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Meet Kimberly Kling of Joyful Roots in Bisbee

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Kling.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kimberly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, at the edge of where suburbia met farmland. Some of my favorite memories growing up were gardening with my family and visiting my parent’s friend’s gardens. I remember being enthralled by my grandmother’s gardening books and what fun I had exploring the plant nurseries. I’ve always loved plants.

Although I had a love for plants and art early on, I went to college for Engineering because at that age I didn’t know what career path to follow or fully understand the options available and I was good at math and science in school. I was encouraged to find a practical and well paying career.

After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, I learned about sustainable design, which was just starting to surface at the edge of the design profession at that time. I ended up attending a semester program at The Ecosa Institute in Prescott, AZ in 2004 and I was introduced to Landscape Architecture and Ethnobotany for the first time.

After Ecosa, I got a job in Scottsdale for a structural engineering firm. I worked there for nine months but quickly realized it was not my calling. I wanted to find a career that I felt passionate about. I ended up working at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix teaching school tours. It was a seasonal job that I loved, but while there I was further pulled in the direction of Landscape Architecture. I ended up attending grad school at the Master Of Landscape Architecture Program in Tucson. Shortly after graduating, I met my now husband and moved to a small town near Bisbee. I worked for a while in Landscape Design, until I had my son, who is now six.

It was after having my son that I experienced a health crisis and could not find answers from any of the doctors I went to see, so I started looking into alternative therapies. That is what lead me to herbalism. It was through the healing path that I discovered just how amazing herbs are and fell madly in love with both the herbs and this profession. It was through channeling my love of herbs that I created my line of Joyful Roots botanical skincare and wellness products.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like most people who are searching for their calling, it has been a road with many bumps and turns, but ultimately one that leads me in the right direction. It has been a huge learning process and one that came out of my health struggles too.

I’d say the biggest bump has been in overcoming my fear of being seen. That has meant pushing myself to overcome my social anxiety by taking baby steps and exposing myself to my fears over and over again.

In a way, Landscape Architecture school was trial by fire – giving a presentation after presentation in front of my peers. Then, as I started my own business I have had to overcome my fear of showing up on social media, podcasts, and in public to teach or speak. Every time I do, it gets easier. Ultimately, I know it’s not about me but rather it is about being of service to others. I have to show up to be of service!

I can say that it’s been a rewarding journey and I can feel in my bones that I’m on the right path. It’s been a process of self-discovery and I continue to learn and grow every day.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
From our home and garden in Southern Arizona, Joyful Roots helps women to reconnect and cultivate their relationship with their inner Joy. We do this by creating products and learning opportunities that help us to root into nature, uplift our well-being, activate our joy, and deepen the relationship we have to our Mother Earth.

I believe that plants have the power to support our bodies in their healing process by instilling us with the ancient wisdom they were so brilliantly instilled with over the eons. I believe that plants can offer us soul care too, by granting us a deeper connection to nature and Mother Gaia.

Joyful Roots botanical wellness products are 100% natural, toxin-free, and nourishing to mind body and soul. Through my herbal products, design, and educational outreach, I am helping people to heal in multidimensional ways and connecting them back to the natural world of which we are so deeply intertwined. Every purchase from our shop also plants at least one tree! In this way, we are helping to re-robe our planet in green and shift out of consumption and into regeneration.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was very shy and reserved and preferred to be involved in the adult conversations much of the time. My parents used to joke that I parented them, haha.

From a young age, I was interested in environmental issues. I asked to have animals adopted from WWF for Christmas and had my mom print out flyers that I made about different environmental issues so that I could hand them out to the neighborhood kids.

I also loved making art and often preferred being alone making art instead of being around a lot of children. However, we did have a wonderful and very child friendly neighborhood growing up, and I remember having so much fun running through the lawns, making “plant stew,” playing by the creek, and staying out late in the summer to play “Ghost In The Graveyard” and catch lightning bugs.

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