Karen Porter

Hello, I’m Karen Porter.

I am on my fourth career, with some in between jobs on the way. Each one has brought a different set of challenges and discoveries along the way.

I started my working life as an articled clerk with law firm Bird & Bird. After two years I realised I would never have a passion for trusts, probate and conveyancing so waved goodbye to the legal profession.  I learnt that I had to be true to myself and this type of environment was never going to inspire or motivate me.

My next move was into the world of advertising, working at an agency whose main business was high profile record industry accounts. This small specialist firm gave me insight into the realities of running a business; being a close team that was so interconnected that we could finish each other’s sentences. It was a business with an entrepreneurial spirit and we worked with like-minded people.

I was motivated by this style of dynamic business culture and this led me to my next career in the music business, promoting some of the biggest dance hits of the late 80’s for Stock Aitken and Waterman’s Hit Factory. I was lucky, lucky, lucky! Work and real life merged into one and I was caught up in one of the biggest recording success stories of the day. It was a completely democratic workplace. Everyone was empowered to have ideas about any aspect of the business, see them through and take credit for them. Strangely, it was never about the product – sorry, artist; always about the power of the team around them.

Life then took a different turn and I spent the next year travelling in Australia and the Far East. This was my time out and the beginning of my fascination with others cultures. It was a time when I often had to place trust in complete strangers and fortunately, always found this rewarding experience. It also played to my passion for food. 

I returned to London and Smithfield Design, a heavyweight corporate branding and design consultancy. After the initial shock to my system of having to wear shoes again, I started to bring my skills into play. My approach was deemed to be “infectiously enthusiastic” and in next to no time, all my colleagues had the bug. In return they taught me the importance of creating a rationale for our design output; that creative ideas had to be grounded in the communications objectives. It was my growing up phase.

Then it was time for motherhood and learning the art of patience and negotiation.

And finally to H&K and bringing all those life skills together into tangible benefits that I offer in my current role. I’m actually a set of contradictions, which means that I like to question and challenge myself as well as others. I know that individual expression flourishes in the strongest corporate cultures. I know that you learn by mistakes, so it’s important to empower people to make their own; then admit your mistakes and share your findings. Planning is essential but so is flexibility. Change can be scary but is energising. Much as you need to empathise with clients, they will not value you if you agree with them all the time. Be passionate, be enthusiastic but never earnest. There is always a balance between rationale and emotional. Humour keeps stress at bay. Be optimistic and realistic. And although it may appear that I’ve flitted around from one thing to another, I am the most tenacious person on the planet.

There’s a lot more but I’ve also learnt when to stop.