About Karen
On the wall above my desk is a drawing one of my young English students made for me at home, before class. It shows me standing calmly in the middle of a storm of scribbles, inside a clear orange line, with a green heart on my chest.
I'd looked at it every day for a long time before I really saw it. When I did, I understood what I actually teach. I took that class for English, but what we really practised was language in its truest sense: the thing that connects one mind and heart to another.
Who I am now
I’m an Australian living on Lake Garda, an Executive MBA who teaches English, and a student again myself, learning Italian one mistake at a time. Whenever I say “tutto bene”, Italians kindly say it back to me the way I said it: “tooootoh behnay”. No matter how hard I try.
The day that stopped bothering me, parents told me the most consistent change they notice is their children coming home saying “noooh”, the Australian way. My young students’ English will always belong a little to Australia, not America or the UK. That’s when I understood: an accent isn’t a mistake. It’s where you come from, and people warm to it. What matters is being understood.
Burnt to the ground, then rising
At 45, my life burnt to the ground in a single day: my marriage ended, and the business we had built went into liquidation. It cracked me wide open, and it turned out to be the beginning of everything good. I didn’t wait to be rescued. I rebuilt the business, cutting it back to a profitable core, and I rebuilt myself: physically stronger, mentally steadier, emotionally more available. Along the way I learned that pressure lives in the body as much as in the mind, and in the words we choose.
Then I made the most terrifying decision of my life, and my dream come true: I gave up everything comfortable and moved from Australia to Italy to start again. Change is never easy. It is always worth it. Everything I teach comes from that.
What I believe
Being understood matters more than being perfect.
Your accent is part of your personality. Keep it.
The busiest people learn fastest, because they have somewhere to use it.
Serious about results, seriously fun to learn.
Who I work with best
Curious, busy people who would rather grow than stay comfortable: leaders stepping into bigger rooms, professionals ready to sound like themselves in English, and women in midlife ready for what comes next. I work with them online around the world, and in person by the lake.
Training and qualifications
Executive MBA
Certified Unbeatable Mind Coach (Mark Divine)
Precision Nutrition Coach: nutrition, sleep, stress and recovery
Yoga, qi gong (including Ba Duan Jin) and breathwork
Teaching English as a Foreign Language: ITTT diploma
Get in touch
Tell me a little about what you're looking for, and I'll reply personally.
Thank you. I'll reply personally.
Email: karen@phoenixbykaren.com · WhatsApp: +39 331 289 0551 · Instagram: @phoenixbykaren
Online worldwide · In person on Lake Garda, Italy