Meet Kwailan Barsotti of Desert Lotus Boutique & Gifts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kwailan Barsotti.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kwailan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My family and I moved to Anthem, Arizona five years ago from Kauai, Hawai’i and we fell in love with our little town! We instantly knew that this was going to be the place our daughter, Maile, would grow and thrive. Oddly enough, it took some time to really build a vision of what we were going to create. Some might say we overdid it, or that the concept of a Boutique that is affordable, selling gifts of positive affirmations, stun guns, crystals and healing stones, just doesn’t work. But it does.

Slowly, we started creating the concept of having no carbon footprint. All of our fixtures are repurposed and were someone else’s junk. With a little love, patience and whole lot of creativity we soon had a finished store that encourages positivity, ingenuity and warmth! My husband Miles and I have always believed in sharing kind acts with others and community service is huge in our hearts!

With that being said, we started leading community walks, public picnics and offering workshops that showcased some of the talents of our own local residents. Now we are focused on more health and wellness and have launched our Healing Room, featuring the Bemer technology, which is changing lives daily!

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?
Things have been relatively smooth for us. We are blessed with some of the most amazing clients and guest workshop teachers ever! Our only struggle has been to get the name Desert Lotus Boutique & Gifts out there in the public’s eye and share our message of kindness, inclusivity and LOVE. We are a new age store with a lot more to offer than your typical boutique and we are truly excited for friends to tell friends and share our LOVE with all!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Desert Lotus Boutique & Gifts, located on the corner of Vision and Opportunity Way, Anthem, AZ. We’ve been open since June 4th, 2016 and started with affordable bohemian clothing and gifts of positive affirmations. We now also have a line of essential oils, various sages, locally made artisan products. imported one of a kind gifts from Bali, sustainable clothing line, health & wellness products from natural deodorants to minerals and more!

We also offer workshops, from Tarot Card to Reiki, aromatherapy and more! All the above sets us apart but what truly makes us different is that we recently launched our Healing Room, which utilizes the Bemer and have created a membership service to help those that cannot afford the cost of this healing modality to now have access to the all the amazing benefits!

I am most proud of as a company to be able to meet and help so many people going through some really rough stuff, from grieving a loss to living a life in some of the worst pain that anyone can imagine. Helping others is truly our only intention and what drives us to be the best we can be. Our impetus is truly that simple and by honoring that, we know that we have done the best we possibly could.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up my nose was always stuck in a book. I immigrated from a little island from the Caribbean called Trinidad and moved to East New York, Brooklyn. Yeah… no one wanted to play with a young girl with a thick accent, so I was left out a lot. I soon learned that books can take you on a magical journey and that you never stopped making friends when you read. I also loved meeting people from all over the world and learning about cultures, food, music, swear words (lol) and most importantly, the people!

After I graduated from New York University, I gave up my career in Public Relations for politicians in New York City and decided to travel the world bartending! After 3 years I was in Turks & Caicos, enjoying the best beaches in the world and realized that it was time to head back to the real world. I tried with all my might to fit in in New York City but I just couldn’t assimilate. All of a sudden I couldn’t function in the city life… I couldn’t breathe. I knew that I was meant to continue my travel and met up with two dive masters from Turks heading to Kaua’i, HI.

I ended up living there for the most part of my life! Learning the Hawaiian culture, the food, music and the beautiful people truly humbled me and that is where I learned about service and building community relations through helping others. In Hawaii, I had no family and I quickly learned about “Ohana” (family) and how one can be “hanaied” (informal adoption) into another family because that is the way the Hawaiians live and LOVE! I learned about “Aloha” (love) and how important it is to share and receive, just as equally.

This is where I met a friend that years later I fell in love with and now I call partner for life. My life path has had many turns, and I am grateful to each one of them because I would not be living the most happy life ever… if I had skipped just one of those turns.

Contact Info:

• Address: 4220 W. Opportunity Way, Suite #103 Anthem, AZ 85086
• Website: http://www.desertlotusboutique.com/
• Phone: (714) 552-6030
• Email: kwailan@desertlotusboutique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desertlotusboutique
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desertlotusboutique/
• Twitter: @ShopDesertLotus

Image Credit:
Blaire Catherine IBCLLC (black & white)

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