Meet Founding Victory Circles Member, Loretta Dorman
Loretta Dorman, The Wealth Baristas, was born and raised in Brentwood, Long Island. Early on in life she got street smart about getting what she needed to take her where she wanted to go. When she was 19 years old her Dad unexpectedly told her his plans to retire, leaving her to get creative about the way in which she paid for her college tuition. The summer after her high school graduation she went to work at a bookstore before getting hired on at Symbol, a manufacturer of barcode laser scanners. Loretta would stay on with Symbol throughout her years in college. While she aspired to be in Marketing and Advertising she ended up in the Credit and Collections department.
Due to life circumstances and situations Loretta went to a variety of schools, receiving her Undergraduate Degree at Suffolk Community College as well as her Associates Degree in Applied Sciences. She received her BS in Management and Accounting at Long Island University also known as CW Post, which is located in the old Post Mansion on Long Island.
Loretta received her Masters degree at Adelphi University in Marketing. Through her creative financing and hard work Loretta paid off her educational debt by the time she graduated. After graduation Loretta continued to work in the product marketing area of Symbol. She discovered a glass ceiling early on in the Symbol marketing department because she lacked an engineering degree (something she had no desire to pursue). While Loretta had worked for Symbol for many years, she knew that she didn’t want to be a “lifer” and also knew for sure was that one day down the road she never wanted to say the words, “I wish I would have…”
With the knowledge that there was a world out there waiting for her, Loretta packed up and headed west to find “the space” she knew was waiting for her to start the next phase of her life. After traveling through California and Nevada she ended up coming to a dude ranch in Colorado. Colorado offered New York seasonality without the humidity. In May of 1995 she officially made Colorado her home with no family, no friends and no job.
After a short stint of temporary jobs she was hired on at Coors Brewing Company as a Contract Field Financial Analyst. Once again she tried to get into the depth of the marketing arena at Coors but could not get where she wanted to this time because she did not have a consumer goods background. She ended up in a Sales/Marketing/Finance position for a few years then moved into IT Department helping them prepare for Y2K. While she was in Sales and Finance she became quite good at documenting the systems they were using. It led them to ask her to become part of the IT team with company conversions taking her to far away spots such as Canada and Puerto Rico.
Ironically, since she was so in tune with systems documentation by this point they asked her to work with the engineering systems as well. This is where she met her soon to be husband, Stuart, who was on the Plant Maintenance team. They were married in 2001.
Loretta went on to complete some private consulting work before going to Jefferson Wells, an accounting contracting company. Her real world experience was very valuable to the company. Her time with them was short-lived however due to the commute from the Denver Tech Center. One day, the final icing on the cake was the realization that it had taken her husband just as long to get to Boulder from California as it took her commute from the Tech Center.
Behind the scenes, from 1996 to 2006, Loretta had also been running a part time business on the side, Pioneer Tax Services. After a short stint as an Accounting Manager for a Management company in Boulder, in 2006 Loretta decided to run Pioneer full time. Loretta also got her real estate license. Real Estate fascinated her and she began to make some investments.
She spent two years deciding if she had a sustainable business. During this time she also found out she was pregnant. After the birth of her son, Sebastian she decided she had found the business balance she was looking for in her life. It was then she decided to change the name from Pioneer Tax Services to Wealth Barista’s , to fully encompass all that she did for her clients besides just taxes. A barista serves up opportunity – just as Loretta does with her clients except in her case she helps them towards the success of their financial well being.
On the topic of networking for her business Loretta had this to share, “When I was pregnant with my son, I knew I needed to cut down on my networking activities. It came down to three activities, The Victory Circles, the Boulder Chamber and a BNI group. I started at the Chamber and met Trish Thomas and found out about the Victory Circles. From Chris Ratay, I discovered BNI. Through these groups I have built and established strong relationships to give me people to call when I need them and likewise, they know they can count on me.”
This interview with Loretta occurred just days after the end of the 2009 tax season. When asked how she was feeling now that the season was over, she got a big smile and said, “It is always the time of year to reevaluate life.”
Loretta further shared, “My grandfather was an Entrepreneur back in the day and as I got older I spent more time with him just listening to his stories. All the small little things that he did for his customers that made them impressed with his work, referring him on to others or calling him back again and again. His trade was plumbing. Treating people fair, being honest and true to your word and being there when they need you meant a lot.
Today I have pictures of him on both my work and personal desk’s as he is no longer here in body, only spirit. One thing he said to me was - it didn't matter what I wanted to be even if it was to sell peanuts on the street corner - just as long as I did the best job that I could for those that came to me.”