After unexpectantly losing her husband of 29 years, Karen returned to the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA) in 2023 as the vice president of marketing and communications where she helps guide the organization’s marketing and communications activities to position the North Alabama region as a must-experience destination for leisure travel. She has over 30 years of marketing experience, most recently working as a behind-the-scenes freelance public relations consultant for AMLA and other tourism organizations and festivals in north Alabama and Tennessee. From 1999 to 2004, AMLA employed her as the organization’s marketing representative, introducing her to a lifelong career in the tourism and travel industry. Following the birth of her second child, she transitioned to part-time freelance employment so that she could focus on family life. She holds a B.S. degree in marketing and a MBA from the University of North Alabama and received her TMP – Travel Marketing Professional – certification from the Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College. She and her late husband, Michael, have two children, Keller and Logan.