Our Story
Transcending Roots is a mother-owned herbal apothecary, founded in October 2019 in Philadelphia. It was born out of a love for plants and the healing power of nature.
Our mission is to nurture, inspire, and empower healthier communities by reconnecting people with the Earth and her medicines.
With a deep respect for various herbal traditions, Transcending Roots offers a space to honor and celebrate herbalism, magic, and healing. My remedies are rooted in my own diverse traditions, weaving together the magic and wisdom of my ancestors.
The remedies we make tell a story of the healing plants that have offered their medicine on this journey, supporting myself, my family and my community. These offerings have been, time and again, safe and effective remedies and tools of ancestral medicine and wisdom to nourish and nurture our community on their unique healing journey. It is a story of remembrance, one that meets us where we are and helps us reawaken to the wisdom that came before us.
All of our remedies are organically farmed and/or ethically wildcrafted, found regionally here in the northeast, grown or harvested by us here, or sourced from loving local organic small farms.
With foundations in Wise Woman Tradition, Appalachian folk medicine and magic, and clinical herbalism, our remedies are truly formulated to nurture and nourish and be deeply supportive allies on any healing journey.
The paths we walk are never linear. When I opened the space in Philadelphia, never did I imagine I would one day find myself living with the land in the middle of the forest! (Though I have to say it was always a dream, that at first, I didn't know I was manifesting!).
The pandemic of 2020, and the events that followed, have unveiled so much for all of us in this world, and for my family, that brought us to a place of deeply needing to move closer to the Earth. In the summer of 2022, Transcending Roots relocated to the forests of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts to be able to live in deeper and right relation with the Earth, expand opportunities for medicinal plant cultivation and self sustainability, and create an educational and sacred space.
As we are continue to grow our botanical sanctuary here, to cultivate a truly unique healing and educational space, we welcome students and various teachers to the land throughout the year.
Registration is now open for our educational programs. As a community-focused sacred space, we look forward to continuing to represent a diverse web of traditions through each of the herbalists and practitioners that we welcome to our educational center, each bringing their unique wisdom, creativity, medicine, and love of the magic and healing language of the plants.
Our Move to the Mountains
Welcome! My name is Kimberly Menocal Geisler. I am the educator, medicine maker, Mother, and creatrix behind Transcending Roots.
First and foremost, I am a Mother to two magical children who continue to be my greatest teachers. They are the roots and inspiration behind all that I do — guiding me to live in deeper reciprocity with the Earth, to slow down, to listen, and to create from the heart. It was through challenges in bringing my first child earthside that I truly came home to the path of plant medicine.
My journey is deeply rooted in the woven lineages of my Appalachian, Celtic (Irish and Scottish), and Cuban ancestry. Growing up in Maryland, I was surrounded by quiet family traditions of healing and folk magic that I only later came to recognize as part of an unbroken lineage of this herbal path — the ways of blood stoppers, wart talkers, fire blowers, and faith healers, as I later learned to call them. I found my way to herbalism in my teens, offering guidance through healing and transformation. The plants continue to walk beside me, bringing me back to myself and my spiritual path—offering never-ending lessons, magic, and medicine.
Meet the Founder
Today, I work as a clinical and folk herbalist, medicine woman, and educator, weaving together Wise Woman Healing, ancestral folk traditions, and modern herbal science. My work lives where tradition meets evidence — a tapestry of ancient wisdom, plant spirit, and grounded clinical practice.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in complementary and alternative medicine and have been blessed to study with many elders and teachers, including Robin Rose Bennett, David Winston, Margi Flint, and Rich Mandelbaum. I have also had the honor to sit at the knee and learn with others such as Rocio Alarcón, Susun Weed, Tammi Sweet, and Rosemary Gladstar.
With over a decade of experience in veterinary medicine, I also support the holistic care of companion animals, alongside my focus on family, women’s, and children’s wellness — tending body, mind, and spirit alike.
From our beginnings as an urban apothecary and community center in Fishtown to our current home as a botanical sanctuary and education center in the Berkshires, Transcending Roots has evolved as a living expression of reciprocity, remembrance, and resilience.
It is my hope that through this work, the old ways remain alive and accessible — empowering individuals and communities to remember their connection to the plants, to themselves, and to the Earth.
The impact we make on the earth is forefront in the work we do. While we will certainly never claim to be perfect, we are always striving to be as environmentally conscious and sustainable as possible and reduce our footprint in any way we can. In doing so we:
~ make all of our products in store from herbs we grow organically, ethically wildcraft or purchase from regional organic farms
~ support and purchase from as many bioregional farms and makers as possible, and always looking to grow that network
~ products have either recyclable glass or compostable packaging, and we offer refills on tinctures *(in store only) at a discount
~ compost all of our herbs that are used to make tinctures and other products
~ 100% recycled packaging / plant based adhesives, and recycled packaging material (all the way down to our box filling and packaging tape!)
Transcending Roots is also a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild and Herbalist Without Borders.
Our Impact
Connect With Us
We’d love to hear from you!
Whether it’s to receive guidance in helping choose a remedy or plant ally, requesting a workshop or to just to tell us your amazing healing story, please feel welcome to reach out.
Community is everything. Thank you always for your love and support of our work and these medicines.