Giving Grace and Giving Back
Originally featured in Lake Norman Woman April 2018: https://issuu.com/lakenormanwoman/docs/april2018lknw_issuu/34
Kim grew up in the small beach town of Wilmington, North Carolina. After high school, she moved to Charlotte to attend UNC, pursuing an education in music; later, she obtained her master's degree in operatic performance from UNC-Greensboro. For many years, Kim worked as a professional jazz singer in the Charlotte area with her band, The Kim Carper Trio. Kim says her grandmother was a huge influence on her musical career.
"She had the most beautiful voice," Kim beams, "and she played piano and guitar as well. When I was with her, there was never a minute when she wasn't singing to me or humming while she cooked."
Kim's mother, a nurse, tragically passed away when Kim was 6 years old. As they were driving to visit Kim's father one afternoon, her mother had stopped to help an injured man who had just been in a car accident. "Another car came along and hit and killed them both," she painfully recalls. "My little brother and I were waiting in the car, and by God's grace, we were not privy to what had happened."
After having her first son, Kim felt a strong push to follow in her mother's footsteps to study nursing. "My mom graduated from nursing school when she was eight months pregnant," she explains. Deciding that nursing was indeed a good fit, Kim went back to school and received her degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. "Somehow that journey helped me to better understand so much more about my mom," Kim says, "and what she went through in becoming a nurse while having a toddler and expecting a second child."
Kim's medical career brought her to Dickson Heart Unit where she spent several years before transitioning to the intensive care unit.
While singing at a jazz-themed restaurant in Charlotte, Kim met her husband, Stephen Branum. "It truly was a special connection when Ifirst saw him," Kim smiles. Stephen would often come to the restaurant as Kim watched from the stage. "He talked to everyone around him," she remembers. "You could see the people's faces light up when talking to him. He's so amazing at filling people's buckets!"
Kim and Stephen later reconnected, and now the timing was right. "We met for a glass of wine, and the rest is history," she says. At the time, both Kim and Stephen had 4-year-old sons that were two weeks apart. "Colson and Braedon are now 10 years old and are the best of friends," she says. A few years later, another son, Merick, joined the Branum family. Merick, often called Mo, is now 3 years old. The family lives in the Mountain Island area but spends an equal amount of time on Lake Norman. "Our brand-new yacht, The Carolina Grace, is docked at Kings Point Marina, so you will often find us on the lake."
Although Kim is a native of North Carolina, she had never been to the Lake Norman communities before her first date in Birkdale with Stephen. Being able to walk to all of the local establishments, and making friends along the way, she soon fell in love with the area.
"The thing I have loved the most is the sense of community," she says. Venues and vendors come together in support of one another, showing genuine desire to help other companies succeed. "That is a beautiful thing to see and be a part of," Kim says.
Kim is excited and passionate about this time of her life and sees God's hand in every moment. "Anytime I've thought about what I wanted to do in life, I just followed where i felt God was leading me," she says. As the event coordinator on the Carolina Grace, Kim works with her clients to organize beautiful and unique weddings, receptions, and corporate and private cruises on Lake Norman.
Two years ago, through the use of Stephen and Kim's yacht, Charters for Charity was founded. "We started a 501(c)(3) nonprofit as a way to give back and support other nonprofit organizations in our area," she says. Charters for Charity has worked with Bring it 4 Braylon, Thomas Davis Defending Dreams Foundation, OpWalk Carolinas, and many more, raising over $100,000 for local charities.
"We all need to support each other," Kim says. "People are often too quick to judge and criticize ... we need to accept each other, love each other, and share God's grace."