Karen Cuthrell is the founder of The Emotional Intelligence Factory at Skyland, creator of The Feeling Friends, and CEO of The Feelings Company. With more than 30 years of experience in emotional intelligence education, her work began in 1994 when her six-year-old daughter struggled to express her emotions, inspiring Karen to co-create the original twelve Feeling Friends characters to help children, families, and educators talk about feelings.

Today, Karen leads our culturally responsive educational programming and focuses deeply on Adult Social and Emotional Learning, helping both children and adults find their emotional voices and build lasting wellness. By steering adults toward emotional health, she multiplies the positive impact on young learners, fulfilling her daily purpose of leaving the world emotionally better off than she found it.