Laurie Tanakaya
Board of Directors
LAURIE TANAKAYA, Pacific Crest Advisory Board, is a recently retired retail executive.
After graduating from Arizona State University with a BS in Business Management, Laurie spent the next 35+ years working for major retailers like Kohl’s, Home Depot/EXPO Design Center, Walmart/Sam’s Club and most recently as the Vice President of Opry Entertainment, home of the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and Ole Red where she was able to combine her passion for business and love of music.
Laurie has managed businesses as large as $1.5 billion in sales and held various company roles over the years. Her areas of expertise include Strategic Planning, New Business Development, Operations/Process Improvement, Financial Planning and Analytics, and Team mentoring and development.
In conjunction with her executive roles, Laurie has also held fundraising roles. During her tenure as President of the Pamida Foundation, a foundation that supports education, wellness and helping families in need, the foundation raised $1.4 million in a single event to help local communities across 11 states.
Laurie’s passion in “retirement” is to utilize the skills she has learned from mentors, supervisors and colleagues to help new/small businesses and non-profit organizations, learn new things and travel the world.
Laurie has been a supporter of marching music related activities for more than 10 years, and has been on the Pacific Crest Advisory Board since 2020.
