In a nutshell, describe to our readers who you are and what you do.
My name is Kim Kessler, and I am the founder of KIPR Global, handling media relations and wellness partnerships for luxury travel destinations, including ORIGINS Lodge in Costa Rica, Careyes Mexico, Nobu Ryokan Malibu, and the exclusive tour company Access Italy. Prior to founding KIPR Global, I was the director of public relations for Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills and The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua on Maui. I recently relocated to Careyes Mexico from Los Angeles.
What has been your greatest takeaway from your career; what have you learned the most from your clients?
My greatest takeaway is that it is always best to work with clients who truly bring you joy, and who are fully aligned with your values. From a professional standpoint, it is best to use your natural talents and passions whenever possible. For example, although I have been hired to secure media relations for luxury destinations, I started creating wellness partnerships many years ago, as I saw a need for this at the hotels I represented, and knew that with my expertise, I could help various brands.
Tell us about your relationship to spa and wellness.
Daily yoga at Oriente Villa, Careyes Mexico
I have led a plant-based lifestyle for most of my life, practice yoga daily, and enjoy traveling internationally. I love experiencing unique spa treatments around the world, and early in my PR career, started focusing heavily on securing coverage for the spas at the hotels I represented. While at Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, I developed a few key spa treatments with the spa directors, and secured energy healers and other practitioners for the spa residency program we created. I also brought the partnership opportunity with Delos to create the Well Rooms at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles and became the PR representative on the Four Seasons Global Spa Committee. For the past six years, I’ve been an official ambassador of Global Wellness Day.
“It has felt so natural to live in Careyes, with the jungle by the sea, and an amazing community.”
Why did you decide to move to Mexico?
In July 2020, I relocated full-time to Careyes Mexico from Venice Beach. I had visited Careyes more than 15 times in three years, mostly for press trips, and truly fell in love with the destination. In December 2019, I felt intuitively guided to purchase a small ocean view casita and sent the deposit in early 2020, just before the pandemic became serious. I fully relocated to Careyes Mexico in July 2020—the best decision of my life. It has felt so natural to live in Careyes, with the jungle by the sea, and an amazing community.
Tell us a little bit about your community.
Careyes is comprised of 65 beautiful villas with infinity pools, 40 ocean view casitas, and the newest option, El Careyes Club & Residences, featuring one to four bedroom residential suites. There are approximately 50 people who live here full-time, with many other property owners coming and going from their main residences in Italy, France, Portugal, the U.K., the United States, Colombia, and cities in Mexico. The international community members are well-educated, and tend to have a bohemian, art, fashion, and travel focused lifestyle. Many of the community members already feel like family, and they have truly embraced me. I’m so grateful that we can still enjoy sunset cocktails and dinner parties in this protected community. All residents and visitors who enters the Careyes gates from traveling must show proof of a negative Covid test.
How do you begin each day? Any special self-care rituals you’d like to share?
I do a five-minute meditation upon awakening, followed by a quick shower and either fresh coconut juice or a matcha latte with homemade almond milk, and then I head to yoga. After yoga, I make a green smoothie bowl or acai bowl. Now that I live in the tropics, I love covering my body in organic coconut oil after showering instead of using a traditional lotion. I also love doing a mud ritual with my friend Viviana. We cover ourselves in a special black mud that she sources locally, then lay out in the sun until it dries, and then jump into the ocean. Our skin is so soft afterwards!
I practice vinyasa yoga daily, and feel so immensely grateful to have my favorite instructors teach for a month at a time throughout the year through our new Visiting Practitioner Program at El Careyes Club & Residences. We have Shayna Hiller, Andrew Sealy, Kishan Shah, Nessa Varez, Dominick Cole, Caley Alyssa, and other top instructors here for 2021.
What are three spa-related items you cannot live without?
A eucalyptus shower spray, a proper body scrub, and lavender bath salts. Meditation music is also key!
What are some of your favorite spa and wellness haunts?
Sharing a cup of tea with Tania Zesati, founder of The Perfect Day Spa
Careyes has a brand new boutique oceanfront spa called The Perfect Day Spa, and I love the treatments, which consist of three spa therapists working on one guest at once, such as providing an aloe wrap and facial at the same time, and then a rejuvenating massage. That was a true indulgence! I also enjoyed the spiritual treatments at Mii Amo, where I had my first past life regression and aura color photography session. I also treasure the spa at Four Seasons Sayan on Bali.One of the best experiences I’ve had was at the Spa Safari at Nihiwatu Resort on Sumba Island. My favorite restaurant for healthy cuisine is Plant Food + Wine by Matthew Kenney in Venice Beach, as Matthew uses such fresh, organic ingredients in a beautiful garden patio setting. Careyes has a new vegan menu at La Duna at El Careyes, and the jackfruit tacos are my favorite.
What do you believe is the key to a healthy lifestyle?
A plant-based diet full of organic produce, carving out time for meditation, yoga, swimming in the ocean, and spending time with people you love.