Kim Parshley is the Founder of Chooseafamily.com®. Her passion for family has been growing since she was a child. The idea for Chooseafamily.com® was inspired by the values, love, and unity instilled in her growing up, coupled with the void that is left in many of us from the loss of close friends and family, and of those who have moved away, or have been absent in our lives.
Kim, a Master Certified Life Coach who also founded Think Up Life Coaching, is a wellness professional & self-help leader who helps people make progress in their lives in order to attain greater fulfillment.
Kim was born in New York City and for the first two years of her life she lived with her parents in an old working class tenement building on the upper east side of Manhattan. The Vietnam War was going on and the sense of family was strong. Close relatives squeezed into one apartment sharing home cooked meals, a washing machine, clothes, and a bathtub in the kitchen. Her parents met in the same neighborhood and fell in love in their teens. Both of their families were financially unstable, so Kim’s father was shifted in and out of foster homes and a portion of her mother’s youth was spent in an orphanage. They were married on Valentine’s Day, and soon after, their apartment was torn down to build high rises. So, they both worked hard to move east, just over the Triboro bridge to Astoria, Queens.
Kim successfully studied acting, marketing and advertising in college, and then thrived as a salesperson for nine years at an independent office supply company in New York City. Even though she loved acting and always dreamed of becoming an actress, she knew she needed to find a good stable job that would help pay her bills. Unfortunately, she had to put her dream of becoming an actress up on a shelf. Being a natural with clientele and having a passion for helping people, she moved on to the field of real estate. Licensed by the Department of State, she has been one of the most highly respected and recommended real estate agents in Astoria, Queens for the past ten years. One customer states, in an online review, “She’s more than just a realtor, she’s a matchmaker!” Currently, she is a member of the Long Island Board of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors, and is known as a multi-tasker, “people person,” troubleshooter, and all-around firecracker. One of her first goals as a realtor was to take her mom out of the apartment she lived in for 29 years, and buy her a dream home. However, before that dream could come true, her mom was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and died twelve days later.
Kim never had a grandfather in her life to teach her how to play chess and never was she able to dance with her dad at a wedding. Maybe you have wanted a big brother to go fishing with, or a big sister to look up to. Imagine how many people are out there who do not have anyone to celebrate the holidays with. So, as you can see, Kim understands that yearning in all of us for a loyal, supportive, loving, healthy-minded family. She believes no one should spend Thanksgiving eating dinner alone. There is a way to reach across the sky and meet that family member you never had who you always wanted and needed. You never have to be alone. The famous saying is “you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” Well, now you can.
Kim is a heartfelt entrepreneur who is now inspired to put people together with a family of their choice, one member at a time. Not only is Kim Parshley the creator of Choose a Family, but she is also the site’s very first member.