Karla Brown
The City of Pleasanton
"If government exists in a vacuum, we will be missing the great ideas from the community."
Career Roadmap
Karla's work combines: Government, Politics, and Upholding a Cause and Belief
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Armijo High School
Bachelor's Degree
Business/Commerce, General
San Jose State University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Legislators:
Bachelor's Degree: Business/Commerce, General
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Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Married at 20 years old while still in college. Had my first daughter at 23 years old.
2.
Finished my college degree at 24 years old with a 1 year old.
3.
Battled and won against a life threatening cancer at 25 years old.
4.
Started working outside the home at 26 and was fast tracked in my career because I knew I could do a better job than others doing the job now. I was promoted numerous times but had to change jobs.
5.
Competed with all men in a technical sales field of multi-million dollar equipment sales to the semiconductor industry. I won both national and worldwide awards. and earned a LOT of money.
6.
Took 4 years off to raise my daughters, then switched to real estate to work locally.
7.
Was part of a lawsuit to sue PG&E, and we won. Helped collect signatures to go to the ballot for permanent ridgeline protection. We won.
8.
Ran for City Council in 2010, lost. Ran again in 2012 and earned first place. Ran again in 2016 and got more votes than any council member in the history of Pleasanton.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
That my goals were not representative of the community as a whole. That I was a "one issue" candidate for office.
How I responded:
The comments above were posted by anonymous people on the Pleasanton Weekly Blog so I do not know who said them. Normally people that make posts have self serving goals and want to derail your success. My best advice is to have a small group of close supporters monitor the blog sites and stay off of them yourself. Do not listen to a few negative comments which are probably written by bitter or mean people.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I am a full-time real estate agent, the mother of 3 daughters and I am also a city council member. The days are not long enough to do all I would like for my family, my clients and my city so I need to prioritize my time.