Wow! Our second feature for this week is a recipient of the 2017 Top 100 Black Women to Watch In Canada Award, proud mother of two young men, a Published author, a Motivational speaker, and Show Host of the Karen Talk Carrington Show to name a few. Her mantra is all about encouragement, inner beauty, mental health and physical wellness by inspiring others through her personal story. “Branding” herself an advocate for human happiness Karen seeks to build her own community of positivity.
Her place of struggle
The place she once struggled with greatly, Karen now uses to motivate others. In Karen’s younger days she felt inadequate struggling to breathe under the pressures of life. Karen shares that as a young adult her life was a challenging and she felt oppressed by her childhood, self-image, financial stresses, being a single mother and much more. All that combined was a recipe of distress to the point where her anxious thoughts became accepted as a commonplace in her mind. To put it into her words her anxiety reached a point where;
“I allowed worry to consume me and to dictate who I was as a person. I began to lose myself and my anxiety controlled my life, I had ongoing severe migraines, and I rarely slept. My hair was falling out, I had cold tingling hands and feet, shortness of breath, and an inability to be still or calm. It got so bad, that at times, I had no clue what I was even worried about. I would draw a blank and zone out. It was frustrating to live with, and it interfered with my communication. I had trouble getting my thoughts out, and I stuttered on my words. I spoke in circles and my heart would race. During this time of my life, this anxiety was my “normal.” I was always worried if I didn’t receive approval, I figured people disliked me. I always felt unworthy. I felt I had to prove myself to everyone in my life that I was able to manage. I didn’t want to seem like a failure. I had to be constantly perfect”
After being diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder in 2007, or GAD for short, which is a mental illness which causes someone to have excessive worry, uneasiness, and dread for a long period of time. Karen was admitted to rehabilitation sessions for a year and began to regain control over her life and her fears. It was a tough journey to recovery but it enlightened Karen to the idea of choice. She had the power to change her perspective on life and live in balance with a mental illness that used to control her.
Motivating others
With Karen’s newfound strength it led her to her speaking on stage as a Motivational speaker sharing her story to help heal others and from there began her realization that this was exactly where she wanted to be. She had been given a voice and wanted to use that to help others. As she said herself “I have a voice and I intend to use it”. So with that said Karen created a radio talk show which focuses on topics such as Happy Relationships, emotional intelligence, Mental Wellness and Happy Life Balance. Karen says it is, “a show to uplift viewers each Monday. We start off the week with positivity, encouragement, and inspiration. This show is a platform to help motivate and inspire listeners who are perhaps broken, alone, lost, need inspiration with their dreams, struggling with physical, emotional pain, self-esteem, confidence or have lost all hope.”
In addition to her talk show, look out for her new book ‘A Fresh Start – 111 Affirmations to Make This The Best Year Ever And Create The Life You Want,’ which will be launched in Spring of 2018. In this heartfelt book, Karen shares 111 positive affirmations and writes about Life Lessons, living out your life purpose and reaching your goals.
Celebrate with us this amazing woman. Karen Carrington a Corporate Executive Assistant, Mental Health Advocate, Published Author, a Motivational Speaker, Certified Trainer and Radio talk show host.
To learn more about Karen, you can visit her website at www.karencarrington.com.