Karen Oviedo & Clara Oviedo

Karen Oviedo & Clara Oviedo
Hopelawn, NJ

A Passion for Education
Even as a child, Karen Oviedo, of Hopelawn, NJ, had a deep desire to make a difference in the lives of others.  “I always wanted to become someone special for my family,” recalls Karen.  “I went to college so I could get a good job and make my family proud of me.”

It was shortly after she earned her degree and started working as an import/export supervisor for a transportation company that Karen heard about Primerica.  “All through my education I never learned anything about finance,” says Karen.  “I was shocked when I was shown some of the most basic concepts about how money works.  Initially, that’s why I joined the business.  I figured if I didn’t know about how to handle my own finances, there must be a lot of people in the same situation.”

She continues, “Once I joined the business, I started talking to the people I knew – part of my Hispanic community.  The more families I talked to, the more I realized that the community in general was completely unaware about how to make their money work for them.  I saw many, many instances of Hispanic families having been taken advantage of and that’s when I became really passionate about helping others.”

Today, Karen, along with her mother, Clara Oviedo, is building a business they are both proud of.  “Most of us are immigrants and, in many cases, we aren’t taught anything about money,” Karen explains.  “In fact, for a lot of us, financial success isn’t something we think about.  But my mom and I are working, through Primerica, to change that.  We’ve seen first hand how this business changes lives in a profound way.  And that confirms to us that we’re doing exactly what we need to be doing.”