Let's Connect with Karen Summerville

Welcome to my humans of LinkedIn project. I am a writer and I love people and connecting, so I have created The LinkedIn Connection.?

Every Friday I highlight another up-and-coming professional that I’ve connected with. You get an in-depth look at their life, lessons they have learned, and what they are doing here on LinkedIn.?

I am having a blast meeting these talented people. I hope you do too!?

______________

Another week. Another amazing person! I know I say this each time, but it is so true. I am so excited to introduce you to Karen Summerville. She is an incredible woman who has been a lawyer, career counselor, mom to two boys, and now has turned her attention to leaving a legacy with her passion project.?

Without further ado, let's go!

Who are you??

I grew up on a small, family farm in rural Nebraska that has been in our family for almost 150 years. The only girl with six brothers!? As a farm girl, I had many pets, including a calf named Daisy.??

My elementary school had two rooms and 25 students — Five were my immediate family!?

There was a “Little Room” for grades 1 - 4 and a “Big Room” for grades 5 - 8.? My class was only three girls – including me!??

Girls were not expected or encouraged to go to college or to have a career.. The expectation was that I would marry a farmer and bring the inevitable children home to Grandma and Grandpa for Sunday dinner!?

At age 16, my parents sat me down at the kitchen table and told me I was not going to college. That did not stop me; it just made the journey a bit more challenging.??

By working multiple jobs – including cocktail waitressing – during college, I was able to earn enough money to pay for my living expenses.? By keeping my grades up high enough, I was able to earn scholarships that covered my tuition.? Looking back at this time in my life, it was hard – really hard! ? But it also built resilience that I would not trade for anything!?

After college, I moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington School of Law. I? picked Seattle on a whim — “The Bluest Skies You’ve Ever Seen Are in Seattle” was playing in my head.? The reality was not quite what I expected!? But I have grown to love the moderate (chilly?) climate and partly sunny (cloudy?) skies!??

I was the first girl from my community?in rural Nebraska to go to law school.?

After law school, I joined a litigation firm in downtown Seattle.? But when my oldest son was a toddler, I resigned from the firm and began working with a career counselor. And I decided I wanted to do what she did!?

So, I started my own firm, Legal Career Management, and I have now worked with over 1500 professionals, helping them explore various career paths.

While counseling professionals and helping them find success and satisfaction, I was also raising two very athletic boys.??

What I had not anticipated was how much my work as a career counselor would inspire and inform my parenting. When my clients closed the door, they shared how unhappy they were in the practice of law. And often they explained that they only went to law school because their parents encouraged or insisted. It was heartbreaking to hear their stories.??

I was determined that as a mom I would support my sons’ talents and interests regardless of what they chose. They both chose baseball – a sport I was somewhat familiar with but never really followed.

The surprising thing to me is even though I have “negative hand - eye coordination”, my boys were both standout baseball players!?

And I supported them – For years I drove five or six hours a day for six days a week to get them to practices and games.? They both loved baseball and played through college.? My oldest son is the Major League Game Coordinator, data analyst, and bullpen catcher for the San Diego Padres. (Now that I am spending more time in Southern California, I am learning to hike in the desert – and I am loving it!)

My boys are both young adults, and I am passionate about sharing what I have learned from my clients and from my parenting experience.?

I have learned that children are born with a unique constellation of gifts, and our job as parents is to help them discover and nurture those gifts – even when they don’t align with our own talents and interests.??

Top 3 accomplishments??

• Over the past 25 + years I have helped over 1500 professionals find success and satisfaction.? Often this involved letting go of the dreams that were imposed on them by their parents and discovering their own unique talents.?
• Raising two sons – That has to be my greatest accomplishment!? Encouraging them to be who they were born to be – even when their talents and interests were so different from my own.?
• Becoming “The Parent GPS” – I now have the privilege of sharing my insights to? help parents navigate their child’s “constellation of gifts”.

Why are you on LinkedIn??

Joining LinkedIn allows me to share what I have learned about raising children to be who they were born to be – not versions of an idealized child we may have created in our own mind.?

I am not a parent coach – But as a speaker and a writer, I offer parents specific strategies for discovering and nurturing their child’s gifts so they can parent with confidence that their child will find success and satisfaction in the future.

?As The Parent GPS – I help in navigating a child’s “constellation of gifts”— that unique combination of interests and strengths that make us each who we are—rather than imposing expectations on them.?

I can get my message out on LinkedIn!

Favorite quote??

“Help them find that place where their deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”?

Frederick Buechner

Most transformational book????

Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear”.

Favorite person/guru you follow and why???

Julie Lythcott - Haims, author of “How to Raise an Adult”.? She has practical advice for raising our children to be independent and successful - on their own terms.

Advice you would give someone starting out on LinkedIn or in networking?

Just jump in!? Try new ideas – some will do well, others won’t.? That is the learning process.?

3 ways we can help support you on LinkedIn??

• Engage with my content!?????????
• Please share my posts – especially with parents and educators.??
• If you would like to invite me to speak or to sign up for my “Parent GPS” newsletter, please visit me? www.karensummerville.com? or email me ? [email protected]

Anything else you want to say??

I have been delighted? by how welcoming the LinkedIn community has been!? Thank you!