of the building, so I started driving a school bus to get my driver’s license.”
Lisa went back to Alaska and decided her dream job was to drive trucks, then tried to get hired by various trucking companies, although her attempts were unsuccessful as she was refused the job for being a “delicate-looking” woman.
It wasn’t until she contacted transportation company Carlile Transportation that she got her first trucking opportunity: “A lot of companies wouldn’t hire me, but Carlile said, yes, we’re giving you a chance. They didn’t look at what was on the outside.’ (…) ‘I had never actually been in a truck before I worked at Carlile and I announced before they even assumed I wanted to do that.’
However, as a woman in a male-dominated field, being recognized as a driver by her peers was not easy for Lisa: ‘I had to work twice as hard. I had to pull my weight and everyone else’s and get the job done as fast or faster.”
Lisa did not have a commercial driver’s license and spent her early years working for Carlile as a courier driver.
However, she never lost her motivation to become a truck driver and practiced heavy driving on her company’s field. By the time she officially got her driver’s license, she started driving local routes and then started on ice roads and became an expert at it.
Ice Road Truckers
With several years of truck experience, Lisa Kelly joined “Ice Road Truckers” in 2009 transport company suggestion: ‘They (producers) were trying out people within the company and the boss recommended me. He thought I would be an interesting character. I know they really had to fight to get a girl on the show, and in the end I got it right, so they allowed other girls in.”
This History Channel’s show has been running since 2007 and follows the road life of various truck drivers as they drive on dangerous ice-covered roads in Alaska and Canada. Lisa Kelly’s first appearance on the show was in the third season and became a fan favorite over the following years.
During her time at “Ice Road Truckers,” Lisa teamed up with senior trucker and driving partner Darrell Ward to co-found Polar Industries. However, Ward died tragically in an accident in August 2016 when the plane he was flying crashed near an airport in Montana.
In 2018 Lisa Kelly spoke about her feelings at Ward .’s death, and not working with him anymore: ‘It was sad. It didn’t really dawn on me until I went back (to the show) and didn’t have my partner.
It also put a lot of pressure on me to get things done, because Darrell usually took care of a lot of things, like arranging loads and moving loads over very long roads. I could only take one, but he ran a lot faster than me, so he could get there and be back real quick while I might still be sleeping on the side of the road.”
Lisa also had problems managing Polar Industries on her own. However, she got help from someone exceptionally close to Ward: “I got Reno, his son, to help me. It was also very nice to work with him. The first year he was around, he was kind of a young punk kid. And the second time he came by, he had really grown up and become super knowledgeable and a lot nicer. The second time it was fun to work with.’
Deadliest Roads
In 2011, Lisa Kelly faced new career challenges when she appeared in the “Ice Road Truckers” spin-off of “Deadliest Roads,” produced and broadcast on the History Channel. During the two seasons of the show, truck drivers drove on many dangerous routes in different countries. This adventure turned out to be a completely new experience for Lisa: ‘We drove in India, Bolivia and Peru. It was really scary, but a lot of fun, and it challenged me. I thought it was cool that you could see what people in other countries are doing. So I personally found that more interesting than Ice Roads. India was my first time out of the country other than going to Canada. I was dropped in the middle of India thinking ‘holy culture shock’.
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Posted by Lisa Kelly On Thursday 13 June 2019
Private life
Wedding
In 2004, Lisa Kelly met motorcycle mechanic Traves Kelly while looking for a Kawasaki 125 motorcycle to buy. Due to their shared love of cycling, the couple got on well and dated for four years until they tied the knot in 2008. Traves, who now works as a plumber and is an Aleut Native, is open about Lisa’s career: “I have a very understanding husband. He gives me the freedom to go away for so many months, and it’s great.”
Currently, the couple owns a two-acre property in Wasilla, Alaska.
Interests
In addition to her love of trucking, Lisa Kelly has also found many hobbies such as snowboarding, hang gliding and she is an experienced cyclist.
She is also an animal lover and has a miniature horse and a large horse named Sky, who both live in her small barn at home. Lisa also revealed that she rescues horses: “Mostly from people who don’t have the resources to care for them or solve the medical problems they have,” she told Diesel Spec.
Lisa also adopted a dog while filming “Deadliest Roads” in India, though she couldn’t keep it when she came to the US: ‘He (dog) went to Hollywood with my producer. There are so many dogs on the streets in India that are starving, and I felt that if I adopted a dog, I would do my part. So I rescued a little puppy and kept him in the truck for most of the season.
I couldn’t take it home because I was in an apartment situation, but my producer fell in love with him.’
Lisa also rescued a dog in Peru and a cat in Canada.
Net value
Although ice transport is an extremely dangerous job, it is very rewarding economically. on averagea truck driver in this field has a salary of $250,000.
Because of this, Lisa Kelly’s estimated net worth is $600,000, which is a result of her work as an ice road trucker in addition to her earnings from appearing in “Ice Road Truckers”.
RT A #trucker who breathes in ice? #LisaKelly #freight transport pic.twitter.com/mfeo8nKJq6 = https://t.co/3KMjsk2z2O
— CF Trucking Solution (@Truck_Financing) February 6, 2016
Appearance
Lisa Kelly is a beautiful woman of white ethnicity. Her hair is naturally blond and her eyes are green. Although her stature and weight are unknown, she has a strikingly slender figure.
Interesting facts
She was considered a ‘tom-boy’ growing up.
She doesn’t like big cities prefer to live in small towns: ‘I’m a country girl at heart.’
Her horse Sky is actually the horse she grew up with. Although it was sold by her family when Lisa went to college, she found it and bought it again.
