Twelve years ago Kim Williams founded Shanti Life and created PADUS hemp footwear. This footwear line is a natural barefoot experience for Yoga practicioners. After researching the history of hemp, Kim flew to Vietnam to visit the farthest north point where the Hmong people live and grow hemp for their daily use.

The Hmong people taught Kim how to grow and harvest the plant. They showed Kim how to weave hemp fabric, utilize the hemp seeds for nutrition and the many other uses for the byproducts that come from hemp plant itself.

Kim’s fascination with the cannabis plant was inspired by a family member that was diagnosed with MS in the late 80’s, being gifted with her abilities to heal using plants from her grandmother she realized the benefits of cannabinoids to reduce pain and inflammation helping the body back to homeostasis so as to allow healing to take place.

While living in Europe, Kim spent time growing cannabis, and developing products. After being introduced to” True Nature” a far Eastern joint venture, she invested and partnered with them to expand product knowledge. Through this venture, Kim also worked with a Chinese university and the hemp growers themselves to find solutions for the many applications of the plant. Kim realized that working on industrial products was not for her and she parted ways with True Nature where she had spent many years working with their scientists formulating health and wellness products.

Kim continues to teach Yoga and massage therapy. She loves to be hands on because it allows her to help people with their health and wellness goals. Kim’s own spiritual practice has evolved over the years and she continues to inspire others to take responsibility for themselves first.

“Self Love is the biggest gift we can give ourselves and others”

The cannabis plant has been utilized for thousands of years and historical documents show that Jesus used special anointment oils that had almost magical power, curing a range of illnesses from skin diseases to eye infections. However, what he might have been using in these oils is still under scientific scrutiny. One of the theories is that the crucial ingredient used was cannabis oil. Archaeologists and history has shown us that a lot of people and religions used cannabis for medicinal purposes.