1. Quick (but effective) introduction of the personage and her achievements?

I am Karen A. Kakou. I am an Industrial Engineering graduate from the University of Wisconsin in the USA. Currently I work as a Manager in a renowned food manufacturing company, where I get to apply my analytical, continuous improvement and people management skills on a daily basis. My strength throughout my career has been to always seek the next thing to learn. I am a hungry for anything books and new knowledge. With my background - my mom never gone to college, my father barely knowing the ways around for a successful career, and no one to guide me in general, I had to figure everything out for myself. This may be the reason why I have always been thirsty for more to learn. This helped me in defying what the expected future for me was - a passable future, to strive for a more excellent future in which I live up to my potential. Today I could not be any happier because I am living the path of what was meant for me, and I never settled.

 

2. What are your main goals in life?

To be the best of me. Although it’s a very abstract response, it is what one must seek. Saying I want to become the Manager of so and so as a main goal is limiting. Once you reach that goal, what’s next?! Hence, my main goal in life is to live up to my greatest potential. In doing so, I know I have the potential to become a CEO of a company someday, I also have the potential to live happy and healthy, so I am going to work toward being in that position and living that life. It’s a holistic approach and a vision that incite continuous growth.

 

3. What tools and techniques do you use to accomplish things efficiently?

My favorite tool is Microsoft OneNote. It saved my life! Everything for me is organization. I know I can get a lot done but if I do not plan well and prioritize, nothing will be done and I could get overwhelmed. OneNote helps me be very organized. It is my brain poured out on a screen page- I have written down my books draft, my objectives, my investment planning, my entrepreneurial ideas, even my grocery list. All is well classified and locked with a password.

 

4. Any recommendations for your juniors?

You got to check my website karenkakou.com, of course (lol). I share everything I have learned throughout my life’s journey, which I think would be a great source of inspiration and motivation for anyone who strive to be great. Then you got to keep reading and learning from the greatest.  A few reads I would recommend are as follow: Malcom Gladwell’s books, any books of Napoleon Hill, any major CEOs biography such as Elon Musk, Jeffrey Bezos, Steve Jobs’. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "In, But Not Of" are some other great ones. I also like to listen to the Tim Ferriss podcast as well as watch videos from Mindvalley Academy. 

 

5. What is the best way to contact you?

You can contact me through my website: karenkakou.com
Or by email: kkakouwebsite@gmail.com

 

 

[Check out Karen, her most relevant writings, as well as other exclusive interviews in The Album]