Kris Wylder grew up on a farm in Wakefield, Virginia, a quiet town in Southeastern Virginia.
“It's a place where you waved at cars that drove by, knew everyone, and genuinely cared about what was going on within the community. You randomly stopped by friends' homes and baked extra pies for neighbors, that kind of place. People driving by would call our home phone because one of our cows was wandering in the street,” says Kris, with a laugh.
After graduating from college, Kris moved to New York City, where she spent the next 10 years. “To say it was culture shock would be putting it lightly, but I loved every moment of living there. That city taught me so much, and I'll be forever grateful for the experience. I was working in television at the time, and everything was fast paced. I had moments where I would escape the city and go back to the farm to feel a sense of peace. If you’ve ever experienced a farm at dusk, being in the barn with the animals, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”
From New York, Kris then went to Los Angeles, somewhere else that was a far cry from the Southern life she had grown up living. “I enjoyed LA but I missed the charm of being in a Southern city. I knew that if I was to have a child someday, I’d want them to grow up in a version of what I did. Friendliness, a sense of home, the ability to go out to the country to get a sense of peace. That was so important to me.”
Five years ago, Kris landed in Nashville. Physically and literally. “The Nashville airport was the friendliest airport I'd ever been in; it didn’t feel real. I spent a few months coming in and out of town house hunting, going back and forth on the decision to move, and finally bought. It was the best decision I've ever made. To have my daughter here and feel this sense of community, it was a version of being home on the farm. Although it has changed greatly in the five years I’ve been here, it’s still the charming Southern city I initially fell in love with. It has quickly become home. I bake pies for neighbors, I say y’all again, the neighborhood kids stop by to feed my front yard chickens in Green Hills, it’s a big small town.”
Kris is a luxury real estate agent who has her hand in several projects. In fact, when asked what she does for work, she laughed. “I’m not sure how to answer that question, real estate is what I do full time. I’m an agent at Corcoran Reverie where I run a team, I couldn't function without my girls Abbie Walls and Elise Stein. I’m working on selling a TV show and I’ve started a charitable women’s group called Love Wylder. We have monthly meetings where I connect women with charitable groups within the community. It's been the most incredible thing to experience.”
“Most importantly, more important than work, I’m a mom to the most wonderful little girl, Graham. It’s hard at times to balance motherhood and working full time, but I hope to show her women are superheroes in all we do on a daily basis. It’s imperative to me that she knows her mom's roots of farm life, small towns, talking to people, and most importantly, even if you don’t return to where you grew up, you’ll be able to find your sense of home in the right place," she says.
"Nashville is that place for us."
Styling: Showroom Nashville
Hair Styling: Slay Bae Beauty Co Green Hills
Haircut/Color: Caleb Cowan