Meet Coach Karen!

Coach Karen is everyone’s best friend. Empathetic and fun—but also not afraid to hold your feet to the fire when she needs to.

Karen learned the values of persistence and confidence at a young age. Growing up, Karen always held onto this idea that she wasn’t smart enough. As a student, a public school Achievement Test was given to her—she was diagnosed with multiple learning disabilities. Suffice to say, she struggled to shed this unwelcome, limiting identity. The only time when Karen felt truly unstoppable was when playing sports. Go into a specific sport and a specific time of feeling success. Once she learned to focus on the things that empower her, rather than inhibit her, Karen’s self-perception changed forever: she had learned to feel valuable, confident, and fearless. 

In 2016, Karen saw an opportunity to turn her childhood pain into purpose. She created a mobile gym bus called FITWHEELZ, and traveled around the Bay Area, CA to provide elementary-age kids with after-school fitness programs. For five years, she used movement to teach these kids how to recognize their worth, conquer their fears, and focus on being unstoppable in every area of their lives. 

Karen has since expanded her vision to making a difference for teens specifically. After a lot of passion-planning and heart storming, Youth Fit2Lead was born. YF2L’s mission is to empower teens to become resilient, confident leaders through team-movement activities, experiential workshops, and guest speaker events. Karen aims to teach kids and teens resilience through her own story. She believes that, under the right mentorship, all youth can turn their limitations into opportunities for self-growth and success!

Coach Karen is a Certified Youth Coach through Adventures in Wisdom, and has several years of experience coaching emotional intelligence training at Choice Center Leadership University.