About Laura

Training

Laura is a certified professional life coach. She received her coaching certification from the International Coach Academy (ICA). ICA’s program is accredited with the International Coach Federation.  She has been coaching professionally since January, 2006.

In addition to her coaching certification, Laura has formal spiritual training. In 2005, she graduated from a three-year seminary program at the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago, Illinois. Upon graduation, she was ordained a Swami of Kriya Yoga (which basically means she is a priestess and spiritual teacher).

Laura also completed training with the Tama Do Academy of Sound, Color, and Movement where she learned how to restore balance in the physical and subtle energy bodies using vibrational modalities such as sound and color. (Tama-Do means “Way of the Soul.”) Laura had the privilege of studying directly with Tama-Do’s founder, Fabien Maman, who is regarded as the founding father of sound therapy for his groundbreaking research.

In 1987, Laura graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Studies from the School of Speech. Three years later, in 1990, she returned to Northwestern and received a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism. In 1991, she was awarded a scholarship to go to Moscow to study the effect of glasnost on press freedom. She presented several talks on her findings to various groups including the Board of Trustees at Northwestern University.

Skills and Work History

Laura’s skill set includes critical thinking, analytical skills, intuition, and an ability to communicate and inspire people to take the step they thought they couldn’t take. She also possesses good instincts, strong entrepreneurial skills, and an enterprising nature, which helped her break into two notoriously nepotistic industries (politics and the film industry) without any contacts.

During the latter half of her 30s, she succeeded in creating a healthy, balanced, and prosperous lifestyle by starting her own business as a nonprofit consultant. In her sixth and last year of the business, she was working 3 hours a day while making six figures. It was during these years as a consultant that she started to apply the metaphysical principles of Eastern spiritual wisdom (and the laws of quantum physics) to her life and she credits those principles for her success. Now she is coaching people on how to apply them in their lives so they can achiever greater balance and freedom.

Work History

1995 – 2005
For ten years, she worked for nonprofit organizations in both fundraising and communication/marketing capacities. She began her career at Prevent Child Abuse America where she started in an entry-level position as a grant writer. Four years later, she was managing the Communications and Marketing department and a staff of five. Later, she worked for Children’s Memorial Hospital Foundation where she managed the communications department which was responsible for producing all of the documents that supported a $135 million capital campaign. Documents included grant proposals, direct mail pieces, newsletters, and speeches. She managed five employees and three contractual staff.

In August of 1999, she launched a nonprofit consulting business that specialized in securing grants from local and national foundations and corporations. She helped to secure grants as large as $3 million on behalf of local and national organizations that included Civitas Initiative, Center for Labor and Community Research, Prevent Child Abuse America, Strategic Learning Initiatives, Jane Addams Juvenile Court Foundation, and The Better Boys Foundation.

1993 – 1995
She initially worked for a major Hollywood producer at Warner Bros. studios and then for a smaller independent film distribution and production company. She screened films seeking distribution and critiqued screenplays by writing two-page analyses.

1992
She was a teacher with The Princeton Review, a preparatory course for students taking the SAT, LSAT, and GMAT. She taught high school students how to improve their math and verbal SAT scores. Later, she was promoted to teaching college graduates how to improve their LSAT scores.

1990-1991
She attended the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. During this time, she received a scholarship (along with two other students) to study the effects of glasnost on press freedom in Moscow. She presented three symposiums on her findings to various groups including the Board of Trustees at Northwestern University.

1988-1990
She worked for Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota as an assistant to the press secretary. She wrote several press releases each week along with a weekly newsletter to constituents and a weekly analysis of media coverage. She also was solely responsible for weekly radio and television feeds to South Dakota stations.