THE CAREER CATALYST

For leaders making career-defining moves

Executive Coaching | Strategic Leadership Labs | Organizational Workshops

Executive coach and strategic advisor to high-performing executives, founders, and creative leaders navigating pivotal career decisions.

I am a strategic telescope, bringing the bigger picture into focus and helping clarify what matters most.

Trusted by leaders at

Executive coach and trusted advisor for Paramount leaders

Executive coach and trusted advisor for ServiceNow leaders

Executive coach and trusted advisor for Astound Broadband leaders

You’ve built a career most people would happily stay in: leading high-performing teams, trusted in high-stakes rooms, and known for delivering when it counts.

You’re known as someone who delivers.

And now, something has shifted.

Not because you’re off track, but because what got you here no longer fits where you’re headed.

You’ve outgrown the role you’re in. It no longer stretches you.

You know the next chapter needs to reflect who you are now, not the version of you who built this one.

This is an inflection point. A moment of deliberate choice.

The real cost isn’t staying where you are. It’s staying just long enough to get comfortable doing work that no longer shows what you’re capable of.

BY PARTNERING WITH ME, YOU WILL

Advance bold ideas that reshape careers, industries, and legacies.
Convert expertise into ventures, platforms, or next-chapter roles with leverage and intention.
Command rooms, businesses, and conversations with strategic presence.
Move decisively with timing and judgment so your next move isn’t just big, it’s defining.

What changes first isn’t your rESUME.

It’s how clearly you see what matters next.

"I consider myself lucky to have had Karen there to help me tap into my potential. She presented keys that helped unlock each step as I up-leveled with every session. She's a treasure who brought out the best in me, and I felt (and still feel) her championing me with each step I took.”

MARY BETH ANDERSON | CEO & Founder, Junk Drawer Creative Studios

Karen Kunkel Young Creative Career Coach

High-performing leaders come to me at moments when staying where they are costs more than moving forward.

I know this moment because I’ve lived it. After a successful career as a senior television executive producing programs for global brands like NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery, I made my own bold move. I left corporate, built my next chapter on my terms, and now partner with leaders doing the same.

For more than 25 years, my work has sat at the intersection of big ideas, tight timelines, and high stakes. That experience shapes how I work with leaders now: focused, direct, and grounded in what actually moves the needle.

Today, I bring that same lens to executives, founders, and creative leaders at inflection points. I help them see the bigger picture, spot opportunities others miss, and move with clarity and authority toward the roles, ventures, and platforms that will define what comes next.

If you’re on the edge of a new chapter, this is where we get clear about what comes next.

START A STRATEGIC CONVERSATION

How I work with leaders

EXECUTIVE COACHING

For senior executives and creative leaders navigating pivotal career and leadership moments.
This is a high-level partnership for leaders seeking sharper judgment, clearer positioning, and a trusted strategic lens. We focus on the decisions, narratives, and moves that define your next chapter and expand your influence.

EXPLORE EXECUTIVE COACHING
TELESCOPE LABS

Strategic leadership labs for leadership teams navigating complexity and higher-stakes decision-making across the organization.
This work builds judgment, authority, and leadership readiness at the level the role actually demands. It’s designed for moments when scope expands, visibility increases, and decisions carry more weight.

LEARN ABOUT TELESCOPE LABS
ORGANIZATIONAL WORKSHOPS

For organizations ready to strengthen leadership influence, visibility, storytelling, and momentum.
These engagements help companies sharpen how leaders communicate, align vision with execution, and show up with clarity and confidence when it matters most.

view organizational workshops

Additional partnerships and institutions include

what PEopLE are saying

"Karen is the ultimate enabler of self-confidence; she somehow simultaneously challenges you directly with piercing (in a good way!) questions that help you get to the ROOT of your biggest blockers, whilst also pumping you up and reminding you of what you are ALREADY doing/capable of. I’ve never met someone who can get you to reflect so critically on precisely what matters, what the root cause of something is, whilst also giving you so much confidence and energy to fight for growth. My belief that my wildest dreams are not just possible, they are becoming a reality. Simply put, I’ve achieved my #1 dream since working with Karen."

Chris Lavoie | Founder & CEO, Partnership Mastermind
"As a long-time television Showrunner, I appreciated Karen's years of experience as a producer and high-level executive. She understood the nuance of entertainment and met the moment as the business weathered an upheaval like I've never seen in my 20+ years of producing. I've emerged from my time with her more steadfast in my mission and better able to articulate it, more confident in my skills as an entrepreneur and storyteller, and highly equipped to meet the moment as my career shifts gear."

MARY BETH ANDERSON | CEO & Founder, Junk Drawer Creative Studios
"Karen helped me craft a one-minute pitch for my pediatric oncology startup that was clear, compelling, and high-impact. Her coaching on pacing and sentence clarity was exceptional, and she gave me the gentle push I needed to step fully into my role as CEO. Karen brings a rare blend of strategic messaging expertise and supportive coaching that’s perfect when the stakes are high."

Caroline Brun | CEO, Voxel Healtcare
“Karen’s coaching is a salve to the psyche during this challenging period of contraction in the media industry. As your steadfast supporter, she cultivates a positive, forward-focused mindset paired with holistic intentionality that helps you show up as your best self. Most importantly, she's an attentive and empathetic listener who helps dismantle limiting beliefs, while reconnecting with strengths that fueled prior successes, propelling you toward new achievements. She's also a reliable and trusted advisor, inspiring momentum through insightful guidance and encouragement between sessions. I wholeheartedly recommend working with Karen.”

Chris Gidez | Show Runner & Master Storyteller
“She helped me find my innate ability to lead. I have a newfound confidence in my managerial approach, editorial judgment, and overall direction. As a result of Karen’s coaching, the big shoes that an executive must fill now fit much more comfortably.”

KYLE McCABE | Executive Producer & Show Runner
“One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about working with Karen is having the space to be creative. I’ve often come to our sessions in search of clarity on an issue. Once we get to the root, we have fun brainstorming solutions, creating action plans, setting goals and timelines. By working with Karen, I unlocked insights that propelled me to action."

JAVIER GONZALEZ | Luxury Fashion Executive & Entrepreneur
“I never felt comfortable opening up to others in the way I was so effortlessly able to do with Karen from our very first session. We started our journey at a milestone moment with my first book being edited and finished this part of our journey as my book got published - and I can honestly say, I would not have had the courage to see this through without Karen’s beautiful spirit as my guiding light. Anyone who gets to work with Karen will instantly be awakened to who they can become.”

NICOLE DANIELLE | Author & TV Producer
“I don’t know if I ever would have come to the conclusions that I reached without her help. So, it is with one step in front of the other that I am slowly writing the novel that is so important to me I feel more creative. Lighter. More accepting of failure because I know none of it matters unless I give it power. It’s been all about a lifestyle change for me, this shift, and it’s only happening because Karen showed me that I am more than I think myself to be."

ADRIA MARSCHALL | Writer & Producer
“Karen brought a warmth, enthusiasm, and professionalism that immediately made me feel at ease doing deep self-exploration. Working with her helped me deepen my perspectives, transform my mindset, and develop actions that I have been able to sustain. I'd highly recommend her to anyone looking to "take charge" of their lives with intention.."

KEVIN DELOS REYES | Sr. Manager, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
“Working with Karen is a truly unique experience and helps you maintain focus on taking action. She has a knack for driving accountability. With Karen, it's not just about setting goals, she ensures you're on track, making progress, and always looking further to make sure every base is covered. Her approach is both supportive and challenging, pushing you beyond your comfort zone while ensuring you never feel overwhelmed.”

JOAN G. | Marketing Executive
"After an emotionally draining layoff, Karen helped me set goals for all aspects of my career transition. She is very skillful at helping me to discover my own goals and values. She was attentive to my emotional tenor and helped me identify when i wasn't excited about a position or when i was displaying my best self. Her interview prep helped me accentuate the positives and engage the employers' curiosity--the first place I interviewed after working with her made me an offer."

Luke Stacks | Program Specialist
"my embodiment as an artist, my confidence in my ability to write and create, my clarity around my role and leadership, it all transformed."

Sonali Sangeeta Balajee | Founder, SSoMA & The Bodhi Project
“With Karen, you already know the insight, inspiration, and intention that she portrays and displays. She can facilitate your growth because she has been on the bridge herself.”

Micheal McCray | Podcast Creator & Innovator
"Before I did the Creative Spark with Karen, I was feeling pulled in a few different directions. Like many people, stressful experiences from past jobs were making it hard to look into the future with a positive outlook. This assessment helped me see I have more choices than I thought – both in what I do next in my career and how I approach it. Thanks Karen!"

Becky Kaplan Farone | Founder & Self-Authority Speaker