Lisa Frank's Former Husband Pretty Much Takes Full Credit for the Company's Success

In December 2024, Glitter & Greed: The Lisa Frank Story was released on Prime and takes a deep, dark dive into the colorful origins of the famous designer. We learn about Lisa Frank's not-so-humble beginnings as the daughter of an art collector, who was able to send her to the same prep school that Mitt Romney attended.

While attending the University of Arizona, Frank would buy art from indigenous people then sell it for more money back home in Michigan. Her designs began in sticker form as part of her company Sticky Fingers. This later became Lisa Frank, Inc. which grew into a multi-million dollar company.

Behind the scenes, employees spoke of a toxic work environment made worse by Frank and her husband, James Green, who were running the show. Let's get to know her know her now ex-husband.

James was Lisa's first full-time artist after being hired at the company in 1982. His main medium was airbrushing and he provided a ton of artistic input throughout the years. Despite not having any background in business, he rose through the ranks to become the company's president and CEO in 1992. Coincidentally, that's also when the couple got married. As a wedding gift, Lisa gave her new husband 49 percent of the company.

After Lisa gave birth to their two sons, employees mostly dealt with James who according to some, was a terrible boss. He was particularly obsessed with company loyalty, which is always a red flag, and in one of the Frankly Speaking newsletters went on quite a rant about it. "If you want the relationship to make your career, allow this advice," James wrote. "Be loyal." He added, "Bosses will forgive carelessness, stupidity, tardiness, and a temper tantrum ... disloyalty is a true character flaw."

Previous employees described some of James's behavior as "temper tantrums" and referenced a time he flipped a table over because he didn't like the artwork that had been placed upon it. In the documentary, James didn't deny doing this but jokingly said, "I hope to god I did. Probably because there was a bunch of horses--- on it." He then attributed that to stress from running a $200 million while blaming Lisa, calling her the real tyrant.

Green uploads a lot of videos to his Instagram, most of which are variations of the same thing. He is solely responsible for the success of Lisa Frank, Inc. On Oct. 23, 2024, he filmed a video that started out with, "You wanna know what made Lisa Frank famous? In my opinion, it was my artwork." He also takes credit for the branding and marketing of Lisa Frank, Inc. There countless videos just like this.

The release of the Lisa Frank documentary seems to have had quite the effect on James, who was talking about his title in a video from Dec. 5, 2024. "I am not the head artist here," he says. "I am THE artist. It was my look and feel, my airbrush techniques." James is very clear that this is just his opinion, and it's an opinion you'll definitely be aware of if you follow him on Instagram.