Karen Millie-James was born in North London to a father who had escaped Germany with the Kindertransport in 1939 and a mother who was a talented window dresser and designer in London’s West End. Inspired to do well, Karen studied business and languages at the University of Westminster which led to her joining the legal department of Levi Strauss as European Group Company Secretary. Leaving Levis, for the following ten years, Karen worked for a multi-discipline organisation in Central London but it was always Karen’s dream to set up her own consultancy which she realised thirty-three years ago.
Karen is widely recognised internationally as an expert in corporate affairs and she sits on many boards of directors in an advisory capacity. As an entrepreneur, and whilst expanding her business, she has established several businesses in accountancy, publishing, beauty, property and retail in various parts of the world.
She has mentored MBA students at the University of Westminster, lectured A level students in schools, given presentations to banks and individuals, and is an advocate for supporting female entrepreneurs in the workplace. One enterprise dear to her heart, has been the establishment of www.themissionlink.co.uk to support, motivate and mentor businesswomen and female entrepreneurs to gain the recognition they deserve to succeed and achieve their goals.
For a time, Karen had her own talk radio show, has participated on panels at BBC Three Counties Radio, and undertaken a BBC radio book tour, culminating in an interview with Claire Balding.
Karen has undertaken many speaking engagements, bringing her expertise, humour, and motivational skills to the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAWE), which she was invited to join, Metro Bank, business groups, enterprise schemes, Princess Cruise line, local community groups and schools, and has attended book signings in several WH Smith and Waterstones stores.
Karen was delighted to have been invited as a guest author through @MidasPR to attend the Sharjah book fair in 2021 where she took part in a panel discussion, was interviewed on radio and television, and gave a talk on her career to a local school.
Karen never intended to write a book but what started as a hobby in her spare time away from the office, working in the evenings until late into the night and at weekends, has now become a new and exciting part of her life. Writing has become her passion, made easier due to her background in business, literature and linguistics and having a vivid imagination.
Where In the Dark was her second novel and partly inspired by her search for justice for her father who was a Holocaust survivor, her grandparents and family who were murdered in the concentration camps. Her debut The Shadows Behind Her Smile was published in March 2016. Karen has since finished her third novel in the series, A Thousand Silent Cries, and is currently working on a standalone thriller, Ultimate Power.
Karen now lives in the Buckinghamshire countryside with her husband and four dogs. She still works full-time in her business but the remainder is spent writing, going to the theatre and travelling, and having quality time with her daughter who is a professional performer.
