Running with Grace

A Winter 2024 PenCraft Best Book Awards Winner - Nonfiction, Memoir

A 2023 Wall Street Journal Bestseller

ï»A work of "great emotional power." -Kirkus

"Van Dusen's brisk debut is equally heart-warming and motivating, as no matter what life throws at her Van Dusen never stops running after her goals.... Fans of upbeat business memoirs will be engaged as Van Dusen sets the pace." -BookLife by Publishers Weekly

"There are a lot of valuable lessons to be learned from Lori's story... I liked how this book didn't just focus on her wins but talked about the challenges she faced. The book is no fluff..." -Seattle Book Review

Running with Grace is [Lori Van Dusen's] story of triumphs and defeats, told to inspire the reader to never give up." -Readers' Favorite

Nothing about Lori Van Dusen's childhood indicated she'd become one of the nation's top independent financial advisors. She was born prematurely on the wrong side of the tracks and with a genetic blood disorder. Her parents divorced when she and her twin brother were less than a year old. But her big, boisterous, loving Italian family, led by her beloved grandfather, a first-generation American with only an eighth-grade education, taught her that the only limitations in life are those we impose on ourselves.

As a young person, Lori wanted to sing on Broadway, not manage money on Wall Street. But in 1986, this quiet, serious young woman walked into the rough-and-tumble, eat-what-you-kill world of Shearson Lehman Brothers and never looked back. She fought her way to the top by thinking outside the box and working her ass off despite the jeers, insults, and sideways glances. Her secret weapon? A need to prove herself so strong she could outwork anyone.

But Lori's trajectory to the top was not a straight, upward line; it was a rollercoaster. She hit the pinnacle of success only to have it ripped away in a legal battle with one of the biggest banks in the world. She was raped by a PhD candidate at Harvard, swindled by a business partner, and battled two life-altering medical diagnoses. None of that, though, would compare to having the two people she loved most in the world taken way too soon.

Despite the fear and pain, Lori remained hopeful and resilient. In this memorable, poignant, and inspiring memoir, she shares her lowest lows and highest highs as well as hard-earned wisdom from her bumpy personal, professional, and spiritual journey. Life was never meant to be fair, she learned, but we must keep running with grace if we are to find purpose and joy in the face of adversity.