My story

I was born in Klang, Malaysia – parents unknown (Chinese). Adopted at 2 months, my adopted mother departed for England immediately and left me in the care of her brother and his wife. My first memories were of my adopted uncle and aunt… I felt happy and loved. My adopted single mother returned when I was 6 and took me away from the only people I loved. She didn’t know how to be a loving parent … it was like living in prison. My adopted mother and I immigrated to Hobart, Tasmania in Australia when I was 17. I fled from my home before the end of that year. For the first time since age 6, I was happy again. I had no money, no plan and no clue! I vowed from that day on, I would always strive to be happy and never allow anyone else to be in control of my life again. That’s how important freedom is to me. These 2 goals have served me well.

My first job was raspberry picking for $10/day; 8 hours in the blazing hot sun. Through a series of amazing events, I managed to find my way to University. I worked 4-5 jobs to put myself through University. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Computer Science, and a graduate degree in Chemistry. I created 15 new compounds and was published in 2 scientific publications.

I worked in the computing industry for 16 years, working crazy hours and traveling all over the world. I had a lot of fun and adventures, learned a great deal, made good money and had fabulous vacations. While at Oracle, I was promoted from the Asia Pacific region to the Northern California headquarters in 1991. 8 years at Oracle, 2 great years at Microsoft and 5 stressful startups later, I learned to maintain my sanity by dancing a lot. Towards the end, executive level politics was no fun. The last startup was a winner – I was a paper millionaire by age 38 and several months later, I walked away from the money and left the computing industry. All alone in the world, to survive and succeed, I developed many skills to compete and win … eventually becoming a typical type ‘A’ on the outside. Inside, my soul was dying a slow death.

Art found me. I woke up one day with a strong desire to paint using the Chinese Brush. With no prior interest or background in art, this obsessive need to paint created great turmoil in my life. I sold my possessions, moved from Northern California to New York and studied with an exceptional art coach, Mr. Jin, who had a tremendous impact on my work. The creative process of painting has forced my natural personality to surface and it has been a very healing thing.

This radical transformation has opened up my heart to creativity and has brought the most amazing people into my life. I now help wonderfully good hearted people find their true happiness and prosperity through coaching, art and ballroom dancing. I’m no longer at war with myself … I am at peace. I am happy and excited to be part of the world.  How cool is that!

Thank you for reading my story. I would love to get your feedback, hear about your personal story or answer any questions you may have.  Please write to me in the comments box below and I will respond as soon as possible.

Regards,
Karen

business and life coaching: http://www.coachinglifeadventures.com/
watercolors art: http://www.ricepaperart.com/
ballroom dancing: http://ballroomdancingclasses.us