Karen Starns is Chief Marketing Officer of OJO Labs. She is responsible for developing scaled channels to rapidly grow OJO's user base, building a brand that consumers love and can’t live without, and helping create a powerhouse employer brand that reflects their mission and values.
In this role, Starns oversees the global management of the OJO brand, including consumer insights, digital marketing, creative development and agency management, marketing effectiveness, media, public relations, and portfolio and innovation pipeline strategy. Building brands that connect with people is a passion, and she believes that great customer and partner experience across every touchpoint is a difference maker.
Starns joined OJO Labs in July 2019 to take on the newly created Chief Marketing Officer role. She previously spearheaded Brand and Customer Experience at Amazon with a focus on Echo and Alexa, Kindle, Fire TV, and the portfolio of smart home offerings. As SVP of Global Marketing at Pearson, Starns focused on building a customer-centered brand. In her first stint at Amazon, she led global advertising planning and media advocated for a greater focus on Amazon brand strategy. Earlier in her career, Starns spent 13 years at Microsoft, heading brand portfolio strategy, global advertising, Bing consumer marketing, and Dynamics audience marketing.
Starns has also served as an advisor to startups and social enterprises and a juror for industry awards in brand and marketing. A proud Longhorn, with a BBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin and a founding Advisory Council member for the McCombs Master of Science in Marketing program, she was the MS Programs 2019 Commencement Speaker.
Starns is a runner; a voracious reader; and a fan of typography, photography, and painting. Through mentorship and community involvement, she’s motivated to make a difference, live a life that positively influences others, and invest in people and ideas that will have a lasting impact. Starns lives in both Austin and Seattle with her two teenagers and husband.