A longtime LASM ambassador is known for her hospitality and serendipitous style

Three decades ago, Karilyn Morris walked into a job interview at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, and to her surprise, she was hired on the spot as an operations ambassador. Her love of learning and joy for sharing it with others was evident that day and has been to visitors of LASM ever since.

After returning to her hometown of Baton Rouge from Detroit, Michigan, she discovered the museum at the recommendation of a friend, and it quickly became a place she often brought her three children for unique learning experiences that she enjoyed, too. When the time came for her to apply for a part-time job, it was the first place that came to mind.

In 1995, she began working weekends at LASM in addition to her full-time role at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. “I didn’t have any days off,” Morris recalls. “My mother helped with my children, but that’s just what I had to do at that particular time to meet the goals I had set for myself.”

Affectionately known by her co-workers and museum regulars as Mrs. K, she is often seen at the front door greeting visitors, especially during Free First Sundays, assisting customers in the gift shop or telling families and gaggles of kids about the exhibits on display. “I’ve done everything here except work the planetarium projector,” she says with a laugh. She has never scoffed at custodial duties, and in three decades, she has rarely missed an event or weekend.

For most of her career at the museum, policy required employees and volunteers to wear uniforms, a colored polo that has changed in hue over the years with the LASM logo. When pandemic restrictions were lifted, like many workplaces, the museum’s policies changed. Among the changes was the accommodation of everyday wear for ambassadors, except for special events, where branded polos were deemed most helpful for visitors. That’s when a couple of Morris’s coworkers noticed that she often donned outfits that coordinated with exhibits.

“It wasn’t a deliberate act,” she says. “All I do is just put on clothes, neat and clean, and come to work.” Her fashion choices simply reflect her style, serving as proof that when you do something long enough and with heart, it stops being a job and becomes a part of you.

Throughout the years, Morris has watched as young, wide-eyed kids experience the museum for the first time, then welcomed them again with their children in tow years later. People have even stopped her at stores or restaurants to say hello.

Whether Morris is welcoming visitors at the door or answering questions about an exhibit, she approaches each task with care. Her passion comes from the satisfaction of helping others and the value she places on her coworkers and the work they accomplish together at the museum.

“We get along like family,” she says. “Whenever someone asks you to do something, we all gladly do it. We work together. That has helped me in the long run, and they have become my extended family.”

This story was originally published by inRegister on Sept. 2. To keep up with inRegister, subscribe to the free inRegister@Home e-newsletter here.