Meet Kelly McClelland | Rites of Passage | Activism | Earth-Centered Strategy & Design

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

Hi Kelly, what do you want people to remember about you?

I hope to live in a way that inspires remembrance, repair, and reciprocity.

Remembrance as in remembering our way back to the Earth, to our whole selves. To our place and purpose in this beautiful ecosystem. Remembering that not only are we a part of nature – but that we are nature. Remembering that rites of passage, rituals, and ceremonies are ways of life that can be practiced in our homes, backyards, and offices. Informed by our own ancestral roots and soulful musings.

Repairing our relationships with one another and the beings around us. Like getting to know the birds, plants, and trees near our homes. Not just their scientific names and properties…but by sitting with them – being with them. Asking permission, giving offerings, and sharing stories. The earth desperately wants to connect with us. We just have to slow down enough to listen.

Or reciprocity. Whew! This has been and still is a big unlearning and relearning for me. A constant unraveling. I started asking questions. Then deeper ones. I realized the issues of Human rights and Earth rights are not separate. The ways I treat others, whether by objectification, extraction, or exploitation will be the same way I treat the Earth. Which is why I helped start Collective Reparations with a few close colleagues. It’s a non-profit and online ecosystem that supports collectively owned resources and rewards reparative action.

For me, it’s being in partnership with the Earth as a life path. It’s the shift from “What can I “make” or “do” in the world?” To “What wants to grow through me and with me?”

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

I guide rites of passage programs and cultivate Earth-Centered Strategy and Design. What sets me apart is the symbiosis of nature-based ways infused into modern systems like website design and business strategy.

Rites of Passage are ways to remember and honor your true path and who you really are. They help mark and celebrate life and identity transitions, like youth transitioning to adulthood or adults to elderhood. It could also be honoring a birth, a divorce, or the fullness of gender expression. My work can look like guiding you through a career change. By birthing your true path and/or business into the world through self-generated ceremony, ritual, branding or web design.

Another thing that’s different about my work is that I collaborate with clients whose essence or work specifically supports environmental and social justice efforts. For example, Wild Mountain, a retreat center that focuses on celebrating the QT-BIPOC community and also gives to the Ute Land Trust and Indigenous Mutual Aid. Or the Wilderness Guides Council. A global network of guides that is re-introducing, promoting, and increasing the accessibility of rites of passage in local communities around the world. Or Collective Reparations which circulates communal wealth in a nature-based way for farmers, artists, educators, healers, instructors, and local business owners.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It would definitely be a mix of city and earth. First I would encourage them to get to know the land they’re visiting. Introduce themselves. Go out alone for an hour in nature. Whatever that means to them. Explore where their guts pull them, not where their head “thinks” they should go. No distractions. Tell them to cross a threshold and bring a question. They’ll know the one. The one that’s been tugging at their innards. Encourage them to bring their heart. To sit and listen. Not talk. Listen. To lean into the initiation of life. And say yes to the call. To show up for the ceremony. And trust the magic.

For the city perhaps it would be a bike ride around Boulder and stopping at Rebecca’s Apothecary. It’s chock full of hidden treasures and harvests some of their flowers, plants, and herbs from a garden just up the street from my house! Then I’d suggest grabbing a bite at Supermoon which sources from the magical land and people at Esoterra. Then Denver to the RiNo district. Explore some of the art murals and then indulge at Barcelona for tapas and drinks at Honey Elixir bar. Take your time there and savour every drop. As they say – celebration is ceremony. End with a local show or dancing at Vinyl, Beta, or Bar Standard.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Ahhh! There’s so many…

The Earth. Who has held me through all the deaths and rebirths. My resilient ancestors who lived in their bones the end of the world and knew it was just another day. Robin Wall Kimmerer whose words and ways of living have deeply impacted me. Roo Wharton and Pedro McMillian who have been the most incredible friends and mentors and led me to the lineage of the School of Lost Borders. My partner Juancho. Who inspires me so much and teaches me unconditional love every day. Rachel Weitz who has helped me find my way home – to my ancestors, to myself. My Collective Reparations crew, and all of my other family and kin who are helping me live this dream into reality!

Website: https://kelly-mcclelland.com/

Instagram: @kelmcclell

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-mcclelland-b7282920/

Other: https://collectivereparations.com/