Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelsey Eaton & Chali Temple. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kelsey Eaton & thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

We started attending a lot of wellness events in Sacramento and the surrounding areas that tapped into self-care, reflection, and the promotion of sisterhood. These were spaces for women specifically to come together to feel supported and seen, as well as connect with their spirituality.

While a lot of these events were helpful, we could not help but feel like there were elements in them that were missing, things that we were craving or craving more of. One of them was diversity. We felt like the majority of these events were aimed towards a specific target audience of women, as well as the prices of them. The events and gatherings we did enjoy were quite far away and not practical for us to attend on a regular basis.

From this we decided to form Kelsali Wellness so that we could bring what we were looking for to the local area in Sacramento for women that were looking for a feminine community to feel a part of. While we do have offers that are open to all genders, our focus was really to create a safe and comfortable space for individuals from all walks of life and backgrounds. Most importantly, we wanted the events to feel accessible to folks financially as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Both of Kelsali founders met while working for an international non-profit aimed at supporting refugees and immigrants in the U.S. We quickly bonded over the importance of service to those seeking support and looking for communities to feel safe and accepted in. Kelsey has an extensive background grant writing, development funding, and in spiritual healing and yoga, while Chali focused on global social work for a lot of her career and trauma-informed care. While we both appreciated the professional work and support non-profits and agencies are doing for communities, there was a spark of creativity and passion that led us to want to do this at strictly community-level.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a pivotal moment where we felt like these services were really needed in Sacramento, especially for women. So many times we would hear stories and anecdotes from others about how lonely it feels to navigate life as an adult woman living in a patriarchal society. Not only did we feel like we had professional experiences that would make us qualified to help others, but we were also building out in other various healing modalities as well. Kelsey has been training intensively to tap into energy and meditative healing, while Chali dedicated a lot of her time to becoming a sound healer. Both of us decided to also get certified as Women’s Guidance Facilitators through the Sacred Sister Collective so that we could learn more about leading and facilitating feminine healing spaces.

Currently we provide bi-monthly sound baths for the community (all genders), a monthly women’s healing circle, and quarterly women’s day retreats. These events are designed to allow participants to come and feel safe in a place where they can be with others and participate in whatever level of vulnerability feels accessible to them. Our goal is to organically create a community where folks can come to connect with themselves and others who are open and non-judgmental.

The location of where we hold these healing gathers is extremely unique. Events are held in a beautiful large geodesic dome built by Kelsey. This structure provides a sense of awe but also embodies shelter and safety for those looking to unwind in a beautiful capsule. We had set community guidelines that gear towards helping others feel safe to be vulnerable and fully themselves, while also holding authenticity in everyone’s victories and sorrows. A lot of healing spaces we have entered before feel like they are very light-washed, meaning that legitimate sorrows and difficulties are gleaned over with an unrealistic spirituality and positivity that takes away from individual’s suffering and experiences. We are here to give hope to others and make sure they do not feel alone, but also allowing them to grieve and feel their genuine feelings with what is going on in their lives.

We are most proud of creating this community that feels consistently held and accepted enough to return on a monthly basis. Genuine friendships and bonds have been created through the gatherings we have offered, but the profound sense of community is what we are proud to have. Many individuals are going through life-changing shifts and decision-making moments in their lives, and to say that we can be there to support them as they navigate and decide on these transitions is what we have always been hoping for.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When we first started Kelsali, it seemed like our sound bath events were extremely popular and we were selling out of them completely. This felt amazing, and then there was a shift where it became harder to fill up classes. This is also the same with our monthly women’s circles and retreats. I think it made us second-guess if starting this business was a good idea, or even something that was wanted/needed in Sacramento. The small amount of people who kept showing up are those we are so grateful for, as they helped fuel us through building resistance as business owners. We kept doing our events, seeking feedback, and following our intuition to try different things and keep others that felt aligned with our values. Now it feels like that was completely worth it and a part of our natural growth process, as we feel well-established in our values and understand that the practices may not align with every person’s needs. And that is more than okay. Every healer and experience offers different things that are good fits for different people.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

For us, we believe that it is being genuinely authentic in how we show up as people. The things we offer are so rooted in feeling safe to be vulnerable and connect with yourself and others. If we did not show up and participate ourselves, then we would feel like hypocrites using people’s suffering to make money, which is the last thing we want our participants and communities to feel. Truthfully, our business is not one that is designed to be financially profitable – we charge what we feel is fair for our time, energy to hold space, and cover materials needed for events. Our participants see that in how we show up for them and the community, which creates a special bond and sense of trust between us as business owners and those showing up to our offerings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelsali.com/
• Instagram: kelsali_wellness

Image Credits

All photos taken by JMooreVisuals