Kimberly Whipps
Catonsville,MD
Summary
- Clinical Social Work
- Mental Health Counseling
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Family Systems
- Women’s Mental Health
- Grief and Loss
- Community Mental Health
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Owner & Lead Photographer
Kim Whipps Photography
Maryland
01.2006 - Current
- Founded and managed a successful photography business serving families throughout Maryland and DC for nearly two decades.
- Responsibilities and accomplishments include:
- Building long-term relationships with clients during significant life transitions including pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, illness, loss, and family change.
- Creating supportive environments where clients feel comfortable sharing personal experiences and challenges. During long newborn sessions, clients often shared stories about parenting, grief, relationships, major life transitions and health issues.
- Worked with families from a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds throughout Maryland and am able to adapt my communication style to help clients feel understood and comfortable.
- Managing all aspects of business operations including marketing, scheduling, contracts, budgeting, customer service, and project management.
- Maintaining professionalism, confidentiality, and ethical standards in all client interactions. I built a successful business largely through referrals and repeat clients, earning the trust of families who returned to me every year as well as recommended me to family and friends.
- Frequently worked alongside physicians, nurses, lactation consultants and educators while serving families during pregnancy, postpartum and all throughout childhood.
- Successfully sustaining and growing a small business for more than twenty years.
- Years of listening to families' stories and witnessing both challenges and resilience deepened my interest in human behavior and psychology, which eventually led me to pursue a degree in both Psychology and graduate studies in Social Work.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Psychology
Western Governors University (WGU)
09-2026
Skills
- Active Listening
- Empathy and Rapport Building
- Interpersonal Communication
- Client Relations and Engagement
- Cultural Humility
- Trauma-informed Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Professional Writing
- Community Outreach
- Organization and Time Management
- Small Business Management
Professional Profile
I am a psychology student and business owner with over twenty years of experience working closely with hundreds of families throughout Maryland and D.C. Through my work as a newborn and family photographer, I have developed strong interpersonal communication skills and experience supporting clients during significant life transitions, including pregnancy, childbirth, grief, and family change. I am pursuing graduate study in social work with the goal of becoming a clinical social worker and psychotherapist focused on mental health, trauma-informed care, and family wellbeing.
LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL STRENGTHS
- Twenty years of successful small business ownership and management.
- Strong interpersonal communication and relationship-building skills.
- Experience working with individuals and families from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and family backgrounds.
- Demonstrated resilience, adaptability, and self-motivation while balancing business ownership, parenting, and higher education.
- Ability to establish trust and rapport during emotionally sensitive situations.
- Returned to college as an adult learner while raising a family and managing a business, strengthening my appreciation for continuous growth and education.
- Successfully balanced full-time business ownership, parenting responsibilities to five children and full-time university coursework while completing a psychology degree.
Timeline
Owner & Lead Photographer
Kim Whipps Photography
01.2006 - Current
Bachelor of Science - Psychology
Western Governors University (WGU)