Laura Lollar

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" —Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It's never JUST business, it's ALWAYS personal." —Laura Lollar

Recent Articles

25 Things I Wish I Knew Before Building My Business

Way back in 1997, I left my corporate job to start a consulting, training and facilitation company in Colorado. Yup, I took some classes about how to be a self-employed person. But there were 25 things I wish I knew before building my business. What I never learned back then would have saved me immense amounts of time, money and emotional energy. These are the kinds of things they don’t teach you in school. You either get the knowledge through experience OR from someone who has been …

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5 Ways Leaders Can Shine

People aren’t complicated. Human nature is fairly predictable. And we don’t need a plethora of rules and regulations to define every possible way a person might step out of line. We can boil it all down to the basics — a few simple things most people want and the five ways leaders can shine. The Principle of Legitimacy in Leadership At the 1814 Congress of Vienna, an idea was proposed to help restore to power the lawful monarchs from royal families who ruled before Napoleon. Titled the …

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How to Be a Leader People Will Follow

Recently, I watched as a highly influential public figure, business owner and community leader treated someone with an impairment with a level of respect, kindness and consideration rarely seen these days. He was a leader people will follow. Those who succeed, in business, in school, at work and in their communities, are not always those with thousands of “friends” or followers. They don’t necessarily have a blue check mark next to their name on Twitter or the title of “influencer” on LinkedIn. …

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7 Steps to a Magnificent Career

There are some simple things you can do to take your career to new heights of success! These seven steps to a magnificent career will get you great results — they include: 1. Create a “Master List” of your accomplishments. Each week come up with three or four things you got done that you can quantify and add them to your list. Then organize your list into functional categories based on what you do more of or what you do best. For example: leadership, operations, crisis-management, PR, …

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The Influencer Personality Style

As an Influencer personality style on the DISC profile, I’ve tried my best to figure people out. It’s always a challenge to discover why people do and say the things they do. Some folks will inspire you, some will mystify you and others, well, you just have to keep a sense of humor! So, after years of presenting DISC personality style trainings, I’ve collected a few examples people have shared about their own humorous behaviors.  Here are a few from the Influencer personality style …

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About Laura Lollar, Colorado Springs Facilitator, Speaker and Coach

The Business BioColorado Springs facilitator and communication coach

Laura (Benjamin) Lollar is a Colorado Springs Facilitator, Sales and Communication Coach. She is Principal, Communicate Colorado LLC, a veteran-owned firm. For over 20 years, Laura has been a Colorado Springs facilitator for for marketing summits, sales meetings, team building, strategic planning and partnering sessions. She also serves private individuals as a communication coach. Laura has worked with clients throughout Colorado, the U.S., Canada, Germany and Great Britain. She has coached executives, business owners, sales managers and private individuals who appreciate her ability to listen, relate, empathize, strategize and develop their talents.

A few of Laura’s clients include Junior Achievement USA, LibDib Inc., Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Paint Brush Hills Metropolitan District, the U.S. Army, Spectranetics, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Meeting Professions International and Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) among many others.

Laura is creator of the CARLA Concept Communication Model and author of the handbook of the  same name. She is a skilled facilitator in DiSC Behavioral Styles, Team Dimensions the ConflictLens and Personal Listening profiles. Her 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 customer service, leadership and communication. Laura was also a contributing author on interpersonal communication for Safety, Health and Asset Protection Management Essentials (CRC Press).

Earlier in her career, Laura served on the Communication Staff for the Mayor and City of Colorado Springs. At Current Inc., she was a Customer Service and Sales Team Manager who supervised an operations team of 100+ employees. She also led an upsell and cross-sell initiative at that 400-person call center which achieved almost $1M in revenue in 18 months. At the Rochester Institute of Technology and National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID), Laura was a Senior Human Resources and Employee Benefits Specialist who supported over 2500 faculty and staff, including the deaf and hearing-impaired. Through her efforts, the college achieved a 20% increase in benefit plan participation.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from California State University, Sacramento with graduate studies at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

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 for Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard service members and their families. During her enlistment, she attended the Non-commissioned Officers Leadership School and earned a USAF Commendation Medal, Marksmanship Medal and an Honorable Discharge.

Laura has also 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 Partnership and Pikes Peak Council of the Boy Scouts of America. She is Past-president of the Colorado Springs Society for Human Resources Management and a 2010 graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies (LPR). Laura also served 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 and her husband live in Black Forest, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Laura also writes a humor blog at CabinMama.com

To discuss Laura’s services as a Colorado Springs facilitator, sales or communication coach, please send her a note. 

Laura Lollar, Principal, Communicate Colorado

The Personal Story

The eldest in a big Catholic family, Laura grew up in Upstate New York among the woods and waters in 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 publication 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 coaching, 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, then rebuilt on the same site. Laura and her husband Doug were married in 2017. Laura also writes humor at CabinMama.com.