Jordan High School alumna Kara (pronounced Carr-a) Brothers has fond and lasting memories of being a student in the Durham Public Schools. Those memories, coupled with her own sense of self and positivity, have helped her to become a successful businesswoman.
“I remember feeling empowered moving from classroom to classroom,” said Brothers, now the President of global skincare company Starface. She attended Rogers-Herr and Githens middle schools before spending her high school years at Jordan and graduating in 2003.
Brothers said she met some of her closest friends riding the school bus to Southwest and Pearsontown elementary schools. She said she felt safe and empowered at home and at school. She also remembers feeling a sense of independence and pride while walking to the school bus, and carrying those feelings with her into the school building.
In elementary school, she remembers being treated well by her teacher Ms. Scoggins and her first grade teacher Ms. Sheffield. “ I remember how nice she was to me. I was feeling lonely at times and she was always really caring.” She also recounts her experiences in theatre and the arts in the 6th grade, “and it sparked something in me.”
“In middle school, I remember being challenged and thinking, ‘how do I study and prepare?’.” At Jordan High School, she took dance for the first time and realized that the way she would live her life was indeed up to her.
“I was fostering my independence,” she said. And dancing continues to be her outlet as an adult.
It was a Psychology class at Jordan that stimulated her interest in the brain and its effect on human behaviors. Her History teacher, an alumnus of Amherst College, wrote Brothers a reference letter to go to Williams College in Massachusetts. But her teachers’ motivation was buoyed by the support and inspiration she received from her parents who are doctors and still live in Durham, she said. “My parents instilled in me that education is a conduit to your dreams. They cared a lot about school. The teachers reflected that value system,” said Brothers, who majored in English at Williams.
She entered college with an open mind, saying her years at Jordan High School prepared her for that. She adds that she was well-rounded thanks to her DPS experience. As a matter of fact, she captured the Best All-Around superlative her senior year of high school.
College, she said, was a time of exploration for her. She continued her dance classes and enjoyed taking psychology. “I was figuring it out as I went.”
Always having a knack for business, she eventually became interested in creative industries and advertising. She started a neighborhood dog-walking business, and after college, worked for an advertising firm. Her career took a few twists and turns but she learned about herself along the way. She said she was almost fired from Google: “I knew it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t energized or happy.” But she remained true to herself realizing that she could do anything she was determined to do.
“If you believe and you try, things can happen,” said Brothers.
She remembers her Psychology and history teachers being the first teachers to “have faith in me. I was a little insecure, didn’t have the highest grades, wasn’t the clearest on my future.”
They told her she could figure it out by following her curiosity with resilience and an open-minded optimism.
“They treated me like a curious adult,” she said and described herself as a free spirit throughout high school and while growing up. “Everyone’s school experience is different. Mine was positive, with friends and love.”
Once she left DPS for the “real world”, she said, “I started having other people’s opinions
of what I could achieve get in the way of that optimism.”
Looking back, she says she learned that, “It is only up to you to attract and project your dreams. It’s only natural for people to put restraints on you. You must actively make choices and make decisions. Be confident in yourself, write it down, sing to yourself– whatever it takes to reinstate your own confidence.”
After Google, finding a job was difficult. It was 2020 and she landed a job with an AI company. She joined some engineers to build an AI company which she determined to be misaligned with her values. She was then introduced to the founders of Starface who she says took a chance on her.
She joined the company when it had less than 10 employees, at a time when it needed help with growth. She says the role has transformed her from someone who suffered from imposter syndrome into a transparent but direct woman. The company offered a support system that catapulted her to president of a company.
“It has not been easy but I have been very true to myself, to the team, to the company,” she said.
Being a DPS alumna gave her a strong foundation, she notes.
“I talk about DPS a lot. There was a lot of diversity in my DPS upbringing. That helped me alot, being exposed and inspired by so many different types of people and programs,” said Brothers, who now lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.’
As president of Starface, Brothers leads a team of 55 people that includes eight leaders who are the corporation’s experts in their respective areas. All are committed to the mission of making the experience of growing up more fun and to celebrate self-expression, she said.
Starface products can be found in Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, grocery stores, and on Amazon.
Now working in her purpose, Brothers offers the following advice: “Have a lot of fun with whatever you’re going through.”
She said she’s proud of Starface’s work culture and the fact that it has very little turnover. “It’s not perfect. I make a lot of mistakes. We’re very flexible in how we think about work.”
That philosophy of flexibility promotes a healthy atmosphere of listening, honesty, and transparency.
“My next phase is to bring all that I’ve learned about myself, meet the moment in time, and bring us closer together as human beings, through entertaining, inspiring, joyful, and funny content,” said Brothers.
True to her word, she’s created an opportunity to do just that with her newest projects, The Play Co, which she describes as “an intimate membership community for growth, connection, and redefining how we see the world. This is for people who aim to be nuanced, layered individuals, who love to go deeper and are ready to evolve alongside other amazing humans. My vision is to entertain and evolve us through content and community. I’ll be with global experts of all kinds digging into relationships, leadership, company building, pleasure, AI, brain science, and all the topics we need to actually move forward.”
A second project, her first original series entitled, Say it Out Loud, gives its viewers an in-depth look into people and topics. It can be found on YouTube and Instagram.
Every day, she says she does one small thing to move her vision forward as she works.