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Karen W. Bell  has been married to my husband Devrick for 16 years. We have two daughters, ages 14 and 8 years. My husband, my oldest daughter and I moved to Central Florida from Southern California in 1996. My first love, outside of my family is cooking. I was born in New Orleans. My mother and my grandmother were excellent Creole cooks.

I went to culinary school in Los Angeles at UCLA. Shortly thereafter I started a gourmet catering business.  In 1995 I was fortunate enough to have had my first daughter Kailin, at age 40.

In 2001 I was fortunate enough to have had a second daughter, Derica. At that time I participated in the WIC Program with Seminole County Health Department and decided to become a volunteer breastfeeding peer counselor. Through the volunteer program I took advantage of the opportunity to ultimately become a Certified Lactation Counselor.

In 2006 I was fortunate enough to lend my expertise and enthusiasm to the formulation of Central Florida Breastfeeding and Parenting Center. Currently I am the founder of Breast Is Best Lactation Services and a member of the Board of Directors of Florida Breastfeeding Coalition. I am also one of the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition’s trainers for the “Business Case for Breastfeeding”

As the Training Coordinator for Seminole County WIC’s breastfeeding program I have had the opportunity to develop a “Three Step Counseling Strategy” that has been in place since May 2009. Currently, Seminole County WIC is #2 in the state of Florida in initiation of breastfeeding. I am fortunate to have worked side by side with counselors that are passionate about helping every family in Seminole County breastfeed their children!