She is completing her PhD in Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a focus on Entrepreneurship. Her research interests focus on how entrepreneurs innovate, as well as factors that drive individual entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors. Laurel is the co-author of Women in Business: The Changing Face of Leadership (2007; Praeger-Greenwood) co-authored with Patricia Werhane, Margaret Posig, Lisa Gundry, and Elizabeth Powell and has also contributed several case studies to entrepreneurship textbooks. Laurel has her MBA from DePaul University in Chicago and has taught courses in Entrepreneurship at both DePaul University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.