Kim Carrigan’s Midwestern roots take her to award-winning heights

Kim Carrigan isn’t best known for being a tour guide at the Missouri State Capitol nor for being a former Jefferson City High School Jayette. While some may recognize her from these activities or her long-ago stint as an anchor for KRCG-TV, most recognize her as the face of radio and news in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. Even with her huge success on the East Coast, Kim’s essence still remains connected to the Midwest.

Kim’s family moved from the St. Louis area to Jefferson City when she was just a sophomore in high school. As a young woman, Kim recalls cheering on the esteemed Jefferson City Jay football team as a Jayette and cruising Missouri Boulevard, the popular pastime for teens back in the day. She also enjoyed working weekends as a tour guide at the Missouri State Capitol.

Entering college, Kim aspired to be a sports anchor —having been influenced by Phyllis George, one of the first women to hold an on-air position in national televised sports broadcasting. However, a wise counselor at the University of Missouri-Columbia encouraged Kim to seek a career in news instead, knowing how tough it was for women to break into sports broadcasting at that time. Heeding the advice, she earned her degree in radio, television, and film.

Kim began her broadcasting career at KQTV in St. Joseph, Missouri, where she worked as a weekend anchor. From there, she moved to KMIZ-17 in Columbia, Missouri, spending six months as the nightly news anchor. That’s when KRCG-TV 13 wooed her back to Jefferson City with a better offer. But it wasn’t long before bigger markets started noticing Kim’s talents and began pursuing her.

She left KRCG to join WHO 13 in Des Moines, Iowa, as the anchor for the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. By then, she and her husband Randy, whom she met at the University of Missouri, were married. His career followed hers, and they ultimately landed in Boston in 1993. For nine years, she worked as the anchor for the 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. broadcasts at WHDH, an NBC affiliate. She then moved to Boston’s WBZ-TV, a CBS affiliate, before landing a role as the co-anchor for Fox’s Boston 25 News morning show. That career move brought with it a 2 a.m. wake-up call and the challenge of conducting four hours’ worth of interviews each weekday.

“It was the best experience of my career,” Kim says, despite the demands.

Kim has also worked in radio broadcasting, even earning an Emmy award. Today, she is the host of Carrigan and Company, a weekly lifestyle podcast that showcases a variety of nationally known guests, and the New England Business Report, a Boston business radio show.

“My Midwestern roots, my family values, and my love of and sense of community… are the reasons I made it as far as I did and was able to achieve success.”
Kim Carrigan

During her career, she has traveled the world, inter-viewed presidents and first ladies, covered Super Bowls and World Series, interacted with the famous and infamous, and reported breaking news for more than 35years. Still, it is her interviews with everyday people that she finds the most enjoyable and memorable.

“Whether it’s the pumpkin farmer whose place is underwater and he doesn’t know what’s next or it’s a mom who is sending her oldest off to war, those are the stories that are impactful in life,” Kim says.

Kim still has no thoughts of retiring, saying she has worked flexibility into her current career choices, which allows her to enjoy a positive work-life balance. She credits the support of her parents, husband, and children, A.J. and Grace, with enabling her to be where she is today.

“I have been blessed with an incredible life and a lot of love,” Kim says. “Nobody has a life like I’ve had without more support than you can imagine. You just don’t.”

Even though Kim left Missouri to pursue a highly successful career in television broadcasting, she’s never lost touch with her Midwestern upbringing.

“My Midwestern roots, my family values, and my love of and sense of community, which I developed all right here in Jefferson City, are the reasons I made it as far as I did and was able to achieve success,” Kim says. “To this day, people say to me that there was a warm sense they got from me, and that’s why they welcomed me into their homes year after year.”

Kim still visits Jefferson City frequently, and when she and her family return home, she is often amazed at how much Jefferson City has changed.

“Jefferson City is just growing leaps and bounds in positive ways, and that makes me feel very proud about the city,” Kim says. “It’s kept its quaint feeling and, at the same time, has become a much bigger place.”