Media Kit as of 8_10_16

KAREN NEWMAN, MS, RDN
“Live Victorious, Loved and Free”
[email protected]
203-561-0334 (cell)
Inspirational Speaker, World Record-Breaking Triathlete, Cancer & Eating Disorders Survivor, Author of
Just Three Words, Karen’s miraculous story of overcoming the odds and living life on purpose.
ABOUT KAREN:
Awards & Media:
Because of Karen’s incredible story and indomitable spirit, she was featured on NBC’s TODAY show twice, as well as on
ABC’s local New York City station, and Vermont’s local WCAX station. She was also recently featured in the NY Post.
At the 2015 National Triathlon Championships, the USA Triathlon Federation presented Karen with the Most
Inspirational Comeback award. She was selected out of over 11,000 athletes to be one of the National Senior Games
Association’s (NSGA) 2014 Personal Best Athletes. In March of 2014, Karen was featured in Greenwich Magazine. She
received the 2013 Courage Award from the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance, and was the American Cancer
Society’s 2010 Determination Champion for her tireless efforts to encourage and help people from all walks of life.
Karen’s CaringBridge.com blog posts had over 25,000 readers, and she has been interviewed for numerous
publications and shows, has lectured all over the country.
Speaking:
Karen’s vulnerability and love for others shines through as she passionately shares her failures, successes, and lessons
learned. Her real-life stories inspire others to dream big, find love and opportunity amidst life’s challenges, and to have
victory in their own lives.
For a complete list of this year’s speaking events, please visit Karen’s website: www.thekarennewman.com/speaking/
2016 speaking events are vast and have included: keynote speaker “Center for Hope Luncheon,” Darien, Ct (previous
speakers include Mariel Hemmingway, Jane Fonda); Greenwich, CT Chamber of Commerce “Women Who Matter”
luncheon; keynote speaker: Greenwich Chaplaincy Fund Raiser, Greenwich CT; featured guest on
HERradio/RadioMD.com, topic: Eating Disorders—The Hidden Epidemic; featured guest on WCAX-TV for “Books Over
Breakfast”; keynote speaker Vermont Cancer Action Day at the Vermont Statehouse, topic: “Racing Cancer”; Featured
guest on Open Mike with Michael Smith, WDEV-FM and AM, topic: “Your Life’s Journey”; motivational speaker “The
Power of Words” at the Vermont Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annual meeting; keynote speaker in Birmingham,
AL: Samford University, University of Montevallo, Mountain Book High School—Eating Disorders Awareness Week;
keynote speaker “Walk Boldly,” Church on the Hill in Boca Raton, FL; Featured guest on Sharkie’s Pep talk,
www.healthylife.net; motivational speaker at “Blast Off with Books” in Burlington, VT; keynote speaker to over 300
people at the Center for Hope/Den for Grieving kids inspirational gala; motivational speaker at Pryority Wellness
Center in New Canaan, CT; keynote speaker for Green Mountain Athletic Association’s annual dinner; featured guest on
Wellness for the Real World with Dr. Veronica Anderson on Fox, the Jersey 920am Radio Show; keynote speaker 2016
Gerontology Conference, Rutland Vermont; featured guest on The Active Life with Jeff Harding radio show; featured
guest on Darby and Friends am1490 radio show.
2015 speaking events included: motivational speaker to over 600 participants at the American Cancer Society’s Making
Strides walk in South Burlington, VT; keynote speaker for SNAP in Greenwich, CT; inspirational speaker for the Senior
Games Empower Hour; inspirational speaker at the USA Triathlon National Championships banquet; co-keynote
speaker at the Leukemia and Lymphoma “Spring into Summer” event; keynote speaker at Church on the Hill in Boca
Raton, FL.
Previous keynote speaking events: Global Foundation for Eating Disorders luncheon; Susan G. Komen-CT/ CrossFit
event; American Red Cross/Girls on the Run Celebrate the Season luncheon; keynote speaker and Wellness
Coordinator at Estee Lauder Companies’ Break Away Wellness Weekend; Susan G. Komen/ Frogs for the Cure luncheon
for 400 people in Texas; Athletes for Christ and the Derby Easter 5k road race; Quest speaker at Community Bible Study
in both Old Greenwich and Westport, CT; and many more engagements at a variety of churches, health, breast cancer
and athletic events.
Karen’s most rewarding speeches have been to other people suffering from low self-esteem and various other diseases
or addictions, who have been transformed after hearing her story. Her mission is to help heal the broken-hearted and
for everyone know that they are loved, worthy, and vital.
Other Professional:
After years of struggle with eating disorders and the underlying feelings of shame and unworthiness, Karen gravitated
into a career as a Registered Dietitian. She holds Masters Degree in Clinical Nutrition from Rush University and a B.S. in
Dietetics from the University of Vermont. Her Nutrition career has spanned 21 years and runs the gamut from scientific
research to empathetic consulting. Karen is currently a Health and Wellness Educator for Cigna Health Insurance and
runs her own nutritional consulting firm, Nutrifit; Some other highlights from her vast career include: Nutritionist at
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center; directed a national Corporate Wellness Program for Lord and Taylor; hosted a
radio show with WAYB call “Dial a Dietitian”; has written many articles for Sports Nutrition News; appeared on
Cablevision discussing nutrition and exercise.
Personal & Athletic:
Karen believes that our great trials in life are opportunities to grow and discover who we really are. And when we do
have the courage to face it all and find our purpose, we are blessed more abundantly than we ever dreamed possible.
This belief comes from direct experience as a survivor of two diseases.
In 2008, while still battling eating disorders, Karen was diagnosed with advanced, aggressive, stage-3 breast
cancer. Despite this diagnosis, she finished the World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver, BC, just days after
receiving her fourth chemotherapy treatment.
She went on to become a 7-time All-American Triathlete and Team USA World Competitor. She won a silver medal at
2012’s Triathlon Age Group World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, and was the top American participant. In
2013, Karen won 4 gold medals for the United States and broke the Huntsman Senior Games World Triathlon record.
In 2014, Karen won multiple medals racing around the United States. In 2015, she won silver in triathlon in
international competition at the Senior Games in St. Paul Minnesota and qualified to represent the United States at
the 2016 Age-Group World Triathlon championships in Cozumel, Mexico. Karen is a living miracle and proof that nothing
is impossible with God.
Karen married her college sweetheart—a fellow runner and tennis champ—and together they have three amazing boys
who are all gifted athletes, as well. The family often participates in races and charitable events together.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK:
Karen has written a memoir entitled Just Three Words—Athlete, Mother, Survivor: How One Brave Woman – Against
All Odds – Wins the Race Of Her Life. Publication was March 21, 2016.
At a time of despair, when her eating disorders had once again gripped her life and filled her with shame, just three
words—“Karen, it’s cancer”—changed the entire trajectory of her life. Inspired by her five years of blog posts on
CaringBridge.com, which drew 25,000+ visitors, the book chronicles the challenging experiences that brought Karen to
her knees—then to her life’s purpose—and the miracles that kept her alive and winning athletic events around the
world. With the downfall of other elite athletes who’ve overcome the odds, such as Lance Armstrong and Oscar
Pistorius, the world needs a new hero-athlete to look up to. Karen is just that and more. She is relatable and draws
readers in by openly exposing her weaknesses and failures, along with many “Forrest Gump-type” of charming,
serendipitous and inspiring twists, as well. The remarkable story reveals the power words have to shatter or empower
us, and the astonishing potential that love has to heal. The book’s primary concept is: “If ‘just three words’ could
change my life in such a big way, what three words—or other small shift made consciously—could catapult yours into
another dimension?”
Karen brings us profound spiritual insights and life-affirming optimism by sharing her journey. Coming from a place of
wisdom only found in someone who has been in the valleys, but already reached the “top of the mountain,” Karen’s
book will give support to any reader who is facing a challenge, harboring a shameful secret, or looking to be inspired to
live the purposeful life they were meant to live. With over 1000 moving reader comments on her CaringBridge.com site,
Karen has already seen the effect her words have had on others. It is her great joy to expand on the story and its
messages, and to offer her book to a wider audience.
MEDIA LINKS:
For complete information on media, speaking, inspirational stories, etc, please visit Karen’s website:
www.thekarennewman.com
You can see more of Karen’s story on the NBC TODAY show on these links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW8C_pn9mf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95YvdnSk5KE
The WCAX news feature about Karen’s newest “competition” against cancer:
https://youtu.be/loUCIDtmVsg
The NY Post article “Cancer saved my Life”:
http://nypost.com/2016/01/14/my-cancer-diagnosis-helped-me-beat-bulimia/
Link to Karen’s feature in Greenwich Magazine:
http://thekarennewman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GreenwichMagazine-Mar-2014.pdf
News article about the Courage Award:
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/Old-Greeniwch-s-Newman-to-receive-Courage-Award-4250289.php
Additionally, here are Karen’s social media links:
https://www.facebook.com/karen.newman.549?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/thekarennewman
www.linkedin.com/pub/karen-newman/a/37/aa9
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/karennewman
A BRIEF HISTORY IN PHOTOS:
World-class triathlete struggling with eating disorders,
One year before cancer diagnosis
With husband in VT, Karen’s healing place during chemo
Summer 2008
Chosen for cancer survivor exhibit, 2009
Happy to be alive and still racing, 2010
With Hoda Kotb at a charity event, 2009
Determination Champion and presenter for ACS, 2010
Silver medalist, Age-group World Triathlon Championships, 2012
Gold medalist and world record-breaker, 2013
Featured in Greenwich Magazine, 2014
Speaking for American Red Cross, 2014
Another joyful speaking engagement, 2014
Silver medalist, 2015
Unbridled joy: Giving back at the Pink Out The Park, 5k cancer fundraiser in Colchester, VT, 2015
Book launch party and book signing, 2016
Book hits the shelves!
The waiting line for an autographed book, 2016
Fundraiser speaking event, 2016
Additional book signing event, 2016