As a famous man once said, this is like déjà vu all over again. It seems like only yesterday we were singing the praises of a new studio coordinator, Bre. And before you know it, we’re announcing a new one. The reason we’re delighted to do so is because Bre has unquestionably passed the audition in this role and shown all the talent we expected; so much so, we’re now easing her into a plum role in our design department. Bravo, Bre.
But, as we’ve said before, the studio manager role is one of the toughest gigs in our business: she or he (or whatever pronoun that person might relate to) is the lynchpin who just has to be across absolutely everything we do. So: why aren’t we panicking? It’s all because of Karen Costa.
In a rare moment of serendipity, we received Karen’s application for the role just as we were wrapping up Bre’s appointment. Bugger, we thought. It’s like buses: you wait ages and then two come at once. But when Bre demonstrated she was ready to rise, we knew we had Plan B. Or, rather, Plan K.
What immediately strikes you about Karen is her calm, composed and positive nature. We guess she would have needed all of that in her previous role as an administration assistant, sales representative and team leader at the Telstra store in Murray Bridge. After four years there covering three roles, it was time for a new adventure and all the roles she’ll perform with us.
Before that, Karen worked in her own family’s business, Surf N Chooks, in Mount Barker. So, a move to our family business suits her down to the ground. Especially seeing her parents still live here in Strath, where she grew up, and where she can now call in for a lunchtime serve of her mum’s magnificent spring rolls. (Jealous? Us?)
Karen lives in Mt Barker with her partner, Ninja Jim who works around the corner at Maidment Meats in Strath. If you’re wondering, he earned that nickname with an appearance on the Ninja Warrior TV show. And that tells you something else about these two: they are ridiculously fit. Karen loves running and hot yoga. (The only running most of us do is to get hot donuts.) She’s run nine torturous kilometres in the Dirt Wars obstacle course and seven kilometres in the similarly sapping Spartan Sprint. And, of course, she’s done the City to the Bay. She may not put herself in Ninja’s class but she’s got everyone here covered, that’s for sure. And throughout it all, her claim to fame is that she’s never broken a bone. (We’re more worried about breaking fingernails… and that’s just the blokes.)
As an avid traveller pre-COVID-19, who’s been to North America, Central America, Italy and the Philippines, Karen is longing to resume her wanderlust and add to her passport stamp collection. But, meanwhile, we’re very pleased this hard-working, bubbly and happy-go-lucky lady has agreed to drop her bags with us here in Strath. She looks forward to welcoming you through our doors.