Samka Keranovic and the Founder Story Behind Desert Roots Wellness

For years, Samka Keranovic balanced the demands of corporate leadership with private coaching. She understood the pressure to meet expectations, remain dependable, and make decisions that kept everyone satisfied. Her experience also raised a question: What happens when people become so focused on meeting external expectations that they lose sight of their own priorities? That question helped shape Desert Roots Wellness, the company she co-founded with Tyler LaBarge to support high achievers and business owners in building lives and work that reflect their values.

Today, Keranovic brings more than 20 years of corporate leadership experience and 16 years of private coaching to Desert Roots Wellness (DRW). Her background includes serving as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with oversight of a $5.2 million P&L. Alongside LaBarge, she has developed a coaching approach supported by practical resources, including a library of 20 self-guided Blueprint workbooks.

The Founder Story Behind Desert Roots Wellness

Keranovic’s professional journey began long before Desert Roots Wellness became a company. Over more than 20 years in corporate leadership, she worked in environments where performance, responsibility, and professional expectations shaped everyday decisions. Alongside her corporate career, she coached privately, building 16 years of experience supporting personal and professional development.

Through these experiences, Keranovic developed a perspective on the challenges faced by ambitious professionals. She observed how the desire to remain dependable could influence decisions, particularly when individuals repeatedly placed others' expectations ahead of their own judgment.

Her philosophy centers on what she describes as self-abandonment, the habit of overriding personal needs, values, and priorities to maintain approval or avoid disappointing others.

Keranovic explored this perspective in her July 2026 Fast Company Leadership article, This Habit Leads to Burnout. Are You at Risk?.

Eventually, she stepped away from full-time corporate executive work to make coaching her primary focus. The transition allowed her to build a business around the principles she had spent years practicing and teaching.

That transition became a defining part of the Desert Roots Wellness story.

Keranovic founded Desert Roots Wellness alongside Tyler LaBarge, whose background includes sales, marketing, business management, finance, human resources, team building, and leadership.

LaBarge also brings experience navigating the competing expectations associated with family businesses. Together, the founders combine their professional perspectives to support high achievers and business owners who want greater clarity in their decisions.

Both are Certified Geo Love Healing Practitioners, trained in energetic boundary practices.

Their coaching philosophy, called Mind, Body, Soul, focuses on boundaries, self-trust, and values-based decision-making. Rather than relying on complicated terminology or broad promises, the company emphasizes practical exercises, reflection, and accountability.

For Keranovic, the goal is not to encourage people to abandon ambition. It is to help them examine whether their professional and personal choices reflect what genuinely matters to them.

Desert Roots Wellness offers both independent resources and personalized coaching. People can choose the level of support that fits their needs, whether they want to work through a specific pattern on their own or receive individual guidance.

The Blueprint library contains 20 self-guided digital workbooks and practical guides, organized into five themed Collections. The Boundary, People-Pleasing, and Self-Trust Blueprints are three featured resources within that broader library.

The Boundary Blueprint Helps Readers Recognize Personal Limits

For many high achievers, saying yes becomes an automatic response. They accept responsibilities, accommodate requests, and adjust their schedules without considering whether those decisions reflect their priorities.

The Boundary Blueprint provides a starting point for examining these habits.

"Boundaries are not walls or punishments. They are acts of self-respect," Keranovic explains.

The reflection process encourages individuals to consider where they feel obligated to agree, where responsibilities have become unclear, and where personal limits deserve greater attention.

For a business owner, this might involve examining client expectations. For a corporate professional, it could mean reconsidering how additional assignments are accepted.

The objective is not to discourage cooperation. It is to encourage more deliberate decisions about commitments and responsibilities.

The People-Pleasing Blueprint Explores the Need for Approval

People pleasing can be difficult to recognize because it often resembles kindness, professionalism, or dedication.

A person may volunteer for additional work, avoid disagreement, or repeatedly seek reassurance without considering the motivation behind those choices.

The People-Pleasing Blueprint encourages individuals to examine whether their actions reflect genuine willingness or discomfort with disappointing others.

This distinction is particularly relevant for high achievers who have become accustomed to receiving recognition for being dependable.

Through reflection, individuals can begin identifying situations where external approval influences their judgment.

The goal is not to become less considerate. Instead, it is to develop greater awareness of the difference between supporting others and consistently setting aside personal priorities.

The Self-Trust Blueprint Begins With Small Commitments

Self trust is another central theme in the Desert Roots Wellness philosophy.

For individuals who frequently question their decisions or depend on external reassurance, developing confidence may begin with everyday actions.

"Self-trust is rebuilt through small, kept promises to yourself," Keranovic says.

The Self-Trust Blueprint encourages reflection on personal commitments, decision-making habits, and the consistency between stated priorities and daily actions.

A small commitment might involve protecting time for an important task, communicating an honest preference, or following through on a decision without repeatedly seeking approval.

These actions provide opportunities to practice personal accountability without requiring immediate, sweeping changes.

Together, these three Blueprints explore central themes of DRW’s coaching philosophy through reflection and practical application. They can be used independently; purchasing coaching is not a prerequisite.

Different Ways to Begin Personal Development 

Desert Roots Wellness recognizes that people approach personal development with different levels of readiness, time, and commitment.

The Blueprints are workbook-based resources. The company also offers the self-paced, video-guided 30 Day Reset and video-guided digital toolkits for people who prefer that learning format.

Those seeking direct support can explore private coaching, including individual sessions and a 90-day package. The package combines regular sessions with practices, assignments, and accountability between sessions.

For organizations, Sustainable Success: Burnout Prevention for Leaders & Teams addresses workload conversations, boundaries, prioritization, and team practices. The training pairs individual communication skills with management responsibilities for clear expectations and sustainable workloads.

All coaching sessions take place by video, allowing Desert Roots Wellness to serve clients worldwide.

Its services focus on personal and professional development rather than therapy or clinical treatment.

By offering different ways to engage with its philosophy, DRW allows individuals to explore reflection resources and coaching options according to their interests and circumstances.

Desert Roots Wellness Recognized For Burnout Prevention

Desert Roots Wellness, co-founded by Samka Keranovic and Tyler LaBarge, earned Arizona's Best Burnout Prevention Coaching Service of 2026 recognition from Best of Best Review. Its distinctive approach combines corporate leadership experience, personalized coaching, and practical Blueprint workbooks focused on boundaries and self-trust.

Discover Your Starting Point With Desert Roots Wellness

Keranovic's founder story reflects a decision to build a professional life around values rather than continuing to follow expectations that no longer aligned with her direction.

That experience remains central to Desert Roots Wellness and its approach to helping others examine their own choices.

For individuals who recognize patterns of people-pleasing, unclear boundaries, or difficulty trusting personal judgment, the Blueprints provide relevant starting points for reflection.

Those interested in learning more can explore the company’s resources or book a free 30-minute Clarity Call to discuss their goals and whether coaching is a fit.

Explore meaningful perspectives on personal well-being, self-development, and achieving a healthier balance between work and life. Learn more about Samka Keranovic’s insights and philosophy by visiting the official website and connecting on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Discover additional resources, inspiration, and updates from Desert Roots Wellness through its Instagram and Facebook communities.

For people accustomed to meeting everyone else's expectations, personal growth may begin with a simple decision: making space to understand their own.