Karrie Lyons-Sjostrom has been part of the Bootstraps family for many years, and now her daughters have joined the family. Karrie’s journey to date is a great story, full of service to others, and event planning.

Karrie grew up in Conifer before Conifer High School was built, so she attended Evergreen High School and graduated in 1988. She clearly remembers receiving a scholarship along with six other classmates from Bootstraps, or Evergreen Scholarship Association as it was known at the time.

When Karrie was in high school, 9th grade was in junior high, and 10th-12th grades made up the high school. Karrie was active during high school and served on the school Senate all three years because she “loved planning homecoming, prom, and other student-wide assemblies.” She dabbled in theatre a little bit and remembers playing a Pink Lady in the production of Grease alongside Trey Parker of South Park fame who played the lead role of Danny. Karrie attempted to play volleyball during her sophomore year, but when she realized she had to attend 5:00 A.M. practices to make it on Lo Hunter’s powerhouse, undefeated-for-eight-years volleyball team, she decided it wasn’t for her. Plus, she says, “I never fully mastered my serve.” So, instead, she concentrated on school Senate, and she later started a school chapter of Amnesty International.

The highlight of high school for Karrie came during her junior year through her participation in the Lakewood Sister Cities Student Exchange Program. She and her family hosted a young woman from Sydney, Australia during fall semester, and then Karrie lived in in Sydney with her “Aussie sister” and her family spring semester. Karrie still considers the exchange student her family.

Karrie also worked quite a bit during high school and the list of places she worked illustrates some of the history of the area at the time. She worked at the Aspen Park Movie Theater (yes, really) and was able to see the ending to the original Top Gun at least seven times. She also worked at La Cantina restaurant in Conifer, but the “best job ever” was at The River Sage in Evergreen where Cactus Jack's is located today.

After high school, Karrie attended Boston College. She arrived never having seen the campus or been on the east coast. Fortunately, her east coast roommate and her family met her at the airport, helped her fine-tune her big city skills, and assisted in making the transition from growing up in a small mountain town to landing in a big city as smooth as possible. Karrie also credits her experience as an exchange student for helping her adjust easily to college, as well as her “strong desire for adventure, learning, and meeting new people.” The people she met in her dorm her freshman year continue to be lifelong friends.

Karrie initially thought she would study Political Science, but she quickly changed her focus to psychology and philosophy. Since Boston College is a Jesuit school, there is a strong emphasis on service to others. Karrie spent most of her breaks participating in service trips to Appalachia, inner-city Boston, and Kingston Jamaica. She also was involved in many other service activities including serving in a leadership role for the World Hunger Committee Club. She was invited to serve as a live-in event planner for the college during her junior year where she lived room and board free, and just as she had done in high school, she organized galas, bands, comedy shows, speaker series, and many other events. In 1992, Karrie graduated magna cum laude from Boston College with a degree in psychology and philosophy.

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​After graduation, Karrie continued her service to others and volunteered as a full-time teacher on the south side of Chicago through an organization called Inner-City Teaching Corps (ICTC). The organization was like a domestic Peace Corps program and focused on simple living, service, and community. She explains that she “lived in a community with other recent college graduates, worked full-time as a teacher (earning $5.00 a day), and took classes toward a master’s in education.” When her two-year volunteer commitment ended, she went to work for ICTC as an Assistant Director, and then she attended graduate school and received her doctorate in clinical psychology.

Karrie has been a practicing Psychologist in the Evergreen area since 2009. In her practice, she works with adults, adolescents, families, and couples, and she has created an environment that is safe, compassionate, and allows people to work through their life challenges. She explains her practice further by saying, “What I love most about my job is witnessing how when people truly feel heard, they have an opportunity to sort things through, get unstuck, and let go of negative patterns. It is a challenge and great honor to accompany clients through this process.” For more information on Karrie’s practice, please click here.

The scholarship Karrie received from Bootstraps (Evergreen Scholarship Association), along with scholarships she received from Boston College, and the Pell Grant, went directly to paying her tuition. The Bootstraps scholarship, however, was much more than a monetary award to Karrie as she explains, “What I loved about receiving the Evergreen Scholarship is that it truly felt like the mountain community of Conifer and Evergreen was cheering me on in my college adventure. Sending me to a private university across the country was a huge stretch for my family, so I relied heavily on scholarships and loans to make that happen. Knowing that a committee of Evergreen residents believed in me enough to invest in me was a huge blessing. I also think I felt motivated to live up to that investment and make my community proud.”

Karrie and her husband, Brad, are now empty nesters living in the Evergreen area and giving their neurotic shelter dog, Lola, lots of attention. Brad is a social worker and works as a hospital administrator in behavioral health. They have twin daughters, Regina and Rianna, both of whom are in their freshman year of college. Regina is attending San Diego State University, and Rianna attends the University of Colorado in Boulder. One of the best things about Karrie’s story, and there have been so many, is that her daughters are also recipients of Bootstraps scholarships. Karrie encouraged her daughters to apply to Bootstraps last year because the scholarship she received was so meaningful. Welcome to the Bootstraps' family, Regina and Rianna!