: its & life

profile

On The
Town With

"icallizt,"P7a,r17(

Get to know

Karin Katz, the

blogger behind

the brand — and

author of the

JN's newest

monthly column.

details

Look for Karin Katz's new
column, On the Town with
Buddha Barbie, debuting in the
Oct. 22 issue of the
Jewish News.

i

46 October 15 . 2015

Jennifer Lovy I
Special to the Jewish ews

arin Katz — known as
Buddha Barbie to the
200,000 international
readers of her blog — can't wait
to bring her message of inspira-
tion and spirituality home to
Detroit with a new monthly col-
umn in the Jewish News.
Katz, a divorced West
Bloomfield mother of three, chil-
dren's author, relationship coach
and former speechwriter, created
BuddhaBarbie.com just over a
year ago to empower, inspire
and entertain her readers with
a steady dose of advice, inspira-
tion, spirituality and beauty.
She calls her blog "a zen-centric
journey into self-awareness:'
As a community, we have
watched Karin grow her blog
exponentially over the last
year:' says Lynne Konstantin,
JN Arts & Life editor. "We are
really thrilled to have her join
the Jewish News and bring the
Buddha Barbie voice to our
pages!'

JN

Katz, who has a B.A. in sociol-
ogy and a minor in psychology,
is excited to debut her first JN
column next week. Unlike her
blog, the column will have a
"very strong social component:'
similar to a who's-who society
page. However, she adds, it also
will be very interactive with
readers, with a focus on "things
that will make you think," Katz
says. "My biggest goal is to help
readers overcome obstacles they
may be facing."
Without revealing too much
about her upcoming column,
Katz did say she is working on
a piece about the difference
between gossiping and public
shaming. More specifically, she
will address how hurtful talk-
ing negatively about others can
be. But to illustrate a point that
talking about others isn't always
a bad thing, she will add a "who
was seen where" mix to the col-
umn.
Like her blog, the column will
also offer advice and inspiration
as well as explore relationships
and encourage readers to cel-
ebrate and embrace the beauty

in themselves and in life.
Katz, 45, writes from the
perspective that everyone
should aspire to act morally and
ethically. She believes in karma
— often uttering the Yiddish
phrase kaynahorah to prevent
something bad from happen-
ing — and considers herself
very spiritual, having completed
multiple Kabbalah courses.
She wears a red ribbon on her
left arm, a Kabbalistic tradi-
tion also intended to keep bad
things from happening. Parts of
the ribbon, which were blessed
by a rabbi and rubbed on the
Western Wall in Jerusalem, are
tucked under the mattresses of
her three children Danielle, 18,
Joshua, 15, and Fallan, 12.
A Conservative Jew and
a member of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield,
Katz launched Buddha Barbie
to merge the dichotomy of who
she is and who she appears to
be. According to Katz, people are
always comparing her looks to
Barbie — without considering
aspects of her that are not vis-
ible, like values and beliefs.

"It was more important to me
to be authentic and genuine she
says.
"I want people to see that
what's below the surface is
a deep, strong and spiritual
woman:' Katz says. "When you
look at me you don't think I'm
going to be a person who knows
how to make mandel bread and
brisket"
In her blog, she adds, she
wants readers to know that "it's
alright to be sexy, self-driven and
spiritually aware, all at the same
time. The point is to embrace
who we are and celebrate it"
She credits her parents, espe-
cially her father, a Holocaust
survivor, with instilling in her a
sense of strength and pride.
"I think of what he went
through and it makes me feel
like I can overcome whatever
is on my plate," Katz says. "We
were raised to be strong, but my
dad has such a legacy of being
a hero. This resilience has given
me an inner strength that I
use as my everyday compass to
navigate me through this thing
called life:' *