I just think that you know, women should be able to choose what paths they want to take, and what paths they want to go on. I think the main thing is, don’t be afraid of self discovery. Try something, take a risk. I think that we live in exciting times where women are not put in boxes anymore.
Lori Welch was born in Manchester, Connecticut on April 1960 and later moved to Holden, Massachusetts in 1990. She was the first in her family to go to college and she pursued a career in dental hygiene, worked at the Gale Free Library, and later worked at Cigna Insurance analyzing dental fraud. Mother of three girls, and wife to Richard Welch, her life is dedicated to stressing the importance of education to future generations. With her charismatic and personable traits, she provided fantastic aid to the poor with her involvement in the Wachusett Food Pantry, also working with the Roger Williams Parent Executive Board, and helped students in various activities with her daughters’ school. In this interview, Lori discusses the struggles she faced growing up, the steps she took to balance family life with her schooling and career, her view on the definition of success and happiness, along with her own personal experience of how the status of women in Worcester has changed over the years. She reflects upon the hopes she has for women in the future, advocates women to dream and discover what they’re interested in, to think outside the box, and defy the social norms society has created.