Her Story
About Kara
Kara Banbury has spent the past 2 to 3 years at Education Freedom assisting students across Texas ISD districts with their post-graduation plans, whether pursuing college, military service, or trade programs. She works closely with students, parents, and families to identify scholarships and grants that make education more accessible, driven by a belief in the power of education to promote economic mobility and opportunity for all. Prior to this role, Kara worked at Action Behavior Center, where she implemented applied behavioral analysis therapy with children with autism, an experience that deepened her commitment to supporting young people and their families. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Baylor University after being homeschooled, during which time she participated in research on environmental influences on behavior and served as a mentor and Welcome Week leader. Kara is currently pursuing a Master's of Science in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Grand Canyon University, with aspirations to enter the human resources field and create positive workplace environments. She attributes her success to the strong work ethic modeled by her paternal grandmother and values her faith as a guiding principle in both her professional and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I would just attribute my success to my grandmother on my dad's side, so my paternal grandmother worked really hard all her life. She held 2 to 3 jobs at a time. So I've always learned that from her, that when you work really hard, you achieve great things. But you're not gonna achieve it unless you put the work into it. I attribute a lot of my success to having that kind of mentality of, if I want to climb up the ladder, if I want to do help these students get to college, I have to put the work in.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received is to just jump in scared, because you're never gonna be ready enough. That has helped me with getting in front of students, or meeting one-on-one with a student, or even with back and being at RBT and working with kids, dealing with behaviors. You can tell yourself, oh, I'll do it tomorrow, because I'm going to be ready then, but you're never going to be ready enough. Sometimes you just jump in.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think I would just say create your own personality and your own style of words. Yes, there is sometimes a template for what things should look like, but try to approach a job or a career and put your own individual twist on it, whether that's you want to be known as the person who's funny in the office or where you want that you can go to when if someone's not feeling happy. Don't be afraid to show emotion, because I feel like so often, as women, we're told not to show emotion. And so I think that I would say show it, because people walking right away a lot.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
When it comes to values, I would say definitely my faith has been something that I've highly valued. God first in everything that I do, making sure that I start my day speaking with him, so that way I can I can't pour out from an empty. So, in my personal life, and even in my work life, I try to extend the love of Christ to others.
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