My Story

An entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist & unshakable optimist dedicated to helping you become the person you most want to be.

Where Does My Journey Start?

Should it begin with that moment in August when, aged 30, when I felt numbness in my fingers and right arm?

Perhaps I should start with the day I was drying my hair and I couldn’t feel the heat from the hair dryer?

Maybe it’s when I went back to the emergency room with an entire right side of my body numb and I was sent for an MRI within minutes?

Looking back, I remember each of these moments like they were yesterday. I knew there was something wrong but I didn’t know what.

I ‘d just had my second daughter and I was terrified about what was happening to me and what that meant for my family’s future. Today, I feel great compassion for my 30 year old self. Because what was about to happen in her world was going to change her completely.

Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better!

I spent the next 4 years in and out of hospital trying all the medications. Injecting myself, IV steroids, liver count 7x higher than it should have been, feeling like a guinea pig. I seemed to be in that small percentage that experienced all the really crap side effects.

All I wanted was to go back to how life was before. Why did this happen to me? How could I fix this?

During this time I started to realise how much influence I had over my body and health when I slowed down and put myself first. This was not easy, in fact I found it so much easier to look after everyone else and put myself at the very bottom of the list. It took me a relationship breakdown to realise how much I had neglected myself.

I started small and failed many times. Through those failures I started to allow myself to show up for myself, found out what made a difference in how my body felt, the confidence I gained in finding ways to nourish and satisfy what I needed, not just physically but mentally and emotionally too.

The Karen today is not the Karen she was before MS. I am stronger, happier, filled with purpose and meaning. I used to crave my old life but now feel the most complete I have ever felt.

Today I’m grateful for that brutal disease diagnosis because it was the catalyst that transformed every area of my life.

And now I’m here to help other people like me.