Voyage Ohio: Bold Journey Interview - Meet the Creator (Feb. 10th, 2026)
You can view the published interview here:
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We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kimberly Konvalinka a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kimberly, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience is an ability, or I should say a super power, I had to develop very early in my young life. I was raised in poor conditions within a marginalized community. My parents were not financially stable and their ability to care for their children was limited. We moved around a lot, which birthed deep seated insecurities and instability within my young mind. The message that “everything is temporary” was made abundantly clear! My parents’ own traumatic life experiences and circumstances created a particular blend of challenges that they were unable to overcome. As a result I suffered neglect, abuse and trauma, most of which I am still reconciling for myself today. I knew I just needed to survive long enough to get out on my own. I developed amazing resilience from my childhood experiences that carried me into the subsequent chapters of my life.
In this next phase I wasted no time trying to find the stability and family I had so longed for in my youth, as I became a mother and wife. My first child was born just after my 19th birthday, eighteen months later his father and I were married. I wasn’t old enough to drink, yet I already had the responsibility of a child and marriage! After a couple of years we moved to Pittsburgh so I could attend art school and fulfill my dreams of becoming an animator. However, things shifted for me, as they often do for college students, and after trying a few courses in photography, I chose to leave art school. My second child was born the following Spring, and that Autumn we decided to return to Ohio to be closer to our family again. At this point the difficulties of our marriage became too much to overcome and we were divorced shortly thereafter. I found myself a single mother at the age of 27, utterly alone, divorcing not only my husband but his large family who had become my own. An era had come to an end and this blow would leave me forever changed, much like my childhood experiences had, allowing me to build even more resilience!
I became quite directionless after my divorce, uncertain of who I was or what I wanted for my life. The bulk of those years I focused on raising my children, their happiness was my driving force. These little miracles of my womb have saved me in every way, giving me purpose and a reason to live. They lifted my despair, providing a wonderful distraction from a past that would all too quickly catch up to me. My nomadic lifestyle continued during this time as well – some moves out of necessity and others from lack of choices. I had worked incredibly hard to save up to buy a house for my small family of three, and we had a few wonderful years together there. But then tragedy struck when I was a victim of a shooting. We no longer felt safe and we were forced to relocate and sell our home. Before losing the house, I experienced another deep loss when my sister passed just before her 38th birthday. She was my world and without her I felt like only half a person, her absence has left a deep void within me. As time went on, others began to fall away and my life continued to shift in unexpected ways. I found myself in situations that left me with no other choice but to begin again. And that’s exactly what I did! I even have these words tattooed on my wrist to remind me you can always “begin again.” It’s my stamp of resilience!
At this point the Universe had effectively removed all obstacles from my path, creating a new one that led me on an adventure to Tucson, Arizona. A short-lived adventure, but one critical to my human development. I attended massage school and worked my tail feathers off to graduate and obtain my license. I was excited to return to Ohio with my new found knowledge and was looking forward to the opportunities this would create. But while I was in Tucson something deeper was shifting and arising within me – the past trauma and sexual abuse I had suffered throughout my life was refusing to be ignored any longer. By the time I returned to Ohio my depression seemed to have me by the throat. I was only able to practice massage therapy for a brief time before I experienced a nearly fatal mental breakdown. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety my entire life – a suicide attempt in my late teen years and a mental breakdown not long after my sister’s death – but nothing compared to this! I admitted myself to a hospital to recover from experiences and save my life. I knew I would not survive without some deeper, professional intervention, my resilience was nearly exhausted!
Since that time I have been deeply immersed in the recovery of my state of being – mind, body and spirit. I finally received proper diagnoses of my mental and physical health that allowed me to create a self-care plan that meets my specific needs and allows me to move through my life with greater ease. It has been an extremely difficult challenge, recovering from my traumatic experiences and rebuilding my life from nothing, time and again, but I have since found more peace in my life than I had experienced in all the years before. To quote Alanis Morissette in her song Thank You, “The moment I let go of it, was the moment I got more than I could handle. The moment I jumped off of it, was the moment I touched down.” My resilience has been restored!
In my recent years I’ve finally found the stability I’ve longed for my entire life. I’ve met a wonderful partner, the love of my life. I have a few very dear friends with whom I share an unconditional love – they have become my family, my tribe. My children are both grown and finding their paths in this life – I didn’t screw them up too bad… I think!? And I’ve created my own small business, Lilly’s Luxuries 29 LLC. Once I got out of my own way and stopped chasing a dream that never resonated with me in the first place, I was able to find peace and direction. I’m thankful to all of the people and all of the experiences I’ve encountered over the past 47 years! If it wasn’t for them, the wonderful and the tragic, I would not have developed the resilience and adversity to have made it this far. They’ve tested my spirit and I’ve answered with force and determination. I will always “Begin Again!”
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I have pursued many different fields in the working world, everything from accounting and finance, to retail management, hospitality, freelance photography, as well massage therapy. As diverse as my background is, nothing ever felt truly fulfilling to me and I’ve continued to search for my passion project, looking for new opportunities to explore. I have always had a protagonist’s heart and my desire to help others is deeply embedded within me. Of the jobs I’ve tried, those in service to others were the most fulfilling.
Since I was little I have felt connected to the stories of the Wild Woman who lives alone in the woods. The one shrouded in mystery who can create a cure for whatever ails you. Some fear her and call her “Witch!”, but others trust she has unlocked a secret knowledge, possessing the ability to work with and honor Nature, using her skills to aid others, to do no harm. My favorite movie “Practical Magic” brought this idea into the modern day for me. Sally Owens, played by the amazing Sandra Bullock, is a shop owner, and local witch, who makes her own lotions and “potions”, a family tradition of sorts. I have been enchanted by these stories and thought, I could do that too! It felt so natural toiling away in my kitchen, crafting all sorts of concoctions to replace different items within my home.
It was from this vision that Lilly’s Luxuries 29 LLC was born. Created within the warmth of my own home in Columbus, Ohio, my intention is to bridge the gap between luxury and simplicity by providing our communities handcrafted items made with care, intention, and sustainability, that are both responsibly sourced and reasonably priced, making luxury accessible to everyone!
I come from a long line of creative women, one of which I named my shop after; my grandmother, Gladys Lillian. She was born in 1929 and recently took her final bow, exiting gracefully into the great Unknown. She lived a lot of life in her 95 years and this is my way of honoring her legacy and the teachings she has bestowed upon me. I also honor my paternal lineage as my last name (Konvalinka) translates to “Lily of the Valley” in Czechoslovakian. This is the flower you see on my product labels and logo.
I offer a wide range of natural, eco-friendly products, each handcrafted with a deep sense of responsibility and mindfulness, carefully sourced and grounded in strong values that are expressed through my artistic, ever-evolving creations – bringing luxury and simple living together. I have spent years crafting these items, dedicating myself to the research to ensure my products will truly do no harm; each is made with a deep sense of intention and responsibility to you, our communities and our home, the great Mother Earth!
I believe it is important to provide total transparency with my products, resources and processes, and openly share my continued research and efforts to create products that are truly made with care, intention and sustainability, allowing my values to guide me in everything I do!
This past year, my first year in business, has been a wild ride! I am so grateful for the amazing, welcoming response from the community and the opportunity to experience this business with each of you. I can only hope to bring a little inspiration, joy and maybe a bit of healing into the lives of others through my efforts.
“You cannot change the world in its entirety, but you can change someone’s entire world.”
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Education – I’m not necessarily speaking about formal education. Although, if you have access to a formal education to assist you on your path, go for it!! But whatever you pursue, whatever journey you embark upon, educate yourself! Find out as much as you possibly can about your passion project before you take the first big steps in changing your life. I promise you’ll be so relieved you did. And you might find more resilience with the pitfalls as they arise too! And understand that education is present in all of life’s experiences and in the most unlikely of places. You can learn something from every joy, every heart break, every loss, a wise elder, your four-year-old niece or nephew, that lesson from school you thought, “I’ll never need to know this for the ‘real world’!” You will! Pay attention! Be a sponge and take it all in! Remember, we only fear what we don’t understand. So seek to understand everything! Most importantly, allow yourself to be moved and changed by the wisdom of experience in this life.
Perseverance – Something we each have in common is that we all fear something, we all love someone, and we have all experienced loss. We all face defeat and weariness in our lives. We will all fall flat, get knocked down, experience hardships and loss in some way. What speaks to our spirit is our ability to persevere when things get tough. Your strength of character in these darker times will see you through. It is up to you to build that perseverance to sustain you through those moments.
And remember you don’t have to do it alone! Allow yourself to be vulnerable, it is not weakness! Give yourself permission to ask for help, lean on friends and family, or seek the support of a trusted mentor, counselor, spiritual advisor, anyone who is able to hold space for you and provide strength, support and maybe a bit of guidance to help you through. No path is clear all of the time and there is no shame when you feel like you can’t go on. Tap into your strong heart and focus your determination. You can persevere when a mountain is laid before you on your path, just strap on your climbing gear and get to hiking! After all, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
Trust – This has been the biggest challenge for me in my life. Given my traumatic childhood and tumultuous adult life, trust has been something of a luxury I have not been able to afford, so I do not give this advice lightly. I have practiced very small trustfalls with the Universe over the years, testing the waters to see if it’s safe to make a bigger leap. And what I’ve found is that I can trust! I just can’t trust blindly, which is what I’ve done in the past. I can trust that the Sun and Moon will rise and fall in their turns and that the weather will be erratic from global warming. I can trust that people will behave as people do, individually and en masse, depending on their life’s experiences and beliefs, without expecting them to act as I wish them to. I can trust others with their choices and allow them to walk their paths, embracing equanimity and compassion in place of co-dependency and control. I can trust that no matter what I do in this life I will reach the end as I’m meant to, that the Universe has a plan for me. But most importantly, I can trust myself, my choices, my intuition, my inner knowing.
Can you take a trustfall with your life? Start small! I like to ask Siri to flip a coin for me when I’ve become stuck in the never-ending loop of indecision. Or maybe take a different way home than you’re used to, trusting your intuition and having a new adventure. Speak to a stranger, just say hi and wish them well. No matter what it is, just try some new things. Trust yourself and the process and see what can become available to you. When we open our hearts to possibility, the Universe will respond in kind, with limitless opportunities.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think it’s great to keep focus on your strengths – these are your super powers and they can be amazing talents! But even a super hero like Thor needs to know more than just how to look amazing while wielding Mjölnir and fighting the forces of evil to save the Universe! When we don’t give attention to our weaker points, educating ourselves and building diversity within our character, we limit our availability to others and the opportunities we might experience. My partner will sometimes ask me “why” I know how to do something. I was really caught off guard by this question the first time he asked, never being asked “why” before, instead of “how”. I didn’t know how to respond. Once I stopped giggling I said that I didn’t know why, only that it must have come up at some point in my past. When I needed to learn to do something for myself, I just did. I didn’t have the ability to rely on others throughout my life, so doing everything on my own has just been my way. And if I didn’t know how to do whatever it was, I figured it out, educated myself, and I wouldn’t be deterred! Now, when I say I’m going to do something, he responds, “Of course you are!” He loves that I am so well-rounded and independent, and is still in awe at times when I say I’m going to do something new. I’m reminded just how diverse I have become in my abilities over the years. I have allowed each experience of something new to challenge and educate me, to make me better & stronger than the previous version of me.
Is there something you’ve been wanting to learn more about? An adventure you’ve wanted to take? A new language? Learning to cook? Repurposing something into an artistic creation? Would you like to go back to school? Maybe not! But you see where I’m going with all this. You are the architect of your own being. Who would you like to build within your beautiful vessel?
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