WINES WE'RE DRINKING Aleksandrouli by Koncho & Co Red Dry Wine | 85% Aleksandrouli, 15% Mudjuretuli In this episode, Jessica sits down with Karen Zaragoza, a San Diego-born event marketing strategist, community builder, and creative entrepreneur who has built not one, but three interconnected platforms rooted in a single belief: community is the catalyst for everything. Karen shares the story behind Social Creatives, the community-first foundation that came before anything else, and how it gave birth to two focused branches: The Lead Lab, a growth and strategy resource for small businesses, and Plant Bae's, a plant-based wellness community creating space for conscious connection, love, and personal evolution. But this conversation goes beyond the business. Karen opens up about one of the most transformative chapters of her life: becoming a mother as a teenager. She reflects on how having a daughter reshaped her sense of purpose, her priorities, and ultimately the woman and leader she became. She also gets vulnerable about the turmoil she navigated growing up in her family, the lessons she carried into adulthood, and how those experiences quietly shaped her philosophy of building spaces where people feel supported, seen, and connected. From producing community markets and large-scale activations with organizations like the SD Food Bank, Petco Park, and the U.S. Navy, to designing speed dating events and transformational workshops through Plant Bae's, Karen is proof that when your work is rooted in lived experience, it creates real impact. This one hits close to home, and you're going to love her.