An INNER VIEW with Laura (Lala) Garay
Bio
Laura (Lala) Garay is the founder of Azari Resources, a boutique firm established to empower small businesses and creatives with professional support who don’t have a full-time staff. She brings over twenty years of business accounting and administration expertise, ten years of event production experience, and seven years of operations management experience across a range of industries, including luxury fashion, yachting, creative marketing, and ministry. In addition to this broad range of business expertise, Lala serves as a Pastor and Director of Church Affairs at “House of Intercession for All Nations” in Miami, FL. She also serves as the COO of “Wave Shapers,” where she bridges visionary leadership with strategic structure and inspires people to live boldly, create freely, and lead with integrity. She is bilingual and especially enjoys expressing her creativity through fashion styling, event production, and artistic collaborations with musical artists. Lala is redefining how business and ministry can fuse to thrive on excellence and express the heart of God. She is thrilled to be the Chapter Director of Influence Women Miami, which launches in February 2026.
INNER VIEW
Kathleen Cooke: Influence Women is thrilled to have you as the Miami Chapter Director. What has God recently been talking to you about as you serve Him?
Laura (Lala) Garay: One thing God has recently taught me is that I do not have control — and that is a blessing. I’ve always been someone who plans, organizes, and takes responsibility for everything I touch. But in the last season, God showed me that even when everything seems to be falling apart, His best is still the best way. I’ve had moments where the ground beneath me felt unstable — with work or uncertainty, with unexpected transitions — but God kept reminding me: “You don’t have to hold it all together. I do.”
Letting go of control didn’t weaken me; it freed me. It taught me to trust His timing, to wait without fear, and to walk with a confidence that doesn’t come from circumstances, but from knowing He is sovereign. When I release my grip, He moves in ways I never could’ve orchestrated.
Kathleen: You are a multifaceted woman. How do you juggle all you do?
Lala: I manage my time with two things: calendar blocks and keeping all my clocks 10 minutes ahead. It sounds simple, but it creates a margin that protects my peace and keeps me from rushing through life. I treat time as stewardship — not something to survive, but something to direct intentionally. Because I juggle multiple businesses and responsibilities, daily planning with God is essential. I ask Him, “What should be the priority today?” Not everything is urgent, and not everything is mine to solve. Boundaries with time are boundaries for my mind and spirit, too.
Kathleen: As a single woman who faces many challenges, how do you conquer fear?
Lala: I break through fear and uncertainty with prayer, renouncing fear, and declaring God’s promises as already done. Even if I don’t see the blessing, the healing, or the breakthrough yet, I thank God for it in advance. That gratitude becomes faith in action. When I choose trust over fear, I’m reminding myself that God moves in the spirit before I ever see it in the natural. Fear might speak loudly, but truth speaks louder. And truth says God is already ahead of me.
Kathleen: How do you use your influence and life to be an example of God and to lift Him up?
Lala: One of the biggest things I’ve learned about influence is that you don’t always recognize it while you’re walking it out. I didn’t fully understand the impact my life had on others until I stopped living in the light for a season. It wasn’t until I returned to the feet of Jesus—humbled, surrendered, and restored—that I realized people were still watching, still remembering, still holding on to the version of me they met over 20 years ago. That moment hit me deeply. I realized I had influence long before I knew I did. And if I had understood the weight of that influence back then, I might have acted with greater responsibility, greater intention, and greater awareness of how my choices affected the people connected to me.
But God is gracious. He doesn’t shame us for the seasons we drift; He uses them. He showed me that even in my absence, even in my wandering, the seeds I planted in earlier years never died. People remembered the light in me even when I had forgotten it myself. Now I see influence as a sacred assignment. Not pressure — but purpose. If my life can draw someone closer to Jesus, encourage someone’s faith, or remind someone of hope, then my influence is doing exactly what He designed it to do. Influence isn’t about perfection; it’s about returning to Him so others can see that restoration is real.
Connect with Lala:
Email: Miami@influencewomen.org
Instagram: @InfluenceWomenMiami
