Karen Dobres is a writer, at the moment. She has had, and is still having, what is now officially called a ’Squiggly Career’.
She got off the career ladder when she was scouted, while still at Bristol University, for a London modelling agency. In search of a ‘proper job’ she ended up for a while at the Essex Chronicle in newspaper sales.
A close friend’s mental health challenges led her to also start volunteering at Samaritans and it was then that the next major squiggle occurred, as she decided to train as a Person-Centred Counsellor in London. Catwalk modelling recommenced, to pay for the counselling course. As a recently qualified, and unusually young, counsellor, she was offered the chance by Polygram Records to set up their first ever in-house counselling service, for staff and stars.
Motherhood brought this phase to a close. Two children later, and after a stint as Parent Governor at their school, Karen began to write, possibly as self-therapy. Initially, this was her own fashion blog, but grew into articles for The Guardian, HuffPost and various other journals. Her modelling career was briefly resurrected for a shoot with Knitting Magazine, but the most recent squiggle saw her unexpectedly elected as a Director at her local club, Lewes FC, where she was one of the pioneers of the club’s, world-first, EqualityFC campaign, whereby the women’s team received equal resourcing to the men’s team.
Pitch Invasion is her first book and recounts her seven years there as feminist-in-residence (not official title).
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