We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Simpson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Woodland Wanderland (with an “a” like Wanderlust) was created in 2022 and was inspired by the work I had previously done as an Anasazi Trail Walker.

If you haven’t heard of Anasazi, it’s a wilderness therapy program for “troubled” youth. The youth go into the wilderness for roughly seven weeks before returning home and we, employees, would rotate shifts. I loved the youth there and enjoyed many deep conversations.

After a bad knee injury while working I took a desk job as a Mental Health Therapist but would often reflect over my many fond memories of being a Trail Walker. Days where we would bush whack up to ten miles followed by creating a friction fire by rubbing sticks together to warm up the dehydrated beans from our food pack and rest under the stars with no tents just to do it over the next day.

While working in the wilderness I had many beautiful encounters with nature including having a bat fly down and hit me on my cheek as it kept flying; sitting at the creeks edge and seeing a black bear come drink near me; seeing eagles soaring over head; and having butterflies land on my lip for a real “butterfly kiss”. It was truly magical.

After being injured on the job, I decided to take another position. One day at work I was feeling restless and sad. I thought about it. “What makes me happy?” The answer immediately came to me, “nature!” I then thought about how I could possibly do something with nature and I immediately thought “Oddities and Curiosities shop” although I knew nothing about what to do, where to start, about taxes, where to find suppliers, or anything else. So, I Googled “ethically sourced preserved butterflies” and I found them. I purchased one hundred and posted them in a Facebook group with no idea if they would sell. I sold out in an hour. I knew I was on to something that was exciting to my soul. I could touch nature again and preserve the dead to celebrate that they had lived.

As time went on I learned so much, made great connections, and even formed a humanitarian project out of my business. I now have butterfly suppliers in Africa who send me ethically preserved butterflies from the jungles as I support them financially. We have people who ride their bicycles through rough terrain to the post office and sleep at the door step to send the packages. I’m so thankful for the connection and compensate them well in return including paying their medical bills.

My husband, Justin, who originally questioned my sanity started to see that I was actually making a real business out of Woodland Wanderland and he joined me in 2023 in opening a brick and mortar retail shop in Pinetop, Arizona.

Justin now sells all of the products and provides customer service in our shop full time. I make business connections and create all the items you’ll find in our store and online.

For me, Woodland Wanderland sets my heart free and allows me to express myself creatively. I’m forever grateful for the ability to preserve nature and make it into a beautiful masterpiece that is truly “never forgotten”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I think the biggest thing that customers should know about our brand is that all of our items are ethically sourced. We love animals and nature and want to preserve their beauty being their lives to be forever remembered.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

This business was created by a pivot in life. I was a wilderness therapist who became an oddities and curiosities shop owner.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Starting this business from a place of heart break due to a knee injury and using my love of nature to create this shop illustrates my resiliency.

Contact Info:

• Website: WoodlandWanderland.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodlandwanderland

Image Credits
Woodland Wanderland