Laura (Benjamin) Lollar is the owner of Communicate Colorado, a marketing, PR, communication advisor and small business coach in Colorado Springs. Laura launched her business over 25 years ago and has traveled the world helping clients with communication, marketing and small business success. She is also the owner of Pinehurst Press, a self-publishing venture specializing in non-fiction.
Since 1997, Laura’s clients have included independent businesses, consultants, solopreneurs, authors, Fortune 100 firms, non-profits, the U.S. military, boards and trade associations throughout Colorado, the U.S., Canada, Germany and Great Britain. As a professional speaker, she has presented keynote speeches, general sessions, breakout sessions, retreats and membership meetings in five countries for groups of 5-500. She was twice designated a Meeting Professionals International “Platinum Program Speaker.” Laura has also facilitated board and partnering meetings, leadership development sessions and marketing summits.
Laura’s work has been featured on television, radio, online journals, newspapers and trade magazines. She has been a commencement speaker and guest lecturer at colleges and universities on leadership, careers, customer service and professional success.
Earlier, Laura was a Sales and Service Team Manager for a 2500 employee greeting card company. In that role she supervised over 100 representatives and led an upsell and cross-sell initiative for the 400-person call center achieving almost $1M in added revenue in 18 months. She also served as an Account Manager for a sales and lead generation company, blogged for the Mayor of Colorado Springs and was a Career Marketing Consultant for an outplacement firm. At the Rochester Institute of Technology and National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID), Laura was an Employee Benefits Specialist who supported over 2500 faculty and staff, including the deaf and hearing-impaired.
Laura is creator of the CARLA Concept™ Communication Model and author of the forthcoming book, The CARLA Concept: How to Speak Up, Raise an Issue and Prove Your Point in 5 Simple Steps. She also co-authored The Camp Book with her 94 year old mom, and is presently working on the Cabin Mama Stories (humor), The Farmer’s Family and a small business book series.
As a Veteran, Laura served her country as a decorated Non-commissioned Officer in the United States Air Force, with seven years active duty as a Paralegal. She was also a volunteer member of the Base Honor Guard Team, where she provided military honors in support of deceased service members and their grieving families. During her enlistment, she attended the Non-commissioned Officers Leadership School and earned a USAF Commendation Medal, Marksmanship Ribbon and an Honorable Discharge.
In a volunteer capacity, Laura was Past-president of the Colorado Springs Society for Human Resources Management and volunteered for the Home Front Cares Welcome Home Heroes Program, Junior Achievement, Young Women of the West and Colorado State Parks and Wildlife. She also served on the boards of the National Speakers Association Colorado Chapter, Pikes Peak Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Black Forest, Colorado, Educational Opportunity Foundation (EOF), a scholarship program for high school seniors. She was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to serve two, three-year terms in a public-at-large role on the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Advisory Council (RAC) for the Colorado Frontrange. Laura is also a 2010 graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies.
Please contact Laura to discuss bringing her on as a podcast guest, professional speaker, marketing coach or consultant.
THE PERSONAL STORY
The eldest in a big, traditional Catholic family, Laura grew up in Upstate New York among the woods and waters of the Finger Lakes area. Dad was a farmer and Mom was a city girl. Together they raised six children who all eventually moved to Colorado. Laura published her first newsletter articles on a blue mimeograph machine when the nuns weren’t watching. She joined the United States Air Force after high school to serve her country and get a college degree. Laura has worked at a college, in a phone center, sold vinyl checkbook covers, cleaned stalls on a 400 head horse farm and blogged for the Mayor of Colorado Springs. She launched her business in 1997 and has traveled the world facilitating, speaking and consulting. Laura raised her three young un’s in a townhouse and later moved to a 1924 log cabin in Black Forest, Colorado. She lost it all in a 2013 wildfire and then rebuilt. Laura and her husband Doug were married in 2017 and live in Black Forest near Colorado Springs. Laura has hunted deer and elk in northwest Colorado, and enjoys camping and kayaking. She also writes humor at CabinMama.com.
