Laura Carey has all the right ingredients to serve as the Office Manager at Associates in Family Medicine’s Foxtrail office at Centerra. A dash of energetic personality here, and a pinch of quick-witted conversation there, all mixed together with a down-to-earth style and topped off with a smile. It’s a recipe for success that typifies AFM’s approachable style of healthcare.

Growing up in Greeley, Carey always considered herself an athlete. While pursuing her degree in psychology from the University of Northern Colorado, she envisioned herself pioneering a new approach to rehabilitation—one that could help people rehabilitate not only their bodies, but their minds, as well…a kind of hands-on sports psychologist, if you will.

When it became apparent that her vision was going to take a lot more time, money, and schooling, she narrowed her focus and completed her degree in psychology. After graduation, she entered the workforce and immediately began helping people improve their outlook and disposition, but not in the confines of the customary small office with a couch. No, her impact was much more palatable.

“I went to work for a bakery,” she says. “I love to bake and I’ve always wanted to help people. And as crazy as it sounds, I believe baking helps people to be happier and to feel better.” While she loved exploring creative flavors through her passion for baking, she was less enthusiastic about working in the structured environment required for high volume sales. “Creating delicious things was really fun. The business side of baking, not so much.”

She decided to put her passion for helping people and her gift for administration to work in the field of healthcare, joining Associates in Family Medicine in 2009 and starting at the front desk at the Timberline office. Soon after, she moved into a supervisory role and was ultimately promoted to Office Manager at the Loveland office in Centerra, where she currently works. “I really love the administrative part of my job,” remarks Carey. “But I still love to bake.”

When she’s not working or baking (ask her about her cranberry white chocolate cookies), she and her husband Kane like to let other people do the cooking for them. They are big fans of the area food truck scene and they enjoy following them around Northern Colorado, partaking of the uniquely mobile fare whenever possible. Carey is quick to point out, however, that she definitely has a soft spot for a.m. eateries and brunch—especially Snooze. “I love that place. I would jump in front of a speeding train if it meant saving Snooze,” she remarks, perhaps just a bit too earnestly.

Carey also enjoys hanging out with friends, visiting local breweries from time to time, and taking in the spectacular sunsets here on the Front Range. She is particularly struck by the brilliantly random wildlife moments that happen here. “Like herds of elk meandering through downtown Estes Park,” she says. “That doesn’t happen just anywhere.”