meet kimberly waldropt
What helps you maintain focus, structure, and a strong immune system?
I take lions mane for my brain. I’m doing a lot every day and 9 times out of 10, I’m doing it by myself. And so little things can distract you and pull your attention away. So I take lions mane to help with cognitive thinking.
I also take probiotics from Seed. It helps boost your immune system and gut health. Gut health is the epicenter of a lot of issues that we have. It starts with the gut and a lot of things that we eat. With my brand Terra Tory I care about food and I’m always mindful of what I’m consuming and putting in, on, and around me.
I also take a multivitamin, which is mainly for energy, but I work out for energy, too. Sometimes I microdose to keep the brain working, open, willing to accept things, and process things better. Essentially, not be so in my head.
What has your microdosing experience been like?
I started earlier last year with psilocybin. I was terrified, but I was doing it for fun at the time. I found that I became almost fearless in any and everything. It’s a great way to look at life in a different light. I was working on whatever I was working on, we’d turn on some music, and we got work done. And I was like, shit, this is good.
“I was watching Fabulous Fungi and that’s how I found out about psilocybin therapy.”
My friend who lives with me suffers from anxiety and I think what a lot of us do is turn to marijuana or whatever drug we can get quickly to go on about our day. But with psilocybin, I feel that it’s more of a perspective shift that you can’t really get when you’re just doing something quick. It’s not really an escape. You’re facing whatever you’re facing head-on and getting over that hump and fear. And then, once you’ve come down, you look at your situation or even the world just a little differently. As days go by and moments go by, and life goes by, you’re not so in your head.
What does sleep do for your mental health?
I love sleep. I don’t rest as much as I should. I’m familiar with the grind culture and sleep is for the dead. Fuck that. I need sleep. I can only speak for myself, but I’m doing so much. I’m lifting things. I’m bending over. I’m carrying things. I’m pouring, I’m mixing, I’m gripping. I’m doing so many different things with my body and it needs to recoup, reset, recharge, and heal itself each and every day. If I don’t get 8 hours or even 6, forget about it.
I’m one of those people that I like to wake up ridiculously early in the morning. 4:00 am is kind of my thing and I’m in bed by 8:00 pm. I work a lot. And building a business slowly and correctly does take a lot of labor. Waking up at 4:00 am is definitely a mental thing. It has a lot to do with wanting better for yourself. I learned that waking up earlier in the morning before everyone else means my day is halfway done and it’s a great feeling.
What grounds you and gives you energy?
Aside from sleep, hydration is so important. It always goes back to wanting better for yourself. And that’s the key to a healthier mind. People will go days without even drinking a sip of water and they wonder why there are so many things that aren’t operating correctly. The bare necessities of just water and sleep can impact your mental health.
“A lot of us wake up already on our phones. When I wake up, all I care about is me.”
I believe that when you start to look inward and really want better for yourself, you’re going to do things that are better for you. I also don’t involve myself in too much of what everybody else is doing. I try my best to detach myself from social media and it’s definitely helped my mental health.
Have you always been like that?
Hell no. I still struggle with it every single day. But once you make that decision that you want better for yourself, nothing else matters, and you tune everything else out. I only use social media professionally.
How would you describe your mental health currently?
It’s a lot better because I don’t subscribe to the masses. I am more grateful for the things that are in front of me every single day. I understand that I still have a job to do. I still have a goal to meet. So I’m in a much better position than I was maybe a year ago.
“My mental health is also much better today than it was a year ago because my business started to grow and scale.”
I realized that there were things that I couldn’t really focus on or that would take my attention away from the task. I would be behind on work. And because I was behind on work, that made me feel terrible. It showed in my business and I had to cut off a lot of business relationships, which made me feel lighter.
I try not to look so much into the future and try to be present. I also see a therapist. It is a business expense because if I’m not right, my business isn’t right. If I’m not right, I can’t provide for others; I can’t provide for myself. Your mind is so important. And when they say the mind is a terrible thing to waste, it really is.
How does intimacy and relationships impact your mental health?
I’m 32 and there is a lot of pressure, especially at my age, to hurry, get married, and have kids. But relationship-wise, in the world of instant gratification and social media, I think we have lost touch with giving people space. We constantly need to be met. When people don’t get what they want right away all the time, they move on to the next.
“Also, sex is great. Have sex.”
Obviously, be mindful. I will stress space, though. I’m learning more about people in general, and I’m learning that we’re all different and we’re all alike in our own respect. And when it’s time for you to be with someone, it should be a mutual thing. The relationship with my partner has been a fucking rollercoaster of heaven and hell mixed in between and that can do a lot to your mental health. That can even feel like, am I worth it? Is he worth it?
What modalities or practices are important to you when seeking out energy?
Music and anything visual changes energy. I was speaking to my partner and he was playing that was very dark. There was nothing positive being said in this song. And I opted out, I was like, look when we’re together, do this on your own time, but I can’t consume that because it doesn’t align with what I want for myself. After a while, we become what we hear, we become what we see, we become what we eat. So if you’re consuming music that doesn’t represent anything good or support where you want to be in life, you have to cleanse your palette and treat yourself better.
What makes you stressed or anxious?
Deadlines and planning. When I’m placing a very big order on supplies for my brand and they don’t get here on time, I start freaking out because I have things that are etched in my calendar. If that doesn’t get done that day, the rest of the month gets thrown off. That is the most stressful thing I feel as if I’m a failure. But I have to look at it and remember it’s out of my control.
Planning is so important for me. When I was depressed, I would wake up and have a list of things to do and not know where to start. And so I would procrastinate. I would do other things that helped soothe me that had nothing to do with work.
When do you feel most at peace?
Sitting in my house right in this room (living room).
When do you feel your body tense up?
When I’m surrounded by clutter.
What gives you serotonin?
Food.
What does your body language say about you?
Exhaustion.
When do you speak your mind?
All the time.
next story — katie maloney-schwartz