Team Member of the Month » January 2008

Name : Karo Kern
Born : 1975
Team member since : 2005
Prior Club Mistral Destinations :

Karo, Carolina – Carol

Our Karo has lots of names, in fact she has almost as many names as places she has lived in.
She grew up in Unterwössen, a small town in Bavaria near Lake Chiemsee. She was soon participating in all kinds of sports and became an enthusiastic mountain biker and skier, furnishing proof of her skills at the latter sport while at the Ski High School in Berchtesgaden, where she took part in a number of ski races.

Her thirst for action and adventurous spirit nevertheless remained far from satisfied and after obtaining her High School Leaving Certificate, she studied Tourism in Munich, which paved the way for her various sojourns abroad, for example her job with tour operator Planet in Britain , with 'Sun und Fun' in Germany and on Cape Verde. It was in Cape Verde that she became an active windsurfer, as she found that she still had lots of surplus energy to get rid of despite her job as a tour assistant and her jogging activities. This new skill then took her on to Venezuela – El Yaque – where she was introduced to kitesurfing. She was so fascinated by the sport that she did her kitesurfing instructor's certificate on the spot and taught at a kitesurfing school herself.

The fact this was a rather daring step to take (kitesurfing still being in its infancy at that time) is the sort of thing one would expect of Karo, who is never afraid of taking risks or facing up to new situations and experiences. The fact that there may be a few stumbling blocks on the way is something she has also experienced several times, as for example when she was started learning to drive a motorboat, only to fall out of the boat in the beginning. But Karo doesn't give up and keeps on at things until she has finally mastered them. And she doesn't get cross either, but retains her zest for life and sense of humour, inspiring enthusiasm and a spirit of cooperation in others.

Perhaps Karo missed the mountains in Venezuela and decided to take a look around in her old homeland – a very fortunate circumstance for us, as this led to the commencement of Karo's employment at our Club Mistral office in May 2005. She is responsible for "Marketing and Sales" and has worked her way into her new job with her usual verve. At the latest as a result of her info trips, which are always interesting and varied, Karo managed to win the hearts of all of the tour operators. Generally speaking, her strong point is organisation, as demonstrated by the annual tour operator get-together in Starnberg. Although this is a mammoth task, you will hardly see any signs of this in Karo's behaviour in the runup period and the meetings are a complete success. But even when the pressure is really on, she is a master of improvisation and spares no effort. She has settled in very well here at Club Mistral and we are happy to have her with us, as she contributes her share towards our positive working climate.

She also feels very much at home in Munich, where she shares a flat with her partner – also the kind of person who enjoys life and is fond of sport –, and is often under way in the mountains, at Lake Garda or simply in town. But Karo is not only interested in sport. She also takes especial pleasure in her Portuguese lessons and every Wednesday evening, when she packs up all her things, she's really looking forward to the next 3 hours of her course.

In summary, Karo is an all-rounder and is always brimming over with ideas. Things are never boring when she's around and, should things quieten down at any stage, Karo will always manage to create a humorous atmosphere – sometimes even unintentionally, with small mishaps, as can easily occur when one is a 'big mover'.

Karo, we have long since taken you into our hearts and hope that you will stay with us for many years to come!

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