Lori Coulter

Before joining GEICO, I graduated from the University of Georgia with a marketing major and had a career with Macy's in their executive training program. I worked in department management, then as an assistant buyer, then back as a group manager, with aspirations to become a buyer. When Macy's went bankrupt while I was an assistant buyer in Atlanta, they offered me a position in New York, where I lived for a year and a half before returning to Atlanta as a group manager. During the process of Macy's being bought out by Federated, I left to become a store manager with Eddie Bauer in Atlanta for a year. Eventually, I felt homesick and realized that a career in retail with its long hours would forever take me away from family. I was getting to an age where I wanted a family and to see mine more. A friend who worked for GEICO was taking the bar, and we got together, which led me to apply with GEICO. I had to start over from the beginning in sales with them, but I feel like I had the guts to take the plunge. In the end, I think I made the right decision because GEICO is a very good company with benefits like pension and 401K, and I've worked with a very diverse group of people. I'm glad I was willing to start over in the salary range, coming in at the low end and starting back over.