08/26/2026
There has been discussion about Candidate Qualifications and Resumes:
What can I tell you about myself?
✅ I Graduated from AL Brown High School in 1993.
✅ I Graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1997 with a degree in Sociology, with a History Minor.
✅ I started my own business, KS Image Solutions, at 27 years old in 2002
✅ I have successfully ran that business for over 24 years - somedays I run it and somedays it runs me. I am the primary sales person (I do have others), I move pallets in the warehouse, I do the invoicing, I clean the toilets, I do the taxes and I like to say I am managed by my team who keeps me straight with all the other things in the office. But in the end, nothing is beneath me. If it needs to get done, I do it.
✅ My business is a Certified Woman Owned Business. I am proud that at the age of 27, I was able to start and thrive as a female owned business.
✅ In those 24 years, it survived through the 2008 Economic Downturn and the 2020 COVID Pandemic.
✅ It took making hard decisions, working hard, being resilient, thinking outside of the box and having the ability to pivot.
✅ In life, I joke that I was an average student. I was never top of my class, but I was always willing to work hard to improve myself and listen to those around me who could give me direction.
✅ In 2004 we welcomed our daughter and in 2008 we welcomed our son.
✅ One of the main reasons I wanted to start my own company was because I wanted to focus on family decisions where I could spend time when I choose to go eat lunch at 11AM, then work late to make sure business matters got handled.
✅ When the kids were little, my husband traveled for work, so it was even more important that I could be as flexible as possible for our kids. We made it work, because we were focused on family and we had an amazing network of people who could help when we needed support.
✅ I have spent my adulthood outside of work and family, volunteering with various local nonprofits, including but limited to, the Cabarrus Arts Council, 1CAN, Rotary, numerous PTO’s and with Boy Scout Troop 173. It was important to me to give back and show my kids the importance of doing so.
What did all of this teach me?
✅ I’m not the smartest person in the room, but I am a good listener and a smart person, who knows when to take directions from others who do know more.
✅ I know when I don’t know the answer, I know to ask questions.
✅ We need to be resilient and pivot in life.
✅ When times get hard, we need to work hard to survive.
✅ We need a community and network, who can “have our back”.
✅ Life isn’t always easy or rosy, so we must stand together.
✅ On days when I feel that I failed as a parent, I know that at night my kids knew they were loved, and that is the most important thing.
✅ I know that I am surrounded by countless other folks in Cabarrus County, who feel the same way daily. Because of my journey, I know how to look outside of my box and household, to understand where others are coming from in their own life journey.
So that takes me to tonight, I have no stake in the game in Scouting anymore. My son earned his Eagle Scout rank last month and he left for college last week. I don’t say this to brag or say look at me. It’s about realizing I’m not done yet, and the boys in our Troop aren’t done yet. I didn’t go in Uniform tonight, but I showed up to do Board of Reviews for the younger scouts. They, like our community, need adults who show up and step up to ask the hard questions. “Why are you in Scouting? What do you like about our Troop? What would you like different? What Merit Badge do you like the most or least? Why do you think we are asking you to do this at 13? How do you think these things will impact your life?”
My Resume says I graduated from one of the most prestigious colleges in the country, that I am a business owner, and that I can do what I set my mind to….
But my biggest accomplishment in life, has been nurturing my community and our youth. One day, I will be long gone and no-one will care if I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, but I hope that my kids and these young men will carry on that legacy of protection and leadership. That will be worth more than the $40,000 piece of paper on my office wall.
~ Kristel Dalton Swayze
I was born and raised in Cabarrus County. I am a graduate of AL Brown, a Boy Scout leader, a small business owner, a mother of two, a wife, a sister, and a daughter.
