Million Dollar Woman: Breck photographer sees beauty in life's battles

Katie Girtman, Breckenridge photographer

Welcome to the third installment of the Million Dollar Woman series, where readers can nominate a woman who's making moves in her community, family, office, band, relationship or anything in her life. Simply e-mail me details about a gal who catches your eye and I'll post your submissions, links and bits of inspiration here.

This week's Million Dollar Woman is Katie Girtman, an accomplished photographer who currently resides in Breckenridge. Nate Ferguson, who oversees the Communities, Real Estate and Religion & Spirituality channels at Examiner.com, nominated this local woman. He admires her passion not only for her profession, but her determination to keep her family afloat during life's many battles.

For 20 years, Girtman has been making a living doing what she loves most: taking photographs. She was married by the age of 19, gave birth at 20 and graduated from the University of Missouri K.C. The day after graduation, Girtman moved to Colorado with her family.

Since planting her feet here, this female photographer has followed her eye and never given up.
 

After working for an advertising agency snapping photos for Coors, she landed a job at North Face as the photo editor and photographer in Carbondale. But when the company relocated to San Francisco, Girtman turned down the gig, as she loved Colorado too much. She soon started up her own business, Studio Kiva, and moved to Breckenridge.

This is one of Girtman's many
photographs. To see more of her work,
visit her Web site: www.studiokiva.com

Girtman got so busy with her business that she had to hire on her husband, who was working as an art director for magazines at the time. Not long after, her perfectly healthy husband suffered a heart attack at the age of 35 which was later discovered to be from a blood clotting disorder. While he was undergoing four heart surgeries, one of which was open heart, Girtman held not only the family together - but the family business. 

Having a daughter in high school and helping my husband get through these hard times was very tough and made me who I think I am today: a much stronger woman. We paid thousands of dollars in medical bills even with health insurance coverage. (This is when I found out how screwed up our health insurance system is.) The hospital told us we needed to file bankruptcy at the time, which I was completely in disagreement with -- having a business. 

Because Girtman wouldn't give up, the business survived without filing for bankruptcy, her husband came back into good health and her daughter made it through high school (and is currently pursuing film at CU-Boulder).

Just when this woman thought she had some room to breathe, Girtman was walking her dog Kodiak in the mountains -- when a black bear almost took her life. Kodiak, however, saved her life. This beloved pet was known around town as the dog who chased off bears in the neighborhood while kids played outside. According to Girtman, he loved everyone -- until the bears came out.

Girtman and the dog who saved
her life: Kodiak.

Unfortunately, Kodiak suffered some extreme wounds following the battle with the bear. After improving with each day, a blood clot from his injuries sadly took his life.

"We had a memorial service for him in town and I could not believe how many people came," Girtman says. "This dog came with me powder skiing and boarding while we were on the snow cats in the back country. He even saved someone's life in an avalanche. He was very special to everyone and especially to me."

Girtman's photography is undoubtedly a reflection of her passion for life, love and never giving up. And for her, this is only the beginning. "To be a photographer is one thing but to be known as having your own style is another, and I strive to have my own vision that I am recognized for someday," she says. "I know I have some angels out there looking after me, like Kodiak, so you never know what will happen."

Katie Girtman has many photo projects in store that she cannot wait to share. To see her work and learn more about this accomplished photographer, visit her Web site: www.studiokiva.com.