Karen Stone

I used to be a DKNY (Donna Karan New York) kind of girl. Classic cut. Confident. Climbing. Comfortable in the cocoon of corporate American for over 30 years.

In 2000, I was at the top of my game and thriving on the responsibility, power, mentoring, and high-level, fast-paced decision making that came with being a VP and building and managing my own department.

Then, economic conditions changed, and I was downsized. No worries. I rose to the occasion, jumping into the situation with my best and well-tested Type A attributes. I bulldozed through my circumstances and started a consulting and coaching business.

Then stuff happened. Within three months, my long waited for and deepening six-month relationship ended, I wrecked my car, one of my pets died from a mysterious illness, and another pet was diagnosed with cancer. The events of my life sounded like the lyrics to a country Western song. I couldn’t figure out what was happening to my life. How had things gone so wrong?

I was not used to living with this level of emotional, financial and lifestyle uncertainty. The stress began to wear me down.
I began a steady slide into the emotionally rocky valley of the “Don’t Knows” – which I satirically dubbed my fall from the DKNYs to the just plain DKs.

Confused, lonely, grieving, and afraid, I struggled on for a while, not sure what to do. I longed to get back to a life that felt familiar and made sense. I solved the situation by going into default mode. I got another job. With a steady income, and benefits, I felt safe and secure again.

I was relieved and exhaled as I stepped back into the corporate arena. Yet a nagging voice in my head continuously questioned me. Had I bailed out when given the opportunity to change my life? Had I let fear win?

In the quiet of the nights when I lay awake pondering these questions, the answer would come, always the same, I just don’t know.

Well, now I do.

Over time, I made friends with that nagging voice. With an open and curious mind, I began to research, study, gather information and spend time with people who had changed their lives. Always a good student, I took lots of notes!

What I was really looking for was a road map through the Don’t Knows.
I couldn’t find one.
So, I put together my own.

In 2004, I got to road-test it. After three challenging, fast-paced, high stress work years, my mind, body, and spirit crumbled. I was not able to bulldoze through my exhaustion, disillusionment, and frustration. In fact, my trusty bulldozer disintegrated into pieces around me. I took a leave of absence. When I returned to work, miraculously my position was moved to another office. They offered me a severance package. I took it, said goodbye to my team, and packed my car with mementos.

As I drove away, I knew I wasn’t the same woman I used to be. I was free and felt ready.

That night, I pulled the notes for my DK roadmap out from under the armoire in my living room. I spread them on the floor around me and knew this transition would be different.

I was ready to say “Yes” to an unfolding life, rather than focusing on the next logical step.

The mishmash of sticky notes, legal pads, photocopied pages from dozens of books and notes written on napkins became my pathway to a whole new life. Following it has changed the way I live and what I am doing with my life. It has also been the basis of change in the lives of my clients who have taken this journey.

Now I am offering this roadmap to you.

Life presents us with ample opportunities to learn, grow and evolve into more conscious human and spiritual beings. The Don’t Knows call us to discover different parts of ourselves that have been hiding under the hustle and bustle of our achievement-oriented society.

As I have become intimate with the Don’t Knows, I have come to know them as important and dynamic life passages. Each Don’t Know is a vital stage of life, the power of which, if leveraged, leads to discovery and growth.

Through my own journey, I have discovered how I can best serve others on theirs. As a coach, writer, speaker and trainer, my passion is assisting you in creating your own successful Don’t Know Experience.

I will be 100% in your court, add my wisdom to yours, guide you and walk with you, and celebrate you as you embrace and leverage uncertainty and Grow When You Don’t Know.