
Laura Gmeinder Coaching & Consulting, LLCFounder & Leading Lady, Laura Gmeinder
The hardest thing that Laura Gmeinder ever had to do was quit her corporate human resources job after 14 years at the same company. However, the very same week she gave notice, she took on her first client: a friend who needed a business coach and consultant. From then on, Gmeinder has grown her business and brand as a passion-igniter: she supports individuals and teams with leadership coaching, business consulting, and motivational speaking and training. Gmeinder is especially passionate about advocating for women in business.
Gmeinder was named one of “40 Under 40” promising young professionals in Madison, Wisconsin, by In Business magazine in 2016. She was also co-organizer, speaker, and master of ceremonies for Disrupt Madison and Disrupt Milwaukee and has served in leadership roles for the Junior League, Doyenne Group, and United Way Business Volunteer Network.
She contributes to the International Coach Federation Coach World and served as a coach at the Emerging Women Conference. Gmeinder has been quoted in the media outlets like Huffington Post, U.S. News & World Report, and the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.
Not long after she started, Gmeinder realized that she wasn’t fully playing to her strengths in the services she offered. She refocused on professional speaking and training, using her background in adult education and human resources, and her talent for winning people over.
SCORE mentor Steve Stone helped Gmeinder to establish herself as a thought leader. He attended her presentations and gave feedback, and helped her tailor her ebook and speaker one sheet. Stone and the local SCORE chapter arranged to have Gmeinder profiled in In Business magazine.
Gmeinder credits Stone with the fact that she has doubled her revenue year over year and hit her goal of booking 24 speaking gigs in 2017.
Other members of the Madison-area SCORE team have attended her presentations as well. “It means so much to know they are all cheering me on,” Gmeinder says. She advises other small business owners to “wake up every day as you’ve never heard ‘no.’”