Her Story
About Karen
I am originally from Mexico and moved to Miami 7 years ago to pursue my education and career. I earned my bachelor's degree in Sports and Exercise Sciences from Barry University, graduating magna cum laude 2 years ago despite struggling with anxiety and emotional challenges from moving to a new country away from my parents. After graduation, I began my career in fitness management at LA Fitness, working in management and sales within the personal training department. Currently, I manage a boxing gym where I handle all aspects of operations including coach scheduling, payroll, employee retention, and revenue analysis. I am also pursuing my master's degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Keiser University, where I just completed my first semester with a 4.0 GPA and was honored as the best student in my program. My long-term goal is to transition into human resources for a major company like Amazon, Google, or Tesla, where I can apply my psychology training to areas like HR analytics, employee behavior analysis, and helping workers manage occupational stress and anxiety. I am committed to building a future where I can be 100% independent and financially stable.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Karen
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to doing everything for myself. I am a very committed person, and once I have something inside my mind, I never stop until I get it. Even when I moved from Mexico to Miami and struggled with anxiety and emotional instability, especially being away from my parents, my determination and commitment didn't bring me down. I push myself to be 100% independent and not depend on anyone else, building a future for myself to live peacefully and financially stable.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice that has shaped my journey is to be 100% independent as a woman and not depend on anyone else. While I value connections with friends and family, I don't want to rely on anyone else to live peacefully, stably, or financially. Building a future for myself where I can be completely independent has been what pushes me to do everything I'm doing.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think we all have struggles in life. For example, I struggled with loneliness when I moved here and dealt with anxiety, but I believe that at the end, whatever you do, you will see the results. Even though you don't see them the same year, the same week, or the same month, eventually you're gonna see all the results that you have worked for. Keep pushing forward because your hard work will pay off.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now, I am working to get the best results from my master's program and starting to build networking connections to work someday for an HR department at a big company. I have been looking at how companies like Amazon recruit people, and I would like to work for the HR department at Amazon, Google, or Tesla. I think smaller companies don't have the financial resources to afford high-level HR positions like HR director, but really big companies in the US can afford those positions. There are many areas I can work in, including HR coordinator, HR manager, HR director, or doing HR analytics where I analyze employee behavior to help them improve their performance at work and manage occupational stress and anxiety.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values I consider most important for everything, including relationships and work, are respect, communication, and kindness. These three values guide how I interact with others and approach both my professional and personal life.
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