Bio

In 2012, I learned that there is a system for people to find their dream jobs. 

Since then, I’ve used that exact system to land 5 dream jobs. 

Including:

• Managing the largest social enterprise incubator in India while building the digital brand of a sixteen-billion-dollar multinational.
• Managing a $11M portfolio across Latin America for the microlending platform Kiva.org with the mission of alleviating poverty. 
• Leading Talent Placement at a World Bank top 50 edtech startup changing Latin America. 
• Teaching creative professionals how to turn their talents into a 6-figure UX career in tech. 
• Becoming a Career Coach at Happen to Your Career! 

Over the past 8 years, I have helped 500+ professionals access life-changing careers where they make more money (average salary increases of $28K) and feel more alive in their work. 

Here are some unconventional results I’ve helped my clients achieve: 

• A junior tech professional beat out an ex-Google employee for a role 
• A former marketer negotiated $20K from an initial $90K offer 
• A graphic designer from Ukraine landed a UX Designer role at Fidelity Investments (without prior work experience in the US)
• A budding filmmaker landed a Video Editor role at a media company (without prior networking experience)
• A former educator (20+years) pivoted into a UX Researcher role in Canada 

These are the top 3 things clients love about working with me: (you can see 40+ recommendations from former clients on my LinkedIn profile)

• I genuinely care about you & your success. 
• I offer tailored, strategic, actionable advice. You won’t leave a call without knowing what to do. 
• I believe in you 1000% so that you believe in you. 

My entire career has been about helping people reach their full potential. 

Here’s how I became a Career Coach.

I’m a millennial, and I drank the Kool-Aid: I want to change the world. 

I thought I would do that by working in national politics or at the UN, which is why I studied Political Science at Columbia University and had a career in the impact sector across India and Latin America for 8 years. How might social enterprises solve some of our biggest challenges like poverty, access to drinking water, and clean energy, and provide opportunities for upward mobility for immigrants?

Then, while I was Portfolio Manager at Kiva.org, one of the partners I onboarded needed help placing their software engineering graduates into jobs. I can help, I thought. And so I started coaching newly-minted software engineers. They got life-changing jobs, making more money than they ever had, and they now had a career that promised growth and continued financial security. I discovered that I love taking people from: “Karen, I don’t think I can do this” to “OMG, WE DID IT!”

Now I change the world one conversation at a time, one person at a time. 

It’s been more than 5,000 coaching conversations since I started, and I’ve never looked back. 

FAVORITE BOOKs

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown → This is the first time I learned that my emotions were valuable instead of something I needed to hide, and it was an invitation to embrace my vulnerability. 

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi → This book is the reason I have a Roth IRA and amazing credit cards that allow me to fly to Switzerland for $150. 

​​The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck → engaging storytelling to convince you to trust your intuition.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron → Belief in the abundance of the universe and your one unique calling. The practice of morning pages (3-pages of free-form writing in the morning) helps me clear my heart and mind.  

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney → I read this in 2023 while fulfilling a lifelong dream of spending a summer in Paris, just juicy fiction, big friendship, queer love, and nail-biting tension.

FUN FACT

I’m a theater-trained actor. I’ve filmed movies and TV shows for Netflix and Paramount+. 

Acting was my journey back to myself: feeling my body, being in the present moment, embracing my vulnerability, trusting my intuition, and connecting with others from the perspective that each and every interaction is ephemeral and magical. I bring this presence and energy to my coaching conversations. 

Also, my first language is Spanish, and I was raised in Monterrey, Mexico.

ASSESSMENTS RESULTS

Strengths Finder: Positivity, Activator, Maximizer, Developer, Relator 

Human Design: Manifestor – The Fire Starter

Why I work with HTYC 

Two reasons: 

1. I want to change the world by helping you find work that makes you feel alive. This quote by Howard Thurman gives me chills and is 100% true for me.
   “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
2. I love being surrounded by kind, smart people who are the best at what they do and want to make the world a better place. I came here for the relationships I can build with my colleagues, to experience belonging, to learn, and to grow.