Karina Butera

PhD, BA (Hons), ACC, LCA
Director – Life Coach/Sociologist/Corporate Trainer

Karina is a sociologist, professional life coach (trained by and a fully accredited graduate of the Life Coaching Academy), certified Extended DISC™ Practitioner, a credentialed member of the International Coach Federation and she holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training. With a professional background in recruitment, sales, industrial psychology and administration, and a busy life as a business owner, wife, mother and academic, Karina understands the pressures in contemporary life of juggling many roles and the impetus to be one’s best at each of those roles.

A firm believer that companies are only as good as their people, Karina enjoys working with managers in helping them understand how the personalities in their teams can best be positioned to maximise effectiveness. Through her one-on-one, group coaching or information seminars, Karina is able to bring new insights into organisations on how to harness the diversity and unique structure of their teams to create a synergised workforce and exceptional results.

The Project Balance Wellbeing Program, the COPE™ Time Management Model and the Customer Service Excellence Series were written by Karina and illustrate the special blend of realism, humour and sensitivity she applies to her work. Drawing on her academic research, Karina braves territory many fear to tread, running specialised sessions on delicate matters such as gender in business and managing workplace friendships. She enjoys presenting these programs, along with many others, to participants and is known for the professional, yet enthusiastic and fresh manner in which she shares her years of reading, observation and personal discovery with those keen to live effective, rewarding and enjoyable lives.

To compliment her corporate work, Karina is also a key member of the academic community, having studied sociology, philosophy, psychology, gender studies and creative writing. As testament to Karina's commitment to always extending her personal best, she was nominated for the Alfred Deakin Medal for excellence due to her undergraduate results and is a life member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. Karina has recently completed a PhD research project which explores the gendered experience of friendship and its importance to individual wellbeing across the life course. Her research has featured in several academic journals both nationally and internationally. She also teaches undergraduate sociology at Melbourne's Deakin University and has presented guest lectures, seminars, workshops and presented papers at various universities and conferences across Australia and New Zealand.

Karina's passion for social contribution and bringing out the very best in others has been demonstrated through years of volunteer service working with the elderly, domestic abuse survivors and other marginalized groups. She is also an enthusiastic member of professional organisations such as TASA (The Australian Sociological Association) and was responsible for founding PACT (Postgraduates after Critical thinking), a group of in excess of 80 Melbourne postgraduates who meet to inspire and support each other in their work addressing contemporary Australian and international social issues. Karina has also held the positions of Vice President and Secretary, and was a Founding Fellow of the Australian Life Coaching Society (2005-2007), an organisation which sought to bring together coaches from all over Australia to altruistically contribute to under-resourced communities. She is now in the process of launching High Ideals, an association aimed to promote and connect those who bring high levels of positivity, integrity and impact into their business practice.