Karen came to western North Carolina to attend the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology/Criminology.  She has been in the Human Resources field for over 27 years and served as Human Resources Director with a private school system for 17 of those years.

Karen has been directly involved in many areas of HR compliance serving on accreditation teams, overseeing due diligence processes, performing HR audits, and creating numerous policy and procedures handbooks.  Karen loves all aspects of Human Resources but mostly she loves the relationships she makes with people.

In her free time, she is avid reader and loves the written word. She also loves spending time with her family playing cards and board games.  She is married to a WNC native, Lee, who is a Captain/Paramedic in the local fire department.  They reside locally with their dog, Freddie.  She has one daughter, Carlee, who also lives locally as well with her husband, Russell and their dog, Lucca.