The working girl is unlike any other woman you will get the chance to encounter. While the average American works around 10 jobs by the age of 40, this inspiring woman has worked 59 jobs in 22 cities and 4 countries! Karen Burns relays her lifetime of work in The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl, giving her readers “real life career advice you can actually use”! CRAVE delves a little deeper into the inner workings of this fabulous woman. We ask her some difficult questions that have moved her to become “rather philosophical” for our readers. Tune in for some great words of wisdom .

So, Karen, why so many jobs?
The short and maybe not so admirable answer is—I get bored easily. Once I feel I have mastered a job I just don’t want to do it anymore. So I move on. There’s nothing wrong with being dissatisfied if it makes you strive for something bigger & better.

Was this a movement towards finding your calling?
In the end it turned out that way. But to be truthful, at the time the job hopping felt a lot like floundering. Later, we tend to look back at our lives and say, “Oh, when I did this it led to that.” We can see a path. But usually while you’re living through it, you don’t realize that.

Have you found your calling?
Yes! I think writing is my calling. It’s never boring. (Maybe because I haven’t mastered it?) Anyway, it makes me happy.

Tell me how your job experiences tie themselves together to create your past 40 years of life experience. How have your jobs made you who you are today?
I guess whatever life experiences you have make you who you are, to an extent. However, I do believe that a large part of our characters is already present at birth, and that we often spend our whole lives uncovering that character, trying to find ways to allow it to bloom. It can be scary but also an adventure.

Nothing seemed to hold you back from picking up and moving on to the next adventure in life. How does a woman overcome defeat?
Boy, it’s hard to overcome defeat. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I do the things that make me feel better. When I feel stronger and a little recovered I try to figure out what to do next. I identify a first step–something small that feels doable. Then I just basically force myself to do it. If it works out (which it usually does because I pick something that is fairly easily accomplished) then I get a little confidence boost, which helps me to go on to the next step. And so on.

What is the biggest word of advice you can give to a female in the workplace?
It has to be two words: Be smart. I wish I could say that women don’t face any more challenges than men in the workplace, but it’s not true and I don’t know when it will ever be true. We still have to be smarter. We still have to do a little more to prove ourselves. This involves being industrious, calm, reliable, thoughtful, intelligent and—here’s a word you don’t hear too often—unflappable. Don’t let anyone get to you!

What is next for you?…Is a new career in the horizon?
Good question. Maybe. We’ll see. Right now I’m pretty happy with where I am. But one thing I’ve learned—it’s impossible to predict the future.

Visit www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com for more information on The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl. The book is available in bookstores everywhere!