with
Karen Stone, MSW, LCC, CCIM
Coach, Writer, Speaker, Trainer
Meet Karen
I used to be a DKNY (Donna Karan New York) kind of girl. Classic cut. Confident. Climbing. Comfortable in the cocoon of corporate American for over 30 years. Then stuff happened.
In 2000, I experienced my highest and best use in my industry. Vice President of a division, I was empowered by a CEO that supported me and counted on me. I put together a hand-picked, highly skilled team and built a custom system of best practices based on my experience and knowledge. I was at the top of my game and thriving on the responsibility, power, mentoring, and high-level, fast-paced decision making.
Then, economic conditions changed, and I was downsized. No worries. I rose to the occasion, jumping into the situation with my best and well-tested Type A attributes. I bulldozed through my circumstances, started a consulting and coaching business, proceeded to write e-books and articles, and dug into the world of working from home.
Then stuff happened. Within three months, my long waited for and deepening six-month relationship ended, I wrecked my car, one of my pets, only 3 1/2 years old, died from a mysterious illness, and, several weeks later, another pet was diagnosed with cancer at 16 years old. The events of my life sounded like the lyrics to a country Western song. I couldn’t figure out what was happening to my life. How had things gone so wrong?.
I was not used to living with this level of emotional, financial and lifestyle uncertainty. The stress began to wear me down.
I began a steady slide into the emotionally rocky valley of the “Don’t Knows” – which I satirically dubbed my fall from the DKNYs to the just plain DKs.
Confused, lonely, grieving, and afraid, I struggled on for a while, not sure what to do. I longed to get back to a life that felt familiar and made sense. I solved the situation by going into default mode. I got another job. With a steady income, and benefits, I felt safe and secure again.
I was relieved and exhaled as I stepped back into the corporate arena. It been a hard, draining year of stress, loss, and struggle. I was a bit older and wiser, more seasoned, and ready to refocus, and take on new professional challenges.
Yet a nagging voice in my head continuously questioned me. Had I bailed out when given the opportunity to change my life? After being on a conscious spiritual and personal development path for over 30 years, how had I failed to create a more fulfilling life? Had I let fear win? Where was my faith in an abundant universe? myself? a loving infinite Intelligence that wants me to thrive?.
In the quiet of the nights when I lay awake pondering these questions, the answer would come, always the same, I just don’t know.
Well, now I do.
Over time, I made friends with that nagging voice. With an open and curious mind, I began to study and gather information. Always a good student, I took lots of notes! I researched resilience, living with uncertainty, going through transitions, courage, chaos theory, quantum physics, surrender, how to make good decisions, how to uncover limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering ones, and how to reinvent my life. I dug into finding my unique purpose and spent time with others who have changed the direction of their lives. I more deeply explored my spiritual beliefs and how I can contribute my wisdom and gifts to add value to others’ personal journeys. And I practiced taking the skills that made me a success in the corporate world and transformed them to create success in my personal, internal world.
What I was really looking for was a road map through the Don’t Knows.
I couldn’t find one.
So, I put together my own.
In 2004, I got to road-test it. After three challenging, fast-paced, high stress work years, my mind, body, and spirit fell apart. I was not able to bulldoze through my exhaustion, disillusionment, and sadness. In fact, my trusty bulldozer disintegrated into pieces around me. I took a leave of absence. Family and friends cared for me as I slept, ate, and cried. I returned to work several weeks later to shocking news. My position was being moved to another office in another state. They offered me a severance package. I took it, said goodbye to my team, and packed my car with files and mementos.
As I drove away, I knew I wasn’t the same woman I used to be. I was free and felt ready.
That night, I pulled the notes for my DK roadmap out from under the armoire in my living room. I spread them on the floor around me and knew this transition would be different.
I was ready to say “Yes” to an unfolding life, rather than focusing on the next logical step.
The mishmash of sticky notes, legal pads, photocopied pages from dozens of books and notes written on napkins became my pathway to a whole new life. Following it has changed the way I live and what I am doing with my life. It has also been the basis of change in the lives of my clients who have taken this journey.
Now I am offering this roadmap to you.
Life presents us with ample opportunities to learn, grow and evolve into more conscious humans and spiritual beings. The Don’t Knows call us to discover different parts of ourselves that have been hiding under the hustle and bustle of our achievement-oriented society.
As I have become intimate with the Don’t Knows, I have come to know them as important and dynamic life passages.
Each Don’t Know is a vital stage of life, the power of which, if leveraged, leads to discovery and growth.
If you choose to take the challenge of welcoming rather than running from the Don’t Knows, you can get to know who you truly are when the trappings of your identity fall away, and you are left with your SELF. As you navigate the Don’t Knows, you walk a path that takes you deeper into the full experience of yourself and life.
Through my own journey, I have discovered how I can best serve others on theirs. As a coach, writer, speaker and trainer, my passion is assisting you in creating a successful Don’t Know Experience.