Episode 281: Finding the Courage to Try New Experiences w/ Karen Kranenburg

Discover the remarkable journey of Karen Kranenburg, from polo enthusiast to CEO of Polo & More. Karen’s love for horses led her to excel in polo and later helm a leading marketing consultancy. As an avid traveler and art collector, she finds inspiration in diverse cultures, from the peaks of Everest to the streets of Mali. Join us as we explore Karen’s blend of passion, entrepreneurship, and global exploration, showcasing how her diverse experiences shape her innovative approach to business and life’s adventures.

Bio: Karen Kranenburg has been involved with the sport of polo for the last 25 years, initially as a polo player and subsequently as an event co-coordinator and promoter. She was the architect of the popular  35 – 40 goal Polo Masters which was staged for several years at Hurtwood Park Polo Club in UK, and the Barbados Open, (which ran for 15 years),  which was played annually in Barbados in March, and the Jamaica Open played annually in April in Kingston), the inaugural Governors Island Polo in New York (Now Liberty Island Polo), she has also worked on numerous other exclusive events including the US Open for its 100th anniversary, the St. Moritz Polo on Snow in Switzerland, the Canadian Open, the St. Regis World Snow Polo Championships in Aspen, Miami Beach Polo and Singapore Beach Polo Championships and British Open for the Gold Cup to name a few.  In recent years she has been based in Singapore, where she has been consulting on the development of their polo and events for the last 8 years. She has traveled extensively, at last count this year to over 106 countries, and has played polo from Australia, India, Pakistan to Argentina and numerous other points in between. Through her company Polo & More, she has organized and consulted on events in UK, New Zealand, Barbados, Jamaica, Malaysia, Singapore, USA, China, Canada and India.

In 2006 she launched the lifestyle and Polo magazine, Polo & More. As a Polo Consultant, Karen consults on all aspects of the sport of polo, its development and new build projects for marketing concepts and innovations as well as personnel. Karen deals with the organization & marketing of unique projects, in an attempt to promote polo to a wider audience, engage with sponsors and negotiating with players for teams but from the perspective of some-one that understands the sport, is passionate about it and well respected within it. The polo business aside, Karen is also an investor in a health care company which focuses on business in the Caribbean and Latin America and a philanthropist donating not only money but time to numerous charities around the world.    An amateur photographer on the side, Karen is in the process of producing a coffee table book with images from around the world of her extensive travels.

Karen’s Something Extra: “Common sense. Number one, I don’t think there’s a lot of that around these days, as somebody said to me the other day common sense is not common anymore, which is true.”

Guest Links:

– Lisa Nichols, Host
– Jenny Heal, Executive Producer
– Joe Szynkowski and Landon Burke, Marketing Support
– Portside Media, Podcast Engineer

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