My Journey

Welcome!


Greetings friends! Welcome to 'Journey to My Roots'. I'll bet that just like me, you began thinking your journey was simply about hair. As I have traveled this road, I have learned it is so much more. This is a journey to self, a journey to self-awareness, a journey to self-love, a journey to humility, a journey to community, and a journey to solace. Yes, you will learn a lot about getting longer, stronger, more healthy hair but more importantly I pray that you'll find 'Journey to My Roots' to be a place where you feel connected, supported, uplifted, cherished, strengthened, and confirmed. I pray that you learn not just about roots but about truth. Know in truth that you are God's child and know that this means you are purposefully, perfectly, and divinely designed. My people (and their edges, LOL!) perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)! Whether you're natural, bald, relaxed, loc'd, wigged, weaved, or other. Where you are is where you are meant to be. Be it hair, family, friends, faith, or finances, the keys to success lie in truth, knowledge, and stewardship. I thank you for allowing me to share my journey with you and I pray that you'll share in kind. 

Who am I? Why did I start Journey to My Roots?

My name is Kimberly. I'm the eldest of four children by two wonderful parents. I'm a fierce mother bear and I proudly wave my 'nerd by nature' flag every chance I get. My formal education is in healthcare having earned a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Virginia Union University (V-U-U, I love it, I love it, I love it!) and a Master's Degree in Public Health from Yale University. By nature, I'm a thinker. I analyze (often over-analyze) EVERYTHING! It's that analysis tendency that started my journey. 

For years I relaxed my hair and never thought much of it. My mother started relaxing my hair when I was a tweenie because she surely tired of the weekly fights we had about taming my mane! Admittedly, I've always been blessed with thick hair but to a precocious 5 year old, thick hair and tender scalp are the things of nightmares! Fast forward 20+ years and there came a time when my career afforded me the privilege of working from home. While I loved the flexibility it gave me to spend with my son, besides mommy-duties, I found that I rarely left my home but for the perfunctory weekly hair appointment so many women-of-color have become accustomed to. 

While I don't knock anybody's choices, I began to question this whole cycle. While baking under the dryer one day I asked myself, "Kim, WTH are you doing? Why do you pay beacoup dollars to burn under this dryer each week only to go home and sit in a home-based office where few people see you?" After pondering that thought for a while (and forking over WAY too much moolah), I decided, enough is enough....I'm going natural!

Like so many I was afraid to BC (big chop) so I transitioned for many months but as expected after I grew a bit of length, my hair began to break at the point between the new growth and the old relaxed hair. It was time to let it go. Little did I realize how impactful the BC could be. While I've never felt like a 'dime-piece', I've always felt 'pretty'. Little did I realize how much of society's lies I'd internalized! In a society that teaches women that your hair is your reigning crown of glory, Glory was what I needed in the moments after my BC. As I stood before the mirror with my TWA (teeny weenie afro) I cried and cried and cried. I felt so NOT beautiful, NOT feminine, NOT worthy. The comments that began rolling off the tongues of onlookers didn't help either. For a while I covered my head with wigs, weaves, headwraps, whatever. I did anything to cover what felt like a source of 'ugliness'. But little by little, as I learned to live with it, I learned to love it. I learned that beauty is not determined by your exterior, it exudes from the interior and is simply accentuated and adorned by the exterior. I learned that if I stuck with it. If I went through the stages, not only would I survive, I would have the last laugh. 

Needless to say, I'm still laughing. The same people, the same society, the same social norms that once made me feel ugly are knocking at my door for 'the secret'. Fact is, there is no secret. What I needed, what I wanted, and what I was meant to be was there all the time. Like all things, reward comes with trial, error, patience, knowledge, humility, and wisdom. It's these truths that 'Journey to My Roots' is built on. When I first BC'd (~2010), there were very few products targeted for naturals and finding sound, scientifically-based information was even harder. I decided that that would be my niche. Journey to My Roots would be a single source where people of all ages, all genders, all races, and all hair types could come to get knowledge and support. Wigged, weaved, relaxed, or natural, ' Journey to My Roots' is a support system for all those on the journey.

Hear more about my journey here:

MOST IMPORTANTLY......MY TESTIMONY!

For those of you who follow me, you know that at the pinnacle of Journey to My Roots' growing success, I completely walked away. What you don't know is that while the videos, posts, etc showed a smiling face and happy demeanor, I was dying inside. Fortunately, what man cannot see in the physical realm, God has already seen and handled in the spiritual realm!

Through spirituality, I have come to truly know God. There is new meaning to the words 'He walks with me...He talks with me... He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies...He restores my soul...He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake'- Psalm 23. Like any good father, God supplies all my needs. I am thankful because when I fell, I fell right into God's unwavering arms. 


While I still do not subscribe to 'religion' I live by 'spirituality'. What's the difference you ask? 
Religion requires belief. Spirituality is something you know. 
Because I know him, I do not need to believe in God.

My ever-increasing spirituality leads me to know certain things to be true. I know that life is richest when spent in service to others. I know that a closed hand cannot receive. I know that a person's worth cannot be measured in silver or gold. I know that iron sharpens iron (meaning the most difficult battles are often left up to the most battle-tested warriors). I know if I leave this life with even one TRUE friend, I have been richly blessed. I know that on my best day, I'm but a filthy rag in the eyes of God; and yet his love for me is unconditional, unending, and immeasurable. I know that death is an illusion and life is everlasting. I know that many are perishing due to lack of hope and the mental shackles created by the fear of hell. I know churches have made it too hard. I know God wants all of his children to live life abundantly and I know that this only requires three things:

1. Accept

2. Confess

3. Believe (until you know!)

Daily I pray that my words, actions, deeds, and intentions help build the spirit of another human being. I pray that I can be the bridge someone else needs to get to a place of joy. Be it depression, unemployment, addiction, gambling, failed relationships, loss of a loved one, self-hatred, self-harm, abuse, whatever yoke binds you. Let it go. Know that there is no sin too great to forgive. Toss off your shame. Pray daily for healing, hope, and forgiveness. Always be the last to anger and the first to forgive. Pray for others more than you pray for yourself. And know with all of your being that your are God's and God is surely yours. 

To God be the Glory!