Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Never Say Never

The woman sitting across from Kara stretches her arms wide, as to create emphasis. "Kara," she says, "Do you realize that, on one hand, you are completely spontaneous, facing what many people fear with excitement and enjoyment, relishing the unplanned adventures, and on the polar opposite end, cling to a suffocating control and structure that has wanted to choke out any and all of the beauty in life that you so desperately are searching?"

That would be a quite accurate observation.

Kara is an anomaly, not following the normal post-college life that many of her friends have chosen with marriages, homes, kids, and office jobs. "I thought I wanted all of that right out of college, but really, I had no idea. In God's wisdom, I didn't get what I hoped for, and how I thought my life would be is very, very different from my current reality. I am very blessed and thankful that God knows best and that my plans didn't happen," she says.

If you told Kara four years ago that she would be a flight attendant, living in Los Angeles, in a quaint beach apartment, having traveled to Haiti, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, Hawaii, British Columbia, Germany, Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Belgium, Guatemala, all in the span of one year, as well as developing a strategy to take a little tortilla company mainstream, she would have looked at you and asked if you were feeling ok...or if you were smoking crack.

She never wanted to be a flight attendant, had no desire to live in LA, and traveling that much seemed too unbelievably awesome. "I remember flying out of LAX as a passenger years ago, taking a red-eye out, noticing the flight attendants, and thinking, 'I'd hate to do that job.' It's crazy for me to think of how I actually love my job, how I like LA, and how lucky I am to have made a great community of friends."

To Kara, flying is still "just a job," and her passion, and what she knows to be her future, is Created Whole. Her creativity, enthusiasm, and natural interest in people, combined with a degree in Marketing, have created a natural fit as Lead of Marketing and Promotions. "I believe in our company. I can't imagine my life without tortillas, and honestly, I don't know how other people live without them either. They shouldn't have to. My personal mission is that people no longer be without an awesome tasting whole wheat tortilla," she says with a laugh.

In Kara's "fun time", she enjoys riding her Cannondale road-bike, spending time with friends, and dreaming up the next adventure. The "Must-See List" includes Italy, Chile, Israel, and Thailand, and the chart toppers for the "Must-Do List" are learning Spanish, sky-diving, and biking from Canada to Mexico.