We were lucky to catch up with Karen Wagar recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Karen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is measured differently depending on each person’s goals in life. Success to me means to have a state of mind in which there are no limits, and everything is possible. Throughout the years, I learned to leave all fear aside, see the glass half full and embrace every experience or decision in life, regarding of the outcome, as a lesson and as an opportunity to grow.

Karen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Teaching is my first passion. After working as an educator for 20 years, I was able to open my own school. My vision have always being to have a bilingual school where children are loved and respected, and a place where kids could explore and embrace their creativity in a safe environment.
In GLMA, the purpose of education is not only about the academics, but also about character development, values, and discipline. Each student’s confidence is bolstered over time by doing self-esteem activities and giving them the opportunity to choose, whether is between a set of activities, or the classmate they will be working with on any given day. I believe we have achieved all our goals and exceeded our own expectations. We are a bilingual (English-Spanish) daycare and preschool in the Houston, Texas area, which serves families with children from 8 weeks to 5 years old, where healthy meals are provided, and a place where love, safety, academics and character education go hand in hand. Lastly, the building’s architecture, floor plan, and size of the building make all our families feel they are at home.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The first one that comes to mind is my mother passing. At the age of 14 years old and the oldest of four sisters, I was unexpectedly in charge of the household. The challenges continued when I started college at 17, while still taking care of my three sisters. I had a commute of 2-hours each way, every day by public transportation for 5 years. Several years later, with my degree in one hand, and my 8 years old daughter in the other, I decided to move to Houston, TX in search or better opportunities for my daughter and I. Behind, I left a live of domestic abuse in the hands of my father, and later my husband, to start our new lives. The language barrier and the cultural differences were no match for my desire to succeed.

After a couple of years in Houston, we moved to New Jersey, where I completed my master’s degree in ESL (English as a Second Language). I then moved back to Houston in 2015 and in 2018, Great Little Minds Academy became a dream come true. Am I resilient? Well, I’ll let the readers be the judge of that!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Less than a year ago, I decided to dedicate part of my time to my second passion, which is traveling and photography. With that in mind, the Instagram traveling/photography page @worldpasarela, which means world runway (see photos attached) was created. I still wanted to put a little bit of my Latin roots in it, hence the name, and to integrate it with education, of course, I’ll always be a teacher at heart! This is an educational page, and I am enjoying it more and more as it continues to develop. The next step, to start my own blog. I guess I’ll tell everybody about that in our next interview. Thank you to all the readers for taking the time to read my story!

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @greatlittlemindsacademy
• Facebook: Great Little Minds Academy