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Kim sits down with Lauriane Blanc, a French woman who left the Loire Valley for New York City and went on to co-found Women Abroad Club, a community helping women build meaningful lives abroad. With Kim building a life in France and Lauriane building one in America, they compare what each culture gets right, from career ambition and education to food, fashion, friendship and the very different way...

September in France means la rentrée , a return to school, work, routines and everyday life after summer. But after four years living in Aix-en-Provence, Kim has realized it can also be a chance to return to yourself. After a summer road trip through the French Alps, Switzerland and Italy, Kim is reflecting on the things she wants to carry with her into this next season. She shares what living in...

Kim is answering more of your questions about life in France, from how French parents balance work, kids and weeknight dinners to what motherhood looks like when women don’t completely change their style after having children. She shares how her friendships have evolved after nearly four years abroad, the one part of French culture she’d take with her anywhere, and the unexpected things her kids n...

What happens when you build a life that looks successful from the outside, but somewhere along the way stop asking whether it actually feels right? Kim reflects on the life she and her family built in Marin County,  San Francisco, CA before moving to France, from corporate careers and private schools to the subtle pressure of titles, homes, cars and keeping up appearances. She shares a vulnerable...

After three years living in France, some of the French behaviors Kim once found strange don’t seem so strange anymore. From topless beaches and bikinis at every age to a much more laissez-faire approach to parenting, she reflects on the cultural differences that have made her question some of her own American habits. She also shares what she’s learned about the French tendency to complain, critiqu...

Kim thought moving to France would mean she’d naturally “pick up” French. What she quickly realized was that immersion alone isn't enough and becoming comfortable in another language takes far more patience, courage and deliberate practice than she expected. In this episode, Kim shares the do’s and don’ts she’s learned while studying French as an adult, from creating her own immersion through...

Living abroad can look like rosé in Provence, beautiful markets, cobblestone streets and weekend trips to Italy. And sometimes, it really is that dreamy. But after more than three years in France, Kim is sharing the parts that don’t always make it onto Instagram: exhausting travel days, time zone differences, language barriers, homesickness and the strange feeling of no longer fully belonging to o...

After three years living in Aix-en-Provence, Kim returned to the U.S. for three weeks and found herself seeing American life with completely new eyes. From enormous iced coffees, packed schedules and noisy restaurants to generous strangers, family reunions and the unmistakable warmth of American culture, she reflects on the things that suddenly stood out after becoming accustomed to a slower pace...

What if the moments that matter most aren’t the extravagant trips or perfectly planned experiences, but the quiet ones happening right in front of us? Kim begins by sharing the very American collection of food, medicine, beauty products and everyday essentials she brings back to France after visiting the U.S. Then, she reflects on how living in Provence has changed her understanding of an “extraor...

Kim is back with the second half of her listener Q&A, recorded after a technical issue cut the video short during the original session. She answers questions about building a life in France, from the biggest changes she has experienced as a mother to the realities of French paperwork and starting a business abroad. Kim shares why parenting in France has helped her worry less, give her children...

Kim is joined by her sister, Courtney Ochs, a first-grade teacher from Chicago, to compare the American and French school systems from both a teacher’s and a parent’s perspective. They get into the major differences they’ve noticed in school schedules, vacations, lunches, recess and classroom technology. Courtney shares what teaching looks like in an American public school, while Kim explains the...

Daily life in France: errands, doctors, groceries and all the little surprises. Kim is sharing what daily life in France actually looks like, beyond the postcard version. After an ant infestation in her old French house sends her on a very un-American errand, she starts unpacking all the little ways everyday routines feel different in France. From booking doctors on Doctolib and picking up vaccine...

After three years in France, Kim is reflecting on the American habits she did not fully notice until she had enough distance to see them clearly. In this episode, she talks about rushing through the day, measuring life by productivity, feeling pressure to “keep busy,” overthinking parenting, buying too much, delaying rest, and treating pleasure like something that has to be earned. France has not...

In this episode of Conversations From Paris: Kim sits down with Oliver Gee, the creator of The Earful Tower , one of the most beloved English-language podcasts about Paris. Oliver shares how he went from Australian journalist in Paris to storyteller, podcaster, walking tour host, author, and unofficial expert on the city’s hidden corners. Together, Kim and Oliver talk about what visitors often get...

After three years living in Provence, Kim is sharing the things she’d like to say to the French, respectfully, as an American living in France. From the quiet intimidation of speaking French as an adult to the structure, rules and rhythms that shape daily life in France, she reflects on what it feels like to live between two cultures. She also shares what France has taught her about slowing down,...

Kim is answering listener questions about what life in France really looks like day to day, from summer camps in Provence and her slower morning routine to motherhood, making friends, style, fitness, writing, and the question everyone asks: will her family stay in France? She shares how living in Aix-en-Provence has changed the way she thinks about work, parenting, creativity, and raising third-cu...

Living abroad is not one big romantic leap. It is a process, and Kim is breaking it down into the stages she has experienced after moving from California to France. In this episode, Kim shares what life is like in the first year. She shares how these can often feel like the “toddler years” of expat life, when everything feels magical, confusing and slightly humiliating, from speaking in broken sen...

Kim is in Paris for another conversation in her special series, Another Way to Live: Conversations from Paris , exploring how living in France can shift the way we think about work, identity, time, and what really matters. This week, Kim sits down with Pamela Clapp, a Belgian-American writer and marketing strategist who has lived in Paris for more than 14 years. Pamela shares her story of growing...

After a solo trip to Paris, Kim is sharing the little cultural habits that suddenly stood out to her after three years of living in France. From giant water bottles and coffee to-go to loud conversations, overscheduled weekends, smiling at strangers, and eating on the run, this episode is a funny and honest look at the everyday things other cultures do that can feel completely bizarre to the Frenc...

Kim is interviewing Sammy Royal, a Paris-based travel, hospitality and editorial photographer. Originally from New Zealand, she has lived in Paris for three years with her husband and two children.  Together, Kim and Sammy discuss how important it is to be present, embrace daily rituals and enjoy your own company. They dive into freelancing, building a network from scratch, learning to market your...

After more than 20 years in corporate America, Kim shares the honest story of what happened when she finally stepped away from the career path she had spent years building. From Harvard Business School to brand marketing roles at Kraft, Victoria’s Secret, Sephora and beyond, she had followed the “right” steps, earned the titles, and kept climbing, until the life she had built no longer felt like h...

Do you find your mind racing? You might be falling into a mental trap. Kim is reflecting on the quiet mental traps that keep so many of us feeling rushed, stuck, and disconnected from the life we actually want. In this episode, she shares six mindset traps she’s noticed in herself, from tying self-worth to productivity to waiting for happiness to arrive someday in the future. She also compares the...

After a family trip to Mallorca, Kim found herself sitting between two women at very different stages of life: one seemingly longing for the future, and one quietly remembering the past. That moment made her wonder whether the life she’s living right now, with young kids, a marriage, ambition, uncertainty, chaos, and gratitude all tangled together, might actually be one of the prime seasons of her...

Rosé season has officially arrived in Provence, and Kim is reflecting on something French women seem to understand so well: balance. In this solo episode, she shares what she has observed about the way French women approach food, work, motherhood, friendship, and everyday life with more steadiness, intention, and less pressure. From the idea of just enough to letting go of perfection and prioritiz...

After more than three years living in the south of France, Kim is sharing the honest side of what it really means to move abroad. In this solo episode, she reflects on the emotional highs and lows of leaving home, building a new life in another country, and learning that even a beautiful life abroad can still feel disorienting, lonely, and deeply stretching. From culture shock and homesickness to...