MEET LAURA BURCH

• 1978  Born in Morrison, Illinois, population 4,600. Right on schedule even after family doctor pushes due date back to take annual family trip to Lake Okoboji, Iowa.
  
  
• 1979  Already forming full sentences by first birthday, but not walking. Escorted to infamous family doctor where told all is well. Upon returning home, discovered walking into kitchen by mom.
  
  
• 1980  Wears mom’s Dr. Scholl’s throughout second birthday party, never one to settle for boring shoes. Receives first pair of sunglasses and is rarely seen without a pair on again.
  
  
• 1982  Forced resignation from dance class after poor review from instructor leads to temporary interest in gymnastics.
  
  
• 1983  Takes first family train trip with key stops in Glacier Park, Montana; Seattle, Washington; Victoria, British Columbia and Banff Lake Louise, Alberta. Starts kindergarten one week late in a class-cutting trend that resurfaces again in college.
  
  
• 1984  Learns to make scrambled eggs and a culinary star is born. Forces best friend to come over and co-host cooking show, staring Julia Child and “Jefferina” Smith.
  
  
• 1984  Begins to hone event planning skills by throwing self an annual pool party birthday celebration. Each party has a different theme with a matching cake, depending upon favorite hobby at the time (e.g., piano, gymnastics and even a microscope complete with gray frosting).
  
  
• 1984  Continues to enjoy the limelight as only child. Starts taking piano lessons and participates in show-tune sing-alongs with father.
  
  
• 1984  Begins strategizing about getting out of boring small town with business ventures such as a detective agency, dog-walking business, home-based restaurant, and science museum. Decides to become an author and sets to work on yet-to-be completed manuscript.
  
  
• 1992  Enters high school and joins swim team. All those pool parties weren’t just about looking good in a swim suit and socializing. Joins park district tennis team and travels to USTA-sanctioned tournaments throughout the Midwest during the summers.
  
  
• 1992  Masterminds landslide victory as student council representative and brings important issues to Morrison High School, including an environmental seminar and AIDS week activities.
  
  
• 1992  Turns down boyfriend’s homecoming date invitation to attend National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. – passion for politics trumps passion for boy. Turns down roll in “Anything Goes” to attend boyfriend’s prom, marking first experience with finding work-life balance.
  
  
• 1992  Takes first trips to New York and Europe with family. At mom’s insistence, drinks wine with family dinners to prepare for European vacation – love of wine remains strong.
  
  
• 1996  Follows in parents’ footsteps by attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Attempts to find self in college of liberal arts, but transfers into esteemed college of communications and graduates with B.S. in advertising.
  
  Waitresses at family-owned Italian restaurant and offers recipe tips to the cooks. Waitresses at Urbana Country Club and takes first course in wine-tasting.
  
  
• 1996  Lands job in advertising department of the school newspaper (Daily Illini), and dreams of future career as advertising copyrighter.
  
  
• 1996  Becomes secretary of school chapter of American Advertising Federation and decides PR is the correct career path after hosting a communications career seminar.
  
  
• 1996  Lands first PR internship at Dome Communications, working on Sara Lee, Wrigley and Deans Foods.
  
  
• 2000  Informs parents that a post-college trek through Europe is in order, but is encouraged to apply for jobs instead. Receives internship offer from Edelman and decides to stay in the States.
  
  
• 2000  Moves up from intern to account supervisor during Edelman tenure, working on various pieces of business, including MVP.com, Bush’s Baked Beans, KC Masterpiece, Land-O-Lakes, Dairy Management, Inc, Dove and Wal-Mart.
  
  
• 2000  Enjoys planning events and building media relationships, and is one of the few people who can say they have traveled to St. Barths (Dove) or North Pole, Alaska (Wal-Mart) for work, not to mention having ridden on a parade float with a large likeness of Jay Bush and his talking dog “Duke” (Bush’s Baked Beans) throughout most of the southeastern United States.
  
  
• 2000  Takes time off from work to travel to Switzerland, Italy and Costa Rica, as well as warm-weather destinations in the U.S.
  
  
• 2007  Decides to make the leap to Current to focus attention back on passion for food marketing. While working on the Wines of Chablis, learns that Chablis is not just something that comes in a giant jug – it’s a region in France with delicious wines.
  
  
• 2008  Switches gears from wine to milk with the launch of the first-ever ergonomic organic milk bottle from Borden. Helps Frigidaire restore firehouses in New Orleans with beautiful, new appliances and learns firefighters make good gumbo.
  
  
• 2008  Continues to enjoy the culinary adventure that is food PR, including traveling to multiple barbecue competitions across the U.S. with world champion pitmaster, Chris Lilly, for Kingsford and creating one-pot dishes with Seeds of Change organic rice and simmer sauces.
  
  
• 2008  Hones domestic skills while helping to launch a new line of bagless upright vacuums from Hoover and learns that it takes more than just suction to get her apartment truly clean.