The 'ultimate' professional: Karen Odle prepares to step away after 20 years of leading chamber

Karen Odle’s dedication to the city of Vestavia Hills started a few years before she became the director of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce.

After leaving her job with BellSouth to stay at home after having her first child, she realized she couldn’t stay at home too long. When her children went to school, she became the PTA president at Vestavia Hills Elementary West.

At that time, there were growing concerns about the state of the city, with people leaving for nearby Hoover in the wake of the Galleria Mall being built, and the future of Vestavia’s economy and education.

Odle created a group composed of the concerned citizens, named V3, Vestavia Voters with Vision, in 1999. The group hosted community meetings and came up with ways to improve the city, including recruiting Greg Canfield and Scotty McCallum to run for office.

A couple of years later, in 2001, Odle began a five-year term on the Vestavia Hills Board of Education. A year after that, the position of Chamber of Commerce director became available, and given her background in business and in serving the city, she was chosen by the board of trustees.

Twenty years later, after decades of helping Vestavia Hills and its businesses, Odle is retiring at the end of this month.

“I’ve worked my entire life,” Odle said. “I can’t imagine what it will be like.”

Odle said she will miss the people with whom she has worked over the years but plans to keep up with them.

“I’ll have to keep my Rolodex up to date,” she said.

When she took over the chamber, Odle said she knew there would be challenges. Bringing the businesses in the city together was paramount.

In 2002, the chamber had 296 members. As Odle gets ready to retire, the chamber now has more than 1,100 members and is the largest in the Jefferson County area.

There was not a typical day in her 20 years leading the chamber, Odle said. Her days have included responding to members’ needs, something that took on new meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Odle spent time learning how to help businesses navigate the unknown, secure loans and adapt to the new normal.

“They have to be nimble, be reactionary,” Odle said.

During her 20 years, Odle has seen Vestavia Hills change a good bit, from the expansion of Liberty Park and the 2002 annexation and subsequent growth of Cahaba Heights. In the past five years, the city has received a major boost from the purchase of the City Center by KPR, which has “made it what it should have been,” Odle said.

One of the biggest changes and difference makers in Vestavia history was the hiring of Jeff Downes in 2013 as city manager, Odle said.

Downes said Odle has represented the city’s businesses well and has worked well with the city.

“One doesn’t succeed without the other,” Downes said.

She is “irreplaceable,” he said, “but I know everybody will persevere.”

John Henley has served on the chamber’s board of trustees and known Odle for 20 years..

“She’s meant a lot to me personally,” Henley said. “She cares a lot about our community; she cares about our businesses.”

Odle’s passion and collaborative nature stand out, Henley said.

“It’s going to be a big loss for us to lose her. They don’t come any better than Karen,” Henley said.

To honor Odle, Leadership Vestavia Hills named her as this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lisa Christopher, consultant to the chamber, was on the four-person committee that hired Odle.

“At the time, we absolutely knew she would be perfect for the job,” Christopher said.

Given her experience with both the corporate world and school leadership, Odle was the “ultimate professional” and has an “incredible skill set that most people wouldn’t lend,” Christopher said.

Hired with high expectations, Odle has “completely exceeded them,” she said.

Odle is someone others want to be around, Christopher said.

“Hearing her laugh … it’s contagious,” Christopher said. “We have so much fun. I want to be a part of the great stuff that’s going on in the office.”

For the first six months of her retirement, Odle has told her husband to not ask her to do anything. But after that, she said she plans to stay involved. “I have things to explore and think about,” she said.