Don’t Wait to Be Ready: UX Pioneer Karen Clark Cole on Graduation and Embracing Uncertainty
Reflecting toward the end of a busy, two-day Babson College tour packed with classroom visits, leadership lunches and student sit-downs, Karen Clark Cole realized how quickly the Wellesley campus felt like home—an East Coast hive buzzing with entrepreneurial spirit.
“These are my people,” said Clark Cole, who grew up close to Vancouver and now lives on a small island near the thriving Canadian seaport. “There’s nothing I love more than a room full of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial-minded people. It doesn’t happen very often that you have a whole universe full of people who are just trying to figure out what’s next, and then they actually do it.”
Clark Cole, co-founder and former CEO of Blink UX—the first user experience company in the U.S.—will return to Babson to deliver the graduate Commencement address on May 17. She also will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurial Leadership degree.
The tech innovator and lifelong entrepreneur reveled in the parallels between her entrepreneurial path and the College’s community and mission.
From Tech Visionary to Thought Leader
Clark Cole’s journey to the Commencement stage is as iterative and people-centered as the design philosophy she championed at Blink UX. The two-person startup began in 2000 in Seattle and grew into a nationally recognized leader in digital design and user research.
“I was an entrepreneur long before I knew what the word meant,” Clark Cole said, adding that she would start with a good idea and not much else. “I didn’t stop long enough to be afraid.”
COMMENCEMENT 2025: Learn more about Babson’s Commencement ceremonies May 17.
At Blink UX, she implemented a company culture rooted in mindfulness and presence. Her “one-thing-at-a-time” mantra emerged from a personal moment of clarity—realizing she didn’t remember a weekend spent with her daughter because she had been working the whole time.
“From that point on, I started leaving my phone behind in meetings. I listened more, I led better, and ideas just flowed,” she said. “That’s when you truly innovate—when you’re present.”
From Tech to Tails
Since selling Blink UX in 2021, Clark Cole has turned her entrepreneurial energy toward a different kind of user experience—caring for aging farm animals on her San Juan Island sanctuary. What began as a few goats has grown into a nonprofit retirement home for pigs, sheep, donkeys, llamas, and more.
“There’s no revenue model yet,” she admitted, laughing. “But I’m working on it. Just like any startup, we’re figuring it out.”
Heaven on Earth Sanctuary has become both a refuge and a platform for experiential learning, drawing in visitors who leave transformed by close encounters with animals they never imagined brushing or feeding.
“It’s become a way to talk about animal welfare, climate health, and compassion,” Clark Cole said. “And like any good entrepreneurial journey, it started with curiosity—and a willingness to say yes.”
Of course, she has many other commitments, especially when it comes to supporting women in businesses. Clark Cole is the chair of the board of governors for St. Margaret’s School, a K–12 all-girls independent school in Canada, and is a council member on the National Women’s Business Council in Washington, D.C.
Social Impact as a Business Imperative
During her Babson visit, Clark Cole was struck by the deep commitment to community and sustainability embedded throughout. From environmentally conscious squeegees to globally focused startup ideas, the student projects she encountered weren’t just commercially ambitious—they aimed to do good.
“I love the commitment to community service. I saw it in every class,” she said. “Entrepreneurs today aren’t just building businesses, they’re building better futures, and Babson is one of the few places where that’s clearly the norm, not the exception.”
“Just start. Don’t wait to feel ready. Expect to adapt. You’re not supposed to have it all figured out.”
Karen Clark Cole, Co-Founder Blink UX
She also praised the College’s global diversity and emphasis on lifelong learning. “It’s easy to say a school is international,” she noted, “but Babson feels it. The students here are solving problems in their home countries, in underserved communities, and for the planet.”
Empowering a New Generation
As Clark Cole prepares to address Babson’s graduate Class of 2025, she’s focused on delivering something honest. “I want to be real,” she said. Graduation is just the beginning of many uncertain moments. And that’s OK—they’re ready.
She emphasized that graduates shouldn’t see that uncertainty as a barrier. “Just start. Don’t wait to feel ready,” she said. “Expect to adapt. You’re not supposed to have it all figured out. That’s the work.”
Clark Cole just wants to encourage graduates to keep the same entrepreneurial spirit she encountered at Babson: one that thrives on curiosity, courage, and care for others.
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