Tahoe Lyfe is the brainchild of Karen Thomas, a nationally-recognized internet entrepreneur who specializes in search engine marketing and optimization, social media marketing, P-P-C (and owner of Nevada SEO Experts, LLC).

A Nevadan at heart, Karen worked for a national insurance company headquartered in Reno. Like many of us, Karen has a thriving career, eats healthy foods, exercises regularly, and manages competing priorities. Although hectic at times, she has always strived to maintain balance in her life.

Then in January 2013, Karen’s life flipped upside down. As she was getting dressed for work one morning, she felt a burning sensation in her chest, back, and between her shoulder blades. She recalled a conversation with a friend a few days prior about someone who had a heart attack in her mid-30’s and wondered…am I experiencing a heart attack right now?

All of the sudden, Karen was in the emergency room overhearing conversations between doctors. They discovered that one of her arteries that carries blood from the heart to the rest of her body was rupturing. This was extremely rare for a woman of her age and she later learned that only about 20 percent of those that make it to the hospital in that situation actually survive. And most don’t make it to the hospital.

In a life-threatening situation, the doctors performed open heart surgery on Karen- sawing through her sternum and opening her chest and replacing a section of her Aorta. Fortunately, her heart was not damaged at all aside from the stretched valve and Karen survived the 6-hour surgery.

Her healing process was tough but luckily, she had Lake Tahoe close by. She had multiple timeshares in Incline Village and she spent weeks at a time using the cobalt blue lake, towering pines, and clean air to heal. Tahoe holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts due to the spirit and wholesomeness that it provides, but this was especially true to Karen as her place of solace.

Later, Karen was inspired by the restaurant chain Lyfe Kitchen- a modern, casual chain serving health-minded, globally inspired food made with local ingredients. She researched the term “lyfe” and learned that with this version of “life” “lyfe” makes you happy, “lyfe” is something fresh, something that you love. (UrbanDictionary.com)

Thus, she was inspired to create “Tahoe Lyfe” as a way to help promote the place that she loves and the people who live and play there. Karen has applied for a Trademark and is growing “Tahoe Lyfe” to be a brand comparable to “Old Guys Rule” and “Life Is Good”.

Tahoe Lyfe has also partnered with the Tahoe Fund (a nonprofit founded in 2010 that provides funding for major environmental projects around the basin that emphasize in education, conservation, and recreation) to help enhance the quality of life and maintain the natural balance of those living and visiting the Lake Tahoe Basin. With every Tahoe Lyfe branded item bought, a portion of the proceeds goes to the Tahoe Fund.

As you can see, Lake Tahoe is in our blood and soul and this is our way of giving back to the magnificent place that has opened its arms to us. Welcome to Tahoe Lyfe!