CWDkids' Characters

Staff Profile #5 - Kelly (with CWDkids since 2001)

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We have a really great art school at Virginia Commonwealth University. That’s what brought me to Richmond in 1988. Initially interested in graphic design, by my sophomore year I decided instead to major in fashion design, with my senior portfolio being children’s wear. When it came time to start my career, I was drawn back to graphic design and the Washington, DC area where I had grown up. However, I was still spending all of my weekends in Richmond so after a year I moved back. I spent the next 7 years working for various ad agencies--stressed out and pulling long hours into the night--until 2001 when the company I was working for closed their Richmond office.

Wow, I was out of a job (along with about 80 other people)! Turns out it was actually a lucky break for me and that summer I sent samples of my work to CWDkids. What a great way to tie together my graphic design experience with my interest in children’s fashion! Fortunately for me, the president of CWDkids thought the same thing and I started working in the creative department on September 10, 2001. I initially worked for our sister title, “Just Boys, Just Girls” but when that catalog was combined with CWDkids, I took on the role of Creative Director.

While my job can be challenging and takes a great deal of organization, it’s never boring and I enjoy being able to leave at a reasonable hour to spend time with my beagle, Angus, and my sister’s family who live next door. I oversee the layout of 17 catalogs each year, “flat” photography of clothes, designing emails, and model photo shoots (including scouting locations, hiring models, and then jumping up and down to get them to laugh for the camera).
Even after being here almost 7 years, I’m still one of the “babies” of the CWDkids’ family. The company has changed and grown through the years, but its commitment to its employees’ family lives has not wavered.

Kelly’s tidbits:

• I take my beagle-lab mix, Angus, to daycare every day.


• I am fascinated by Mount Everest even though I am not a mountain climber. My sister gave me a book about the Annapurna region of the Himalayas and I have promised myself to go trekking there one day.


• After a summer road trip to New Orleans in 1994, I fell in love with the city and have returned 8 more times since. I even decorated one of the rooms in my house with a New Orleans theme, complete with wrought iron and walls that look like plaster crumbling off to reveal brick underneath.