About

An Arizona native raised in the former farm town, now hipster mecca of Chandler, Arizona. Reaching back to family roots of small town living, she spent some time in Northern Arizona in a little poker town by the name of Show Low. During her time there she learned about life at a different pace, embracing the fruits of the wild, and expanding on her inner tomboy learning to drive off-road, hunt, fish and explore. A ‘green’ woman on a mission to try to save the world one carbon footprint at a time; lobbying for the freshest, healthiest foods and lifestyle possible for her children during our short mortal lives on Earth.

Wanting to explore more she headed east to the Land of Enchantment where she took up roots in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While in the 505 at the young age of 19, Karie took business and life by the horns. Meeting her future husband, “The Chad”, in a local establishment, they forged a most unique friendship and partnership. The two built a life and business together, building a home and a future. In the meantime Karie was also running one of the most successful and profitable sub-prime lending departments at one of the largest dealerships in the state. Fully grasping her prowess in sales, customer relations, underwriting, finance and lending, her position as a finance manager would catapult her career all before she was 25. In between, she and The Chad, after three years of courtship, merged their partnership into a perfect union of matrimony. Karie and “The Chad” married in 2000.

Wanting more from life and wanting to reach higher into the clouds, as she felt at the peak of the mountain, Karie and her husband wanted to grow and have children. Realizing the automotive industry was a current means to an end but not a career suitable to married life with children she and “The Chad” began seeking out new roots back home in Arizona.

In 2003 they up and moved to Scottsdale shortly after they found they were pregnant with their first child. As if life wasn’t scary enough moving, add a pregnancy and new baby to the equation. But Karie and “The Chad” did not let this impact their decision, if nothing else, their future was on solid ground with the support system of family and friends waiting for them in Arizona. Later than fall they welcomed their eldest son.

Arizona brought many challenges as the job market was booming and opportunities were bountiful. Karie found her home at a local mortgage broker/banking firm where she applied all her successes and knowledge from automotive lending into mortgage lending. The mortgage industry was a flurry during this time with high dollar purchases, refinances, and creative lending to say the least. She latched on to the entire process from her niche in sales to the back-end process with underwriting and closing. This decision proved to be invaluable as Karie would later apply these skills to her ever evolving career path. But as any good thing, they often come to an end and the end was near in the mortgage industry with the fall of the boom and the heavy regulating in a former deregulated industry. Since Karie began to see the writing on the wall she took action to become more competitive and in 2006 she sought out completing her undergraduate education.

Working, putting herself through school, maintaining a lasting marriage and raising a child proved to be challenging but Karie didn’t let that interfere with the big picture or her positive, futuristic outlook. Until she thought life couldn’t be any more interesting in 2007, she and “The Chad” found they were with child again. Or shall we say children. They found they were having twins in the early part of 2008. While going to school, working from home originating mortgages, potty training her eldest child and supporting her husband who was doing extensive travel with his position, she began to chronicle life as a mother. She began to blog and write about life as a woman, wife, and mother and sharing her twin pregnancy with the world.

Karie’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive helped her to establish a successful business with her blog which afforded her great opportunity to work from home as well as hone in on her many skills. She began to grow her culinary skills as a sous chef, she revamped her families belief in food by going full organic and eliminating all processed foods, her writing began to evolve as one of the most sought after parenting and food blogs, and she was able to welcome her fraternal son and daughter into the world, all while still working on her undergrad.

In 2009, Karie completed her dream of a college education and degree, all with the love and support of her husband and family. Knowing that everything happens for a reason, her degree and extensive experience in lending, customer relations, writing and multitasking parenting, would prove to be an excellent resume builder for her future. That same year also proved to be a challenge for her and The Chad as the fall of the mortgage industry began to really domino into the rest of the business world. “The Chad” worked in the building material industry and the family income began to take a hit as “The Chad’s” career began to feel the effects of a failed mortgage bubble. The family took drastic changes to alter their family budget, instill a strong financial plan, and bear down on spending and saving. Small alterations proved to be tremendous to help the family weather their financial storm.

The  following year “The Chad” and Karie switched roles. Karie re-entered the corporate world once again as she went to work for one of the largest banks in the U.S. She quickly moved up in the ranks and found herself traveling through the states assisting troubled mortgagors to assist them in maintaining home-ownership. Karie now saw the full spectrum of lending from inception to default and she was enjoying her leadership role by serving the community. Excelling in her role, Karie began to feel the glass ceiling in the corporate world and her abundance for life and growth began to take hold. She let her ego become greater than her humility which ultimately led to her demise in the corporate world after four short years. However, during that time she grew a vast network of colleagues and a tremendous skill set that would be the catalyst for her next big adventure.

That catalyst is where we are today. Karie is able to share her knowledge as a corporate business woman, entrepreneur, mother, chef, published author, idiot savant of anything financial  and food to help others reach their goals of personal, financial, healthful, and spiritual freedom. Karie spends her days coaching others on the power of positive thinking, natural healing through proper nutrition and a diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables, daily exercise of the mind and body, as well as a strong love of God to heal from a holistic standpoint. She hosts dinner parties where she personally chefs gluten free and dairy free meals to families with dietary restrictions and challenges. When she isn’t working she is working out with her health and spending her weekends serving with the ministry at her local church. You can find Karie continuing to share her stories of motherhood and parenting through the love of Christ.