Laurie J. James began her professional journey by earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1983. In her early career years, she developed business acumen through positions as Office Manager with KLFY TV, Legislative Aide to Louisiana State Representative Ron Gomez, and Expendables Assistant for Panavision. In 1986, she opened Just Your Type Inc. and assisted more than 12,000 clients through the 18-year run before selling the business in 2004. She co-founded the Professional Résumé Writing and Research Association (PRWRA) in 2000 and served as the association’s first President from 2000 to 2005. PRWRA rebranded to Career Directors International (CDI) in 2005 under new leadership. Mrs. James continues to contribute to CDI as an active member.
In 2005, Mrs. James established herself as a Career Image Coach, Independent Beauty Consultant, and Independent Sales Director with Mary Kay. Three years later, she opened her consulting firm, LaurieJJames.com, LLC. She holds considerable expertise in career and interview coaching and is one of only 10 Master Career Directors (MCD) in the world. An industry pioneer, Mrs. James was the first in Louisiana to earn career coaching and résumé writing credentials, including Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC), Certified Career Master (CCM), International Job and Career Transition Coach (IJCTC), Certified Résumé Writer (CRW), Certified Expert Résumé Writer (CERW), Nationally Certified Résumé Writer (NCRW), Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW), Certified Career Enlightenment LinkedIn Writer (CCELW), Certified DISC™styles Communication Coach (CDCC), Certified DISC Practitioner (CDP), and is a Dale Carnegie Graduate.
Inspired by her husband who enjoyed a successful athletic career at every level, Mrs. James is noted for her specialty in working with NCAA student-athletes across all sports. Moreover, she has actively collaborated on numerous civic and professional endeavors. Together with the Louisiana Department of Health, Mrs. James recorded nearly 100 TV and radio public service announcements identifying various life-threatening diseases. Her portfolio includes jingles and commercial voice work for local and regional clients.
Mrs. James has additionally acted in community musical productions, including “The Band Inside Your Head,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “A Grand Night for Singing,” “Oklahoma” and “The Pirates of Penzance.” She has been honored to sing the national anthem at Olympic, national, regional and local events. Having made a name for herself as an actress as well, she appeared in “Certain Death,” and the “Mystery Diagnosis” series which aired on national TV in the Oprah Winfrey Network’s inaugural year.
For her excellence, Mrs. James received multiple honors and accolades during her career. She received numerous awards, including Platinum Member status for outstanding networking and referral efforts through BNI Global, LLC, also known as Business Network International. Mrs. James attributes her success to patience, persistence, and consistency. She also credits her positive outlook, which she tries to spread throughout her life. In 2023, CDI recognized her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Beyond her many accolades, Mrs. James considers the following notable contributions as industry game-changers; the first was naming and introducing the TORI (Toast of the Résumé Industry) Awards to the résumé writing community, coveted accolades presented annually to the best industry résumé writers around the world. The second was designating September as International Update Your Résumé Month, when the workforce can focus on gearing up for the next fiscal year by preparing their career portfolios. The third was spearheading VolunteersForCareers.org just two weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. as a way of rallying approximately 600 career professionals from around the world who donated free career services to victims and families affected by the devastation that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Mrs. James looks forward to expanding her motivational speaking career and venturing into authoring publications about her incredible life adventures. The release of her first book, “About Faces,” is expected in Spring of 2024.