Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Trapane.
Hi Karen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My career in regulatory compliance was safe, literally. I was a Safety Officer/Manager for a sprinkler manufacturer, a medical device company, a biotech organization and, the largest healthcare system in San Diego County over a 25-year span. I then moved into consulting for seven years then started my own company in 2021 after realizing that I was tired of working for other people. Turns out, I was just tired of regulatory compliance even though I enjoyed helping my clients solve their issues.
I have always been an artist. I danced from age 5 until 25, I sang in bands from college until, well, you can still see me on a stage somewhere, now and again, and I paint (mostly abstract with acrylics). In 2024, an artist friend of mine saw an ad for Director of Fallbrook School of the Arts, located in, you guessed it, Fallbrook, California. I still don’t know what possessed me but before I could think about what I was doing, I found myself in front of four Board of Directors interviewing for the position. It sounded fun, light, less…. corporate and less stressful. They offered me the position and within a few months, at the ripe age of “middle”, I found my passion, my ikigai.
Within the year, I was making progress adding more workshops and classes and instructors to the school’s program, where we teach kids and adults how to create art in a variety of mediums including ceramics, printmaking, fused and stained glass, painting and drawing, book arts, knitting and crocheting and creative writing, etc. and creating an incredible community of artists who were eager to make the organization thrive even more than it was thriving. Near my one-year anniversary, I was promoted to Executive Director for the whole organization which meant I had to learn a new job of running an exhibition space and gift shop in addition to the school.
It is true what they say, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I love what I do, what our organization stands for and how it contributes to Fallbrook and surrounding Southern California communities. Art is not only pretty and sometimes emotional, it is the bedrock of strong communities; art heals and makes humans better. Everyone was born to create, and I am proud to lead an organization where we get to teach people how to do that.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Change is never easy, at least not for most people. Deciding to do something is sometimes the hardest part of the change but reinvention, that is a multi-faceted process of hard parts! In my case, deciding to make a change was easy because I was so sick of what I was doing. I didn’t mention it before, but just before COVID shut down the world, I was dealing with the loss of my first true love, my dad. He was a business owner, and I think I started a business to honor him, but it turned out that I didn’t love owning a business, at least not the one I started.
Moving into the nonprofit world was also challenging for many reasons. First, my salary dropped $50,000 a year! Adjusting to a much lesser salary was hard and, in many ways, still is. Second, the school had very little to offer the community when I got there. The mindset that COVID was the reason for everything not being as great as it once was, had become the response for why things were the way they were. I saw so much potential and just started adding instructors, adding classes and workshops and increasing the social media presence. I began meeting our students and asking them what they wanted and how we could do better and before you know it, we were making progress. Third, answering to a board is challenging. While my board of directors is so supportive and I couldn’t do what I do without them, this structure was new to me. They have all finished their careers and didn’t have the same send of urgency I did just coming from the corporate environment. But, as my instincts and training taught me, relationships are where the change really happens, and I was able to learn how to operate under an all-volunteer board effectively.
We need. We need more donors, more members, more sponsors, more students, more, more more… so smooth roads are relative in the nonprofit world. The road I’m on is becoming smoother for sure and my happiness is at an all-time high.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the Executive Director of the Fallbrook Center for the Arts, Inc. I am also a certified Life Coach, a mother, a singer, a painter and a friend. On any given day, I am planning, meeting, and building a close-knit arts and culture community in Fallbrook. I specialize in relationship building and connecting. I specialize in saying yes to ideas that could be wonderful for not only our organization but for our community.
One of the things I am most proud of is starting what we are calling the Arts and Culture Alliance which includes individual artists, arts organizations, historical societies, business owners, social clubs and cultural groups in the areas of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Deluz, Rainbow and Pala. I am proud of this accomplishment because my goal for 2025 was “building community” and I believe this, in the most organic sense, is what it’s all about. We are coming together to support each other, plan and implement events and activities and create a cultural arts district in the Northern most part of San Diego County.
There are so many wonderful people in Fallbrook that do a lot for our community so I’m not sure what sets me apart from others. Maybe it’s that I jump in with both feet and work well with others. Maybe it’s that I don’t compare what I’m doing to others or that I check my ego at the door when I’m dealing with others. I believe in inclusivity and making space for anyone who wants to get involved so I am not sure how to answer this question.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a mentor can be extremely difficult and in my whole career I have only had two. Most businesses and organizations don’t have formal programs, or succession plans for matching mentors and mentees. What has worked for me is to talk to people that you don’t know and when you find someone who inspires you ask them, at a minimum, to go to coffee or lunch with you on a regular basis and, at a maximum, if they will mentor you.
What I have also found to be effective is to know yourself well enough to know what questions you want answers to or what challenges you need help with. Once you meet someone who is willing to help you, ask them specific questions. Take the lead on how they can help you and be cognizant of their time and energy. This will let them know you take responsibility as a mentee, and they will give you their best advice and help because they will recognize your efforts.
As they say, “It’s who you know more than what you know,” so get out there and meet new people. Yes, it’s sometimes difficult to put yourself out there but doing so will get you closer to learning what you want to learn and will open doors you didn’t even know existed. Opportunities are everywhere so keep your mind open to what can happen.
Pricing:
- $150 for a one-hour coaching session
- $500 a month for 4 one-hour coaching sessions
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fallbrookcenterforthearts.org
- Instagram: @fallbrookartcenter
- Facebook: @fallbrookschoolofthearts
- Other: https://fallbrookschoolofthearts.org
