We recently connected with Kelly Keyser and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

After many years of working in the corporate world and studying herbal medicine throughout, I finally ventured into holistic healing as a career. I opened my own store in early 2017 and found early success. I was new to the community and offering something wholly new; sharing an eye-opening perspective and opportunities for wellness. I was a one-woman band. Working all the hours at the store. Making all my products, doing the social media and the backroom accounting. Adjusting store hours as I needed to balance my world. However, by mid-2019, I could feel burnout approaching. Something needed to shift.

I went back and forth in my mind for weeks. Feeling the deep pull to do my work differently. Dreaming of building and working out of a small apothecary space on my property. This would better serve my clients and myself. But, how could I leave a fully busy, successful retail location? On paper it made no sense to close the doors and shift to a new paradigm. And yet I kept coming back to the idea that I wanted to do it my way.

After much internal debate, I decided to take a trip to view buildings that could be custom built and brought to my meadow location. I was instantly excited. Finding the right layout, the right size and a little front porch for sitting. As I sat and discussed the financials, I simply made the decision. Almost in a dream state, I made the order to have the building delivered by the end of November. Right then and there, the conclusion to close my retail location and build the apothecary of my dreams had been made. On my own space. On my own terms.

From that point, everything fell into place. The building was delivered the day before a massive snowstorm that would have halted work until spring. My husband was between jobs and had an 8-week sabbatical that was perfectly timed so we could finish and complete the inside work. As we were finalizing my space, the pandemic was fast approaching. Which would have deeply impacted my ability to have a retail location. All the timing was completely kismet. I followed my internal voice, despite how it looked on paper. This shift has completely changed how I work. My life is more balanced. My client’s experience is more intimate and personal. Listen to the little tugs in your heart and mind. It always leads you where you are meant to go.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Like many holistic practitioners, I found this pathway as a result of my own long illness. After seeing 10 different doctors over 7 years I was finally diagnosed with endometriosis. After one of my surgeries, my brother picked up a book for me on herbal remedies. I was always a plant lover, so this seemed to him a fun read. I was instantly drawn in and curious, playing with teas and balms as I convalesced. I found these remedies weren’t just accessible, but were effective. I dove into reading all I could and eventually started online courses to become an herbalist. While I was working at a marketing firm, I was concocting tinctures, balms and infused vinegars in my free time. After 20 years of honing my skills, experimenting with my own wellness goals, I decided it was time to bring these skills to the public. Since then, I have worked with people of all ages and needs – bringing options to the community.

While my core expertise is in herbal medicine; over the years I have expanded my work as my clients and even my needs have changed. Working with me can result in me sending you a tincture, a balm or custom blended tea. And working with the body can be an effective space for shifting your wellness goals. But energy work has come to infuse everything I do. I became a flower essence practitioner in 2018 and a Reiki practitioner in 2020. These potent and subtle vibrational medicines can be profoundly changing for those who lean in. Flower essences open your internal channels to reveal where patterns and changes can be made. And Reiki has a way of recalibrating and reconnecting the parts of you that need to be made whole.

Most practitioners will tell you that the clientele they draw to them mirror the places where they have already walked through the darkness. I have found this to be true. My clientele is largely women who are on the precipice of deep, emotional shift or grief. I have been through many different versions of myself. Letting parts of me die away, facing the darkness and walking through the ‘swamp’ with my candlelight to find my way back to myself. I love hearing the story of where you are and how you got here. And most importantly, how can I help you find your way to a new version of yourself. From here, I work with my tools to identify and create kits of ritual, wellness and joy.

My favorite new offering is a ritual kit that blends these holistic tools with art and magic. Sometimes our wellness and self care can feel simply utilitarian. Becoming just another “chore” on our list. But, for me, if your tools are magically made and infused with energy work – they can become a joy to take. My ritual kits are completely custom offerings for my clients. They are artfully made with a full write up of prompts and invitations for you to explore. I believe this helps you engage with your herbs and flower essences more fully. Encouraging you to pay attention to your body and the emotional impacts you are discovering. I believe your wellness is all about your follow through and our collaboration. And my goal is to create a tool kit that feels otherworldly and beguiling to use. Through visual interest, scent, beauty and 25 years of experience in the plant and real worlds.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My reputation has been built by two things that may seem like they don’t match. In this field, working with clients, listening and asking the right questions is crucial. Mirroring what you hear back to them to challenge their current way of life. If they wish to change, they need to hear where and what is not working. Listening to their stories and giving them the space to share is invaluable. I am a good listener and I know what questions to ask. My meadow apothecary is a safe space to share and say the things you usually do not dare say aloud. And conversely, I am brutally honest with my clients. I ask them hard questions. And while I use my words carefully, some people need a softer touch, I am truthful about the true reality of healing journeys. They are not easy. They require dedication. And they are slow and deliberate.

I am known for walking you where you need to go. But, I will not sugar coat any step of the journey. I will share my own downfalls and failures. We are all doing this process. You will always hear the truth from me.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that is most impactful to unlearn is the fact that not everyone will like/get/approve of what you do. And a lesson that is forever being unlearned. My entire childhood is filled with stories of being myself and getting ostracized or ousted for this true expression of myself. I lost friends because I didn’t want to become a cheerleader and they all did. I wore the clothes and hair I wanted in high school only to be made fun of. In marketing meetings, as one of the only women in the room, I often was scoffed or discounted when I told brutal truths about campaign execution.

The takeaway is to simply be yourself. And no, not everyone will ‘get it’, but they don’t have to. As long as you are standing and speaking in your own truth, all else falls away. Do the art. Write the poem. Make the medicine. Host the event. There will always be some people who will hear your call and be drawn in to your orbit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kellykeyser.com
• Instagram: @kelly.keyser.millar
• Linkedin: Kelly Keyser Millar