Licensing International is powered by an incredible group of licensing professionals hailing from around the globe who take time to serve the industry they love. Each week we’ll be profiling one of these professionals in this ongoing series.

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Karina Rhoden. I am currently a Junior Category Manager at The Smiley Company and 1/3rd of the YPN committee here in the UK. I have been in the licensing game for coming up to 4 years at end of this year. We are very excited to get the ball rolling on some licensing-focused events which we would like to put in place for you guys. If you have any suggestions or questions, I would love to hear from you so please drop me a message on Linkedin 🙂

How did you get into licensing (or how did Licensing find YOU😊)?
While at university as part of my Economics with Business degree I had taken an interest in a particular module titled “Brand Management.” I loved everything about it, from my teacher to the lesson plans, to the Lurpak Butter Christmas pastry I would create as part of my final project. I would spend hours for months working on it. Thankfully, it provided me with a point of focus, a chance to be creative and a reason to really research into trends and consumer wants. (Special shout out to my tip-top friends aka the involuntary focus group who had to hear the words “Lurpak” and “pastry” 100,000 times!)

After discussion with my teacher, she let me know that these brands I enjoyed reading about and researching how they can extend into other product categories was actually an option for a career with an entire industry behind it. Needless to say, I was very happy I didn’t have to do the sometimes-dreaded career soul-searching because it was right in front of me. Fast forward a bit and we are now here.

What’s your biggest personal and professional accomplishment?
I would say as it stands, my biggest personal accomplishment was signing up for the London Marathon 2021. Funny enough, I was never into running and I was not a massive fan of general fitness before (I am sure you are now confused by the marathon thing, right?). I wanted to set myself this challenge to prove to myself that I can not only adapt and shape myself physically and mentally into the person I want to become, but also hopefully inspire other people to realise it is never too late, too impossible or too far-fetched to do the same.

My biggest professional accomplishment would be my UK Rising Star nomination in 2019. It meant so much to me that an industry I loved acknowledged my effort and hard work. I have met some of the most talented individuals and worked with some great people because of it.

What keeps you up at night?
What keeps me up at night is probably the excitement of the next day. Since COVID-19 I have a new understanding and appreciation for life, time and family. I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to see the world differently to what I had been before lockdown. The amazing things I have been able to do over this period to reconnect with myself has been a breath of fresh air, so now at night all I think about is the time I have tomorrow to keep that feeling up!

What is your favorite quote?
“Black lives have always mattered, we have always been important, we have always meant something, we have always succeeded, regardless.” – John Boyega