From her first construction job after college, Karen knew that she had found her industry. She worked for a residential builder in North Carolina and discovered that she loved connecting with clients and walking them through each phase of building.

Chasing her dream of living in Colorado, Karen moved west in 2003. The move was not her only adventure; she also branched into commercial construction and enjoyed the challenge of working on several historic renovations along the Front Range. Driven by her love for learning, she has an extensive resume, including commercial estimating and project management, tenant finish, ground-up construction, historic renovations, and more.

Karen is excited to continue her journey at Cottonwood Custom Builders, where she is already expanding her green building expertise. She loves the alchemy of making old things new again, reusing existing materials, and incorporating the latest energy-efficient design techniques.

In her downtime, Karen enjoys spending quality time with her three children, traveling to visit friends and family, running, and practicing Bikram yoga. Her kids are her biggest passion in life. Together they enjoy hiking, skiing, mountain biking, camping, watching and playing soccer, and chilling with their dog, Sunny.

I start every morning with…
Meditation. And coffee.

I end every day by…
reading or writing.

How do you help protect the environment on a day-to-day basis?
I ride my bike everywhere I can.

What’s your favorite hangout spot in Boulder?
The Rio!

Quote you live by?
“Take it as it comes”