Meet Laura Neumann
Laura Neumann didn’t seek out crises. She didn’t join the Marines, or become a firefighter or a hostage negotiator. She originally got into hospitality because, she said, she has a drive to serve. But many of her defining moments have come in the face of crisis of which she has been asked to speak about often in keynote, panel discussions, and small leadership forums.
Neumann, former hotel/resort executive, Colorado Springs Chief of Staff, and strategic consultant was working at the Chaminade Spa & Resort in Santa Cruz, California as director of conference services during the 1989 Bay Area Earthquake when she was thrust into the lead position of magnitude overseeing staff and guests stranded with limited communication for days. Neumann received a promotion, thanks to the way she handled the crisis, making her Benchmark Hospitality International’s first woman and youngest general manager at the time.
Fourteen years later, Neumann was the Vice President overseeing the 55th floor of One World Trade Center responsible for a dozen staff and dozens of visiting guests during the 2001 fall of those Towers. That day she received a voice mail from a staff member she will never forget, along with memories of the endless days thereafter when she travelled to New York City to support her colleagues. Looking back, she calls this a life-defining chapter of what was to come.
Eleven years following, Neumann would again need to be the leadership voice of reason for a city of nearly 500,000 as Mayor Steve Bach’s chief of staff during the Waldo Canyon fire that consumed that spread to more than 18,000 acres and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands and destroyed 347 homes and buildings.
Isaiah Downing, photographer
Yet when asked about her role in these crises, Neumann replies, “I’ve never really strayed that far from my roots. What I really do for a living is to serve. Yes, you’ll often find me strategizing like a ninja. And, on occasion I am called to lead like a warrior. But most days, I just seek to find solutions in complex situations that will better a community, an organization, or a challenging situation.
Awards and Recognitions
Laura received an official Resolution of Appreciation from the City of Colorado Springs for her dedicated services to its citizens in February 2014.
She is a 2014 graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership’s Colorado Springs’ Leadership Institute.
She received Brava Donna Award from the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber in 2012.
She received the Colorado Springs Business Journal Women of Influence award in 2011.
During her fifteen years in the Pikes Peak Region, Laura has served on the boards of the