From Member to Practitioner & Back Again: Kimberly's Journey at Saffron & Sage
Our founder and CEO, Cristin, sits down with Kimberly, a member and employee who has been with Saffron & Sage for the last 6 years. In this interview, Kimberly opens up and shares with us the insights from her personal and professional development.
Cristin: “Your journey here began 6 years ago. What was happening then?”
Kimberly: “Life was different, I was working in tech in sales. It was a demanding environment, a lot of pressure, big quota’s to hit and long hours, forcing me to bring the work home. In doing all this, my health was compromised.”
Kimberly goes on to explain that randomly one day, she almost “stroked out” - she was sent to the ER and eventually was diagnosed with a stress-induced autoimmune condition, known as Graves disease. This is an auto-immune disorder that causes the thyroid to become overactive. The body’s disease-fighting immune system makes an antibody that causes the thyroid to make too much thyroid hormone, which relays a variety of symptoms.
Her condition brought on a lot of emotional angst and anger, as she was on 13 different medications.
Soon after, she found Saffron & Sage, and did a wellness consultation. She said “ I liked the vibe and was curious about what else was offered here.”
Next, she tried acupuncture for the first time in her life and decided to become a member right afterwards. After repeatedly receiving acupuncture, fire cupping, and deep tissue massage treatments, all her lab markers started to go down. After only 30 days of being a member, she chose to be an employee of Saffron & Sage, leaving her six figure job to make minimum wage.
Kimberly climbed the ladder, beginning as an intern, to a concierge, to general manager, and then eventually to a practitioner offering reiki, hypnotherapy, hypnobirthing, and breathwork.
An important part of Kimberly’s journey was the use of reiki on her mother. Kimberly’s mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She went to visit her in the hospital where she grew up in Austin, TX, where she performed reiki on her. Within 20 minutes of reiki, her mother had stopped sweating, shivering, was speaking, and asking for food. Reiki was so profound to her mother’s health that the doctors had asked Kimberly to stay to continue to help heal her.
Kimberly’s own healing journey continued at Saffron & Sage after her mother's passing, allowing her to utilize the other services offered such as spiritual direction and grief work.
Cristin: “How would you describe your wellbeing now”
Kimberly: “I feel confident, confident in my decision making, my health, and I have perspective. My mental health is a continuous process for me, but having the support here to press into the discomfort allows me to move through it. I will always be a member here to choose to work on myself.” “It’s been a beautiful journey - my emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, energetic health and career development have evolved and transformed.”
Cristin: “What advice would you give to someone that was in your position 6 years ago?”
Kimberly: “Ask for help and trust your intuition, and press into your pain and you’re going to get better”