Author: ktoms

C.KT is a digital marketing communications visionary with 40+ years driving measurable revenue growth and operational efficiency. She is a strategic leader skilled at transforming marketing organizations through innovative technologies, process optimization, and creative team leadership. Kimberly possesses a proven track record of building powerful brand narratives while reducing costs, scaling operations, and executing data-driven strategies that deliver exceptional results. C.KT has an entrepreneurial mindset with experience across Fortune 300 corporations, agency leadership, and startup environments. She combines deep creative expertise with strong financial acumen to deliver marketing that moves businesses forward. As a survivor of violent crime, C.KT is also a criminal justice reform-focused public speaker and advocate.

Burial Beauty In the Eyes of the Beholder

May 12, 2022 By ktoms

Roulez photographer Nicholas Crawford and I recently ventured into Virginia cemeteries on the hunt for unique sculptural representations of life and death. Our original goal was for capturing imagery for Halloween and other purposes. But in addition to coming away with pretty photos and shadowy landscapes, we emerged with big questions about our own burial […]

Lightkeeper of Currituck

July 12, 2020 By ktoms

Meghan Agresto is a modern day lightkeeper. She and her two sons, Benicio and Paolo, several chickens and the family dog Jess live on Currituck Beach Lighthouse grounds where she manages operations for this popular and historic attraction of the Outer Banks. Located in Corolla Village at the northern end of the Outer Banks, Currituck […]

The Call of the Void

May 12, 2020 By ktoms

On a recent outing with a friend, I explained that I fear heights because this fear is accompanied by a magnetic pull into the abyss. The look on their face was a funny mix of shock, fear and humor. I have long known that I react this way to heights. Perhaps my worst adventure to […]

Ghosts of Fort Monroe

May 12, 2020 By ktoms

I grew up in a haunted house. Wait, let me rephrase that. I learned about 15 years ago that some family members like to pretend nothing ever happened. They said, “Don’t say it is haunted!” Meanwhile, none of us slept at night. So let me rewrite our history a little. I grew up in a […]

Haunted Hampton Roads

May 12, 2020 By ktoms

Photos by Nicholas Crawford. No Halloween is complete without consideration of some known haunted spots, whether you believe in ghosts or just love the folklore. Hampton Roads of Virginia, a region steeped in our history and home to multiple battlefields, certainly has its share of myths, mysteries and the macabre. Photographer Nicholas Crawford and I […]

St. Augustine: Florida for Grown Ups

May 12, 2020 By ktoms

I am a grown up. As makes sense, when going on vacation I want to go on a grown-up vacation. In other words, lying on a beach where spring break television is filmed is not enticing to me. I want to be comfortable, pampered even. I want to be entertained, well fed, dressed up, dressed […]

Corolla Wild Horses: Starlets of the Outer Banks

May 12, 2020 By ktoms

The newest celebrities of the East Coast are not located in New York, Boston, Miami or even Charleston. Unexpectedly, Currituck County, North Carolina is a breeding ground for some of the hottest new faces on social media. Even more unexpected, these media darlings are hairy-faced wild mustangs of Corolla, a breed of horses calling the […]

In Difficulties, Finding the Clearing

August 28, 2019 By ktoms

Each of us go through a week now and then — or in my case recently, three weeks — of a personal hell. Maybe “hell” is a strong word for my past three weeks as I have certainly been through worse. But these days of difficulties have been trying, to say the least. Momentary Hell […]

Gumbeau’s Catering: South Louisiana Cuisine in Virginia’s River Realm

August 12, 2019 By ktoms

Photos by Nicholas Crawford On a sunny Saturday, Creative Director Nicholas Crawford and I set out on an impromptu drive up to Virginia’s River Realm. Good Luck Cellars was hosting Gumbeau’s Catering for that particular day, to provide lunch for vineyard workers and visitors. Little did we realize the true culinary gem we were about […]

Farm Market Traditions of the Outer Banks

May 12, 2019 By ktoms

The quaint family farm of yesterday, one of growing to sell for self-support, is a heritage very recently on the rebound yet still teetering on extinction. Equally endangered is the experience of shopping at small farm markets, a tradition many hold fast to in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. With the average American farmer […]

Outer Banks Beach House

May 12, 2019 By ktoms

In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the lifestyle is relaxed and easy. Interior design of area homes is equally laid back and casual, providing space for socialization and enjoyment of the picturesque natural setting. We sat down with Outer Banks interior designer Amy Hilliker Klebitz to gain insight into what makes an island home quintessentially […]

Eight Burgers You Must Try

May 10, 2019 By ktoms

Super Bowl 50 is coming and with it, the annual scramble for the best finger foods. Of course, burgers are always part of the quintessential Super Bowl repertoire. Wherever you are in the country and whichever team you root for, you know you love a good burger. There is no watching your waistline on Super […]

Local Woman’s Stalking Ordeal to Become a Documentary

July 30, 2017 By ktoms

Chesapeake ClipperJuly 30, 2017 Sometimes fate delivers road blocks you have to adjust to as a business owner. If you cannot adjust, the consequences may include going back to work for someone else. Kimberly Toms of Hampton knows this all too well. She owns Roulez Media and the road blocks she encountered during her company’s […]