Karen is passionate about being an entrepreneur and making the world a better place. She firmly believes that building a technology company in the natural products space (Makeena) will encourage people to shop healthier because Makeena will make it easier (more accessible and more affordable) for them to make smarter choices.

Karen became an entrepreneur in the early 1990s when she moved to Boulder, Colorado, and built and operated two interactive touchscreen kiosk companies, one for the real estate industry and one for the natural products industry. Since then, Karen was a general counsel for a number of emerging growth and publicly-held software and data analytics companies before she founded Makeena.

Karen earned her degree in accounting and business from Indiana University and a CPA and law degree from the University of Illinois. She also attended Oxford University, focusing on international business transactions, and taught Principles of Business for Entrepreneurs in the Cross Campus Entrepreneurship Certificate Program at the University of Colorado.