DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RELATIONS
ZEN MASTER

Karen, who is originally from Portland, Oregon, was raised with cats and dogs but also any animal that needed care. She found a natural solace in animals and knew from a young age that she would likely dedicate her life to them.

She started her career in Veterinary Medicine as a kennel attendant and receptionist in 2003. She decided this was the path to pursue and enrolled in a year long certification program along with invaluable on the job training to become a Veterinary Technician. Moving to Austin in 2008, she continued her Vet Med journey and worked for an emergency animal hospital for 7 years before taking a year and a half off to reset and travel the world. After amazing adventures in India, Greece, Turkey, Ireland, Germany and Italy she returned to Austin in 2017 unsure of what she wanted to do next. She heard about Paz through a friend and decided to give it a try. She’s never looked back. She was quickly promoted from Technician to Technician Supervisor. Promoted again and again until she now resides as the Director of HR. It was a whirlwind of growth both personally and professionally as well as her contribution to the growth of Paz as a whole and she wouldn’t change it for anything. Paz has been a great reminder of why she got into Veterinary Medicine in the first place: to strengthen the human animal bond. Now that she gets to work more on the human side of things, she has become keenly aware of how important it is that we take care of our Veterinary professionals by providing them with a healthy work environment where they are able to advocate for themselves and feel empowered to be the best humans they can be. She is proud to be a part of Paz’s very unique culture and approach to Veterinary Medicine.

Karen has an adult son, Aiden, who lives in Austin and three furry freeloading roommates: Beeju, a 14 year old pitbull, Kali, a 4 month old black kitten aptly named after the Hindu Goddess of Destruction and Judas Goat, a 9 year old black cat who holds ultimate power over all who enter his home. Outside of veterinary medicine, her hobbies and passions include yoga and meditation (certified yoga instructor), the good death movement (certified Death Midwife), travel, nature, learning/seeking, cooking, volunteering, music, self care (biohacking) and anything that inspires personal empowerment as well as respect and admiration for nature and all of its inhabitants. She’s just a general fan of this journey we call Life.

Ultimately, Karen will end up on some land in the country growing veggies and caring for a small herd of black cats, goats, chickens and dogs.