Maven to Know: Karen Kennedy

If you don’t already know and love Karen Kennedy, the Director of Event Sales and Marketing at Maven Space, you’re in for a treat.

Karen Kennedy MAVEN TO KNOW

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white older woman smiling with teeth wearing red lipstick with a dark red hair pixie cut wearing a leopard print scarf, black blouse and a pearl necklace and earings
Karen Kennedy

Karen Kennedy is the Director of Event Sales and Marketing at Maven Space. She’s spent many years in the hospitality and events industries in northern Indiana, Chicago, and New England. She’s also a freelance writer for Indy Maven, as well as other publications and small business clients. Karen loves nothing more than a party, and is wildly excited about making fabulous events happen at Maven Space. When she’s not writing or planning events, her favorite pastime is cooking and entertaining at her home in Meridian-Kessler with her wife Abby. Now it’s your turn, Karen!

My Maven Superpower is …Keeping calm. (If it will be funny later, it’s funny now.) There’s always a solution and everything is going to be fine.

A fun fact about me is …I have made my living as a cabaret singer and a hand model.

Best book I’ve read lately is …A Girl Named Zippy” by Haven Kimmel. It’s my favorite book of all time and I just re-read it.

My first job was … Delivering singing telegrams.

The skill I most want to learn is … I would love to learn to play the piano. I tried to teach myself during the quarantine, but never made it past “Hey Jude” from the “Beatles for Beginners” songbook. (My wife begged for me to learn ANYTHING else.)

My favorite nonprofit to support is … Little Red Door. Their Face of Hope breakfast makes me cry every year.

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Self-care habit I swear by is … Exercise. Even if it’s just walking our dog. I get REALLY cranky when I need a walk and haven’t made time to do it.

The best career advice I can offer is … Be bold. Create your own opportunities. Your dream job isn’t just going to knock on your door.

Favorite purchase lately is … Ummm … I guess I’d have to say any $6 bottle of rosé from Trader Joe’s. It’s summer!

I feel most confident when … I’m wearing a dress. It might be old school, but I’ve loved wearing dresses since I was a little girl, and I just feel like my best self in one.

My favorite local restaurant dish is … The “simple salad” at Twenty Tap with blackened salmon added to it. It’s the best deal in the city and it’s heaven. I’m also addicted to the spiced chickpea bowl from ClusterTruck.

The thing I’ve been binging lately is … Ummmmm… I guess I’d have to say any $6 bottle of rosé from Trader Joe’s … I’m just kidding! (I don’t think one or two glasses per night counts as binging.) But I’m currently hooked on the sweetest little Netflix show called “Heartstopper.” And I’m so sad that “Hacks” (with Jean Smart) just came to an end. It was the warmest, smartest show I’ve seen in years.

A Maven you should know is … Denise Reiter. She’s a brilliant marketer, an activist, and an all-around lovely person.

What matters most to me is … Without a doubt, spending quality time with the people I love. In the end, what else is there? I’ve been a workaholic my entire life, and I’ve missed opportunities to show up for people who mattered to me. I’m not doing that anymore. When I’m gone, I want to be remembered as the person who showed up, for the good times and the bad.

The thing I’ve achieved lately that I’d like to celebrate with the Maven community is … My new position at Maven Space! I’ve been an Indy Maven member and a fan of Leslie Bailey for years. I admire her ability to bring women together and create community. I always felt like there would be an opportunity for me to contribute to the #mavenmovement on a greater level, and now, here I am!

What’s next for me is … I’m excited to grow in my role at Maven Space. I just feel like the potential of the space is unlimited. I’ve also recently returned to singing, after many years away from it … so look for open mic nights to be on the lineup of events!

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Stephanie Groves is the Executive Editor of Indy Maven.

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