Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Laurie.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My father founded American Heritage Schools in the mid-1960s.
I grew up through American Heritage Schools, going to school there, working as a janitor, cleaning buses, working summer camp, and doing outside maintenance from the time I was in second grade until college. I always felt a sense of accomplishment cleaning and working at the school.
After receiving my graduate degrees in the 1990s I came on board and taught high school for many years and worked in admissions. For the past 25 years, I have worked my way up to the position of president of the schools and the corporation.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of the original administrators from the 70s and 80s when I was a student made it difficult for me when I first came on board 25 years ago.
Some of them did not take me seriously and did not like my new ideas. However, in time most of them realized that these ideas changed the academic culture for the better and promoted growth.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic gave us challenges that eventually made us stronger and more innovative as a company.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My job as I see it is to make sure that our 1,700 employees and almost 5,000 students are as happy and prepared as possible.
Additionally, my job is to create new innovative ideas and protocols which make our schools stronger and our company more efficient. I am very lucky to work with my father, my sister, and our incredible leadership team in brainstorming, and developing new exciting ideas.
I am probably most proud of the ideas that I have developed in the area of curriculum and programming and what sets me apart from others is my ability to outwork most people, my perseverance to achieve goals, and to recognize opportunities when they come our way.
What do you think about luck?
Bad luck and the complications that you have to overcome will usually make you stronger and create more opportunities if looked at through the right optics.
Good luck is great when you have it, so enjoy it while you can but it won’t necessarily help you grow. Of course, there is the philosophy that there is no such thing as luck, you make your luck through hard work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ahschool.com/
- Instagram: @americanheritagebroward, @americanheritagepalmbeach
- Facebook: @ahschoolbroward, @ahschoolpalmbeach
Image Credits
American Heritage Schools
