From Air Force to OT- read all about Karon

Born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, into a military family, Karon lived in many places all over the US and even spent part of her childhood in Japan. The family settled in Durham, NC when her father retired from the Air Force and Karon attended high school there as a member of the first class of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

Karon attended UNC-Chapel Hill for college where she joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program and earned her degree in Biology, followed later by a Master's in Human Resources from the University of Maryland University College. After her undergraduate graduation, she joined the Air Force herself.

Karon met her husband while in service and they have been married for over 35 years. Her husband served in the Army while Karon was in the Air Force which could be a challenge with assignments, but they made it work until her husband’s retirement.

During her 24.5 years in the Air Force, Karon was stationed on the East coast, in the South and in Europe, along with deployments to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. She performed a variety of base-level and headquarters-level jobs while commanding multiple units and personnel. Her final military assignment brought her to Nashville where Karon ran the ROTC program at Tennessee State University. Since TSU has the only Air Force ROTC program in the area, she effectively supported Air Force cadets across multiple universities—including Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, and Vanderbilt.

After she transitioned out of the military, she remained at TSU to run its Career Development Center for several years before returning to school herself. She earned her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in 2019. She has experience in pediatrics, geriatrics care and skilled nursing facilities. During the pandemic, Karon saw the devastating impact of chronic illness on people and the critical importance of preventative care. She started her business, Specialized Occupational Therapy Services (SpOTs) LLC, to focus on ways that Occupational Therapy can be used outside of the traditional settings of hospitals and schools to enrich lives. She focuses her business on education, training and project development for adults with special focus on veterans, women and diverse populations.

During COVID, Karon adopted a rescue dog named Maggie from Nashville Humane—a spunky chihuahua/mini pinscher mix who's been her companion ever since. She's also mom to a daughter, stepmother to three and step-grandmother to six. Karon remains very involved in community volunteer work as a member of several charities.

Fun fact: Karon is a huge Broadway theatre fan! She's seen countless shows, with favorites including Les Mis, Six, Jagged Little Pill, Miss Saigon, Ragtime and & Juliet. She’s been a TPAC member for 7 years and attends as many shows as possible.

It was an absolute joy and honor to meet Karon, photograph her and tell some of her story and be able to showcase her here as an accomplished woman over 40 celebrating this chapter of her life.

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40 Over 40: Spotlight on Karon

From Air Force to OT- read all about Karon

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