Expand Beyond:

Karen Walrond

Company: Chookooloonks.com

Track: Keynote Panel

Session:

Bio: For half her life, Karen was fully entrenched in Corporate America. First, she was a structural engineer; then, she went to law school, eventually becoming the Chief Counsel for a software company serving the energy industry, and then later, the Chief of Staff of a large Fortune 200 company. But in another, parallel world, Karen had been shooting with her trusty Nikons since the mid-nineties. Nowadays, Karen lives one big, integrated life: she is a writer and a photographer, using the lessons of Corporate America and digital media to create articles, online essays, and digital stories. She is a seasoned public speaker, on topics as varied as parenthood, social media and women in leadership. She has appeared on both local and national television shows, including an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in April 2009. Her fine art pieces and projects have been included in exhibits around the country, most recently at the Galleria Lazzara, in Houston. She continues to maintain her photoblog, Chookooloonks, and contributes to the collaborative website Shutter Sisters, aimed at inspiring and creating community among avid women photographers. She is the author of Through the Gadling Lens, a weekly column on the travel site Gadling.com, with tips and other information on how to take amazing travel shots. Finally, she "curates" LensHouston, a photoblog hosted by the Houston Chronicle, and featuring the best of Houston amateur photography.

Karen is from Trinidad & Tobago, but currently lives in Houston. She holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from the University of Houston. She's also a devoted wife and a doting mother, and just an all-round great gal.