Karen Marshall, Campus Partners’ Vice President of Sales, is the kind of person who “lights up a room.” Outgoing and confident, Karen has a way of putting people at ease and raising the energy level of any gathering she is involved with, whether it is lunch with co-workers or a formal presentation. She is very direct, but has a delightful sense of humor that can lighten the mood of the dullest of meetings. Those are great traits for someone in her position, but Karen backs up her personable style with real substance, professionalism, and knowledge of the student loan market.

“After the sale, my role has always evolved into customer care and making sure the customer is happy,” Karen stated in her interview. Karen came to Campus Partners in 2006 after seven years at Citibank, where she headed a national team of 75 sales representatives and 50 members of a client relations unit that worked to ensure customer needs were being met after the sale. Previously, she worked at Chase Manhattan Bank for 10 years in the areas of sales, marketing, and audit and compliance.

“I probably called on 500 different colleges during my career,” Karen remarked, adding that her contacts were mostly with financial aid offices. “In working with these schools, I always avoided overselling. I also tried to find out what the customer really needed versus what I thought they needed or what they thought they wanted. I have a lot of empathy for customers and want them to be completely satisfied.”

Karen’s background is very useful as she directs private loan sales along with leading our Perkins loans sales efforts. Soon after coming to Campus Partners she had responsibility for Perkins loan sales, but quickly transitioned to private loan sales only. She has again assumed responsibility for the Perkins program sales. She looks forward to meeting customers and overseeing account management, marketing, and contracts and proposal activities for our company.

Although she has a demanding job, Karen stays equally busy in her private life. She lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with her husband, Dan, and their children, Daniel, age four and Catherine, age six. Her hobbies and interests mainly revolve around her family these days and she has fun keeping up--or trying to keep up with her children as they ride bikes, swim, and try their hand at every imaginable sport from bowling to rock climbing.

Two summers ago, she challenged herself by raising over $4,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation by participating in a three day, 60-mile walk in honor of a close friend who died of breast cancer. “I’m glad I did the walk. Breast cancer is a terrible disease, and I wanted to honor my friend’s memory, along with raising money for the cure,” Karen concluded.

Karen is from New York, but moved to Florida when she was in high school. Later, she graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Finance. Ironically, her husband is a native New Yorker, who also moved to Florida in his teens. They did not meet until both were adults, but felt an immediate connection.

It’s hard not to feel an immediate connection to Karen. She is passionate about her family, her job, and her charitable activities, but she still has energy to spare and radiates empathy and concern for others. With Karen, what you see is what you get—and that is a rare quality in business or in life.