Karina is a sociologist, professional coach, corporate trainer, writer and speaker who has spent 25 years immersing herself in a mission to learn all she can about human behaviour, resilience and motivation; social influences and group dynamics. She successfully completed her undergraduate studies and PhD at Deakin University, where she excelled in sociology, philosophy, gender studies and psychology, resulting in her nomination for the prestigious 'Alfred Deakin Medal' and being awarded Life Membership to the 'Golden Key International Honour Society'. Karina continues to keep her knowledge at the cutting edge, participating in research teams and running independent projects that continue to add to academic, corporate and public knowledge about friendship, gender, communities, health and wellbeing.
Her early career, which included administrative, recruiting and sales management, provided her with over a decade of practical experience in creating rapport and building loyal client relationships. She has also held several long term voluntary caring and advocacy positions working with the disadvantaged, family violence survivors and the elderly. Having been an accredited life coach since 2002 and corporate trainer since 2003, she combines this experience with her formal studies to help her clients develop and fine-tune their self awareness, interpersonal skills and create better relationships with others.
Karina is no stranger to the daily tribulations of business life. She is a Director of Project Balance Pty Ltd, a business she set up in 2002 to help companies attend to employee wellbeing and effectiveness, which now has a team of a ten specialists in Melbourne and Sydney. Karina's latest venture is to help promote and connect people who have especially high standards of integrity, positivity and impact in their business conduct, through a professional association, High Ideals Pty Ltd, which launched in 2009. Added to this she was part of the founding executive management team of the Life Coaching Society, holding the roles of Secretary (2005-2006) and Vice-President (2007). Having so many projects to manage, along with her responsibilities as a busy mother of two teenagers, she has become somewhat of an expert at time and project management.
As a speaker, writer and trainer, she pulls together her academic, coaching and business training and experience, providing authoritative and well researched content in a manner that is relevant, interesting and practical. She makes it a practice with all engagements to first learn about the specific needs and interests of the audience and tailors her presentations accordingly. Her delivery is lively, professional, well paced, sincere and interactive. Never one to become complacent, Karina seeks feedback, has regular coaching and mentoring, to ensure that she is constantly improving and developing her skills and incorporating new ways to increase her effectiveness on stage, on paper or in the board room.
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