Meet Laurie
Financial Advisor & Founding Principal
Food and travel are my passions. Put them together and I'm in heaven. I enjoy learning about new cultures and new dishes and I'm happiest when I'm making lifelong friends over a meal. I'm lucky to have experienced the adventures of an African campfire eating dinner made in a pit, sitting in an Italian kitchen watching ‘grandma’ make fresh pasta, and eating at a foreign restaurant where I played charades with the waitstaff to order my meal.” Prior to the Pandemic, I was starting to plan a trip to Antartica, the last continent I need on my bucket list! Sadly the only way to get there is by cruise ship and now that trip might not happen for a while. In the meantime there might be some road trips to visit some socially distancing friends.
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With my joy of traveling and being away from home on extended trips or long weekends, I didn't think it was fair to have a dog or cat. My neighbors and I share ownership of a flock of chickens and I've discovered they make the best pets, and they don't mind if I'm gone for a few weeks! They stay in their cage, eat all the kitchen leftovers, and pop out delicious food every day. I’ve become very creative with eggs. Quiche, creme brulee, and pavlova are a few of the many dishes I make regularly.
My journey to becoming a Financial Advisor?
I never set out to be a financial advisor. Being a fan of science fiction, my first thought was that I wanted a career in aerospace. After completing my first few years of math & science, I realized this wasn't the right path for me and decided to switch to Business and attend San Diego State University. I graduated with a degree in Finance and with a little help from my sister Beth, I got a job at Bank of America in the Bay Area.
I worked in a few different areas of the bank, ending my career working in the back office supporting the trading floors in New York and Chicago for foreign exchange and commodities. In between, I did a little stint at AirTouch, the predecessor to Verizon, as the International Cash Manager.
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In 1999, Bank of America was purchased by Nations Bank and I was laid off. I decided to take some time off, return to my family home in La Mesa which was vacant, and travel a bit. I spent part of my time off trying to figure out the next chapter in my life. By this time my sister Beth had joined our father, a financial advisor for Waddell & Reed. I decided to join in 2001 and our dad retired in 2003. As we grew with the business we realized we needed to provide better products and services to our clients and moved our practice to where we could be independent financial advisors. We developed and refined The Interlocking FORMulaâ„ process and found our home with Commonwealth Financial Network.