How I Turned Grief and a Global Pandemic Into Two Businesses

When host Zaneta Chuniq Inpower sat down with Karen Aucoin, a former professional ballet dancer who now owns two Florida businesses, the throughline was reinvention under pressure. Karen runs Studio 131, an event and wedding venue in Largo, and JoBelle Bell, a floral and event-package brand she named after her two children, Joseph and Isabel.

Her story starts in the hardest possible moment — grieving her mother, pregnant with her first child, and handed a newly renovated venue during COVID by a mentor battling brain cancer. What she did next is a blueprint for creative entrepreneurs: delegate, collaborate, systematize, and price with courage.

From Ballet to a Venue Nobody Was Using

Karen danced professionally in New York City and London before moving to Florida, retiring from ballet, and teaching ballroom. She was renting studio space from a mentor who was diagnosed with brain cancer — and during COVID, that mentor offered her the whole renovated building for a low cost. Pregnant and grieving her mother, Karen chose action over grief and started renting the space for weddings.

“I decided I could either wallow in grief and not start off my life as a mom very positive, or I could do exactly what I think my mom would do and say, just flip and go for it. And I did. And it was definitely the best move I ever made.” — Karen Aucoin

“I just realized I couldn’t work for anybody else. I’m terrible at that. So I knew from day one that I was always an entrepreneur.” — Karen Aucoin

Delegation, Burnout, and Building JoBelle Bell

As the venue grew, the business side crowded out the creative side Karen loved — and burnout followed. Getting pregnant with her son Joseph forced her to slow down, hire, and finally embrace delegation as the only path to growth. Out of that came JoBelle Bell, her floral brand named for both of her children.

“I really had this empty void and I started feeling burnout. So I sought help and I figured out what parts of the business I really love and what I absolutely need to start delegating. It’s the only way to grow.” — Karen Aucoin

“Most people quit when it’s hard. And that’s why businesses fail.” — Karen Aucoin

Turning Competitors Into Collaborators

Early on, Karen saw everyone as competition. Experience flipped that instinct: the people in her field became her referral network and her collaborators, letting her assemble bigger events than she could ever land alone.

“All of the people who are your competition should be your best friends. They should all be in your corner.” — Karen Aucoin

“I have 10 venues that I work with regularly that I will always recommend to these clients coming in. So it’s a way to constantly give each other business, pat each other on the back, and grow.” — Karen Aucoin

Building Packages — and Charging for Your Time

One of Karen’s specialties is bundling everything a client needs — planner, DJ, photographer, videographer, 360 photo booth, decor, florals — into a single package. It’s easier for the client and more profitable for the planner, as long as you remember to bill your own coordination time.

“Now you’re getting everything they want. You’re making it easier for the client, and you’re earning more profit.” — Karen Aucoin

“That’s what people forget — to make sure that they account for their own time with business.” — Karen Aucoin

The Systems That Keep It All Together

Karen credits free, simple tools for holding a two-business operation together: Google Docs and calendars she lives by, Post-it notes for priorities, a morning routine before the kids wake, AI as a quick assistant, and Go High Level CRM to streamline everything.

“You should be planning for your whole month, your whole quarter, your whole year, your five-year plan. It should all be built out so you have a vision.” — Karen Aucoin

“I use ChatGPT and other AI tools — it’s fantastic… Of course, always check its work, because it is a robot. It is not a human.” — Karen Aucoin

The Home Base Partner Program

Karen’s newest launch tackles a problem she finds “nauseating”: venues sitting empty midweek. Her Home Base Partner Program rents that idle space to local planners and vendors — like a hairdresser renting a booth — giving them a place to meet clients, create content, and access her decor inventory.

“Most venues like mine are not used very often throughout the week. It’s just a glorified office, but there’s so much more potential.” — Karen Aucoin

“They get a code to the door, they’re welcome here. They have a home base to work out of.” — Karen Aucoin

Motherhood as the Whole Point

Karen is clear that she built her businesses for her children — to create generational wealth, give them more choices than she had, and model ambition so greatness becomes their baseline.

“I want them to see me doing something amazing, because then they’ll want to do something amazing. That will be their bare minimum.” — Karen Aucoin

“I get to be in charge of who’s around. It’s wonderful. I wouldn’t change it for anything.” — Karen Aucoin

Fearless Pricing in an Uncertain Economy

With people nervous to spend, Karen’s advice runs against the grain: don’t race to the bottom. Manage your mindset, welcome money in, and raise your prices — because buyers read the highest price as the best service.

“People automatically will think you have the best service if you are priced the highest.” — Karen Aucoin

“Everybody else in this recession is lowering and lowering and lowering… or you could be the most expensive and work less and make more money.” — Karen Aucoin

“Have more courage than all of them. Just keep going… Hit the ground running and be fearless in business. You’ll be fine.” — Karen Aucoin

Catch the full conversation with Karen Aucoin on the Unscripted Small Business podcast. Karen owns Studio 131 and JoBelle Bell in Largo, Florida — reach out through her website or email list to learn about the Home Base Partner Program and the Creative Collective event.