I’m an award-winning speaker, co-author of an Amazon bestselling book, and experienced consultant .I’ve spent my 20+ year career in insight roles, understanding the psychology of how we behave and how to influence it, and the last few years focusing on the underlying drivers of human motivation, resilience and happiness.
When I was suddenly widowed in my early 30s, I moved from the UK to Singapore to set up an insight business and for a fresh start personally. Leaving behind my support network could have been a ridiculous thing to do in the circumstances, but it turned out to be a life-changing experience, largely because it helped me become more objective about my situation, allowing me to focus on what’s really important in life.
Initially reluctant to share my own tragic and deeply personal story, after a while it made so much sense for me to combine my professional knowledge of psychology and happiness theory with my personal experiences in a revealing, but ultimately uplifting and engaging keynote, leaving the audience with practical advice to improve their own resilience and happiness, and get through the toughest of times.
I joined www.keynotewomen.com in 2018 and since then have developed my talk and training courses from being about happiness to having a more practical focus on resilience, suitable for a range of audiences from individuals to large corporates. Over my career I’ve trained and presented to hundreds of people about consumer psychology, creativity, storytelling, happiness and resilience at SMEs, large Corporates, conferences, seminars and for various industry bodies, across Europe and Asia.
I am on the Senior Leadership Team as Head of People at Blue Yonder Research, responsible for people culture and strategy, DE&I, employee wellbeing, training & development, and I lead the Qualitative Insight Strategy there too.
Before this, I spent many years at Director-level at UK-based research agencies, plus contract work at Kellogg’s leading their UK & Ireland Insight and Planning function.
I took a year out to travel solo around Asia in 2019 as a way of challenging myself, taking some time away from corporate life, and broadening my understanding of different cultures. I was lucky enough to meet my now husband while travelling, and to have returned to the UK just before Covid. They say everything happens for a reason…
I’ve been threatening to write a book since I was about 6 years old, although at that age it was going to be a work of fiction. My life has been such that non-fiction is now more appropriate; I’ve recently written a chapter in an Amazon best-selling book on gender equity with Keynote Women Speakers, and there’s more to come. In the meantime, check out my blog for recent thoughts on happiness, resilience, and other musings on life, or get in touch.
WHY ‘HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE’
While we can’t always choose the circumstances we find ourselves in, we always have a choice about how to respond, and by making conscious changes in our lives, we can all be a little bit happier – and more resilient.
Weaving together academic theory on positive psychology, habits and mindfulness, I demonstrate why much of our happiness is due to our mindset and the way we choose to see the world around us, why it’s less influenced by our genes than we might think, and how we can consciously choose to make ourselves happier, and increase our resilience.
I bring a combination of energy, passion, emotion and fun to help you create positive changes based on happiness theory, including how to develop better habits, and how to be more resilient, whatever challenges life throws at you.
What other people say
“Karen is a powerful and inspiring keynote speaker. She delivers organizationally relevant content through personal insights and experiences. Audiences walk away with new insights through her unique blend of storytelling and teaching. As a speaker she is entertaining, engaging and educational.”
— Lavinia Thanapathy, Chair of Inspiring Girls Singapore, Keynote Speaker, VP SCWO, Best-selling Author, Singapore
“She has a powerful story to share, and connects with the audience because she is not afraid to embrace vulnerability. She gets the audience lean in to listen and truly feel with her in great anticipation of what comes next. If you’re looking for a motivational speaker on the topic of happiness, I can highly recommend that you engage Karen.”
— Mette Johansson, Founder, Metamind Training & Consultancy, Keynote Speaker, Singapore
“Karen is a wonderfully engaging speaker. She can take complex content and distill it down to the essential points then create a powerful storyline which she presents with energy. She really does connect with her audiences and displays a real passion as well as deep expertise. If I see
Karen on the speaker panel it gives me another reason to attend the event. So please do more!!”
— Susan Burrell, Head of Insight, Standard Chartered Bank
“A highly engaging speaker who never fails to bring something trending to the stage for discussion, Karen has been a frequent feature at the Asia Research Breakfast Seminar and consistently delivers papers with insightful and often humorous content. She has charmed many with her charismatic stage presence and passion for consumer insights that is apparent whenever she speaks. I look forward to hearing more from Karen.”
— Claudia Siregar, Investor-Consultant, Founder
Karen Schofield, keynote speaker & trainer 