ABOUT KAREN
I am a leadership strategist, executive coach, and speaker with the heart of a scientist and the eye of a fashion designer. I’m on a mission to help visionary leaders prevail in organizations and systems which weren’t designed for them.
We are often told to walk away from tables that don’t serve us. I help leaders use pattern recognition and strategy to gain recognition, resources, and opportunities wherever they are.
In my 15+ years as a senior organizational leader, business owner, and educator in cutthroat, male-dominated industries, I developed leaders, teams, and organizational culture. I have successfully maneuvered through and around bias, power plays, sabotage, attacks on social media, and discriminatory behavior.Â
Contrary to popular belief, we often experience negative behaviors because of our excellence, not in spite of it.
Most popular leadership frameworks have been recycled over the years without any consideration of power dynamics and corporate playbooks designed to silence passionate voices.
I created The Equilibrium Framework, inspired by real experiences of women of color senior leaders, to help visionary leaders understand, accept, and successfully navigate pitfalls they were never warned about.
Former clients who were “not always recognized or amplified”, “emotionally and mentally depleted”, and “contorting [them]selves just to be accepted and 'stay small and nonthreatening'", are now able to “build alliances to have greater influence inside predominantly white, male dominated organizational structures”, “remain authentic to myself while setting clear boundaries about how I should be treated” and “navigate power dynamics with men I manage on my teams”.
In addition to leadership development coaching and consulting, I speak regularly on how to effectively negotiate, manage up, manage down, and leverage personal brands to win at workplace politics.
I serve on the Advisory Board of Mercy University’s Women in Leadership program, advising on curriculum and mentoring future women leaders. I have contributed to women-centric initiatives such as the Women-Centric Design Toolkit. I am a certified Healing-Centered Engagement practitioner, and center agency in the pathway to transformation.
Book a consultation to see how the Equilibrium Framework can transform your leadership or leadership development programs. Follow me on Linkedin for new content and upcoming events.
I've navigated challenging, toxic, and harmful situations in various capacities and environments:
- when I spoke up
- when I didn't speak upÂ
- when I was successful
- when I was visible
- when I was honest
- when I was passionate
- when I had different opinions
- when I implemented change
In my own experience and my experience developing visionary leaders, many of whom were women and women of color, I found recurring patterns in how we are treated, and how we navigate the unique obstacles we face, often unsuccessfully, because are caught in disbelief and disdain, rather than strategy and solutions.
As the stakes get higher, the isolation, power plays, and challenges to our power become more significant.
I experimented with strategies until I found the ones that worked. I found effective ways to navigate power dynamics, fragile emotions, and harmful policies and practices, and still get what I wanted and worked so hard for.
I built the Equilibrium Framework to replace depletion and demise with an unf*ckwithable leadership foundation which can withstand the tests of senior leadership in corporate, non-profit, and academic spaces.
UPCOMING EVENTS
How do you measure your success as a leader? And how do the early messages we receive shape the way we lead and make decisions? Michele and I and a few special guests will be discussing this, and discussing how we can reshape our thinking so we can stop getting in the way of our own success
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