Karen has worked in the Financial Industry since 1996, starting as a sales assistant at PaineWebber. She moved to Prudential Securities in 2000 with the team she was working with, and it was there that she obtained her Series 7, 63, and 65 securities licenses. In 2004, she worked for a locally owned independent broker/dealer, Capital West Securities, in Oklahoma City, as a registered sales assistant for the President and the Branch Manager. In 2007 Karen was promoted to Operations Manager when she obtained her Series 24, 4, and 51. Capital West Securities was sold in 2007 and the name changed to Geary Securities in 2009. After Geary Securities closed in 2012, Karen joined T.S. Phillips Investments, working as the assistant to the President/Owner and overseeing the Registered Investment Advisors regulatory filings. In 2017 Karen was promoted to Operations Manager/Assistant Compliance Officer of the firm. In April 2023, the owner sold the firm to Thurston Springer Financial, and in February 2024, Karen became the Chief Risk Officer, Head of Supervision for Thurston Springer Financial.

Her education includes a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Southern Nazarene University.

Karen resides in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, with her husband, Bill, and two children. She enjoys spending time with her family.