Karen Doyle
Hello, my name is Karen Doyle. I am the founder of The Genius Project @genius_project_daily which is an initiative that supports Catholic women toward growth. I look back over my life and can see how my experiences, particularly my sufferings, have led me to where I am today.
I am the eldest of four children. My Dad is Catholic and we were all raised Catholic, however my mum was Anglican. From a young age we went to Mass on Sunday and then mum's service. At the time it felt like too much but what this did was develop in me an ecumenical spirit and desire to learn more about my Catholic faith.
Faith was always a central part of our family but it became more personal for me at the tender age of 13 when I was diagnosed with a severe scoliosis. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine. This meant that my rib cage was touching my hip and I had a great deal of pain which required urgent surgery to stop the fast progression of the curve. By the time I had surgery my curve was 82 degrees. The type of surgery I required was very new in the world at the time and I had to travel with my mum to another city to have it done. Due to the severity of the curve and the kind of surgery they wanted to perform there were a lot of risks. The night before the surgery I was overwhelmed with fear. Fear of the risks, fear of being separated from my mum who wasn't allowed to stay with me in the hospital, fear of what it would mean for my life.
I remember reaching for my confirmation devotional and the scripture for that day was from Proverbs 3:4-5. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.”
Instantly this scripture brought me great comfort and I remember saying yes to Jesus right there and then. I also remember the peace that came over me. A peace that I was able to take with me through the surgery and the next four years of recovery that followed.
We say many small yeses to the Lord throughout our life but there were a couple of key moments when my yes really did direct my path.
1. Spinal surgery at 13 years of age
2. A six year journey with infertility
3. An invitation to overcome fear
Another key moment for me was a year after we married we started trying for a family. This didn't happen for us in that first year and that began a six year journey of infertility. This was a very difficult season for me as a woman. It was a time of deep questioning; what was my purpose if I couldnt have children, what would my marriage mean if we couldn't be fruitful and multiply? It was a season where God really brought me to my knees. It was in this brokenness that He rebuilt my sense of identity as His beloved daughter. There was a profound realisation that my value came from being a child of God. It was during this time that I came across John Paull II’s writings on women for the first time. I can still remember reading those documents for the first time. His words gave me profound hope in what felt like a hopeless season. Hope that there was purpose to my life, that my womanhood mattered and that my womanhood had deep purpose even if I never bore biological children.
I felt Him extend to me an invitation and I distinctly remember saying yes to that invitation. It was an invitation to offer my suffering and serve women.
His writings combined with this season were the seeds of a bigger work with women that would be revealed many years later.
Another key moment for me was overcoming fear and stepping into the mission that God had placed over my life. For as long as I can remember I hated public speaking, I hated being in the limelight and I swore black and blue I would never do public speaking. But as God would have it that is exactly where He called me to serve Him. This required so much humility and trust - to step out and do something I really didn't like. Overcoming this fear was very difficult at first but I had a strong sense that God was asking me to overcome that fear to serve Him.
This required post graduate study in Theology in marriage and family studies at the Pontifical institute here in Australia. My husband and I had been house parents in a boys boarding school, we saw the issues facing the teens and we wanted to serve them. This led us to doing further study and setting up our company Choicez Media. We began speaking to students, parents and teachers about making good choices in the area of sexuality formation and relationships. We also began producing resources for parents and schools in this area.
Around the same time friends and I were looking for a deeper community to support us in our faith and marriages. We couldn’t find anything so we began Sisterhood which is now Australia's national Catholic women's movement and hosts Australia’s Catholic women's conference.
Working pastorally with women I began to see a need for practical skills to navigate life and discern their gifts. This lead me to establish the genius project and the genius podcast. My passion is to see women resourced and formed so that they can live into the fullness of who God created them to be.