My fiancee has the opportunity to enter the US from China on a work visa. We're about to start the process of applying for a K-1 visa, but we're both worried that if she's denied the work visa it will have an effect on her obtaining her K-1.

Does anyone have any similar experiences they can share? Or can someone tell me if being together a little early is worth the risk?

Thanks

It may depend on what type of work visa she's after; can you elaborate on her circumtances? Visa type, when she plans to enter the US, for how long etc.
It may open other options to you, or close some. There is no way to tell from what you've posted.

Well, a friend of hers needs a sales rep in the US for their product line. She's already a sales rep for a pharma company in China, so it's really a legitimate job change. I'm not sure what type of visa that would require, though.

Our plan was to have her accept this job, relocate to the US and then apply for the K1 visa after some "appropriate" amount of time. The alternative is for her to stay at her current company and for us to wait until after the K1 is approved before she comes to the US. We don't mind the wait, but if there's a chance she could enter sooner we'd like to take it as long as it doesn't affect our chances for getting the K1.

Sorry I don't have much more info than this, but we didn't want to approach her friend until we were sure this is something we should pursue.

Ahhh. OK, so nothing is actually happening. I don't know how likely it is that that type of job can qualify for a visa path. There are lots of unemployed USC pharma salespeople (they're getting laid off like flies these days).
An employment visa is also going to cost more due to surely needing an attorney to go through the various steps. I don't even know that it would be any faster.

If she got in, it will depend on what type of visa it is before you determine if it would conflict with a K visa, if a K visa would even make sense at that point etc.

IOW, can't give you a clear answer; you will have to do the investigating of 'work visas' and narrow down which ones would be a possibility. The usenet group alt.visa.us might be helpful to you.
For Chinese fiance information, I highly recommend the Candle For Love group; you can google there.