Meet Karen
Hello!
It's great to meet you.
I'm Karen Adams or Rather Good Ltd, and I'm delighted that you're taking the time to have a look around the site and get to know me a bit better.
My Story
I worked in construction for years; mostly by chance.
I joined the industry after finishing my A-levels. I had been looking for a job and the standout offer was a 4-year apprenticeship as a draughtsperson/engineer with a friendly company that made air-conditioning ductwork.
At the time, I didn't even know what ductwork was!
I actually enjoyed working in construction more than I would ever have expected. I may not have been a natural fit for the industry - as a female with no family connection to engineering or construction and was thoroughly indifferent to football - but it turned out that they were more friendly and accepting than I'd initially expected. Especially given the reputation the construction industry has.
And then...
When I worked on rebranding my business in 2021, I had no idea that it would be such a huge turning point in my life.
I’d been getting bored and frustrated with my work as a freelance draughtsperson and fed up with the switch between a stressful commute and being out of the loop working from home. I’d planned to retrain and take more local work, but learning a bit about marketing turned into being knee-deep in studying mindset and communication.
And I’d never been happier.
But I didn’t know what to do. I’d finally found something that really interested me, and 20 years in construction hadn’t exactly taught me anything I could use to make a living with it.
Or had it?
And I realised that was exactly the point. My years in construction shaped me as a person. I worked on dozens of project teams over the years, each with different peorsonalities, some of whom gelled, some of whom clashed, and all of whom somehow managed to work together and get the job done.
The wide range of people I worked with over the years tought me a lot about how people can work together, and I learned how to get on with some quite...tricky personalities! Construction gave me an unusual life experience and it taught me a resilience, open-mindedness and pragmatism I might never have learned elsewhere.
And here’s the thing: my background, including my work, my weird hobbies and all my life experiences, are what really consolidates the knowledge I'm gaining now into my brain.
Whatever challenge you are facing, however unprepared you may feel, however much the skills you have do not seem to fit whatever is in front of you...fear not.
You CAN use your existing experiences as a foundation to take on new challenges.
Your future successes will come a lot easier if you do!
My Inspiration
When I started out networking with other professionals. I knew I could talk to people – I do it all the time – but it had been a long time since I’d played to an audience, and the circumstances were very different.
Then, when I was walking through town one day I saw some street performers and I was transported back to the days when I was part of a group of street performers myself. I remembered how the girl in the costume had been larger than life. How she had enjoyed the attention...and having a persona. I was able to build on that feeling to create the brand voice and presence I wanted to have in my business.
The next time I went to a networking event, I practically bounded up to the front of the room to cheerily greet everyone, and I haven’t looked back.
What does being a street performer have to do with networking?
On the surface, very little, but I was able to use the skills from that arena to present myself in another.
Random Hobbies
Nature and PhotographyI have taken up photography as a hobby in the last few years. My husband is a keen photographer, and he started teaching me how to use his fancy digital camera. Now I use an old camera of his and am just as likely as he is to stop to take a photo or two when something catches my eye. I enjoy getting out into nature when I have the chance, and we have started to use this as an excuse to go on photography expeditions to woodlands and nature reserves nearby. Going out to the woods, looking at the trees and watching the birds and the bees, not to mention the butterflies, squirrels and muntjacs, is a fun pastime. I am much more cheerful if I spend time in nature. I still struggle to identify most of the flighty little creatures, though! Learning experiencesWhen we get home from an expedition, we download the photos so we can look at them on the television. We can then evaluate the images and decide which to add to our collection. It's actually a great part of the learning, too, looking at what effects the light and camera settings had on the end result. It's also fascinating to look at the same trip through another person's eyes: often we saw completely different scenes! |
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My Official Bio
Karen Adams is a workshop facilitator and coach who works with professionals to help them feel confident and seen, even when talking to their most difficult colleagues.
Karen knows how much more impact you can make when you are truly confident in what you want to say and have the flexibility to talk about it in different ways, depending on your audience. After working in the construction industry for over 20 years, Karen has plenty of experience in making herself heard when people don’t want to listen!
Aside from her four-year apprenticeship as a CAD Draughtsperson and Engineer, Karen has also done training in facilitation and coaching and is a certified NLP Practitioner and Mediator. She also has a certificate in Personal Injury Liability and Absence Reduction from NCRQ, which has proved to be unexpectedly useful in her current work.
Outside of her passion for coaching, Karen loves reading and playing the melodeon and, on weekends, can often be found wandering around the countryside on photography expeditions with her husband.
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