Karen Hough is the Founder & CEO of ImprovEdge, a #1 Amazon bestselling author, and recipient of the Silver Stevie International Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year 2012 as well as the Athena PowerLink Award for outstanding woman-owned business and the Outstanding Women award from the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. Karen’s second award-winning book, “Be the Best Bad Presenter Ever” was published by Berrett-Koehler in 2014. Her latest book focuses on using improvisation in change management and innovation, “Go with It: Embrace the Unexpected to Drive Change,” and was published in October 2017 by the Association for Talent Development.

A graduate of Yale University, Karen’s first life was as a professional improviser and actor. She trained with Chicago’s Second City, did over 100 theatrical productions, and was featured in radio, TV and film. She lived a second life as a successful executive in network engineering. Finally, she became an entrepreneur. She is a Certified Speaking Professional and has presented to audiences of thousands in the US and internationally. 

ImprovEdge is a government certified Women’s Business Enterprise and helps companies transform behavior through interactive training. Their client list includes NBCUniversal, JPMorgan Chase, Coach, Cardinal Health and AstraZeneca to name a few.