We recently connected with Kimberly Dark and have shared our conversation below.

Kimberly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When you’ve been a professional in an industry for long enough, you’ll experience moments when the entire field takes a U-Turn, an instance where the consensus completely flips upside down or where the “best practices” completely change. If you’ve experienced such a U-Turn over the course of your professional career, we’d love to hear about it.

One focus of my work has been helping people understand that social stigma is not a personal problem – it’s a social one. Put another way, we all learn very young that bodies line up along a hierarchy of worth and that we should try to get above someone else (or at least not slip too far down the ladder). This is not only a tragic waste of time and creativity to operate as though this is true – it’s dehumanizing to many. Women, in particular, spend a ridiculous amount of time and money to reach a level of attractiveness and thinness that is at a minimum acceptable – rather than realizing that big companies are profiting off our insecurities constantly. Even health messages sometimes parrot what serves their funders.

One industry U-turn I’ve seen in the past decade has been the move toward body positivity – and then the rejection of individual body positivity as a solution to the tragedy of human hierarchy. People are slowly coming to understand that no amount of positive thinking will turn stairs into a ramp for a disabled person who needs one. No amount of body love will cause a fat person to be treated better if that person’s very embodiment remains synonymous with gluttony, laziness and stupidity. And when health messages and drug treatments create huge profits, we need to look more carefully at how they came to be and what health really means.

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?

I’m a sociologist by training. Long ago, I realized I didn’t want a career only in the academy. I wanted to bring these really vital messages about social inequality to broader audiences in creative ways. I’m the author of twelve plays and educational performance scripts, 4 books and I spent the last thirty years traveling to offer storytelling, keynotes and workshops at colleges, universities, festivals and conferences.

My content is hopeful, above all else. (I also write a monthly newsletter called The Hope Desk.) The thing is, every part of human culture was created BY HUMANS. That means we are powerful social creators. When we choose not to acknowledge this, we’re likely just creating more of what we already have. It’s not possible to abdicate our role as social creators! So we may as well and embrace it and make conscious choices about how we spend our time, how we influence others and what kind of world we each want to see. Complexity is our human gift and though many people try hard to conform, there is no wrong way to have a body or make a family or create community. The more creative inclusion we inspire, the better.

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

Early on, when I started doing freelance research, talks and writing, I was terrified every time I expressed radical views. My son was young and I feared I’d be penniless by the end of the month. We’d lose the house! How would I keep making a living if I couldn’t shut up and go along – at least a little bit – with the status quo.

What I learned was that intelligent, well-founded divergent viewpoints impress people. And sure, sometimes I lost clients, but I always drew other like-minded people into my sphere eventually. By being as much of ourselves as we can, we build alliances, community; we find mentors and become mentors.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Integrity, persistence and clarity. I show up and follow through. I say what I believe needs to be said, even when it’s not the most popular path. Having these traits is not a piece of business advice though – it’s life advice. I’ve certainly experienced times when my income suffered as a result of my integrity – and even just as a result of wanting to do things my own way. Many times, I’ve forged my own path, rather than cashing the check. I’m not as interested in having a successful business as I am interested in having a good life. And in the sum reckoning (now that I’m closer to 60 than 50) I feel it’s worked out just fine.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kimberlydark.com
• Instagram: @kimberly.dark
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.dark.9/
• Twitter: @kimberlydark
• Other: The Hope Desk Newsletter: kimberlydark.substack.com

Image Credits

Main photo: John Gentry
Red Dress: big cake artist Thedra Cullar-Ledford
Other headshots: Rhon Drinkwater