Kim Goad was born on the American/Canadian border in Van Buren, Maine to French Canadian parents and thus Kim’s first language was French. After her parents divorced when she was 3, her mother remarried an American soldier serving in the U.S. Air Force. Shortly thereafter her family was transferred to North Carolina where they lived until Kim was in the 2nd grade. By this time Kim had mastered the English language as well as her native French. Next her family was moved to Germany where she learned to speak German. She lived in Germany until she was in the 5th grade. From Germany they moved to Zaragoza, Spain where she attended middle and high school and learned to speak. Then, before her senior year of high school, her family was transferred back to the states to Sumter, South Carolina.
Kim, the “world traveler,” graduated from Hillcrest High School in Sumter and lived there until she was 21. Having been used to moving around, she moved to Maryland with some friends and got a job working at Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse. She lived with 2 other roommates who became fast friends with another group of 3 roommates who also worked at Lowes. As her friendship with one particular guy in the group grew the two were oblivious to what others around them saw quite clearly. Kim shared that they even each had various boyfriends/girlfriends break up with them because the two “friends” spent so much time together. They remained in their state of oblivion for about 2 years when finally after a party one night, her best friend Doug kissed her.
Over the course of the next couple years the couple moved up and down the east coast due to Doug’s job as he rose through the ranks of Lowes into management. They lived to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia and South Carolina and at times back and forth and in several places within a state. Meanwhile, Kim took night classes, but never completed her degree. They dated for 6 years before tying the knot on May 7, 2000 on a beach in Nags Head, North Carolina and yes, Kim was barefooted.
Their first child Koral Rose was born in Sumter on September 20, 2001. They then moved to Georgia and back again to South Carolina to the Northeast where their second daughter Marina Marie was born on May 14, 2004. They finally moved to Chapin in October of 2004. It was after Marina was born that Doug decided to leave Lowes and is currently the Manager of Petsmart on Harbison Blvd which allows him to spend more time with his family.
It was after the birth of her first child that Kim became more than a little interested in photography. When Koral was born, Kim developed what she calls an obsession with getting Koral photographed. She took Koral for professional portraits every week for the first three months of Koral’s life. Kim then took her every month for the next two years. Doug wasn’t too happy with this and kept telling Kim he thought her photos were better than the ones they were paying for. She joked that she’s not sure if he really meant it or not - like if he just said it because he was trying to get her to stop spending so much money on portraits, but it got her interested in developing her own talent. Her friends began asking her to photograph their kids and families for Christmas cards, etc. Then when Doug decided to quit Lowes due to long hours, she realized she needed to do something to help out with the bills so she decided to make a go of the photography business. She trained for two weeks under a photographer in Myrtle Beach and then over the next 6 months she traveled back one weekend per month to complete the initial training. She continues to participate in training 2-3 times a year to continue her education as well as attending other workshops during the year to stay on the cutting edge.
I asked Kim at what point did she begin thinking of herself as a professional as opposed to someone who just takes pictures on the side. She said that for a long time people would ask her if she worked and she would say no, because she didn’t think of her photography as a business or herself as a professional. It took about a year and ½ before it dawned on her, as she watched a mother crying while looking at the photos Kim had taken of her children, that she was living her passion, her dream, and that she actually was a professional. She finally understood that she really did have something to offer that made a difference in the lives of the people involved and that the difference and her hard work was worth them paying for. She’s since been kept extremely busy, but regardless of how busy it gets, she says she still loves it, that no matter what, it’s still her passion and it doesn’t feel like a job to her.
Kim’s love of photography has a lot to do with the way she was raised. Life overseas is very different culturally than here in the States. People there are more relaxed and have a greater appreciation of art and history than the majority of Americans. It’s part of their everyday lives and their culture as opposed to us, where we often have to make an effort to be cultural. Her parents took her and her sister to go museums and historical places often. She grew up gazing at Van Gogh and marveling at King Tut’s exhibit. Her parents taught her to appreciating art, old buildings, and the history behind them. For Kim, photography is not only a creative outlet for her, but it’s also a way of instilling in her children, as well as in her clients, memories of things we too often forget and take for granted. She makes a point to bring art and artist into the lives of her girls. From a very young age, Kim would take her girls to the library and pull a book on an artist to talk to them about what they saw and about the differences in the way artists portray the images they produce. That is her way of teaching the girls to appreciate culture as she was taught by her parents living in Europe.
Kim will actually be returning to Spain with Doug and her sister and her sister’s husband next year for a vacation. She says she is more interested in going back to feel the life she remembers, as opposed to doing the tourist thing. She just wants to sit the café listening to people talk and watching them live their lives.
When I asked her to comment on what MAC means to her she said it’s very simple. When she found out about MAC, through the cookbooks at Palmetto Fine Arts, she had not been in Chapin very long. Even though she had already established a good client base here and had met a lot of people, she was looking for other women that shared the same interest of nurturing their children and themselves, a mothers’ support group. She was looking to make some connections above and beyond what she could through her photography. She sent Christie a package about her photography as well as a request for info about the club and has been a thriving member ever since.
Kim has served MAC one way or another for over two years now, but that has not been her only contribution. She is an extremely intelligent and gifted woman who is committed to improving her community and herself. She has introduced the club to many great ideas for projects. Her input has helped the club grow beyond what might have occurred without her. Her willingness to serve others and to share her experience has been a godsend to MAC. Without a doubt Kim has truly been one of our greatest assets. It’s women like Kim Bradford that inspire and give of themselves that make MAC a group like no other!
Easter Portraits Specials at Earth Angel Portraits
are March 14th and 15th.
Call Kim at 351-9771 to schedule your appointment...they always book up fast!!
