Episode 049
Laura Stepp
Can you build a million-dollar net worth while managing the chaos of a busy family life? Join Alice Tang as she speaks with Laura Stepp, a Chief People Officer who hit the $1M mark by age 40 using a methodical “bucket” system. Laura discusses how she prioritized long-term goals like her kids’ college and retirement while still finding money for adventure and stress-free living. If you are looking for a realistic roadmap to security that accounts for mortgages, student loans, and day-to-day living, Laura’s story of “slow and steady” progress is essential.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
"Intention and priorities, that's what helps you make decisions along the way."
[00:00:00] [Music and Intro] Welcome to Women’s Million Dollar Conversations with Alice Tang, where we share stories from successful business women who have saved, earned, or sold over a million dollars and discuss how they built their success and insights to help you achieve your goals. Now, let’s join the conversation.
[00:00:23] Alice Tang: Good morning everyone. I’m Alice Tang, your host of Women’s Million Dollar Conversations. Today I have the pleasure to talk with one of my wonderful friends from 15 years ago. We met through common friends—one of them already interviewed is Alyssa Gasca. We’re here to talk about money and the first million. Laura Stepp, welcome.
Laura Stepp: Thanks, Alice. Glad to be here. Appreciate it.
Alice Tang: Now, Laura Stepp is my superhero. Every time I look at her, she’s helping a high-tech company to be more successful in the human resources world. And if she’s going to tell you—she might and she may not—the companies that she has helped make successful through acquisition or to IPO, here she is, a powerful woman in town. So, welcome, Laura. Would you say a few words about yourself?
[00:01:20] Laura Stepp: Sure, Alice. You did a good job describing it. The title I’ve often carried is Chief People Officer—sometimes it’s Chief People and Culture Officer, or CHRO, or even CHRO and Administrative Officer. But it’s really about taking care of the people in the organization as well as being part of an executive team trying to run effective organizational operations. Those are the things I tend to touch most in my work. I’ve been in the world of organizational development and HR my whole career—so we’re coming up on around 30 years now—and I’ve always loved it. It’s been great to be able to do what I love.
[00:01:54] Alice Tang: So, Laura, this is Women’s Million Dollar Conversations. We interview guests who have saved, made, or sold a million dollars. It looks like we’re talking about saving today. Accumulation, per se. Question: What’s the value of money for you?
[00:02:08] Laura Stepp: I thought that was an interesting question to consider. I think people think of money as security in a way. For me, it’s about having enough and making sure my kids are doing okay out in the world—that’s the basic. And then after that, it’s really about being able to go on adventures, explore the world in different ways. So I think money’s a little bit about adventure for me. And sometimes less stress, right? Not having to worry about paying the bills is really nice. Being able to do something you want to do without worrying too much about whether you can afford it is also really nice. I don’t live an extravagant lifestyle, but I do love to get out and have a good time, so it’s nice to be able to do that.
Alice Tang: I totally know how having a good time is for her because I’m a follower of her social media. Laura really balances between putting money away and having a good time with family—because it’s all about the moments, right?
Laura Stepp: Yes, the moments. It’s about the moments. Absolutely.
[00:03:07] Alice Tang: Let’s focus on your first million for a second here. Question: How long did it take you to get there—in terms of number of years or months? What challenges, if any, did you face along the way?
[00:03:14] Laura Stepp: I dug around to think about when I crossed that threshold and I couldn’t quite remember, but as I looked at records, I think I was probably around 40 at the time. I think about my money in buckets, right? So I was saving for my kids’ college, putting money into a house of course, and also saving for retirement. Those three big things were going on in parallel. So at some point I crossed that threshold—I think I was about 40. And then you set the next goal for savings. It’s just about constantly making sure you’re being smart about your money, not getting yourself into too much debt, making sure you’re putting as much away as you can, and having smart people around you to give good advice.
[00:04:02] Alice Tang: Very good. Question: If there were any challenges in that journey to the million, would you share them?
[00:04:09] Laura Stepp: Yeah, I think when you’re younger and you have kids, you have lots of things you’ve got to do, right? You have to invest in the moment—you can’t put all your money into retirement savings. Now that I’m an empty nester, of course I save more. But back then, I wanted to make sure I had a roof over our heads and food on the table and all those things. So you do have day-to-day stuff that you have to spend money on. I had to first get out of debt that I carried from younger years—when you’re a student. Then you’re investing in your family life. Then you start to accelerate how you’re saving for the future. At least that’s how the pattern has been for me.
Alice Tang: So it looks like there is a very methodical process that you tackled it with—even if it seems gradual. Question: How long did it take for you to pay off student loans, for example, or to fund the home and save for children’s college?
[00:04:53] Laura Stepp: It’s one bite at a time, but always having some intention to set yourself up for more security in the future. That was always a goal I had in my head. I thought about it—I learned about money, talked to people who happen to be good at it (because that’s not something I think I’m particularly fabulous at). But I was curious about it, I read about it, and always had the idea of making sure I was secure in my future on my mind. So maybe that’s just an intention that you have—not some perfect plan, but a consistent intention.
Alice Tang: When you say “set the intent,” that really gave me goosebumps because a lot of people do not look there—they look at today. And today, of course, is chaos. Whose family is not chaos when you’re raising children, paying off mortgages, all these bills come at the end of the month—and you have an employer. You’re a super employee, but still there are changes that happen.
Laura Stepp: That’s right. And I think if you have the intention—for example, even if you love that beautiful expensive car, you don’t buy that car because you have other things that are more important. That sort of helps you make decisions along the way.
Alice Tang: Yes—so intent and priorities, I heard. Awesome.
[00:06:22] Alice Tang: Now when people look at you and say, “Oh, Laura’s life is pretty good—continuing to rise,” there might be a time or two that you feel, “Gee, saving is too hard. I want to quit.” Question: What kept you going?
[00:06:40] Laura Stepp: You know, I have to say I’ve been lucky in that I always loved my work. If you don’t love your work and you’re struggling to figure out what your vocation is, that’s a pretty tough barrier—because you don’t go to work as motivated every day. You might not be succeeding or thriving at work, which leads to financial benefits. I’ve always felt a little bit lucky in that I knew generally what I love to do, and I was able to find work environments where I had awesome people to work with and learn from. My career was able to grow. I certainly have friends who have all sorts of variations—if you have to stop and recalibrate, like a career switch, it’s going to take a little longer. But you can still get there. You’re better off heading down a path that gives you happiness in terms of career happiness, because that then leads to more financial success. I’ve been lucky in that regard, but I’ve also seen people do amazing things when they switch gears—and I admire those people.
Alice Tang: You said “luck” a few times, but I learned as a foreigner here: fortune favors a prepared mind.
Laura Stepp: Oh, maybe. I like that.
Alice Tang: It’s not my interview, but if I can say I’m lucky just like you… We are being humble. But really, if somebody says she’s lucky—”I work my tail off. What luck?”
Laura Stepp: No, that’s true. It absolutely goes with hard work. You’re right about that. You are a hard worker. I feel fortunate—you have blessings in your life and you feel grateful for them.
Alice Tang: Yeah, we are just humbled.
[00:08:25] Alice Tang: Okay. When you make decisions, do you have a process for making a big decision or do you just say “I go with my gut”? Because we have two extremes—people who just jump or people who process forever and never make a decision because it’s so methodical.
[00:08:42] Laura Stepp: Yeah, I like to gather data. I like to gather information, which then helps me feel informed before I make a decision. I do also take into account a little bit of your intuitive sense of the right thing to do. But even with finances, for example, personal finance, I’ve always just like when I’m in the airport traveling somewhere, I almost always grab one of those Kiplinger’s, one of those little magazines, which is all about the retirees who have done whatever thing. And I always learn something. Every once in a while I read financial periodicals. So I’ve always had a little bit of a side interest in gathering information, for example, about how to do smarter things with my money as well as gather information from people. So, in my circle of friends, I have people who have been involved in financial advisory work, or they’re smart math people. And you get good advice from folks. So one of the really great pieces of advice I got back when I was trying to get rid of debt and move into savings mode—I worked at Intel, which, by the way, was an amazingly generous company with their employees. Good wages, good benefits, good perks. So again, there’s fortune in that, but also an amazing place to build a career. And they had a stock purchase plan where you could buy stock at a slight discount and then sell it if you wanted to. And this friend of mine said, “Oh, you could take that and just basically buy, sell, buy, sell. And every time you get a sell, you pay off debt.” I was like, “That’s a great idea.” And that was a very important move that I made. Over the course of five years, I got rid of all the debt or whatever—I don’t remember how long the timeframe was. It was a good idea from somebody else that helped me make a good decision.
[00:10:12] Alice Tang: Very good. I recall that when I first came to this country, I was still a housewife, not working. I heard from somebody that funding a 401(k) will help—my husband was the breadwinner, it would help him. So I go back to my CPA—they were introduced to us, of course, we didn’t know anybody here—and say, “Why didn’t you tell us that? You’re fired.” Because it’s so simple, right?
Laura Stepp: It is so simple. Now I’m giving my kids that advice. So all of my kids have Roth IRAs set up, right? So that they can, even if they’re making just a little bit of money, they’re saving something into that. They all know why—I’ve showed ’em like, here’s the curve. And it is nice if someone’s telling you that. It’s helpful.
[00:10:50] Alice Tang: I say that you’re role modeling to your next generation and to many in our audience. So this is a good place to ask this question.
Question: When an audience looks at you and looks up to you and says, “I can associate myself, relate myself to Laura,” I wonder what is the one piece of advice that she would give me so that I can have that hope? I too can get to that million. What would you tell her?
[00:11:13] Laura Stepp: I think it maybe goes back to the beginning of the conversation, which is set your intention for it. It’s not gonna be immediate, unless you’re in a profession where you are doing big deals, or maybe you’re an entrepreneur and you hit it big—those things can happen. I’m more of a, I’ve been in the corporate world working hard, making money and saving some, which I think is more the model for most people. Slow and steady wins the race in that regard. As long as you’re making smart decisions along the way with your assets. Get good advice, make smart decisions, don’t think it’s gonna happen tomorrow. And don’t worry about that too much. Just in a way pay attention, but don’t pay too much attention because you’ll get there. You’ll get there eventually, most likely.
[00:12:00] Alice Tang: Yeah, set it and forget it. There is one term in my world: set it and forget it. Saving in any type of account is the same thing. I don’t care which type of account that people feel is appropriate for them. So, a couple last questions here. Question: What is one piece of very bad advice or one piece of very good advice that you have received that has made the biggest impact to you?
[00:12:25] Laura Stepp: My mom was always so great at putting perspective on things. And she told me two things early in my life that are probably relevant to this conversation—very early, even when I might’ve been in middle school or something. At some point, she made very much the impression that you should always have your own bank account. Whether you fall in love and get married and you know they’re the love of your life, it doesn’t matter. You should always have your own money. You should always have your own bank account because that’s for you. That’s your independence, your autonomy. She was adamant about that. I think that’s how she ran her life. Great advice. I think the other great advice she gave me—and has given me multiple times when I need to be reminded—was to always create options for yourself. If you’re in a situation where you’re trying to make a choice, create as many options as possible so that you can make the best choice. Don’t be in a situation where you only have one choice because then you’re gonna feel either pressured, you might make the wrong decision, etc. So always make optionality. Create optionality for yourself—can I go left, center, whichever direction. And that’s been really great advice. I’ve given that advice to other people too, which is when they’re feeling stymied or don’t know what to do, I’m like, “Create options.” And that can be really helpful.
[00:13:58] Alice Tang: Very good. Very good. Have your own bank account under your own name. And then always have options in your life—create options if you don’t feel like you have. With that intent I’m sure that you talk about, we can create more options. My mom always said to my dad after six, seven years of marriage: “My money is my money. Our money is my money.” So my mom and your mom, spite of the different cultures, they could have been friends.
Laura Stepp: Yes. Independence mattered a lot. Absolutely.
[00:14:26] Alice Tang: I know. Laura, we are very grateful for you today. Question: What are you grateful for?
[00:14:32] Laura Stepp: Oh, the fortune of my life for sure. My friends and family, right? That’s all it’s about. Money’s just there to make sure you get more time with the people that matter.
Alice Tang: I love that. I love that. We’ll quote that. Okay. Thank you so much, Laura, for spending some time in your busy life with us.
Laura Stepp: Thank you. I have kind of a cool thing to think about. So yeah, I might have to go talk about this at dinner.
Alice Tang: Very good. For now, goodbye. And we’ll include Laura’s information in the list of things that we post. Thank you.
[00:15:00] (End of video)
Laura Stepp is a seasoned human resources executive with nearly 30 years of progressive experience in HR, organizational consulting, business operations, and global leadership roles. She specializes in designing exceptional organizations, transforming people and workplace functions, leading global HR teams, driving organizational change, scaling talent acquisition, and cultivating high-performance cultures, particularly within the enterprise SaaS, technology, and IT sectors.
For the past 13 years, Stepp has held senior roles in private companies, including as Chief Human Resources Officer at SheerID. Previously, she spent 16 years contributing to Fortune 100/500 organizations. A certified executive coach, lifelong learner, and proficient facilitator, she is known as a catalyst for change, collaborative consultant, and builder of strategic, agile HR teams.
Passionate about aligning ambitious business goals with human-centered approaches, Stepp values integrity, excellence, innovation, and fostering environments where diverse talent thrives. She is widely regarded as an inspiring leader whom people enjoy working with and for.