Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Newsom.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
For as long as I can remember, I struggled with certain health issues. I had a low immune system, digestive problems, and migraine headaches throughout elementary school and into my late twenties, even after I was married.
Eventually, I was introduced to a more traditional way of eating and preparing food—similar to the way our great-grandparents ate. That change completely turned my health around. I began learning about culturing and fermenting foods, herbal remedies, and making my own skincare and home-care products. As I continued learning, I became certified in the wellness space as a Personal Fitness Chef, Fitness Nutrition Coach, and Wellness Coach, all with a focus on real, nutrient-dense, and traditional foods.
I began teaching in-person and online classes, sharing what I had learned through my education, additional courses, research, and personal experience.
In 2014, fourteen years into our marriage and with two children, we moved to five acres in Sedalia, Colorado. We started our first flock of chickens so we could have access to healthier, fresh eggs. We also began purchasing local, grass-fed beef. At the time, I was selling my small-batch skincare products and had created a lifestyle subscription box. My husband was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a manufacturing and software company in Louisville, Colorado.
With a desire to do more with our lives and raise our children differently, my husband resigned from his corporate position as CTO in 2017 after sixteen years with the company. Before jumping into another job, he decided he wanted to take a year-long road trip and visit all of the lower 48 states.
On June 18, 2018, we packed up our pickup truck and fifth-wheel trailer, loaded up our two kids, a dog, and a chicken, and set out on our year-long adventure.
A couple of months into our trip, we found a 35-acre property in Divide, Colorado, that had been on the market for almost two years. The property was located on the west side of Pikes Peak and included a lodge house and five cabins. It had been unoccupied for nearly thirty years and was in desperate need of some TLC, but we thought it would be a great place to relocate, restore, and eventually open as a bed-and-breakfast.
We decided to cut our road trip short. After visiting thirty-two states, we returned home and took a leap of faith. We put our house on the market and waited for it to go under contract so we could make a cash offer on the property, hoping the owners would accept.
After two months on the market, our house finally went under contract in March 2019. We made an offer on the property, and it was accepted. We closed on April 22, 2019.With a great deal of excitement, we packed up everything we owned and moved eighty miles away to 9,200 feet in the mountains, to a small town called Divide, Colorado.
We immediately began working to make the lodge house livable. The entire property was a mess, but we knew that when we purchased it “as is.” We spent every day working toward our goal of opening a bed-and-breakfast.
Then, in 2020, as so many people experienced, COVID brought our plans to a halt. The local building department had a seven-month wait just to meet with them regarding permits and plans. When we finally got in, they changed what they would allow us to do with the property.
Once again, we had to reroute our plans.
In the meantime, I continued homeschooling our children, and we added four goats to our homestead. In 2021, we purchased a buck—an intact male goat—and bred him with our does. We welcomed four goat kids during the summer of 2021.With nine goats, forty-eight chickens, two livestock guardian dogs, and two house dogs, I founded Vintage Life Farm. I continued selling my small-batch skincare products, now exclusively on my website, and added herbal and apothecary products. We sold fresh eggs to our local community, and I began making handmade soaps using goat’s milk from our dairy goats. I also started making skincare products with tallow from our cows.
We rented one of our finished cabins as a VRBO for two seasons but eventually decided to stop so we could focus more on homesteading and building my husband’s businesses. Since resigning from his corporate position and moving to Divide, he has started an excavation company and a building company. More recently, he purchased another building company that specializes in custom homes.
Our goal is to continue renovating the lodge house and cabins and, further down the road, open the property as a small mountain resort. Fast-forward to 2026, and our small animal farm now includes chickens, livestock guardian dogs, goats, turkeys, Chinese geese, honeybees, a few cows, and our house dogs.
Today, I create digital resources and teach women to reclaim the old ways through real food, herbal medicine, natural skincare, and practical skills that help families thrive. I teach about the importance of nutrient-dense food, safer skincare, clean ingredients, and living a simpler, more intentional life.
We currently have more than sixty-seven different herbs, flowers, and plants growing on our property that we wild-harvest and use to create herbal remedies.
I plan to continue teaching others how to step back in time and rediscover the vintage and old-fashioned skills that connect us to an era when life was different—when community mattered, we knew what was in our food, children were raised alongside the family, and life was meant to be truly enjoyed, experienced, and lived—not simply spent going through the motions.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it has not always been a smooth road. Facing different health issues in my own body and in 2024 my husband was faced with some health issues that kept him from working for almost 7 months. In 2020, COVID completely changed the route we were taking and a business we were trying to start was put on hold – causing my husband to figure out what he could do up here from this small mountain town. He eventually got licensed and started an excavating company to provide for our family. So, renovating all the buildings has taken much longer than we wanted or expected, but we keep moving forward trusting in the process and timing of it all. Our dream to open this property to the public is still a goal we are pursuing.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
First and foremost, I am a wife and a mom, and it is through those roles that I feel compelled to help others.
After learning how to care for my own body and stepping out of a life filled with sickness and constant health issues, I wanted to make sure my family was eating nourishing foods and caring for their bodies in ways that would help support good health. That journey created a desire in me to teach others, and that is what I have been doing for more than fourteen years.
Homesteading, raising animals, cooking and baking from scratch, and making our own skincare products and herbal remedies have given me the hands-on experience and knowledge to educate others about living a more natural and holistic lifestyle. I teach women how to reclaim old-fashioned skills and use them to create meaningful change in their own lives.
I teach people how to lessen their exposure to unnecessary ingredients in the foods they eat and the products they use every day; how to nourish and support the body so it can be strong and resilient; and how to raise children who understand and appreciate the simple things in life—like where their food comes from and how to care for their bodies in ways that can support their health for years to come.
I specialize in and am known for teaching people how to create a more “homemade” life—one where they can provide for themselves and their families using simple, recognizable ingredients. That may include baking homemade bread, making cultured foods and beverages, creating natural skincare products, preparing herbal remedies, or learning the practical skills that help families become more self-sufficient.
What I am most proud of is seeing the excitement in others when they accomplish a skill they did not think they could learn. Watching someone become empowered to make one small change and then gain the confidence to make more changes in their life is incredibly rewarding.
I try to teach with simple instructions and encouragement in a society where social media can sometimes make even the simplest things feel complicated or unattainable.
What sets me apart is that I have hands-on experience. I do not simply share information—I live this lifestyle every day. I have raised the animals, grown and harvested food, made the bread, created the skincare products, worked with herbs, and learned through years of personal experience, research, education, and plenty of trial and error.
I also share the mistakes and the things that do not work. I share the losses we experience on the farm and how those losses affect us. I talk about slowing down and not wearing “busy, busy, busy” as a badge of honor.
People are looking for authenticity, and I believe that means sharing the real parts of this life—not only the beautiful, polished moments. I am not trying to present a perfect homesteading lifestyle. I am honest and humble about what this life is truly like, and I believe that honesty helps people see that they do not have to be perfect, have a large homestead, or know everything before they begin. They can start where they are, learn one skill at a time, and create meaningful changes for themselves and their families.
What does success mean to you?
Success is being able to lay my head down at night knowing that I have lived honestly and authentically, both with myself and with others, and that I have given my time to help people. Whether they are family, friends, or strangers around the world.
If I can make someone feel important, seen, and worthy of my time, I couldn’t be happier.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vintagelifefarm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vintagelifefarm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vintagelifefarm
