Nkauj Hli Lis is amongst the first generation of Hmong people born in the United States. Lis was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota and is a daughter to refugee parents who were born in Laos, migrated to Thailand refugee camps, and immigrated to the United States in the 1980s as a result of the Secret War.

Lis is the only daughter and the oldest of three brothers. The first in her family to accomplish a four-year degree and graduated from St Catherine University with a double major in B.B.A. in Small Business/Entrepreneurship and a B.A. in Marketing Management. Lis currently and still reside in east side Saint Paul with her husband, step-son, and expecting son.