Karen Jean: The Beauty Queen's Journey to Authorship

By Karen Van Buren

I am Karen Van Buren and I am one of the contributing authors in the anthology series Becoming An Unstoppable Woman. I have gained authority in the author space by being published multiple times. I started my writing journey in poetry and moved onto blogging online where I connected with people all over the world. I am a seasoned beauty expert that executed in every area of the beauty industry and took that knowledge into writing articles as a beauty editor as well. My first anthology became an International Best Seller in 14 different countries by taking stories of survival with multiple other women and spreading our message to the world. I was fortunate enough to duplicate that experience again in an additional book. Additionally, I was a contributing author on a Christian book released around the same time. Recently I finished another anthology project and am pivoting into writing my first solo book. I enjoy sharing parts of my own personal story and look forward to continuing to write more.

I truly believe each and everyone has a story inside them. I believe we are to share our experiences with others in many different capacities. I definitely share one on one when I feel called to, but I felt a pull to write a book since my early twenties. I started public speaking very early in my career by facilitating women’s groups in the beauty space. In my thirties I was pulled into a new space with public speaking as I showed up as a keynote speaker about my health trials I overcame. I continued to show up for these opportunities to help people see the light at the end of the tunnel for years. And finally in my late forties I started writing my first book. I’m loving my fifties while evolving with my writing journey. Each season has brought me trials and triumph, like all humans, but being an author continues to feed my passion for the written word.

My writing comes from a place of resilience. I seek to empower others through sharing my thought process when hurdling adversity. I survived rape and domestic violence while surpassing unbeatable odds concerning my health. At 32 I was diagnosed with the start of colon cancer only to learn I had two types of breast cancer a month later. I was given a prognosis of 2-5 year survival and defied the odds with having no recurrence to date. In the midst of my chemotherapy I suffered a “permanent” brain injury; drug induced from the anti nausea medication. I was left locked in spasms and homebound for seven years. Unable to walk, I even used a wheelchair for short periods. I was told the chemotherapy was causing me to go infertile only to find out I was pregnant. My husband and I were encouraged to abort due to the baby being conceived while I was on chemotherapy. 

It is safe to administer chemo in the second and third trimester, but they stopped my treatment immediately. Against the odds I had a healthy baby with no malformations as expected. My health journey has defied peer reviewed research and surprised the medical community. I have contributed to research data now and spoke on Capitol Hill regarding legislation around my son’s birth. I also contributed to panels at symposiums addressing my neurological disorder being a side effect from medication in order to aid in more education in medicine. My advocacy continues.

I champion single mothers and understand court, divorce and custody battles more than I would like. I was stood up on my wedding day and physically hit by a semi truck in a hit and run accident. I now work as a Life Coach teaching others to LIVE LOUDER. Everyone runs their own race so don’t waste another minute sweating the small stuff. 

Connect With Karen

www.facebook.com/karenjeanthebeautyqueen

www.instagram.com/karenjeanthebeautyqueen