By Colin Secore

On April 10th, 2026 I interviewed Lauree Ostrofsky of SimplyLeap and founder of Hudson Valley Women in Business. She believes small businesses are the lifeblood of Kingston, and offers personalized loan services and business consultations to help them thrive and come into their own.

Lauree said she was inspired in the pandemic by the difficulty that small businesses had in receiving government relief. They could even qualify and still be waiting ages to actually receive it. With a mere 2% interest rate on loans, small businesses have a lot to gain. Not only that, but she goes a long way in getting involved to ensure success.

“We know that funds only go so far for a growing business,” Lauree told me, “You also need someone to talk to, because owning a business can be really lonely. You’re working for yourself, you’re trying to figure it out on your own, and people in our lives can be incredibly supportive but still have no idea what we do for a living! We then talk to people within our own network, or talk to people like me that exist who’ve done a bunch of social media and marketing, who’ve written all those press releases, and also have talked to enough business owners where I can say on a daily basis: ‘You are in good company, because everyone thinks this way or has this same question. Here’s the way other businesses have handled it.’”

Lauree prides herself on being an accessible source of support and relief to her clients, even reaching out to experts for questions she can’t quite answer for no extra charge. She wants to help the humble artists of our community to feel worthy of financial help and business assistance.

I asked Lauree to speak more on how she takes the role of an informant to her clients. She said, “There are more ways to succeed in this world than are communicated to us and I feel really lucky that my role is to try and help people make it happen. I tend to think in terms of long term and short term at the same time. For the short term, we need to feel emotionally and financially stable, because when we feel stable, we can get really creative. The long term is about creative thinking, planning, and ‘where do I wanna be?’ In order to do that, we need to be secure where we are now. I feel like artists and creatives are able to naturally build in their creative practice with their work, but we don’t always see that as an empowered choice.”

I wanted to know more about how SimplyLeap suited artists more than other loan services might. Lauree explained, “The application is much smaller than most bank loans are. Quite honestly, it’s intimidating to walk into a bank. If you look at statistics, minorities and women are the least funded by bank loans. They’re more likely to be denied a loan. Walking through the bank door is not a comfortable thing for most people. This program is different because you get me. You can talk to me before you ever get to a bank. We can have a conversation about if it makes sense, or if we need to get some things in place. People who haven’t been served by banks traditionally in the past need to have other access points or ways to connect that makes it feel more possible. That thoughtfulness is really unique.”

My time with Lauree was much appreciated, and I got a sense for just how incredibly passionate and accommodating she is. With Lauree leading the charge for supporting the small businesses of Kingston, I truly feel like we are indeed in good company.

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To learn more, or just say hi, you can reach Lauree here:

Lauree Ostrofsky, PCC, CPC
Business, Marketing & Career Strategist
Phone: 914.548.3592
Website: simplyleap.com
Email: lauree@simplyleap.com