Estimated read time: 2 minutes
For over 15 years, Karen Olson helped keep massive operational engines running smoothly at Suncor. So it may come as a surprise that Axioma’s Director of Operations’ expertise extends well beyond spreadsheets and logistics. Through her work as a transition coach and doula with Divine Passages, Karen walks alongside people experiencing grief, change, and life’s delicate transitions. Although it’s common to treat these two worlds as distinct, Karen operates at their intersection; she balances an analytical, process-driven mind with creativity and an empathetic heart.
“You can’t diffuse emotion with logic. You cannot diffuse feelings with proof.”
Her approach was forged on the ground in Fort McMurray. Working directly with Indigenous communities, Karen quickly realized that logic alone cannot diffuse intense human emotion. "You can’t diffuse emotion with logic. You cannot diffuse feelings with proof.” Long before bringing out engineering reports or scientific data, she learned you must acknowledge feelings, sit with people in the chaos, and build trust first. This means meeting another individual’s emotion with a likeness of her own, and for a period, putting down the corporate agenda. For Karen, walking into high-stakes rooms meant giving all of herself to build connections; “I don’t feel you can do a good job without allowing yourself to be in the mess and chaos.” Simultaneously, Karen knows the crucial practice of holding space without absorbing the weight as her own: “you have to give all of yourself. But don’t lose yourself in it.”
That same care translates into her approach to operations today at Axioma. Where others see administration, Karen views clean systems as a personal form of care. Order and predictability create safety. Safety gives team members a clear path to pioneer complex work with ease and comfort. Whether she is streamlining a process or rewriting a framework to ensure teams have space to rest after intensive strategy work, her goal is simple (but not easy): connect head and heart.
Stepping away from a corporate career requires continuously unlearning the impulse to measure worth through constant productivity. Today, she grounds herself in nature, meditation, and daily rituals like journaling that honor life's inevitable cycles. Karen brings a calm wisdom to the team. She reminds us that systems exist to serve humans, not the other way around.
