Kim Fearick is a lover of all things wild and alive. She lives in a constant state of wonder and exploration that manifests as meandering through the desert, plunging her hands into the soil, and turning over the rocks of her inner landscape. Her curious nature has led her to build a life around uncovering the stories that lie within a person, a place, or an object. Kim lives by the rules of radical love, and her core intention here at cityhome is to create a space that feels welcoming to anyone who walks through the door, a place that you can find something to connect with, even if it’s just the human standing behind the counter. As both a maker herself, and a seller of handmade goods, Kim is able to provide a high level of intuitive customer service that extends beyond the boundaries of traditional retail experience. She believes that a well run shop serves as a hub for the community at large, and provides a safe place for folks to get curious about how they’re building and nurturing home for themselves and others.

You could be living anywhere, really. Why SLC? I originally came out here straight out of high school, my older brother was here so I figured it would be a good jumping off point. Since then I’ve left and come back to SLC a handful of times over the course of the last 20+ years, so I’ve thought about this question a lot. I love the connection and access to nature that I have here. There is something so sacred in this land. I feel so fortunate to live in a place with such topographical diversity. I am most at home and at peace when I’m in the deserts of central and southern Utah. I’ve moved just a state away thinking that would be close enough, and I truly felt like I’d left a piece of myself behind, so I decided to come back to her. It’s such a privilege to get to live within a 4ish hour drive of some of my favorite places on Earth. I’ve also found such a strong community here that I just can’t imagine trying to rebuild anywhere else, at least at this moment in time. I guess the common denominator is that I’ve felt the most heart here in Utah than anywhere else I’ve been to.

Do you remember when home first started mattering to you? I think I’ve always connected deeply with the idea of “home”, although maybe I wouldn’t have always recognized it as such. As a kid I always wanted to belong, to feel a part of something. And I looked for it in different things. People, places, animals, etc…. I always felt at home in nature, I grew up on the East Coast so for a long time the ocean was home. When I moved out west I felt immediately at home in the mountains, and then the desert. I also have a deep connection to animals, so my pets have often felt like home. I will say that finding home within myself is something I’ve been working on for a lot of years, and lately I feel like I’ve been able to create a safe place internally that I can rely on wherever I may find myself, physically. 

Favorite read/watch: Some of my favorite reads are ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer, ‘When Women Were Birds’ by Terry Tempest Williams and ‘All About Love’ by bell hooks. I love to read things that light my brain up with imagery and feel simultaneously like poetry and nature with a dash of resistance and revolutionary thinking.

In terms of what to watch, I’m currently stuck on Hamnet, so I have to list that. ‘Fire of Love’ is a documentary I’ve watched in the last year or so and absolutely loved. And I always go back to some of my favorite late 80’s, early 90’s favorites like True Romance, Beetlejuice and The Professional.

Is there a promise that you’d like to make to your clients? For me the purpose of a well functioning shop is to serve as a hub for community connection. Whether that’s introducing someone to a local maker or product, or just providing a space that they can pop into and find a familiar face. Everything else tends to fall into place if you can achieve that. So I’d like my promise to clients, customers and community to be that when you’re here I’ll do everything that I can to make you feel like you’re home, like you have a place that you belong.

What don’t you believe any more? What do you believe now? What is something you’ve come to believe? Wow, wow, wow do I love this question…also whoa, that’s so deep!  

I no longer believe that there is a “right way” to live. I think for a long time I bought into the idea that there was a formulaic way that we were supposed to move through life in order to be “successful”. That there was a timeline I was meant to follow, or predestined boxes to check that signified that I was on the right track. Following that way of thinking led me into dark places, and I’m so glad I touched those places so that I could really experience how wrong that felt in my body.

I believe now that we are all exactly where we’re supposed to be, and that we have everything we need inside of us. That sounds so simple and maybe reductive, and it’s been one of the hardest things for me to truly accept and to trust. The idea that this present moment is such a gift. Whether we’re struggling to pull ourselves through it or we’re dancing into each day, that is the right answer. That is where we're meant to be. Trying to find a little bit of peace and understanding in the ever-changing ugly and beautiful of each day.

I’ve come to believe that we are all just animals trying to find something to connect to. Someway to feel loved. The closer I connect to that understanding, the higher capacity I have to love and be loved. When that feels hard or far away I like to imagine each person (including myself) as their 6 year old self. What does that little human need? How would we play together? If I can move from there I can often find empathy in places that can seem hopeless.