This month LPGA Professionals celebrates members of Hispanic Hertiage including creator of CardioGolf™ Karen Palacios-Jansen.

Learn more about Karen and her Hispanic heritage.

• Name Karen Palacios-Jansen
• LPGA Professionals Member LPGA Master Professional-Joined LPGA in 1994
• Title/Employer Owner of CardioGolf /Director of Instruction/Self-Employeed
• What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you? My father Enrique Palacios is Mexican.  He came to the United States when he was 30 to become a doctor.  In Latin American countries, it is very important for children to learn English and be bilingual.  Since we were living in the Untied States, it was important for my father that my sisters and I learned Spanish.  So we have grown up being bilingual speaking Spanish and learning the Mexican culture.  In fact, my sisters and I spent our childhoods living back and forth from the Chicago to Mexico City, so we are truly Mexican/Americans. Hispanic Heritage Month for me really is “Hispanic Heritage All Year Round” because we grew up surrounded by the Mexican culture and it is still part of my life today.

• In the coming years, what role do you see the Hispanic community playing in the golf industry? Mexico and Latin America have already made a huge mark on the golf industry. Since I am fluent in Spanish, I as able to travel many times to Mexico and South America to teach golf clinics back in the 1990’s and 2000’s. One year I traveled to Paraguay to teach golf clinics representing the David Leadbetter Golf Academy and taught  an  11-year-old Julieta Granada.  She later turned professional winning 3 times on the LPGA Tour including the $1 million first prize for the ADT Championship.  One of my proudest moments, as a teacher, was when she carried her country’s flag in the 2016 Olympics Games.                   Karen with 11-year-old Julieta Granada                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Golf was just starting to explode in Latin America when I was traveling back and forth teaching clinics.  Although I did not teach Lorena Ochoa personally, she was in one of our clinics as a teenager in Guadalajara, Mexico.  We could tell then that she would be a superstar.  She became the number one female golfer in the world and achieved a Hall of Fame career. She has inspired millions of golfers all over Latin America and we are seeing more players every year turn professional because of her influence.

• How do you celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month? Like I said before, ‘Hispanic Heritage Month’ is all year round for me.  I speak Spanish everyday to my father and to my Spanish speaking friends.  I travel to Mexico and Latin American  when I  can. And no one eats more Mexican food than I do, so it is never too far from me.

• What resources/tools do you recommend for those who would like to learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month? (movies, documentaries, series, books, podcasts)

1. If you love Mexican food like I   do, you need to watch the Netflix series-Heavenly Bites: Mexico.  It shows you all the new cool food trends and places to eat in Mexico. Another great show about Mexico is on Apple TV called Acapulco.  You will not only love the beautiful Acapulco scenery but you will love the characters of the show.  It is both in English and Spanish, so it’s a great way to brush up on your Spanish.

2. Read the book and see the movie-Like Water for Chocolate (Spanish: Como Agua Para Chocolate).  It is Mexican romantic drama book and film in the style of magical realism.  It gives the sense of how life in Mexico was in the 19th Century.

3.  Visit Mexico and Latin American.  The best way to learn the language and culture is to visit and meet the people.  Mexico is one of the most beautiful countries in the word. My favorite places are Mexico City, Cancun, Puerta Vallarta, Manzanillo and Guadalajara.  If you are ever in Guadalajara, make sure to take the train to Tequila.

• Which historical Hispanic individual has been a source of inspiration in your life (and why)? There are two very famous Mexican artists that we studied in grade school in Mexico City that have always fascinated me-Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.  Their art is famous worldwide and both were socially conscious, years before that was a thing.  We would take many field trips to the museums in Mexico City to see their work in person that I remember clearly to this day.  Frida Kahlo was a feminist, pushing for women’s rights, so she inspired many Mexican women to pursue their dreams and both Frida and Diego encouraged all people to become educated and fight for their dreams to make a better life. In Mexico, being educated and learning culture is very important and my parents always instilled that into us since we were little.

September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic American Heritage Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.