Meet Lara Zuehlke…
As an award-winning writer and communications leader, I was the go-to person behind the scenes.
For nearly thirty years, I’ve worked across agencies, nonprofits, universities, and Fortune 500 companies.
I’ve led creative teams, facilitated complex conversations, shaped stories, and created clarity in moments when people and projects felt stuck.
So I understand the pressures of creating on the clock. Pleasing the difficult clients and leaders. And saying “yes” so many times to keep the peace that you lose sight of the inner “no.”
I won the awards. Landed the big clients. Proudly earned the new titles.
Somewhere along the way, I was so good at knowing what everyone else needed—I lost touch with what was waiting to be expressed through me.
And this weighed on me.
By my early forties, I found myself lost inside a career…and life…that looked perfectly “fine” from the outside.
Afraid of changing, I buckled down inside of what was known and familiar. I thought that maybe I just needed to work harder and be more disciplined.
Then on July 6, 2017, the proverbial brick whacked me. Hard.
In one of those aha moments you simply can no longer ignore, I knew I was done living a half-lived life.
I began taking one honest step at a time—listening to my body, questioning the stories I had inherited, and rebuilding trust in my creative voice.
It’s been a journey that’s impacted nearly every part of my life.
Letting go of more than 40 pounds for good.
Changing my relationship with alcohol.
Launching podcasts and publishing a novel.
Navigating the grief of stepping away from work and relationships that no longer felt safe or aligned.
I became willing to create a life that felt more fully my own.
I slowed down to discern my inner wisdom.
And I began taking baby steps—one day, one decision at a time.
These career and life experiences are not separate. They are the work.
Behind the scenes of my career, I was a long-distance triathlete, cyclist, and became certified as a Food Psychology Coach.
I deepened my understanding of how our stories, bodies, choices, and capacity for expression are always connected.
For years, I kept those parts of my experience in separate compartments: the communications leader over here.
The writer and creative over there.
And the woman deeply interested in our physical well-being, nourishment, and our personal evolution over time.
Well, she was off somewhere else entirely.
That is why my work today encompasses all of the ways we express—at work and in life.
My work through Zula brings together what I’ve learned about creativity, communication, leadership, human behavior, and personal transformation.
After decades of working across organizations and alongside so many wonderful people, I’ve had an insider’s view into where teams struggle—and why they thrive.
I’ve seen the pressure leaders carry.
I’ve seen incredibly talented, thoughtful people doubt their own wisdom.
And I’ve watched teams be asked to “do more” and “grind harder” without ever being told what success actually looks like.
That is why this work lives at the intersection of people and process.
Because how we feel, think, and relate shapes how safe and free we are to express our unique gifts—at work and in life.
Let’s explore what’s possible.
Gathering your team, navigating change, or ready to move something meaningful forward?