The hero behind the scenes

Karen Sutton and her contributions to NuVu

By Cleo Podrasky

A woman sits on the edge of her seat, typing in ebbs and flows as she writes an email. She stares, thinking, and then bursts into a flurry of words. Her desk is fairly organized with notes about her plans for the day strewn on the right side of it, while pencil-holders and knickknacks are to the left. The incessant clicking of the keyboard continues as she gathers her thoughts and explains the programs offered by her workplace. She smiles faintly and sends the email, moving on to the next.

Karen Sutton, the Director of Operations at an experimental school in Cambridge, MA, tends to have a busy day. She either spends her time at her desk, writing miscellaneous emails to faculty, or she paces around, listening to people on the other side of the phone. NuVu Studio is a busy place, too, with students ranging from 8th to 12th grade working on their projects, racing in and out of the workshop with safety glasses still on their heads. However, few of these students truly know what she actually does, and realize her contribution to their education.

First off, she has to communicate with people outside of NuVu to make sure that the employees are getting paid and to discover whether or not the organization is adhering to the budget. This can take up most of her day, as these communications are coming in constantly. Because of this, she works within a certain policy; she consistently answers all of her incoming messages within 24 hours, even if she doesn’t have the answer. “Maybe it’s outdated or old-fashioned,” she says, “but I can’t stand a full inbox, especially when it’s in the double-digits.”

She also has to answer questions posed by companies who are helping NuVU expand their space. “I have quite a bit of responsibility with the financial aspect of this company, so I need to make sure that the invoices are being sent out, bills are being paid, and budgets are being adhered to,” she tells me in an interview. “I communicate all of this and work very, very closely with Saeed on that end. I don’t really share much information regarding finances with anybody else except for Saba, and to make sure that we are financially solvent is the biggest thing.” This tends to leave her fully in charge of communicating with companies about finance and services.

As she types one of these emails, she discovers questions piling up in her inbox. She purses her lips in thought and leans forward slightly. Oftentimes, she spends her whole day responding to contractors and employees, but that doesn’t stop her. “I love a challenge, and I love to take things on and do them well,” she says to me while working tirelessly on a letter. “I love my job, and the reason why I love this job is that, at my age, I got a second opportunity to really work hard, and learn, and sort of relive my thirties.”

As she’s about to begin another email, Saeed walks over to her desk and explains something about the plants. She glides over to the hallway full of Elephant Ear plants and other tropical greenery and clears the plants of insects and other critters that might harm them. While doing so, she explains to me her relationship with Saeed. “The only person who knows that I make a mistake is usually Saeed. l I stress out when I make a mistake. I hate, more than anything, when I make a mistake, and when I make a mistake, it’s like I just stabbed somebody. It’s just awful.”

In addition to taking care of plants (and her mistakes), she does many other things around NuVu. From staff to scheduling, to letting students in the front door, Karen oversees it all. “I make sure that all of the staff has what they need to do their job and feels supported by NuVu, and that falls into the category of HR,” she explains emphatically. “Benefits, insurance, making sure that they have information, that their questions are answered, so that in everything, from health to travel to expenses to day-to-day operations, people are informed.”

Originally, though, Karen didn’t have the same job here at NuVu. She started out as the Vice President of an educational travel company at age 25, which required a lot of effort and dedication to perform well. She had two kids soon afterward, though, and she made a decision to due to the complications of being a full-time mother. After floating around several easier, part-time jobs, she wanted to have more of a challenge. She joined the NuVu team, but for the first six months, few people, including Karen herself, thought that it was going to work out, as it was hard for her to adjust to. However, after those three months, “Things clicked, and I think I had personal growth; I understood dynamics much, much better.”

Now, Karen is sitting at her desk again, typing into her schedule. As usual, it is fairly packed, and yet she always seems to make room for more; after all, NuVu can be unpredictable, and many things change on a day-to-day basis. NuVu is busy, and because of this, Karen is too. However, she always makes an effort to look on the bright side, despite her worries about events; “There’s always a value in responding, and you never, ever know if your positive response will lead to some amazing opportunity to NuVu. You just never know- It’s better to be positive and professional because that generates good vibes everywhere.”