Kimberly West is unafraid of transition because she is well versed in reinvention. In her 50 brief years on this planet, she has transitioned from a corporate worker to a management consultant to a restaurant owner to a farm owner to a globally minded entrepreneur. In this episode, Kimberly talks about her decision to leave the United States for Mexico. The impetus for her relocation was realizing just how tainted the food supply in America is and wanting an all around healthier lifestyle. Given the toxicity of the political climate and the cost of living, remaining in the United States seemed counter productive to her goal of holistic happiness. Ms. West talks about how much better she eats now because she has greater access to clean foods. She also is able to invest in her businesses because her dollar goes so much farther than it ever had in America. Another big advantage of living outside of America is the lessened anxiety of being dehumanized because of her blackness. Kimberly speaks honestly about not worrying about being a statistic now that she has left the United States and hypothesizes on why more Black Americans won’t follow her (and many others) lead. In addition to the joys of living abroad, she shares the assumptions people make about her as an unmarried, childless woman who spends more time traveling and building her businesses than trying to find a good man. She chuckles at this cross cultural concern that no man will want her because she is too independent and is making no effort to correct this character flaw that makes her less desirable to eligible men. “I am much happier than many of my friends who have done what they were supposed to do, who have the white picket fence, the good man and kids,” Kimberly states. “At any rate,” she continues, “the lesson from my story is not about whether to take the traditional route or not. It is simply none of us are bound to the country of our birth. No matter which country that is or what we envision as our life goals.”
