Hanging on a wall in Karen Ranson Peterson’s home is a quote commonly attributed to William Shakespeare: “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” Peterson has largely avoided such heartache because she’s frequently adjusted her life expectations as a result of several crucial experiences, which have led her to where she is today.
Growing up in a solid Christian home, Peterson always thought she would be a stay-at-home mom, only working when needed, just as her pharmacist mother did. Now Peterson is married with four children, but instead of staying at home with the kids, she stays busy working at a fast-growing tech startup.
As a young girl, Peterson’s engineer dad taught her mathematics far beyond her grade level, helping to develop her love for analytics and data. This passion took anchor in 1999 when she attended her first marketing course in the executive MBA program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
“I ate up every piece of those marketing courses,” Peterson says. “Marketing is the perfect blend of technical skills and data synthesis with creativity and messaging. It’s all about creating value using quantitative and qualitative tools.”
The following spring, Peterson found something she never thought would be a part of her life: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On a weeklong trip to visit her best friend in Utah, Peterson felt something spark within her
as she walked the grounds of Temple Square. That spark only intensified when she was introduced to a young man
named Jeff Peterson.
Again, expectations changed when this young man baptized Peterson in September and eventually took her to the temple with wedding bands in hand. She moved to Utah to continue her MBA degree at BYU Marriott and learned how to be a marketer and a member of the Church.
“It was such an amazing experience to be a new member of the Church and be immersed in a school and environment that is so gospel-centered,” Peterson says. “You get all of the expertise and high caliber of education the school has to offer in such a nurturing and positive environment. It was the best place I could have possibly been. The relationships among the students were authentic and genuine. We still talk and stay connected today, giving each other support and advice through our different phases of life.”
After graduating with her MBA in 2003, Peterson began her marketing career at Ancestry. She progressed through several different jobs that pushed her out of her comfort zone and helped her grow from marketing manager to an interim chief marketing officer.
Peterson wanted to take her thirteen years of experience building the Ancestry markets and apply it to a fast-growing, technology-based startup. In 2018, she found BrainStorm Inc., a fast-growing SaaS company that provides an intelligent learning platform for better technology in the workplace, and continued her role as chief marketing officer in a new environment.
“My title is definitely something that I honor, but it’s more to me about contributing and adding value to the company and being part of the leadership team, which I take very seriously,” Peterson says. “Earlier in your career, you focus on accomplishments, but as you grow into more of a leader, your influence on people and ability to create successful teams and cultures becomes more of the focus.”
Even more than her influence at work, Peterson takes her role as a mother seriously. “No matter where or when you work, as a mom, you are always a full-time mom,” she says. Ever since their second son was born in 2007 with spina bifida, her husband, Jeff, decided to sell his construction company and become a stay-at-home dad.
“I thought I would be a stay-at-home mom, but it turned out that my husband was the perfect person to stay with Gavin and help him through physical therapy,” Peterson says. “Looking back, there were so many things that perfectly aligned to help us progress. This was clearly part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us. We just didn’t know it.”
