About

Photo by Tate Tullier http://www.tatetullier.com/

Karen was born with normal hearing and became hard of hearing after a bout of illness in elementary school. At the age of 19, she tripped over a wake while barefoot water skiing and cartwheeled into the water. She thought she merely had water in her ears, but being deaf was here to stay, thanks to a wacky gene in her family. Becoming deaf turned out to be a blessing; after she dried the tears, Karen decided to embrace life and a whole new world opened up.

So What Does Karen Do?

Karen blogs at A Deaf Mom Shares Her World, and has written for Disaboom, Parenting Squad, Chicago Moms Blog, and Jobs, Careers and Callings. She was a regular columnist at the Chicago Tribune TribLocal and writes at Chicago Now and HearingLikeMe.

Karen is a board member and Director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infusion at Hands & Voices, a parent-driven organization that is dedicated to providing non-biased support to families with deaf and hard of hearing children, and founder and former President of Illinois chapter of Hands & Voices.

More than anything, Karen loves helping others unwrap their passions. She’s a certified Passion Test Facilitator and 48 Days coach. Contact Karen at Karen(at) karenputz.com or call 630-405-6262 to arrange for your coaching sessions.

At the age of 44, Karen took up barefoot water skiing again and now competes in barefoot tournaments. She is a sponsored skier at the World Barefoot Center. She has been featured on espnW, Growing Bolder, Ability magazine, and AOL That’s Fit. Her story can be found in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Find Your Happiness and MORE magazine, November 2011 issue. Karen is the recipient of the Hot Mommas Project Award for Sports, Wellness and Fitness.