Laurie Grigsby

In my experience as a Psychologist for the State of Texas, my primary goal was to assist the client by doing whatever it took to either solve their problem, create a new and better solution or opportunity and, above all, maximize their current situation and condition.

My secondary concern was to help build and maintain cohesiveness among coworkers by arranging and leading staff meetings, speaker presentations, conferences and even social activities tied to projects at work, which definitely led to a happier and more productive work environment.

In addition to providing therapy, I also served as the Safety Inspector for the East Texas Region, where I adjudicated Worker’s Comp cases, led fraud investigations and initiated work placement for clients, along with establishing successful RSDI claims for those with both physical, as well as emotional disabilities.

As a sideline project, I organized and directed a non-profit for young women known as, “Girl Talk”, which held (3) group sessions a week, afterschool, and allowed them to share things about their lives, as well as learn new life skills from various speakers and academics I enlisted to help provide new and useful information and assist in problem solving.

As a Broker at Hibbs-Hallmark, I scored 100% on the Texas Commercial Property and Commercial Health Insurance Licensing Exam, as well as Corporate Fiduciary Management. I was the Department Head for Life, Health and Business Insurance, supervising a staff of 10 employees. I prepared and presented major bid proposals for businesses such as Coors Inc., Lodging Host and the Texas and Louisiana’s Sheriff’s Associations. I also trained and taught entire businesses and personnel in various fiduciary plans which I presented at various conferences and conventions.

The seminars I conducted for new companies ranged from 150 to 600 employees and were scheduled for any time the employer requested, including nights, Saturdays and even on an hour’s notice.

My major accomplishment, in the field of Insurance, came in being the first broker in the nation to create and implement a prototype for bundling small business associations together - a prototype now standard throughout the industry - which allowed these underserved entities to receive the same coverage previously enjoyed by only larger corporations.

As a Captive Agent and District Manager for American General, I scored 100% on the Louisiana State Licensing Exam for Life, Health and Property Insurance and also had the highest score on record for The American General Group of Companies Entrance Exam.

I was solely responsible for building, maintaining and expanding my own client base by managing a 200 mile territory, which included marketing through cold calls, sales and bids for prospective clients and large corporations, B2B calls, along with all accounting and client services.

As a Psychologist for the State of Louisiana, my duties largely mirrored those of my tenure with the State of Texas. In addition to providing therapy, I also served as the Safety Inspector for Ruston, Louisiana and was Chief Adjudicator for Worker's Comp cases, led fraud investigations and initiated work placement for clients, along with establishing successful RSDI claims for those with both physical, as well as emotional disabilities.
I also conducted work search seminars which focused on properly completing applications, communication skills, proper dress and maintaining personal hygiene for interviews.

For several years I operated a large organic gardening and seed company, which had a national outreach due to continuing write-ups and feature stories which appeared regularly in Organic Gardening magazine.
During this time I also bred a new species of pole beans known as “Angel's Breath Pole Beans”. In addition, I provided free seeds, in bulk amounts, to underserved communities throughout the country and locally created and maintained a catering company, in conjunction with a non-profit food outreach program known as “Victoria's Pantry”, which I successfully ran for (7) years, utilizing a staff of (8) employees.
A list of my heirloom seed clients included the New York City Gardening Club, The Mormon Church, The Bureau of Indian Affairs, The Detroit Community Garden Project and the Gregg County Food Drive. We also provided what we called, "Blessing Bags" year-round, which included backpacks, blankets and specialized food items prepared for the homeless, designed not only to help those in need but also to remind our followers, and kindhearted people everywhere, to continue providing assistance all year and not just during the holidays.

A position I held and continued all throughout college, was with Ruston State Bank in Louisiana. At 17 years of age, I rapidly moved from Teller to Supervisor, overseeing a staff of employees who were all significantly older.
In addition to handling Public Relations for the bank, I was also in charge of loading the dispenser cassettes in all ATMs, as well as physically going to the bank to log all Holiday Receipts.
As an aside, being an artist, I hand painted a large mural of Sesame Street characters along the side wall at one of our temporary locations, where a new branch was under construction. Parents, kids and customers of all walks loved it.
Upon graduation from Northeast, my employer reimbursed me completely for my college tuition and textbooks.

I was a model and a contestant participant in Beauty Pageants from age (2) to (21) which enabled me to become very comfortable speaking and doing presentations before large crowds, as well as appearing in TV commercials and doing voice-overs for political ads on radio. I also took classes in Decorum, Etiquette, Public Speaking, Tap, Gymnastics and Ballet. I was a 4-year member of my high school cheerleading squad and was also on the yearbook staff.
As an adult, I continued my contest affiliation, for an additional (4) years, by acting as Regional Contestant Coordinator for The Miss America Pageant.
And on a volunteer basis, in addition to my food outreach program with my seed company, I participated locally in an annual city-wide Food Drive from 1988 until 1995 and, in 2005, assisted Katrina victims with family search and notification, procurement of free housing, job searches and grief counseling, also working annually with the Marine's Toys for Tots Drive, along with providing multiple, ongoing donations to the local Women's Shelter.
Academically, while still in high school, I participated in the College Level Examination Program, earning credits for full classes. Here is a list of those courses: Financial Accounting, Management Principles, Marketing Principles,Composition and Literature, American Literature, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, College Composition, English Literature, Humanities, American Government, Human Growth and Development, Psychology 101, Social Sciences and History, Biology, Calculus, College Algebra, College Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
I won 1st Place for the State of Louisiana in both English Literature and College Mathematics and, upon graduation from high school, I received a full scholarship to LSU and was awarded certificates for passing both the ACT and SAT with scores among the top 1% in the country.
I now seek the next level of improvement within myself and others. In addition to maximizing profits, I assign great value to bringing out the best work ethic and levels of expertise for the company, as well as from each employee.

I am presently CEO of WFH Enterprises and am an internationally published author, currently working on a new series of novels with my partner. I also create and develop merchandise and provide the final decision on fashion design, expenditures, graphic and art design, sound production, editing and B2B.