The Faces of Big Lake is a new movement sweeping the community, promoting positivity and letting neighbors get to know each other. 

Realtor and long-time Big Lake resident Liz Fagen is behind the movement. She says that the community has had its share of tough times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she really felt that everyone would benefit from a boost of positivity every week. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Fagen publishes biographies on two Big Lake residents across social media and on the Faces of Big Lake website. The residents that are featured each week are nominated by others in the community. They are all different: some are volunteers, some are teachers, some are just residents with an awesome attitude. But all of them have the Big Lake spirit that makes the residents proud to call the area home. 

Fagen came up with the idea after being introduced to a similar project by a colleague working in another state. She was able to work with this colleague to set up a website and to get the project started. She was also inspired by the book Go-Giver by Bob Burg, which is about giving back to others as a means of improving oneself (or, in the context of the book, one’s business.)

Since May, Fagen has shared two biographies every week, and she says the feedback has been amazing. Not only has there been a complete lack of negative comments, but the stories have been shared and have received so many positive comments. The website has been viewed 20,000 times, which is much higher than Fagen was expecting, and higher than all of the other, similar projects around the country of which she knows. She believes part of the success comes from the size of the community. While a community such as Minneapolis would be way too large, Big Lake is just the right size. 

Each bio asks certain questions of each nominee, including information about their jobs, their family, their hobbies, and their favorite local businesses.

So far, just over 50 individuals have been featured on the site, out of over 100 nominees. Fagen encourages anyone to visit the site in order to nominate a Big Laker. Anyone can be nominated, including kids and adults of all ages, and even the dearly missed. To nominate someone, people can visit the website at TheFacesOfBigLakeMN.com and hit the nominate tab, or else they can contact Fagen at Liz.Fagen@results.net. 

Fagen says the project has brought so much positivity into her life, especially during the summer as her mom was sick and life was busy. Reading the biographies, seeing the feedback, and publishing the features every week brought her a much needed boost of positivity, and she hopes to do the same for the rest of the Big Lake community.

Fagen has lived in Big Lake with her husband and two sons for 18 years. She is a realtor with Liz Fagen Home Group. She loves her community, and told this reporter she “would never leave Big Lake!”