Forty Under 40: Christina Lusk

Christina Lusk turns relationships into business opportunities. When her parents lived in Russia from 1995-1998, Lusk started an import company in Southern Colorado that specialized in Russian gifts and collectibles.

By 1998, she had built that business into an eight-state regional distributor servicing mom-and-pop retailers and high-end department stores alike.

Lusk used the experience and relationships from her import business to create a thriving corporate gifts business in 2001. Looking for a job when she returned to Northwest Arkansas in 2003, the Springdale native pitched the creation of a similar specialty gifts division to the executives at Harps Stores Inc. They liked the idea and hired her as the new divisions director of sales.

In addition to her business development work with Nabholz Construction, Lusk involves herself in numerous community activities. She serves as this years speaker chair for the Northwest Arkansas Womens Business conference and won the 2006 Kiss-A-Pig contest for the American Diabetes Association Northwest Arkansas chapter. She is also the co-founder and sponsorship chair of the PlayHouse Auction for the Childrens Safety Center.