Six years ago, Katie Boothby-Kung needed a break from her high-pressure job in the Canadian government. As an advance to the Prime Minister of Canada, the long hours she’d clock coordinating events and fostering relationships with international government officials did a number on her skin, too.
 
“I was working 60 hours a week, eating cereal for dinner and I looked horrible,” she said in a recent phone interview. “I had bags under my eyes and regular breakouts. My whole look was tired-looking. At that time, I didn’t have time to care. I would wake up in the morning, put on a pound of makeup and head off to work.”
 
Following the Canadian election in 2015, a year-end African safari seemed the apt locale for an escape. Boothby-Kung and her husband Greg packed their bags and flew to southern Africa for a month-long excursion to experience the healing powers of nature’s beauty and get an education in African culture. The cascading waters of the Zambezi River and the endless stretch of greenery provided more than just a much-needed oasis; it became the backdrop for new meaning in her life and a fresh start. The poverty-stricken villages of Zambia, a landlocked country at the crossroads of southern, central and east Africa, opened Boothby-Kung’s eyes to squalid living conditions that eclipsed her own personal trials in a taxing career.      

“You could see the need for toilets that were held up by sticks and a hole in the ground,” Katie recalled. 
 

The sight made her determined to make a difference. Specifically, it called to mind her college capstone project. During her studies in social entrepreneurship at Carelton University in Ontario, she learned to harness the power of business to make positive change. At the time, the self-professed science nerd was also leaning toward a chemistry major. Apart from an interest in international relations, she marveled in the magic of mixtures and conjured an idea to create a soap-making business called Soap2Hope. While eventually abandoning that project to earn a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management in International Relations and Affairs, Boothby-Kung’s African adventure rekindled her interest in the creation of a skin care line. This time, she was determined to see it through. 
 
“There was something within my heart,” she recalled. “I turned to my husband and said, ‘This is the village I want to help. I’m going to do everything I can to make this skin care line happen.’”
 
The Copper Root Collective 

The creation of this skin care line was contingent upon Boothby-Kung’s desire to install clean drinking wells in these villages. According to UNICEF.org, poor water, sanitation and hygiene are the leading causes of infections such as cholera and diarrhea, and death in children under five in sub-Saharan communities. Girls and women are particularly affected by these conditions and are a cause of high dropout rates. Girls are more likely to remain in school when given privacy for menstrual hygiene management and separate toilets from boys. Their continued studies also delay pregnancy and marriage and provide for better employment opportunities. Per a 2018 Demographic and Health Survey, 64% of the Zambian population use basic drinking water services; 33% use a basic sanitation service; 10% practices open defecation; and 24% have access to basic hygiene services like handwashing facilities with soap and water. 
 
Despite these staggering statistics, Boothby-Kung saw the plethora of valuable resources the country has to offer that could help her in making a difference. In between basking in the awe-inspiring views and doting on the elephants (the gentle, but mighty creatures even inspired the name of an acne-fighting cleanser, but more on that later), Boothby-Kung became engrossed in learning about Africa’s abundance of natural ingredients that she would use to make luxurious skin care products. Incorporating Zambia’s staples such as honey, which reduces inflammation and speeds skin repair; and mango, a superfruit which contains antioxidant vitamins A, C and E and boasts noncomedogenic properties, Boothby-Kung would christen her line Copper Root Collective. Copper is Zambia’s largest export, root refers to its trees, and collective, as in it takes a village – literally.
 
“Africa is the epicenter of beauty products,” Boothby-Kung noted. “It is incredible what grows out of the ground. Mango trees are everywhere. There is an abundance of health and wealth hanging from these trees.”
 
Copper Root Collective’s first partner was Mukuni, a small village near the Victoria Falls bordering Zimbabwe. It is home to a large mango tree known by village dwellers as the “Meeting Tree,” where people take shelter and gather beneath its branches. The chiefdom of this village is comprised of 100 villages that span the southern province of Zambia and rely on tourism to help boost its economy. The Collective’s Soap2Hope helps the villages forge local partnerships along with water and sanitation projects. All proceeds from Copper Root Collective go to the Butterfly Tree Charity, a nonprofit organization that supports orphans and rural communities in Zambia decimated by HIV/AIDS while providing clean water and sanitation, feeding programs, improved health and education facilities, malaria prevention and sustainable community projects. 
 
A New Beginning 
 
Upon her return to Canada, Boothby-Kung quit her governmental job and founded the Copper Root Collective, cultivating a number of hypoallergenic, cruelty-free skin care products for the Copper Root Collective's On the Glow face mist. body, face and hair (there’s even products for the family dog.) Made with honey, goat’s milk and lemon, the Kalming Kazangula soap bar leaves skin feeling hydrated, nourished and clean. Its Elephant Cleanse acne fighter, which emits the pleasant aroma of peppermint and light mountain ran, contains black activated charcoal and white baobab powder that work to draw out acne-causing impurities to help clear and prevent breakouts. The Zambezi Dreaming hand and body lotion is made with lavender enriched with cocoa butter and apricot to soothe and hydrate skin and encourage relaxation. Boothby-Kung and her team also created luxurious bath bombs, which dissolve into bathwater and provide for a revitalizing full-body soak. Mukuni Mango Bath Bomb is an enlivening fusion of mango, lemongrass, vanilla and pine that will have users feeling energized, refreshed and smelling like a safari sunrise.
 
Since the launch of Copper Root Collective, Boothby-Kung serves as a skin health coach on Sofia Health, an online platform created in 2019 by ex-Air Force Pilot Riley Rees. Sofia Health connects individuals suffering from mental or physical conditions with holistic, complementary, alternative and naturopathic providers. It was, and continues to be helpful to users during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the past two years, the platform has become a go-to destination for overall health and wellness. 
 
“Normally, estheticians work in spas and build their clientele. I did the skin care line first and got so interested in formulating products and how they can help,” Katie explained. 
 
Since the Copper Root Collective’s inception in 2017, clean drinking wells have been installed in Zambia. In between mentoring clients and selling her homemade products, Boothby-Kung returns to Zambia with her husband to see the fruits of their labor and be amidst its magnetism once again.

“I think back to that trip and how the trajectory of my life has changed,” she said. “Africa seeps into your soul and you can’t get rid of that love for a continent and the people there.”