Karli is an author, an international speaker, educator, an advocate, a single mother, and a survivor of rape.
Karli held in her story for a long time, and during this, she was struggling with her day to day tasks. When the time came where Karli felt ready to share, the first friend she shared with told her “are you sure? That doesn’t sound like him” and that made her doubt herself. Following that disclosure, she didn’t share her experience with anyone else for months. Then, when she felt comfortable and shared with someone else, that’s when her friend told her, “Karli, that is rape.”
Karli shares that her friend “did not push it. I think that is a really important fact for a lot of folks including loved ones and friends. Not pushing it is crucial because sometimes we are not ready to hear that. Also, this friend of mine was not a trained professional. It wasn’t until I called the local rape crisis hotline center in college that I experienced someone provide true empathy.”
Karli remembers sitting in her dorm room, with her phone in her hand, and sobbed. That first time, when someone sat with her in silence, was a game changer and a start to Karli’s recovery process.
During her recovery process, Karli became the author of “A Kids Book About Consent” and the podcast host of “Ask For It Podcast.” It was super important for Karli to publish with a company that shared the same beliefs and goals. They published "A Kids Book About Sexual Abuse” with Evelyn Yang in 2021. Karli shares what prompted them to write this book and become a podcast on such an important topic.
“I have always been a communicator and I have always been a talker. I was a theater kid and very embarrassingly, as a feminist, I was in pageants. From there, my undergrad degree was in Communications and I was also very involved on campus and in social justice work. After that, I started working at an advertising firm as an account executive and it became a horrific experience of racist and sexist behavior.”
Karli immediately left the profit sector and worked towards a career as a prevention educator and victim advocate at a rape crisis center. They worked at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, which is dedicated to empowering women and eliminating racism by providing support to all women along various stages of their journeys. It was at the YWCA where Karli came to terms with the fact that she was a survivor too.