Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristy Gronseth. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kristy , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents were divorced when I was 6. However, they were both great examples to me in integrity, hard work, and treating others with respect. My dad was not formally educated but was a respected business owner of a Beltone Hearing Aid franchise in Albuquerque, NM. He also had an office in Santa Fe and Farmington. He took excellent care of his clients and went the extra mile in taking care of them. He loved gardening and woodworking as well. He lived a well rounded life also loving fishing and camping. He influenced my love for the outdoors, gardening, and camping. He taught me how to care for people through his example in customer service, often going the extra mile for his clients.
My mom was also not formally educated but she was a book keeper for large businesses and was very respected in her field. She was fearless as she worked in male dominated fields such as construction and took no crap from anyone. She was smart, beautiful and feisty!! She was also my best friend and my childhood idol. She raised me as a single mom and often worked two to three jobs to make ends meet Mom loved the underdog and we often had people who were down on their luck living with us to give them a hand up. She was the most generous person I knew. She would give you anything that she had if she thought you needed it. She showered me with and emulated unconditional love. She also had a killer work ethic. She was rough around the edges but she did love God, even though she was not a traditional Christian. She taught me that my body was the temple of God and to respect it as such. I am fully sure that laid the foundation for my own faith and how I have always treated my body. I feel that my mom and dad formed me into the faith filled, people serving, hard worker that I am. They taught me that with God, hard work and determination, you can do whatever you strive for.

Kristy , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I guess I’ll start with my job as an Occupational Therapist. This is really the backbone of how my trajectory has taken me to where I am now. I got my degree from Colorado State University in 1994 and this was a huge feat for this gal!! I was the only person in my immediate family to have gone to and finished college. I went on scholarship and this is an important fact as there is no way we could have afforded it otherwise. As a teenager, from the age of 13 and on, I always worked and went to school. I was very active in extra-curricular activities and made good grades. This diversity and ability to excel, despite all of the roles as a young person, is what got me into school on scholarship. Mom and dad set the stage, as I stated prior. I knew that if this was my goal I had to work hard to get there.
I have been an OT for 31 years and have focused my practice primarily on treating people with neurological disabilities in the rehabilitation setting. I love my work. I love serving my clients and their families and giving them hope in times of deep distress.
Occupational therapy is a deeply meaningful part of my life. I have had the opportunity to educate other peers through continuing education classes, sharing my expertise. I have also been able to teach at the college level, helping to prepare new Occupational Therapists to enter the field.
In one of the continuing education classes, I met my current husband. He is my best friend, my heartbeat and my number one cheerleader.
OT had not only fulfilled me professionally but also personally.
I got my start as a professional model, just before Covid broke out. I got into modeling as I thought it would be a great platform to inspire women of my age, and show them that they are being represented and seen.
In modeling, I wanted to let men and women my age, know that they can reinvent themselves as I have.
I was in a prior abusive marriage for 13 years. I had no self confidence, my health was failing and my children were being taught that it was acceptable to abuse their wife. I was not going to perpetuate that narrative. Once I got out, I raised my 3 boys for 5 years as a single mom. I then re-married and healed and found myself again.
I became a model after a lot of self work, counseling and prayer.
As a model, I want to be a representation of resilience.
I also got into modeling to mentor young men and women and pass on the mantra that my mom taught me, “ Your body is the temple of God.” Not that they have to believe as I do but to respect themselves enough not to compromise themselves just for a job. If they want to model they need to be taught that they are worth being respected and looked upon with respect. Beauty and art come in many forms and I think the human form is stunning but I don’t believe that young men and women are needing to be objectified, nor should any person for that matter. We are people, not objects. We all need to be treated with value and respect. I also talk to them about safety. I don’t shoot with anyone new without taking my husband with me. I inform them that they too should also always have a trusted adult with them and never go to a shoot alone. Not all people with a camera are reputable photographers. We need to protect each other and this is a way for me to help others.
I have had a great reception as a Seasoned Model. Women always come up to me and thank me for showing the industry that we are still valuable and need to be represented. I’m grateful that people in the industry are taking a chance with me and passing that support on to others through my representation.

My most important role and the one that I am most proud of is being a mom to my amazing children. I have 4 boys and one girl. I have three biological children and two amazing bonus kids. My husband and I raised all 5 together and they are amazing young people. They are all hard working, kind, compassionate and have integrity and love for others. We are eagerly anticipating the first wedding of our clan, in October of this year. Our oldest son has chosen an amazing young woman to add to our family. She brings intelligence, spunk, compassion for others and a strong moral compass to the table. We are so excited for their future together.
I am an incredibly blessed soul. God is my rock and I’m so grateful for my professional and personal blessings.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My whole life has been a story of resilience. As stated earlier, my parents divorced when I was 6. This started my resilience journey early. I was an only child of a single mom who had to work 2-3 jobs while I was growing up to ensure that we had what we needed. This in turn, made me a latch key kid, spending many hours alone after school. We lived in Section 8 housing in the “war zone” of the town I grew up in. I had to put my nose down and mind my own business to stay safe. I was bullied in junior high school. I worked from the time I was 13 years old to present. I am a member of the “Me too” movement, having been sexually mistreated. My dad died at the age of 46, when I was just 19 years old. I put myself through college through hard work in high school garnering scholarships as well as working full time through college. I was in a 13 year abusive marriage. My current husband and I helped our 11 year old son through open heart surgery and when he was 12 through a life threatening bone infection. We also took care of my mom through an 8 year battle with dementia. Resilience has been the backbone of my story. In fact, I have a tattoo with the word resilient on my right forearm. I have been able to stay resilient from childhood to present because of my faith in God. My relationship with Christ is what keeps me hopeful for the promise of strength to endure. My life verse has been Phillipians 4:13 -“I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” This is what I have clung to when things seem too heavy to bear. I am grateful to my parents for bringing me up with a Christian foundation. It has been my rock.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

If I could go back, would I choose the same profession? 100% yes. Becoming an Occupational Therapist has made me a better person in every aspect of my life. OT is a career that teaches you to focus on enhancing the lives of those that you treat and the families and caregivers that are involved in their care. It is a career that forces you to be creative in the treatments and solutions that you offer your clientele. It causes you to be flexible as when dealing with people, plans inevitably change. You work in a team environment to provide the best care to your clients. These skills have enabled me to be a better wife, mom, friend and daughter. Occupational therapy enabled me to have the confidence that I could forge out on my own and independently care for my three boys after my divorce and not need the help of a husband to provide for my family. It has introduced me to some of my best friends in my peers as well as my clients. It introduced me to the love of my life, my current husband of 13 years. I have met people from all ages, walks of life, socio economic classes, and it has allowed me to see value in all of whom I come in contact with in all areas of my life.
I have been able to work in pediatric clinics, inpatient acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient clinics, teach across the United States to assist professionals in getting their continuing education credits as well as teach at the University level as a guest lecturer and an assistant in the neuro lab to teach future Occupational Therapists at the skills needed to carry on the prestigious field of Occupational Therapy. This career has made me who I am and has given me the confidence to branch out into more creative arenas, such as the modeling field which I am currently working in. It has richly blessed me in every way and I am forever deeply grateful that God let me to this career.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: kristysilver
• Facebook: Kristy Gronseth

Image Credits

Claire Cregger (white outfit)
Randi Rhea (black and white with jewelry and tatted hands_
Dorothy Shi (ring over eye)
Cheyene Sitdikova (sitting in black chair)
Tino Duvik (black turtle neck)
Moments by Ms. J Cole (black lace shirt with jewles)
ShitookAtelier (trech coat)
Don Siegel @chipetatrading (smiling with turquoise jewelry first photo)