Karen Mathis

About Karen

• When she was growing up, girls had very few choices: you could be a stay-at-home mom, a nurse, a teacher, or a nun.
• At the age of 12, she decided she didn't want to do any of those things: she wanted to be a lawyer.
• Went to college and got an education degree; spent some time teaching, then went to law school.
• No one in her family had ever graduated from college, but once she got to law school, she realized she'd found "the love of her life."
• Says you manage a golf game not by thinking about all 18 holes, but by focusing on the hole you're on and the two coming up.
• In that vein, she tries to operate with a five-year plan because she doesn't think it makes sense to plan beyond that.
• Says the law profession isn't always accepting of women, but "it's easier to walk out a glass door than to keep bumping your head on a glass ceiling."
• One employer wasn't matching her needs, so she left and formed her own practice; was able to take on the cases she wanted, hire more women.