There is a strange thing that happens when your name and face start showing up around town.
People begin to know you. Or, at least, they know of you.
They know I’m the girl with the magazine. They know I’m usually somewhere with a camera, a notebook or my phone in my hand. They know I write stories. They may have seen me at a ribbon cutting, a Rotary meeting, a Main Street event, a Chamber function or standing in the corner of some room trying to get the picture before everybody scatters.
But I realized recently that for someone who spends so much time telling other people’s stories, I haven’t really told you mine.
So, hi. I’m Lizzie.
I’m 22 years old, and I was born and raised right here in Denham Springs. I’m fiercely proud of that. I’m also fiercely proud of my Cajun heritage, so depending on the day, you’re going to get a little Denham Springs and a little bayou out of me.
I graduated from Denham Springs High School in 2022, where I spent four years in MCJROTC and graduated as Executive Officer of the battalion. And yes, Captain Baudoin sounded just as good then as it does now.
I have always been social. Painfully social, probably. I love people. I love hearing how they got where they are, who their grandparents were, what they remember about growing up here, what business they dreamed about opening, what organization they pour their time into and what little piece of Livingston Parish they call home.
Looking back, I suppose ending up in community media was almost inevitable.
I am fourth-generation Livingston Parish media. My great-grandfather bought the then Denham Springs News, now The Livingston Parish News, in 1963, and my family has spent the generations since telling the stories of this parish. I grew up around newspapers, deadlines, advertisements, photographs and people who understood that local media is about much more than putting words on paper.
But when it became my turn, I realized something about myself. I didn’t just want to report what happened here. I wanted to celebrate what happens here.
I love the community side of this business. I love walking into a brand-new business and watching someone cut the ribbon on something they risked everything to build. I love sitting across from someone for an interview and finding the story underneath the title everyone else knows them by. I love watching people win awards, raise money, open doors, preserve history and make this parish a little better than they found it.
That love has carried me far beyond the pages of this magazine. Somehow, at 22, I have found myself serving beside people I once only knew by name. Through Rotary, Main Street, Kiwanis, economic development, leadership programs, committees, boards and community organizations, I have been given opportunities to serve the place that raised me.
My job has put me in rooms I never imagined I would be in. And I am proud to say that I got myself into those rooms.
I don’t say that arrogantly. I say it because I think young women should be allowed to be proud of themselves. I have worked hard. I have introduced myself when I was nervous. I have walked into rooms where I was the youngest person there and found a seat anyway. I have asked questions, made mistakes, learned names, stayed late, shown up early and figured things out as I went.
I am still figuring things out. I’m 22. Of course I am. But I know what I want my life to mean.
I don’t want to simply be known as a good writer. As much as I love writing, I hope one day people remember me as a young woman who decided she didn’t have to wait until she was older to do something meaningful.
I want to be someone who made something for herself and, more importantly, made something for her community. Living In Parish Magazine is part of that.
This magazine exists because I genuinely, wholeheartedly love local. I love Denham Springs. I love Livingston Parish. I love the old buildings and the new businesses, Friday night lights and Saturday morning events, the people whose families have been here for generations and the ones who got here last year and decided to call it home.
And I love the people whose names fill these pages. That is what makes this particular edition so special. Best of Livingston isn’t really about deciding who or what is “best.” It’s about recognizing just how much there is here worth celebrating.
So now you know a little more about the girl behind the byline. I’m Lizzie Baudoin. I’m 22. I’m from Denham Springs. I’m proud of where I come from, proud of what I’m building and incredibly proud that I get to spend my days telling the stories of the place I love most.
And now that I’ve told you a little of my story, turn the page. It’s time to read theirs.
