Weaving Kimmerer's wisdom into Fifth Element

At Fifth Element, we believe in naming and honoring the sources of our inspiration. It’s part of our practice to acknowledge the wisdom that shapes us, because our work is not created in isolation — it grows out of relationships, teachings, and lineages of care.

One of the most profound influences on Fifth Element has been Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. Her words remind us that the land is not just scenery or resource, but a living relative. She teaches that our relationship with the earth has been marked by centuries of extraction and abuse, and that repair requires reciprocity, gratitude, and responsibility.

That wisdom has become central to how we design Fifth Element. We don’t see our Circles as transactional networking groups. We see them as ecosystems of care, where members show up not to sell but to support, listen, and grow together. Just as Kimmerer describes the way plants thrive in relationship, we believe people thrive in community when reciprocity is at the center.

Her teachings on “enoughness” also resonate deeply with us. Abundance isn’t about accumulation — it’s about balance. That’s why our pricing models and redistribution commitments are structured so that higher‑income members subsidize access for marginalized participants. It’s why we embed reparations into our business design, directing resources to Indigenous, Black, frontline, and climate‑impacted communities.

We are grateful to Robin Wall Kimmerer for giving us language and courage to resist dominant professionalism and internalized capitalism. Her work has helped us shape a coaching practice that is liberation‑centered and justice‑driven, one that honors complexity and interdependence rather than reducing everything to metrics and outcomes.

Today, we want to share one of her talks that captures this wisdom beautifully: “Reclaiming the Honorable Harvest” from TEDxSitka. In it, she explores Indigenous teachings about how to live in right relationship with the Earth — lessons that extend far beyond ecology and into the way we design businesses, communities, and lives.

This Christmas as you consider your gift giving, we invite you to watch, reflect, and consider how these teachings might shape your own commitments to repair, reciprocity, and justice.