Karen Courter, HR Executive Partner at Applied Materials
Karen is HR Executive Partner at Applied Materials. Prior to this role, she was Managing Director of Global Customer Contact Centers at Applied Materials where she led a global organization supporting Applied Materials Services business across North America, Europe, and Asia. Originally from Brazil, Karen has been in the United States for 23 years where she has worked for IBM, Dell, and Applied Materials. She’s a strong advocate for women and inclusion in the workspace and has also volunteered with organizations such as Meal on Wheels, Livestrong Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Starry Foster Care, Special Olympics, Boys & Girls Club of Austin. During her free time, Karen enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to beautiful beaches, and she also loves Latin and Country dancing.
Q: Why do you choose to spend your time mentoring others?
A: I have been very fortunate in my career. I think it's not just hard work, but it's also I've been lucky. And I have had amazing people in my life that have helped me. And one way for me to give back is by mentoring others. And mentoring people is something that gives me tremendous joy. In all of my jobs since I started, from my first lead position to my first manager position, what I love the most about my job is the impact that I have on people's lives. It is how I can help them grow, help them thrive, and help them reach their potential. And I love doing this for my teams.
Q: What do you personally gain from mentoring?
A: You learn from other people. You learn how to become a better leader. You learn about things that people go through that you wouldn't think about because you're not in their shoes. So, it helps you get yourself in other people's shoes. And these people are sharing with you their challenges, their goals, any roadblocks that they have. And you can see that in your teams as well.
I'm not learning just for myself but also learning how to be a better leader to others. And one thing that has happened for me many times is that many of the people I have mentored in my life ended up becoming lifelong friends. These are phenomenal people that come into my life, and it's just wonderful. You can't put a price tag on that, the relationships that you build, how much you learn from them.
Q: To what do you attribute your success?
A: I have never been a person that cares about the titles, the position, the money, or the promotions. If you asked me 25 years ago, I never would imagine where I am right now. I'm extremely fortunate. And I think part of it is because I don't choose jobs for the title or status. I choose jobs that I think I'm going to be passionate about. I think loving what I do and loving the people that I do it with is what makes me successful. If you wake up every morning and are excited about your job and come in, and you have passion, and you love what you're doing, you're going to do a great job. I think this has been the secret of my success.
Q: How has mentoring impacted your own journey?
A: The mentors who have impacted my life and made me believe in myself were also role models for me. Growing up in Brazil in the seventies and eighties, I didn't have women role models that were doing it all. All of my friend's moms and all of my mom's friends, and my aunts, and everybody in my family, most of them were stay-at-home moms. And it was great. I had a wonderful life growing up. But I wanted to have my dad's career, and I wanted to have my mom's family. Growing up, I never believed that I could do both.
When I worked at IBM in Brazil, my entire chain of command was male. And the only women that I worked with were either my peers, very entry-level, or they were the admins, at the time, all secretaries. I had never seen an executive woman in the company, much less one with a family. And it wasn’t until 1997, when I moved to the US, that I had my first woman manager with three young daughters. She was amazing, and she became a mentor. She's someone that had a tremendous impact on my life and remains, until today, a great friend. Through my relationship with her and learning from her, I believed that I could do it, too. Sometimes we have to see it to believe that we can be it as well. And that's why I think it's so important for people to have role models and mentors.
Q: What does good mentoring look like to you?
A: Good mentoring is tailored to the needs of the mentee. Different people have different needs. And we also have different needs in different phases of our lives. When I graduated and entered the workforce, my needs were different from when I had young children. When I had young children, I was figuring out my work-life balance and wondering how I would do both? That was very important for me then. And then, things change. It depends on where that mentee is in their life. So, as a mentor, you need to listen, you need to understand, you need to see where that person is, what their needs are, and where they want to go. We have to realize that what my success looks like may not be what success looks like for a different person.
I also think good mentoring looks at the individual as a whole. Sometimes mentoring relationships are so focused on the career. Overall, where we are in our lives really impacts our career path, physical health, mental health, and children. How is your love life? How are your finances? We all have so many facets to our lives that I think, as a mentor, if you want to do a good job mentoring somebody, you need to understand where the person is overall, not just on their career. That's how I try to help people that I mentor. I ask them what it takes to get to the next level, why they want to become a director or a VP, and what they have to do to have a beautiful life. That, for me, is good mentoring.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in mentoring?
A: Jump in and do it! You don't have to have a perfect life to mentor. You just have to be open. You have to be willing to listen and learn where the individual is. And it's a two-way street. You are going to learn so much. You're going to get so much out of it as well. You'll get amazing satisfaction and joy when you see what you achieve together.
Q: Why do you choose to mentor with Ceresa?
A: I love that Ceresa wants to make mentoring available to all. When I looked through the Ceresa materials, the mission resonated with me. “Democratizing access to transformative leadership development for all” is extremely important. We have so much opportunity here in the United States to increase the representation of women and underrepresented minorities in leadership positions. And I will do anything in my power to help close that gap. Ceresa allows me the opportunity to do this.
I also fell in love with a question they ask all mentees at the beginning of the program from Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day “Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
I was hooked. Life is too short. Life is way too short for us to spend as much time as we spend at work, doing things that we don't love, spend time away from our family, our friends, to do something that we don't love. I want to help people make the right choices, whatever those choices are for them.
Mentorship: integral to the Ceresa whole-person approach
At Ceresa, mentorship is an integral part of our leadership development process. The mentor-mentee relationship is a key component in providing the structure, and at the same time fluidity, necessary to facilitate pointed leadership and career growth for both the participant and the mentor.