G Profile: Kimberly Kelly

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Kimberly Kelly

▶Birthplace: Greenville, South Carolina
▶Family: Husband, Jason; two children, Jacqueline and Killian
▶Career: Spent a decade hosting Upstate morning radio shows; created local television show Talk of the Town; For Sale by Water real estate show; Your Carolina and Scene on 7 shows; host of BMW Pro-Am Red Carpet event
▶Hobbies: Cooking; gardening; painting (usually outdoors to music); kayaking; and her new passion is SUP (stand-up-paddle) boarding
▶Friends All Over: Kelly boasts nearly 5,000 friends on Facebook and personally answers every e-mail she receives

The afternoon late-summer heat of an early September day is enough to wilt the ponytails of even the most formidable of the fashion set, but Kimberly Kelly, local television host of WSPA’s Your Carolina and Scene on 7, sits unfazed by the swelter, checking her e-mail on a bench outside of a Starbucks. But, then again, keeping her cool is basically a job requirement for her gig on live television. And even though she hit the ground running at 5:30 a.m.—sifting through messages from producers, catching up on the morning news, and getting herself ready to tape back-to-back shows—her friendliness shines through as genuine as her love does for her hometown of Greenville, on which she reports the local goings-on with co-anchor, Jack Roper, for Your Carolina. If you’ve not seen her (it airs weekdays at 10 a.m.), there’s a chance you’ve caught Scene on 7, which follows the evening news at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 7. If you ever have the TV on at all, undoubtedly you’ve caught her in the commercials for Toyota of Greenville. And then there are the numerous benefits, fashion shows, or charity events, to which her invites are plentiful, that keep her a gal about town.

She is a fitting ambassador for Greenville, being born and bred here (“There’s a few of us left,” she jokes, alluding to her status as a native among Greenville’s ever-expanding melting pot), even if she does now make her home on Lake Keowee with her husband, former Greenville Grrrowl hockey player, Jason Kelly (whom she met, yes, when she interviewed him), and children, Jacqueline, 15, and Killian, 7. “Killian Kelly,” she says. “We’ve predestined him to own an Irish pub at some point in his life,” she laughs.

A graduate of Bob Jones, Kelly was bitten by the performance bug early on, and while the idea of following the bright lights to New York City was exciting, she thought better of it when the realities of life as artist (expensive, that is) dimmed the view. She decided to stay put and performed in local theater around town, until she “stumbled into radio,” she says, which was the start of her life in media. She started at what she calls “a little AM radio station,” ELP (for Easley Liberty and Pickens) and hosted a daytime talk show. When a new rock station, 93.3 FM the Planet, launched in Greenville, she was asked to come on board, staying there for nearly five years, moving over to the adult contemporary station, Magic 98.9 FM after that, until she had an inspired idea that she knew would help shine a light on the hometown she so loved.

“I had this idea to do a local television show,” she says, “and I excused myself from radio, and had everything I would do in writing, and I went to the local cable company and set up a meeting, and after knocking on a door and walking through an office and handing someone this brilliant idea to do a local television show,” she laughs, “he looked at me and said, ‘We’ve wanted to do this but it’s never been on paper.’” Thus, Talk of the Town was born, and then, shortly thereafter, so was For Sale by Water, a show she created which covered waterfront living.

Now, with four years under her stylish belt of Your Carolina (with a new contract for three more years of it and Scene on 7), Kelly still has the enthusiasm about what she does. But get her talking about her other love, and you’ll see a whole other side of the perky, polished, and pulled-together personality: cooking—especially new takes on old, Southern favorites. Who knew, for example, that okra baked with a little bit of olive oil could taste as good as its fried incarnation? Well, Kimberly Kelly did, and she credits a clean diet devoid of processed foods (and the former home-economics teacher in school who taught her about it) with keeping her healthy and TV-ready. Digging up her own beets in her garden at home seems to be nearly as exciting as chatting with the occasional celebrity who comes through the Michelin on Main studio where she films. “I pulled one out of the ground the other day. It’s an empowering feeling to do that.” When asked how she stays humble as a big fish in a non-New York City–sized pond, she laughs and says, “Nobody’s that special. I just find that silly. I wasn’t raised that way.”

Family, fun, and sharing your hometown spirit—and not fame—are this Greenville gal’s priorities.

Well, after breakfast, that is: “I make a killer homemade crepe,” she says, smiling like she could show Julia Child a thing or two. “Every weekend is a fresh fruit crepe.” Life—in and out of the spotlight—definitely seems pretty sweet.