Kimberly VanOs of Avondale on Life, Lessons & Legacy

Kimberly VanOs shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Kimberly, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
My joy outside of work? Hands down, my kids but especially my daughter, Dixie because she’s about to go to college and my time with her is limited. She’s a senior in high school and will be at ASU next fall, and honestly, I’m soaking up every minute I get with her. She’s home in the afternoons, and I love it. Sometimes we grab lunch together, sometimes she’s doing her dual enrollment class while I’m editing at the table — it’s simple, it’s beautiful.

Everyone always told me senior year would be full of fighting and “pulling away,” but that hasn’t been our story. Every kid is different, and I’m just leaning hard into the time we still have under the same roof. I love the person she is and the person she’s becoming. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but the minute I had her, it clicked — I wanted more because having her was the best thing I had ever done.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Kim! A family and senior photographer in the West Valley of Phoenix, AZ, – Kim VanOs Photography. Yes, it’s literally my name — because in a class years ago an educator said, “Because if it’s good enough for Ansel Adams, it’s good enough for most of you.” So there you have it, from Heart for Photography to Kim VanOs Photography the next day.

What makes my work unique is the way I connect with people, especially kids and teens. I truly enjoy working with them and I think kids just now when someone is being fake. But here’s the thing sometimes I’m the one connecting with the client, and sometimes I’m recruiting a sibling, a parent, or even a bubble machine to help me out. Whatever it takes to get the real moments.

Two years ago, I started the KVP Creator Team because I absolutely love working with seniors, and selfishly, it was also a way to spend more time with my daughter, Dixie, who’s one of the Creators. Getting to work closely with her and a group of sweet, creative high school girls has been such a gift. They bring me ideas that push me out of my comfort zone (look for the fire and ice photoshoot coming up), and I learn from them constantly. It’s important to me that my brand reflects that, a place where teens feel seen, safe, encouraged, and free to express themselves without the pressure they deal with everywhere else.

The bottom line is I love storytelling photos, and working families and seniors. That’s what lights me up, and that’s what I hope people feel in every photo I deliver.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I spent a semester abroad in college in Germany. One weekend, I was heading to Switzerland to visit family friends. I hadn’t made it to the bank to cash my cashier’s checks, so I hopped on the train with… no actual cash. Just the checks. Smart uh? You can see it coming right?

Then, as the conductor started coming down the aisle, it hit me:
I forgot my passport.
On a train. In Europe. By myself.
Absolute no no.

As my brain went into full panic mode I noticed he wasn’t waking people who were asleep, and in my 20-year-old infinite wisdom, I thought, Perfect. I’ll just take a nap. And yes, I fell asleep. I was absolutely capable of sleeping on a dime in my twenties, isn’t everyone?

The next thing I know, I’m awaked by a different conductor — this one very mad that I was still on the train. We were almost at the end of the line. I showed him my ticket and he started yelling at me in Italian. I didn’t understand a word, but trust me, I understood: Get off the train. NOW!
He never did asked for my passport. lol!

So now I’m standing in an empty train station somewhere near the border of Italy and Switzerland. It’s dark. I’m alone. I have no cash, just a little change, no passport, and no clue where I actually am. The town was tiny, like I looked around saw one restaurant light glowing.

I used the last of my change to call the friend I was supposed to be staying with. He asked, “What town are you in?”
Great question. I did not know.

So I set the phone down (because you know, 90s pay phones weren’t cordless), I sprinted to the front of the station, found the name, sprinted back, grabbed the phone, yelled it into the receiver — and immediately heard a click.

No idea if he heard me.
No idea if he was coming.
No money.
No passport.
No plan.

So I curled up on the cold train bench and cried myself to sleep. Yes… I went back to sleep. Apparently my stress response to anything in my 20s was napping.

But guess what? About an hour later I heard a voice in the dark:
“Kim!!! KIM!!!”

He found me.

Honestly, that moment changed something in me. When I got back State side, I realized: if I could survive that — lost in a foreign country, no money, no ID, not understanding the language — I could survive anything back home. I knew how to make a collect call, I spoke the language, and suddenly nothing here felt impossible.

It was the moment I realized I was capable of so much more than I thought.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
This is such an interesting question at this time in my life, and I’m going to be fully vulnerable right now because it’s something I’m actively working through. My biological father didn’t want me — and he didn’t leave any room for doubt. He once looked me straight in the eye and asked if I loved him. I said, “Yes, of course. You’re my dad.”
And his response was: “I wish you didn’t. It would be easier to forget you.”

That cuts deep. When you’re a teen, you still believe there’s time for someone to come back and love you, and hearing that… well, it was a kind of trauma that you really don’t come back from.

Healing isn’t linear (I don’t believe life is either). Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever fully “heal,” because when you’ve been cut that deep, there will always be a scar to remind you. But you asked how I healed, and the truth is I still am. But I went into survival mode by finding love wherever I could after that. Sometimes it wasn’t in the best places, but I just grabbed onto anything that felt like remotest idea of love.

I was incredibly lucky to have a stepdad who loved me without hesitation. He wanted to adopt me when I was graduating high school, but at the time I didn’t understand how important that would be and told him it was just a piece of paper and we didn’t need it. Years later, I realized I wanted his being my dad to be official, and in 2021 — in my 40s — I asked him to adopt me. He said yes without blinking. That was its own kind of healing.

I also found Christ through my best friend Melanie. That helped me grow, but it also brought its own challenges because of purity expectations I could never go back and “fix.” My faith journey has been complicated, but I believe in Jesus and His love. I believe He put Melanie in my life and also my husband, Ben, for a reason. Melanie has been a true witness for Christ and a living embodiment of God’s love. Ben loves me for who I am, who I was, and who I’m becoming and being loved that way is healing.

And honestly? Even answering this question feels like part of the healing process. Childhood trauma is real. You can think you’ve moved past it, and then something triggers it and everything comes rushing back. When that happens, I’m learning to pick myself up again, set boundaries, practice self-worth, and keep choosing to heal. There isn’t necessarily a finish line to healing. It’s a journey… and I’m still on it.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They’d tell you that my relationships are everything to me. If you’re in my circle, I’m the one who checks in, makes sure you’re okay, and shows up when it actually matters. The older I get, the more I realize how rare those deep friendships are. I know a lot of people, but only a few are truly “my people,” and I love them fiercely. I love hard, I just do. And I’ve also had to grapple with the fact that not everyone is going to like me (shocker, I know). But honestly, letting go of the ones who aren’t meant to stay has made even more room to love the right people better.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
In the day-to-day, it’s the simple, ordinary moments with my family that give me the most peace — playing a board game, watching a movie on the couch, playing Doctor Mario with my husband, or laughing at pet’s chasing each other around the house. We added a kitten, Lily to our family this past year who has only made it sweeter — watching her bring new life to our older pet’s has been such an unexpected joy. Honestly, I don’t know how people live without animals.

We eat dinner together about 90% of the time, and our dinner table? Well that takes on a life of its own. We’ve always said anything goes, no topic is off-limits, and our kids took that a little too literally, sometimes it’s hilarious, sometimes it’s heated, but it’s always a highlight of my day.

I used to run myself ragged before COVID. I never slowed down, and it cost me my peace. That season forced me to stop long enough to hear the verse God kept putting on my heart: “Be still and know that I am God.” I was too busy to understand it back then, but now I see His peace in these small, unrushed moments. My faith has shifted as I’ve gotten older. It’s less about church attendance or theological debates, and more about quietly learning His love and showing it to my family in everyday ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kimvanosphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimvanosphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimvanosphotography1

Image Credits
These photos are all mine: Kim VanOs Photography