This Investor Spotlight features Laura Oldanie, a green living and money coach, who provides guidance to individuals on how to cultivate true wealth and financial resilience in uncertain times. Laura became an investor in 2021 after learning of Community Vision by researching options for non-accredited investors, such as herself.
Her approach to investing and coaching is informed, in part, by the principles of permaculture and by the F.I.R.E. Movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). Permaculture is a design framework with guiding principles for creating ecologically harmonious environments. The F.I.R.E. Movement began in the early 1990s and focuses on minimizing one’s expenses and maximizing retirement savings. However, Laura realized that followers of F.I.R.E. often invest in the stock market and in companies with environmentally and socially harmful practices.
“I wanted to achieve financial independence and resilience without putting money into businesses that aren’t aligned with my values. There wasn’t a lot of information available on what my options were, so I went on a learning journey to explore how I can invest beyond the stock market.”
Laura’s research led to her creating a website and a coaching practice, where she offers a variety of services and resources to help people align their money and lifestyle with their regenerative values. Traditionally applied to gardening and agriculture, she weaves permaculture into her offerings because of its emphasis on symbiotic relationships and the interconnectedness of all life. She finds that the framework helps people to envision and think more broadly about what wealth is and how money can be used to do good on a climate-challenged planet with increasing wealth gaps .
