Overcoming childhood trauma and facing down misogyny in the boardroom, Mum of the Year Finalist Karen Clince, is a true trailblazer

While some of us might find the ideal of being a single mum at age 21 challenging, Karen Clince used it to light a fire in her belly. From humble beginnings she has built her company Tigers Childcare into a network of 19 childcare centres caring for 2,100 children and employing 310 people. But where did her streak of determination come from and how did she remain so positive?  

Turns out, it’s in the blood.

“We were very lucky we had a very together, sensible and positive mum,” she recalls. “My dad had severe addiction issues from a young age and they amalgamated into some serious mental health issues.” Karen is keen to stress that her dad was a very talented man. “He was a sound producer for TV. We had a fabulous life and travelled all around the world. But [his issues] affected myself and my sibling’s young life, it was very traumatic and very difficult,” she says. Karen’s mum Mary was her rock, but she didn’t sugar coat the situation either. “No matter what was going on in the background, she’d say you need to pull it together and put it in your engine and let it drive you forward.”

That she certainly did. When Karen became unexpectedly pregnant at age 20 and had her baby girl Ella Bleu at 21, Karen found herself a single mum. A crisis for some, was an opportunity for Karen. “There were hard days of course, there were days when I felt sorry for myself, but my mum would have no sympathy, she’d say get back up and what are you going to do about it?” Karen laughs. “It just gives you fire in your belly to succeed.”

Karen began offering in-school after school services for children in Glasnevin where she worked as a special needs assistant. She’d just given birth to Ella and noticed that there was nothing on offer for the children in terms of after-school care. “I found that the kids wanted something that felt different to being in school and it was more about being there as an adult to help their emotional and social development. When we focussed on that, everything else came on.” 

For Karen Tigers has always been more than a business. She’s a passionate advocate for giving children that safe space, that supportive environment where they can thrive. Again, it goes back to her own childhood experiences.  “I often wonder how we [her and her siblings] went through quite traumatic events in our childhood and we came out the other side being successful?” she muses. “When I went back and did my degree in early years and looked at the psychology of what helps children, I found that it is that one constant person in their lives that tells them they can do it.”

For Karen that was Mary, but not everyone is that lucky. “In childcare we don’t know where our children are coming from, we’ve all sorts of children. Some come from adversity, some who come from what look like very stable, financially secure backgrounds. On the outside of my life, I looked like that child coming in the door, from an affluent family and no one would have batted an eyelid, so it taught me that you never know what’s going on in a child’s life.”

Her strong personality and drive to succeed has helped her navigate the world of business. “At the start it was tough, juggling like all working mums do, tough juggling childcare, school collection, running a business and all of that. As a single mum, I didn’t have a huge amount of support, so I was running from Billy to Jack. Luca was born at 32 weeks and he came to work with me” she describes.

As her business grew, Karen also had to deal with the inherent misogyny of the often-male dominated boardroom. “You do find as a woman you’re questioned more on your ability to do things and you personally feel guilty if you have to take time off to do things,” she says. “Men in boardrooms say well I’m a dad too, but unless you’re a man sitting in a boardroom who’s raising your children on your own without help, then you can’t compare. No matter what business I had, my children always came first and so you don’t always get someone in a boardroom understanding that.”

Far from letting it deter her though, Karen used it to drive herself forward. “It sends me back to that place, of I’ll show them, you know?” While she never let any of it get to her, Karen was keen to call out misogyny where she saw it.  “Unless you call it out in a constructive way I don’t think it’s going to change,” she adds.

While her business and the positive impact it’s had on hundreds of children’s lives, has been a huge highlight, for Karen it's being a mum that has brought her the most joy. Ella Bleu, 21 and Luca ,15 are her world. “Having kids is the best thing I ever did, it’s the most fun and I’m glad I had them when I was young. We are great pals and share great adventures together and I hope it will stay that way as they get older.” WW

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