Laura was born in the City of Angeles in the Philippines. Although she has traveled to many places internationally and within the United States, she calls California her home. Growing up in Sacramento as a teen she began to run with a gang of older kids who were clearly a bad influence. It was at that point that her mother and father, Lita and Larry, decided to move Laura and her older brother Rory to a remote part of America, the Navajo Indian reservation, Ganado Arizona, to be exact. Although it was a radical change from Sacramento, the Navajo culture had some curtail lessons to provide Laura.

When she arrived wearing Levi's and a vest, and wearing a timing chain belt and Buck knife, the reservation children were shocked by her "style." The battle for acceptance yielded five fistfights for Laura in her first year. The reservation was the last place she wanted to be. Laura's family was 34 miles from groceries, 62 miles from clothing, and 42 miles from alcohol. Larry had accomplished the impossible, he had removed his children from the lure of fast lane drug use and violence, and his children initially resented him for it. 

Slowly, things began to change. Because Laura was such a strong-willed teen, she was unwilling to become a victim when they called her, "Bellaganna" (which means white girl, in Navajo) and alienated her. Finally, she had earned the respect of the reservation kids and they began reaching out to her in ways like hand making her jewelry with her name "West" on it (a true sign of acceptance there). Laura became happily involved in her life, becoming class president, lead vocalist in the choir, head cheerleader, best actress and she ranked in the top 5% of America's high school students - a far cry from the troubled teen with a "D" GPA. 

It was at that time that Laura's doctor's discovered an irregular sound in her heartbeat. At 15, Laura underwent open-heart surgery for an atrial ceptal defect (a hole the size of a dime in the lower region of her heart). Laura flew through this very tricky procedure with flying colors and was discharged from the University of Arizona-Tuscon in four days! On that forth day, Laura was found limping and flirting at the local mall. 

Within that same year Laura competed for the Miss Teen USA Pageant in Phoenix. Typically, there's a formula for beauties in pageants: Tall, slender, blond. Laura was neither tall or blond, yet she ranked second in talent out of 87 teens with her hula rendition of "Tiny Bubbles" and placed Fourth Runner Up pageant wide. In Laura's case, traditional pageant "beauty" took a back seat to her tenacious charisma. It was quite the year for her, going from the gateway of death to the fanfare of pageantry! 

From there Laura graduated mid-term and entered Mesa College. It was then she learned her grandfather had come down with Alzheimer's Disease. Laura immediately discharged from college and moved back to Sacramento to live with her grandparents. The next few years she continued her studies while helping her grandmother with her progressively-worse grandfather. Soon both grandparents would pass and the time for Laura to venture out on her own was upon her.  

The next 10 years were spent moving up in office administration. From file clerk to receptionist, to word processor, then administrative assistant, Laura climbed, never really feeling at home in any of the positions. At 27, her father Larry had begun an asbestos-abatement and project management company and asked Laura to come on board as his business administrator. Laura did so with great gusto, only to find the following Christmas that the company's vice president embezzled all the company funds and literally drove the big company truck away with all the expensive abatement equipment. Laura and her family were left with no company, and no income for Christmas.  

Immediately she enrolled in a temporary work agency and was placed at a local television station. Over the next two months, KXTV-10 found Laura to be indispensable and hired her full-time as the Public Affairs Assistant. Laura was promoted to Public Affairs Coordinator, and finally to Creative Services/Public Affairs Coordinator.  

Over the course of the next eight years Laura fastidiously learned the goings on of a 20th Media Market television station, from the ground up. "She'd do her job and volunteer in other departments to learn how they did what they do," says then Public Affairs Director, Vera Davis. From community outreach to producing, and voicing spots, to filing the highly sensitive FCC reports, Laura completed all with great diligence. It was this work style that earned Laura a '97/'98 Emmy Nomination for a public service announcement called "Frankie," that she produced. Laura also earned a respected reputation in her market as a talented voice-over artist.  

On January 1st, 1998, Laura changed her status from full-time, KXTV-10 employee, to freelance, voice-over artist. Having built up a client list over the years, it was time to spread her wings. "Although I love the security of having a paycheck every two weeks, I cannot continue with the 9 to 5 dance," said Laura, "It's time to follow my life's path." Laura's voice-over talents are varied. For a woman, she has a deep, resonant voice with a range that goes from treble to alto. It's this diverse range, coupled with her ability to transfer emotions through her words, which has enabled her to foster a career in her chosen field.  

Laura now lives in a modest home near the American River with her two doggie companions, Precious and Charlie. She's converted the spare bedroom into her home/office and spends a great deal of her time there, marketing herself. If you'd like to hear Laura's voice demo, email her at speakez@tomatoweb.com, and she'll be happy to send you one, or click on the sound file on this page for a short sample!

MP2

Windows Wave

 Special Achievements

1997/98 Emmy Nomination

1993 Community Service Award - Sacramento Food Bank Services

1995 Public Service Award - Society for the Blind

Board of Directors, member - American Heart Association

Board of Directors, member - American Red Cross

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Member

The Emmy Nomination

The public service project began with the introuction to The Lord's Gym, a sports sanctuary for at-risk youth. Initially, our then-meteorologist, wanted to be the front person for this project, but when I visited the gym myself, I knew it called for a more hard-hitting spot. A spot which would capture the plight of one child... "Frankie".

Seventeen-year-old Frankie Tate grew up on the streets of West Sacramento. His mother was a herion addict and a prostitute and his father was a murderer. Frankie spent his life going from motel to motel, pushing their shopping cart which held the families' possessions. Once, Frankie said, "I can remember being at one motel, waiting for my mom and dad to sell their drugs before we could get a room at another motel." It was heartbreaking to see this sweet-faced child sharing with me how he'd tried every drug on the street and how he remembers loosing friends to bullets that flew right by him. After Frankie's father went to prison, Frankie started asking himself questions about his lifestyle. He was "lead" to The Lord's Gym, and found himself with an entirly new family support system. Frankie now lives with the program director, Reverand Bill Thomas, and has avidly proven himself thorugh regular trips to church, staying off the street and drugs, and regular workouts. Frankie even works the front desk at the gym. It is his hope to bring a branch of The Lord's Gym to West Sacramento, where he knows personally of several kids who could use just such a sanctuary.

As I researched the positive impact The Lord's Gym has had on many youths, it not only became my passion, but the passion of several co-workers. From the graphic artist, Mike Alie to the photographer, Kevin Burke, to the post editor, John Jimenez, this project allowed our collective creativity to shine. KXTV-10 recognized its importance, and allocated the time and resources necessary to make it come to life. To quote Frankie after watching the public service announcement, "Laura, not only should you win an Emmy, you should win an Oscar!" I didn't have the heart to tell him that television spots do not win Oscars.

On Saturday, May 9th I brought Frankie with me to the Northern California Area Emmy Awards in San Francisco. It was an interesting combination, me in my classic 50's gown and nervous Frankie, rapping gospel tunes to keep himself grounded. Although we didn't "win" the actual Emmy, the reality of seeing part of the spot on the big screen with the obvious "heavy hitter" producers' works, was an awe-inspiring one for both of us.

I will never forget the impact he made on my life and I pray that I too made a difference with the message my PSA delivered.