Karen Ortega professional portrait

About me

I’m an operator who learned how to build the systems I wished teams already had.

I’ve worked across customer service, property operations, remote administration, CRM, automation, integrations, and client experience. The common thread has always been the same: making the work clearer, easier to follow, and less dependent on someone remembering every moving part.

What shaped my work

Customer experience taught me where systems fail people.

I spent four years in customer service before moving into remote operations. That foundation still affects how I build today. A workflow can be technically correct and still create a terrible experience if the customer gets the wrong message, a team member cannot tell what happened, or nobody owns the exception.

Property operations made that even more obvious. When guests, cleaners, vendors, compliance records, booking platforms, and owners are all moving at once, good operations are not decorative. They are what keeps small problems from turning into expensive ones.

How I think

I don’t want a business held together by reminders and heroics.

The system should make the next step visible, make ownership clear, and make it easier to notice when something has gone off-track.

A

Understand before automating

I map the real process, including exceptions, handoffs, and the things people do outside the official SOP.

B

Keep human judgment where it belongs

Not every decision should become a trigger. I automate repeatable logic and keep escalation paths for work that needs context.

C

Build for handover

A useful system should survive the person who built it. Documentation, naming, QA, and ownership matter as much as the workflow itself.

What I work with

Tools are useful. Judgment is the differentiator.

My recent technical work is centered on GoHighLevel, Make.com, Zapier, Google Workspace, Apps Script, APIs, webhooks, Stripe, Zoho CRM, Airtable, and Python-based checks. I also bring hands-on experience with property systems, e-commerce tools, customer support, and project-management platforms.

GoHighLevelMake.comZapierGoogle Apps ScriptPythonStripeZoho CRMAirtablePipedriveShopifyEcwidClickUpNotion

A useful signal

A former client asked me to come back.

Months after I left a New Zealand operations role, the client reached out about returning full-time or part-time. The message highlighted fast understanding, communication, and process improvement rather than simply completing assigned tasks.

“
I like how switched on you are and how well we communicated. I explained things to you once and you got it.

Sherry B. · Former Operations Client · New Zealand

Best fit

I work best with people who want the process improved, not just followed.

I’m open to flexible part-time, project, and retainer work, with UK-friendly overlap available.