Karen has worn many hats in her almost 25 years in the business world, giving her an extremely broad-based experience. Most of her career has been spent in software, where she custom designed business applications for small, medium and large companies. This involved interviewing company employees regarding their business operations, suggesting process improvements, and designing a system to model the business. The value of this experience was getting up to speed very quickly on a business, and learning how to ask probing questions that illuminated underlying issues that were not apparent to management.

Karen founded her own software company eventually, which she ran for 5 years. During that time she was involved with many other entrepreneurs. She served on a committee for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, assisting entrepreneurs with their business plans and coaching them on how to present their plans to attract funding. She also co-founded the Electronic Commerce Forum for that association. In her involvement with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Karen co-founded the Business Technology Forum, which put on monthly programs to educate business owners how to apply technology in their businesses. Karen also served on the board of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco for 3 years.

Other hats that Karen has worn include being a business broker, and consulting with companies on how to prepare their companies for sale. She has recently founded a modern lifestyle company that has been purposely designed to allow her a balanced life. Having had the experience of feeling trapped as a business owner and eventually burning out, she is passionate about helping other business owners enjoy their businesses AND their lives.