Kim Cums: Bikinis, Bushwalks and Building It All Herself
The Australia-based bikini model on shooting for herself, saying no to customs, and why sustainability beats hustle.
There is a particular kind of creator who never set out to build a business and ended up with one anyway. Kim Cums is one of them. She started posting beach and pool photos to a bikini fan community, kept shooting because she enjoyed it, and somewhere along the way the thing she was doing for fun became the thing she does for a living — on her own terms, on her own schedule, shooting whatever she feels like shooting.
We sat down with Kim to talk about how it started, what actually goes into an outdoor shoot (spoiler: snacks), and what she would tell anyone thinking about selling their own content independently. Her answers are refreshingly free of hustle-culture nonsense.
The short version
Kim Cums is an Australia-based bikini model and independent content creator who sells photo and video sets directly to her audience on BentBox. She shoots almost entirely outdoors, plans her sets around places she wants to visit rather than around requests, rarely accepts customs, and considers full creative control the single most rewarding part of working for herself.
It started with a birthday present
How did you first get into bikini modelling, and when did you realise you wanted to turn it into a professional pursuit?
I first got into bikini modelling through the Wicked Weasel community group called Microminimus. It was an online fan community for lovers of Wicked Weasel Bikinis, a brand that used to be known for very tiny and sheer swimwear. My Aussie partner bought me some for my birthday, which kickstarted my own love of the brand. We started posting our own pictures of our beach and pool adventures on the community site, and everything else just spawned from there!
It is a familiar shape of origin story: no business plan, no launch strategy, just something enjoyable that gathered momentum. What is less common is how deliberately Kim has protected that original impulse as the work has grown.
How would you describe your personal aesthetic? Who or what inspires the visual mood of your shoots?
I would describe my personal style as fun, playful, and candid. My shoots have always been a way for me to document my own life, activities, and interests, so my picsets and galleries are a visual diary for me.
What do you love most about being in front of the camera?
I love being able to experiment with different outfits and express myself through clothing. It's really wonderful to wear something daring (maybe a little sheer) to a location where you might not expect to see such an outfit! I think good art, including photography and fashion, should attempt to push boundaries, and that's definitely my favourite part of modelling.
“My picsets and galleries are a visual diary for me.”Kim Cums
Sunscreen, bug spray and never forget the snacks
Ask most people what goes into a swimwear shoot and they will picture wardrobe and lighting. Ask someone who shoots on trails and beaches and you get a packing list.
What goes into planning an exclusive photo or video set for your fans?
I honestly mostly plan things for myself rather than for my fans. If I find a cool beach or bushwalk that I want to explore, or even a hotel room or studio that offers something unique, I'll then plan the shoot around that activity or location. I very, very rarely accept customs because it's rare that someone else's (often very specific) vision aligns enough with my own. I would always rather shoot something for myself, and let the right people find me.
That last line is worth reading twice. Let the right people find me. It is a completely different business posture from chasing requests, and it only works on a platform where your back catalogue stays discoverable instead of scrolling into oblivion after forty-eight hours.
What does a typical shoot day look like? How do you prepare, mentally and physically?
Since I do a lot of outdoor photography, on top of any cute clothes or bikinis I am packing, I'm also packing clothes and items for the weather and location. I always try to bring warmer clothes in case the weather turns, water, bug spray (mozzies think I'm delicious), sunscreen, hats, sunnies, and lots of snacks. You should never forget the snacks!
I also try to mentally prepare to not be able to shoot exactly what I wanted; it's important to stay creatively flexible. We could be rained out, the trail or beach could've changed since our last visit, any number of little things could not go to plan. Spontaneity and choice limitation can breed creativity though, so I try to go out and have fun, and no matter what, I usually get something good out of the camera.
Do you have a favourite location you have shot at so far?
I absolutely have some favourites — I'm going to keep them a secret though.
If you could organise a dream swimwear shoot anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I would love to do a swimwear shoot in the snow with the Northern lights in the background. The contrast of the swimwear against the snow combined with the technical challenge of shooting the lights and astrophotography would be a real delight!
The part where it becomes a business
Taking control of your own content is a big entrepreneurial step. What has been the most rewarding part of building your own brand?
Working for myself and having full creative control over the content that I shoot and the work that I do is invaluable to me. I love being able to choose what I am planning, shooting, editing, and writing each week, and being able to feel ownership over what I am creating.
“Figure out what is sustainable for you in the long run.”Kim's advice to new creators
What advice would you give to other models or creators looking to take charge of their work and sell their digital content independently?
Figure out what is sustainable for you in the long run. Working 80+ hours a week is not sustainable, shooting and posting everyday is not sustainable. Make sure that you are giving yourself breaks, breathing room, and building time-off into your life.
This is the answer we hear most often from creators who are still doing this five and ten years in, and it is the one the internet is worst at repeating. The creators who burn out are almost always the ones on a treadmill of daily posting for a feed that forgets them instantly. A catalogue works differently: a set you shot two years ago on a good day at a good beach can still be earning next month.
What can fans expect next? Any new themes or projects on the horizon?
I'm currently really leaning into my pink-era, and I have a lot of “pink and plastic” shoots that I'm planning out at the moment. Stay tuned!
If any of that sounds like how you want to work
Kim's model of working — shoot what you want, list it, let the right buyers find it, take time off without penalty — is exactly what BentBox was built for. You upload a set, you set the price, and you keep 100% of that price. BentBox adds its commission on top at checkout and the buyer pays it: $3 on boxes under 100MB, $5 on boxes of 100MB and above. There is no listing fee, no subscription to maintain, and no revenue split eating into what you asked for.
Just as importantly, there is no posting schedule. Nobody is going to bury your work because you spent three weeks not shooting. Your boxes stay listed, stay searchable, and keep selling while you are off doing something else — which is the only version of this job that survives contact with real life.
Your work. Your price. Your pace.
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