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Karen Lawton / SJ Technologies
Karen Lawton, CEO and Founder of SJ Technologies, has worked in information technology for over 15 years. She started her career by co-founding an Oracle-centric software company in 1997, during the dot com era. Karen was quick to learn critical aspects of running a business and rose to every challenge she faced, like raising the $12 million needed to grow the business through three rounds of venture capital.
Early in her career, Karen was fortunate to be mentored by experienced industry executives whose guidance helped her successfully obtain strategic accounts with organizations like GE, Fidelity Investments and the LA County Sheriffs’ Department. Since then, her focus has been on business development and account management in the areas of software solutions, platform and system architecture, and business systems.
Prior to launching SJ Technologies in 2009, Karen held leadership roles at several technology companies spanning many different industry segments and corporate cultures. Those experiences provided her with the network, experience and industry knowledge required to deliver outstanding service and technological solutions to her customers.
As someone who experienced entrepreneurship at an early age, Karen is passionate about mentoring young adults in her community and helping them find their paths to success. She is actively involved with organizations like Women in Technology and WBENC, through which she promotes a balance of business and family life to the women she mentors. As a mother of three, Karen intimately understands the demands working mothers face and serves as a role model to young women striving for success both at work and at home.
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Barbara Bouldin / SJ Technologies
Ms Bouldin, a veteran of the Information Technology industry, began her career as a software engineer and in this role developed software in diverse languages and on many platforms. As her career progressed she became involved in Business Development and spent several years in the Silicon Valley. This phase of her career culminated in the founding of her own company, InfoShark, Inc, in 1997. Infoshark’s business was focused on delivering data extracted from Oracle databases to the Internet in user-friendly form. Her daughter, Karen Lawton, the CEO and Founder of SJ Technologies, was a co-founder and the leading sales person at InfoShark, Inc. It is noteworthy and a tribute to mother and daughter that Ms. Bouldin is now employed at SJ Technologies, Inc. as a Business Analyst.
Ms Bouldin is an accomplished author and has published articles in technical journals as well as a book. The book, Agents of Change, describes her methodology for assisting organizations adopt new technologies.
She has also taught high school mathematics to students who have been suspended from their base high school. She found that many of these students struggled with special needs and learning disabilities in Mathematics and was therefore able to honor a commitment to help young people.
