Karla was born Karla Jean Jeffrey in Williston, North Dakota to Eunice L. Abrahamson, a singer/songwriter, and Ralph E. Jeffrey, an airplane mechanic. The family moved to Spokane Washington when Karla was three, and remained there until after high school. Karla's early performing ambition arose in singing with her mother, and as a student in her school's drama club. Her passion for acting ignited when her high school acting teacher noticed her talent and mentored her. After graduating high school, Karla auditioned for and was accepted into The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California. Her training at the Academy, proved invaluable and helped to hone her talent. Her first paid acting job was as a "groupie" in the 1984 cult classic film, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, or (Buckaroo Banzai) starring Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum and Ellen Barkin. Unfortunately, her beloved mother was stricken with Cancer, and Karla moved back to Spokane to be with her. She continued to act in projects as she could, and never gave up her dream of acting in film. Karla was married for 13 years and then divorced. She spent the next part of her life raising her children and went back to college to earn her teaching degree. She worked as a 2nd grade teacher and a Reading Interventionist. Seven years ago, Karla married her high school sweetheart and moved to Nashville. She began actively pursuing acting and has since garnered numerous credits in film and television. She is passionate in her craft and portrays a range of characters from the grieving mother whose young daughter is dying of cancer in the film Snow, to the hilarious ditsy blonde in The Mrs. Club, to the sweet but lonely widow in American Letters. Her nuanced performance in the film Samantha, led to a best actress award at a Christian film festival in 2017. In 2019, she made her first venture into the area of Executive Producing. Under her direction and guidance her team produced Why She Smiles, a moving documentary about a young woman with a rare neurological disease that is incurable. The film won several awards, including Best of Fest, Best Documentary Short, Best Documentary Feature, Most Inspiring Woman in a Film, and Best Picture, and was picked up for distribution by Bridgestone Multimedia Group. Karla has just completed filming her role as leading lady Angela Carmichael in the independent feature film, The Text, by Dreams Come True Films, and as Principal Marks in the independent film, Open Wounds with Raging Cowboy Productions. In her spare time Karla enjoys painting, writing, kayaking on the cove behind their home, spending time with her husband, and visiting her grown children as often as possible!