Laura is an experienced business owner and educator. Laura is skilled in Coaching, Team Building, Fundraising, Management, Teaching, and Leadership. She has a Masters in Education from California State University, Fullerton, 21 years of experience working with school-age children in both public and private school settings, and 13 years as a business owner. Before business ownership in the restaurant industry, Laura was a lead teacher at a National Blue Ribbon school, conducted teacher in-service trainings, participated in curriculum steering committees, and trained beginning teachers. She always emphasized creating engaging activities that encouraged active student participation. However, during her years away from education, Laura witnessed an enormous shift away from actively engaged students and observed increasing anxiety and depression as students became more pressured to improve performance at all costs. As Laura began developing ideas to revolutionize education programs, she stumbled upon programs throughout the world that had similar philosophies. Laura is determined to utilize the best of her research to provide an environment that gives students the freedom to learn what is important and/or relevant to them and develop themselves as humans rather than as workers. Laura’s mission is to help children with their own personal growth, so they live to their fullest potential instead of trying to meet someone else’s standards placed upon them. Learning is natural when one has an interest or desire to learn. In addition to her education background, Laura has a husband and two children and has helped grow the family business. She is an Amazon Best Selling Author, manages a women’s group, and volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters. She has always expected to return to her passion, education, and is excited to do so in her own unique way.