Karen Schless Pressley

KAREN SCHLESS PRESSLEY enjoyed her career in fashion designer and music publishing pre-Scientology. She survived Scientology after two decades, as a celebrity recruiter for Scientology's Celebrity Centre, and as the Commanding Officer of the Celebrity Centre international network. A 12-year member of its extremist group, the Sea Organization, she held creative and executive positions at the International Management headquarters: from costume designer in Scientology's film studio, to...See more

KAREN SCHLESS PRESSLEY enjoyed her career in fashion designer and music publishing pre-Scientology. She survived Scientology after two decades, as a celebrity recruiter for Scientology's Celebrity Centre, and as the Commanding Officer of the Celebrity Centre international network. A 12-year member of its extremist group, the Sea Organization, she held creative and executive positions at the International Management headquarters: from costume designer in Scientology's film studio, to International Management Public Relations Officer in the Senior Executive Strata, to doing special projects (international uniform manufacturing) under church leader David Miscavige, in charge of Sea Org image and uniform designer in the International Finance Office Network. After her third escape in 1998, she became an activist against Scientology's abuses. She has spoken at more than 100 events and appeared on CNN, NBC Dateline, CBS Morning Show, and French and German documentaries on Scientology. She is a 2009 honors graduate of Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, GA, with a B.S. in Communication, and earned a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from KSU in 2011. Karen enjoyed a career as an adjunct instructor of English at Southern Polytechnic State University in 2011, and as an adjunct instructor of Communication at Kennesaw State University from 2012 through 2015. She is enjoying family life on the Florida Gulf coast. See less