Lara has been a consummate professional in the credit counseling field for more than three years, delivering compassionate, expert counseling services and financial education to those in need. In her day-to-day duties, she devotes approximately 75% of her time to credit counseling and the remainder to mentoring both newly hired and tenured credit counselors. Lara deftly employs servant-leader principles in her counseling and mentoring approach that garners positive and appreciative responses from her peers and clients.
As the Pandemic has taken various twists and turns, Lara has remained resolute in her mission of leading clients to financial health and well-being. During the last fiscal year, she has counseled over 1,300 clients and enrolled more than 300 clients in a long-term debt management plan. Lara has been an ardent proponent of new industry initiatives, such as EMS and LTFB, by encouraging her peers to take advantage of every opportunity to provide clients with comprehensive and tailored solutions. Additionally, she has quickly adapted to the changing landscape by staying abreast of local, national, and community resources to equip our clients with the resources and tools they need. Lara not only champions referrals to Steady, FindHelp.org, GoHyer, 211, LIHEAP, LawHelp.org, and Benefits.gov, but also worked within our CMS to craft and implement text message referrals designed to motivate clients and promote ease of use for counselors.
Amid the chaos and uncertainty of COVID-19, Lara has been the epitome of professionalism and grace under pressure. With each client, she listens carefully and probes thoughtfully to gain a nuanced understanding of clients' needs, then delivers a responsive and tailored solution. Her counseling style emphasizes holistic, long-term solutions. Her commitment to her clients is evident in the below testimonials:
Lara, your company is lucky to have you as an employee. Your kindness and your patience with me really put me at ease. I had so many questions and you would answer me with so much patience. I really appreciate the time that you spent on the phone with me yesterday to explain everything to me. I have all your information and I look forward to working with you in the future. You take care of yourself.
The experience I had with Lara was fantastic, educational, informative, and very helpful.
Thanks to Lara and the team at AFS to help me get through the toughest year of my life - losing all my contracts and surging into debt during Covid. They were incredibly helpful, friendly, and truly some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but they made paying down debt a joy. Thank you from the bottom of my bank balance.
As a mentor over the last fiscal year, Lara has been a key contributor in the development and success of nine new hires. She has worked tirelessly through extraordinary challenges while logging more than 174 hours of overtime during peak times to cover for shortages in staffing while simultaneously providing counseling services and new hire training.
Lara also played another critical role in the AFS Pandemic response by conducting specialized Pandemic training on topics ranging from Debt Reduction Program (DRP) execution, emphasizing the Less Than Full Balance (LTFB) option review, client referral resources and deferral options, stimulus fund allocation and management, and responding to client objections during intense economic uncertainty. She manages to keep her thumb on the pulse of the staff morale while working diligently to anticipate needs and provide solutions and recommendations. With her meticulous attention to detail, deep desire to see others succeed, and extensive reservoir of industry knowledge, she inspires, supports, and enables her peers to reach new heights.
Additionally demonstrating Lara’s unique talents and penchant for communication, is that she has been our “go-to” counselor for media requests. Her wise advice has been cited in articles for Bloomberg, American Banker, US News, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
In the community, Lara is especially passionate about involvement with military families. Below is a direct quote from Lara:
“As a credit counselor and wife of an active duty servicemember, I’m uniquely placed to provide both an empathetic ear and concrete, substantive resources to help military families who are struggling financially. Generally speaking, many military families face financial challenges-single income households because of frequent moves, etc. Because of my work as a credit counselor, I can help steer struggling military personnel (and their families) toward credit counseling agencies and legitimate non-profit resources to help them build a solid financial future. “ Lara Ceccarelli
29 сен 2024
