Karen Pipes (50 over 50 Vol. 2)

“My Mom had me at 42, after being told she wouldn’t be able to get pregnant following a miscarriage in the early 60s. I was a surprise— and a girl,” said Karen.

As the baby of the family, her brothers are 13 and 17 years older than she. The oldest got married when Karen was 4 years old, and she has been an aunt since 2nd grade.

“It's like we had different families/childhoods and yet I am very close with all of them, says Karen.

My parents never looked old to me but when I was a teenager I began to see the age difference. None of my friends’ parents were friends with mine – their parents were much younger – sometimes 20 years younger. My parents had a great group of friends, but none of them had kids my age. 

At my age today, mom would have had a 15 year old. She really didn’t get to “empty nest” and enjoy her own life like I am now. I truly enjoy being a mom of two grown sons and the relationship we have. My Mom was navigating raising me and nurturing her relationships with my brothers who lived out of state. But mom was able to carve her path even having a child later in life. She traveled, was an elected official and became a leader in county government. I’m proud of her, and happy that I’m her daughter. For my mother’s generation she was ahead of her time. I credit this toward making me strong.

Everything good and bad is an experience. Don’t waste time regretting a decision or experience but rather learn from it.
— Karen Pipes

My father was my rock. I was a Daddy’s girl, but not a spoiled one. He taught me to play golf. Yes, so we could play together but also so I could play if my career needed me to be able to network with men. Both of my parents taught me to be strong and confident, and that my gender did not define my success. When I was 44, Dad passed away and suddenly I was in charge. I was the point person for everything. At that moment I felt like I had truly arrived at adulthood. Taking care of my parents and my husband’s was joyful and painful at the same time. I became grateful for the relationship I had with my parents, having lived near them for so long.   

My brothers and I started a fund at the Wayne County Foundation in my parents name. I regret though my brothers have’t gotten to see and hear how much the community appreciates the fund, what my family has done in the community and narratives I routinely hear about my parents,” said Karen.

She is grateful to those who took the time to mentor her in her professional life, and she now tries to do the same for others. Mentoring young women is her “jam”. She advices young women to not wait to be asked to do something but instead see it and just do it. 

“Sometimes you just have to take control of your career,” she says. 

Mentoring isn’t a one way street though, and Karen enjoys the enthusiasm and ideas of her mentees. She also takes to heart how she can learn from them, and implements their feedback to improve her next mentoring opportunity.

“It fills me up emotionally. When they want it all right now I share that the path is not always as planned. I took chances, pay cuts, and more to get experience and do my best work. I share that we all make mistakes. The best thing to do is own them and move on,” says Karen.

In 2019, Karen turned 50. She started to take an inward look at herself and her life. Kids were grown, career was progressing nicely, and she wanted to do more things for herself—things that allowed her to take care of her, and not just everyone else. Participating in the 50 over 50 project allowed her to do just that, and share part of her life story thus far. She values the experience of the photoshoot itself, and the images in her gorgeous album.

“I know I will look back on the day of my photoshoot, the photos created, and be glad I was a part of this project with the 49 other wonderful women in our community,” said Karen.

Advice to her 20 year old self: Enjoy everything you can before having children, but also remember kids are wonderful too—enjoy them when the time is right. Don’t plan too much, let life happen – marriages and careers don’t happen on specific timelines. Everything good and bad is an experience. Don’t waste time regretting a decision or experience but rather learn from it.


Next
Next

How to Plan a Luxury Photoshoot: Your Complete Photoshoot Planning Checklist