Our Team

Karen Knowlton, CPA, CA

Partner, Chief Revenue Officer

Karen brings passion to everything she does. Whether it’s her passion for the mountains, or her passion for being a trusted advisor to her clients, she is 100% committed all the time. Her approach to both climbing mountains and advising private business owners is leading with humility and earning the right to be vulnerable. (There have been tears shed on the side of mountains!)

The long-lasting professional relationships developed with her clients are built on a foundation of earned trust. Collaboration is key to ensuring her clients are crushing their goals, both in their business and for themselves personally. She works with private company entrepreneurs and family-run businesses in a wide variety of industries including construction, manufacturing, energy, and professional services.

Karen earned her Chartered Accountant designation in 2006 at a national accounting firm in Calgary. She has been advising clients with Stawowski McGill since 2011. Karen is an active member of the Women President’s Organization Calgary Chapter.

This Saskatchewan farm girl has gone from living life on the Prairies to climbing every mountain in the Alberta Rockies. She gets joy out of introducing others to mountain activities that might not otherwise get the chance. She has taken climbing mountains to the next elevation by initiating a mountain climb fundraiser in support of a local charity benefitting under privileged children in Calgary. Giving back to the community is an opportunity she feels no one should miss out on.

403-879-9581

karen@stawowskimcgill.ca

Connect with Karen

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  • "Stawowski McGill has been providing high impact business advisory services and financial leadership for our business, for many years. We would not be where we are today without them. Our long term relationship has resulted in an elevated clarity, focus, and confidence within our leadership team and an increased ability to make smart business decisions". 

    Bob Robinson, President and CEO, Westcor Construction Ltd.

  • "DSM has been in the industry for 20 years in Calgary and more recently opened a facility in Arizona. We engaged Stawowski McGill in 2016 as we were gearing up for growth in our business. Stawowski McGill has provided great financial expertise and has challenged us to look at our business for efficiencies. They have been excellent partners for myself and my executive team and the only thing I regret is signing them up a year after I was first introduced to them." 

    Duane Macauley, President and Co-Founder, Dynamic Source Manufacturing

  • “They helped us get things organized, understand the correct structure, and get visibility. Their reports help us make better decisions. When I talk to my network about SM, I talk about how much they helped our company in the beginning.” 

    Danny Hao, President, Tile and Stone Source

  • “They not only help us with our strategy and the financial aspect, but they help us understand if we have the right team in place to be able to execute.” 

    Shawn Freeman, Always Beyond

  • " In 2014, Contour Earthmoving Ltd. hired Stawowski McGill to help us with our company’s finances and to give us guidance with moving forward in a struggling construction industry. Their guidance has helped us immensely and definitely improved our bottom line. They are very personable and truly care about our company. I would highly recommend them to anyone in need." 

    Kevin Middlemiss, President, Contour Earthmoving Ltd.

  • "Our company has been on a fast growth track for the last 10 years. The opportunities were placing constraints on our resources and we were not getting the insights we needed to build out our growth strategy or see what capital structure challenges we were going to be facing in the year ahead. Stawowski McGill was very flexible and gave us the right amount of resources and time to assist us with the projects, planning and forecasting we needed. The combination of strategy, financial leadership and ability to identify and fill gaps in our business plan have all helped our business achieve success. Our business has gone from consistently growing to now being supercharged on its way to becoming an industry leader."

    Dean Koeller, President, Calvert Home Mortgage Investment Corporation

  • "They gave us the guidelines we needed to focus and work on our business with amazing results. Learning the skills to understand what the numbers mean and how to use them to improve our management system has made a tremendous improvement. Stawowski McGill helped us take our business from "bench warmer" to "player". 

    Tim Mack, Owner, BRT Construction Services Ltd. 

  • "Stawowski McGill worked with our family owned group of companies for over three years. They refocused us onto areas of our growing business which required our attention, and were instrumental in the negotiation and sale of our trucking business. Our return on investment far exceeded their fees." 

    Dean Swanberg, Swanberg Bros. Trucking Ltd.

  • "Stawowski McGill became the cornerstone of our restructuring plan; their insight and expertise provided us valuable advice and helped the leadership team prioritize objectives.  Having Stawowski McGill on our team is like having a full-time CFO and finance team you can rely on to interpret the fundamentals of your business so that you can focus on making decisions, fixing what’s not working and figure out the best growth plan." 

    Phil Roberts, President and CEO, Vintri Technologies