Karen Harding
Photo: Susan Bradfield Photography
Creative passions engulf almost all aspects of Karen Harding's life. Although Karen is a professional accountant her true passions lay in music & the arts. Whenever she's not working Karen is either painting, writing music, playing music & hustling in her music PR side business, Rise Indie.
With so much on her plate Pario wanted to sit down with Karen to discuss how she finds a balance between her passions & work.
Upon answering this big question Karen initially joked by saying, "The quick answer is, I have no idea!" However, as the conversation continued Karen highlighted the importance of setting realistic goals.
"The number one thing for me is that I am compassionate with myself," explained Karen. "If I don't get everything on my ginormous list done within a day, that is ok."
Although Karen realises she can't be too harsh on herself she is still a self-described "workaholic", much to the chagrin of her dog. Karen feels like this because like many creatives she says, “I truly love what I'm doing, so it doesn't feel like work."
Passion for music
In regards to Karen's passion for music, it dates all the way back to her childhood upbringing. Karen grew up in a religious family who often attended church, which saw her regularly surrounded by music, singing & the sharing of emotions.
Despite this upbringing & having a deep passion for music, according to Karen music remained a very personal thing for the longest time.
"For a long time, music was just for me. It wasn't something I shared because I was a very reserved & shy girl. So I would write music but never even consider that there was a possibility of showing people."
It wasn't until lockdown that Karen realised there was so much more to the world of music for her to explore. From that point forward it was just a process of building her inner self-confidence to believe that her music was "good enough to get out there."
Once that confidence level was achieved though Karen's music career quickly took off with some incredible international collaborations. These projects saw Karen collaborating with a group from Argentina & the Cologne Chamber Orchestra on songs titled It's Okay & Greener On The Other Side.
When asked how these relationships came about Karen explained that the power of social media can be amazing.
"Social media can allow you to reach people on the complete opposite side of the world, with different cultures but similar interests. So, through my social media I had P&M Records from Argentina reach out to me & we started working on my previous single, Strong For You. Through that P&M Records told me about their connection to the Cologne Chamber Orchestra & that they would love to hear my voice combined with that."
Importance of PR
While Karen's music passion was vital for her success her secondary passion for public relations was also incredibly beneficial. Not only did her PR experience help Karen develop connections to promote her music but it also helped her understand the importance of time management. The biggest thing PR work taught Karen though was the importance of understanding "who you are" & being able to convey that story to the world.
"PR is more than just reaching out to publications," explained Karen. "It's about developing what you want to portray to the public & building upon that story through multiple music releases."
For Karen, this is of prime importance because "in a world where so much music is released every day you need to be able to stand out in ways other than just your music alone."
Mixing left & right brain skills
In closing out our conversation with Karen we wondered how the 2 sides of her brain, the logical & the creative, blend together. A question that Karen pondered briefly before answering.
"So much of music is a business, so you need to understand how you can build your business... It's helpful to be able to have the two sides come together to know how to create the full picture."
Follow Karen’s Creative Journey at: www.karenhardingmusic.com or www.riseindie.com
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