We had the good fortune of connecting with Karma Banks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karma, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my business correlates with my own personal healing journey. I was pulled into various healing modalities and acquired a natural love for herbalism, metaphysical healing and therapies and later found through research that these were also the ways of my ancestors. While writing my book Mind Traveling I was introduced to and relied heavily on natural healing and from there, there was no turning back.

I also had a dream of liberating myself from a time clock and becoming my own boss.

While writing Mind Traveling, I actually longed to have my own herb shop. I longed to make it a reality and I talked about it every chance I got. I talked about it so much, my then supervisor gifted me with my first herb book which I cherish today and its resting place is inside my Healing Suite in South Charlotte.

When I initially started Good Karma Botanica & Wellness, it was e-commerce only. A physical location was the plan for year five but before I hit year two the Universe saw otherwise.

I worked a full-time job in finance and worked my business part-time and even had an employee to assist. Sitting behind my desk, looking at numbers all day, my heart was with Good Karma. In 2024, being overwhelmed, overworked and underpaid I made the difficult yet necessary decision the beginning of mental health awareness month to do something for my own mental health.

May 2nd, 2024 I resigned and promoted myself to full time entrepreneur with Good Karma Botanica & Wellness. A month after leaving my senior position in finance, I landed my first corporate contract and was blown away. That opportunity showed me I’d made the right decision.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Good Karma Botanica & Wellness is dedicated to spiritual growth and development as well as holistic healing. We feel that not everyone desires a Western approach and have chosen to ditch the term alternative therapies and replace it with complimentary therapies.

People should have the right to choose what’s best for their health and what puts their mind and spirit at ease. There should always be a holistic approach.

I’ve overcome many challenges but today I don’t say I have challenges. Today I have opportunities to grow, learn and improve.

My brand conveys to the world that I took what decades ago, was considered taboo, embraced it, and transformed it into an entity that shows people they are their own healer and they are also the peace, there’s no need to search for it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So my bestie is visiting and the first place we’re going is Camp North End. There’s a little bit of everything there. We’d check out some of the shops, mingle, people watch and take pictures and then we’d head to Optimist Hall for a bite to eat.

For that day we’d go back to my place and hand out in my meditation room.

Day two we’d travel to Asheville and go to some of my favorite shops and dine on some Indian cuisine.

Day three we’re back in Charlotte and our hangout spot is Noda. We then go to Red at 28th to chill out, people watch and have a hookah. For some good food, I’d take her to Kid Cashew.

The rest of the week we’d wind down and probably hit up a few museums and I’d definitely take her to Flower Child.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would also like to shout out my ancestors and next in line, Joyce Hennessy, LCSW.

My ancestors were great healers, herbalists and spiritualists for at least four generations that I am able to trace back. Knowing that they were brilliantly able to always make a way out of no way was the spark that ignited my creativity. They passed the torch on to me.

Joyce Hennessy, LCSW was my therapist for years and she always told me I possessed a gift that needs to be shared with the world. She helped me to understand my story. She helped me to understand myself while healing from a life of trauma.

Website: https://www.goodkarmabotanica.com

Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/goodkarmabotanica

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodkarmabotanica

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