1/11 - Dee Dee Taylor, founder of 502 Hemp Wellness Center and 812 Hemp.

1/11 - Dee Dee Taylor, founder of 502 Hemp Wellness Center  and 812 Hemp.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Chamber Connection on Talk Radio ten eighty,
a program designed for small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and
community members who are eager to learn more about the
intricacies of running a successful business, hosted each week by
the dedicated staff of the Chamber of Saint Matthews. Now
here's your host for this week, Virginia Heart. COO.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Chamber Connection. Like it said,
I am Virginia Heart. I am your host for today.
In the studio today we have d D Taylor with
five O two HEMP. We're gonna talk about all things
HEMP today. Welcome d D.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Thank you, Thank you. I appreciate you having me on today.
How fun the start of the new year. Write new year,
new you. Yeah, something like that. I plan on being
the same smart alec that I was last year. So
and look at that. I didn't cuss write it. It's
really hard on here. I bet it is.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
So.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
I've known Deedy for a good while.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
I'd like to he did share her story a little
bit because she is very passionate about what she does
and it hits home for what she does.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Oh definitely, So I get goose pimples every time I
go to tell this story, it's crazy. But so I
was a paralegal by trade. I did legal work for
twenty years and then in twenty twenty, two thousand and nine,
I actually met my husband John and in he has seizures.
So it was really hard for him to tell me

(01:27):
about his seizures. Like when we first started dating, I'm like, well,
what kind of person would I be? I mean to me,
that's you know, that's a disability somewhat nothing he can
control exactly. It's not like, oh let me, let me
be an addict, you know what I mean, or something
like that, And that's that's a horrible comparison. But he

(01:47):
was on a lot of medications and he still kept
having them. And in twenty ten he had a really
bad one and he woke up about three blocks from
home at the speedway in the beer cooler. And the
running joke is that even out of his eple state,
he could find the beer. But he kind of came
to And if you've never seen anyone have a grandma
sees er, I hope you don't, because they are just

(02:08):
my father used to have it. Oh, there were rific
So that kind of brought us to cannabis. He started
using what is known now as Rick Simpson oil, and
he learned out West I think Oregon, Washington, I can't
remember which state, how to make it. And back in
twenty ten, you know, none of that was legal. So

(02:29):
we he literally created that. He's a genius, by the way,
and he probably won't hear this, so I can brag
on him, but he literally made like a still and
started extracting cannabis oil for himself and it made such
a huge difference. He went five years asymptomatic, no seizures,
and then in twenty fourteen he became one of the

(02:50):
first licensed processors in Kentucky and that has that was
when the original Hint bill was filed and you had
to be under a hip pilot program, and it was
it was crazy. I mean, here I am. I was
still paralegal, you know, and I'm like, oh God, we're
gonna go to jail. Should we get a divorce, should
we move money. I was just afraid of the dea.
I was afraid of all of it. I'm you know,

(03:11):
I've always been on the right side of the loss.
It was kind of crazy. Well, in so he started
taking it in twenty sixteen. I worked for attorneys, and
anybody's worked for attorneys, I know how stressful an anxiety
ridden that is. And I called him almost in tears,
almost wrecked the car. I was like, you know, having

(03:31):
a panic attack, and he's like, would you just try
the oil? I was like, okay, well he brought this nasty,
nasty flavored stuff home. I'll never forget it. Oh it was.
It was the grossest thing I've ever take. But I
was like, okay, I'm just gonna, you know, muscle throat
and take it. And I started sleeping better and I
start I didn't feel all that weight on my chest.
I just started like feeling more of my normal self.

(03:57):
And I was like, man, there's there might be something
to this. So I started doing my homework, my research.
The fact that our government owns a patent on it,
you know, lists of neurological protectant helps with schizophrenia, seizures,
and Parkinson's, and that's what our government owns back in
two thousand and four, mind you, so fast forward. The

(04:17):
I kind of looked at him and I was like,
what do you think about if I tried selling this?
I said, you know, I'm not really a salesperson, I said,
I'm pretty darn honest. He goes, that's what's needed. So
I started selling. I think the first time I ever
set up anywhere was at the Flea off market, so
I really every time a cop would walk by, I'm like,
oh God, please don't ask me what this is. Because

(04:40):
that was twenty sixteen, so the twenty eighteen farm bough
obviously didn't. I wasn't written yet. So I was at
it like I was definitely one of the pioneers in
this region, even in Kentucky, and we just kind of
went from there and I started growing. I had a
little following, and then finally I was like, there was
a local health food store that started carrying a brain
that I was just not happy with. They use buttane

(05:04):
to extract with not granted they call it a hydrocarbon,
but to me, utane is a carcinogen. It's cancer causing,
and you know, why would you start a health journey
with something that's made with freaking butane. So it kind
of made me go, M I need a store. I
need people to come in and learn and educate themselves
and get quality products and products that I know from

(05:26):
the get go, are you know, produced correctly and with quality,
And that's kind of what made me open up five
zero two him. But I ended up opening up in
October of twenty eighteen, and we've been going at it
ever since. So we kind of, you know, we we
didn't jump on that bandwagon. We kind of started it.
So you were driving the train, it was I was

(05:47):
driving the train, and it was crazy. So I went
from a pairalegal, full time paralegal to now a business owner,
and it was the best change I've ever made in
my entire life. I was terrified, you know, being in
your forties, you're starting a new career and you're like, oh,
and this is a very questionable product, right and you know,
it wasn't until you know, January really of twenty nineteen

(06:08):
that these products were truly truly federally legal. So it
was a little scary in the beginning. And just being
a business owner first time. I'd never had my own
retail store before. You know, I'd sold Avon and you know,
those kind of things before, but never like a real,
a real thing. So it was it was I've learned
a lot, oh my gosh, a lot, and all of

(06:31):
the extra things that I had to deal with as
a hint person because we couldn't mark it the same way,
we couldn't advertise the same way. Card credit cards, oh,
credit card processing, Oh my gosh, that was a nightmare.
In the beginning, we were I think it was with
one of the bigger banks, and I thought everything was

(06:51):
going great, we had a good percentage, and then all
of a sudden, they canceled everyone. I'm like, what am
I gonna do? What am I going to do? And
then I got with Square and and then just recently,
actually Square canceled everyone. After five years being with Square,
they canceled everyone. Yeah, I finally found a good company
that I do work with, and I mean they're not
the best rates, but they're better than what I was

(07:13):
paying with Square. So it just being a business owner
has been tough. And then Kentucky rules. Oh my gosh,
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
I just think if we were on the front end
of this, how much money Kentucky would have made as
a whole.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, well, and they could have been, They really could
have been. And it not only sucked being in the
retail space with what they did back in twenty one,
but that earlier than that. With my husband being a processor,
they made new rules that he couldn't ship his crew
out of steak because it was over that point three

(07:48):
percentage of THHC. Well, you refine that, so that's how
you get that final product where it's below the point
three percent. And for the listeners, my gosh, him and
marijuana is this same plant. Okay, I know they don't
want you to know that, and they didn't want you
to think that you got to wait for the real stuff,
but you really don't. We have the real stuff, I promise, right, Yeah,

(08:11):
it's the real stuff. But so anyway, the Kentucky Department
backer culture put those rules in place to where he
couldn't ship his crew out of state. Well that just
killed the entire hemp industry for the processors and even
the growers. And then in twenty and twenty one, when
COVID happened, there was such an influx of people growing

(08:31):
that it literally bonded out the prices. And my husband
had this ginormous facility, mind you, in South End. It
was a great facility he had, I mean it was huge.
It looked like a Costco warehouse for CBD products and
extraction had one of the largest extraction equipment anywhere, which

(08:53):
he still has. We're just kind of storing it now.
But he's downside downsize since then. He's actually working out
of my eight one to two store over in Clarksville, Indiana,
so which is great because he pays the rent. But
that always helps. But I mean, we've been doing this
and doing it effectively now, gosh, I mean for him,

(09:14):
for us, really it's been ten over ten years, legally
you know about eight, but it's yeah, beside the point,
but it's been a it's definitely been a ride. In
twenty one. So technically, in twenty twenty, new products called
Delta eight THHC came about and the government hated the

(09:34):
Oh they still do, they still do. It's it's insane
they you know the label they put on it. It's
that it's synthetic, and you know that they're using all
these acids and all this kind of stuff. Well, my gosh,
you know how they use to make your food exactly.
But the thing is, if it was truly synthetic, the

(09:55):
definition of synthetic means it's made up right, completely made
up out of thin air. Let's not the case with
Delta eight. They literally take CBD isolate because there's such
an abundance of it, and they converted it. They did
a simple chemical reaction of just another version of it
and literally convert it to delta eight. Delta eight THHC

(10:16):
is a naturally occurring cannabinoid in the plant. So when
the Department of Agriculture tried to they sent a letter
out on April nineteenth, mind you, and said that these
products were illegal, and I was like, no, they're not.
I read the law. I know exactly what the law says,
and I used to be apparently exactly, so I'm like,
I'm still selling this.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Well.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Then fast forward just a couple months and stores out
in Rowan County started getting raided and I was like, oh, no,
they are not making a criminal out of me. And
I pretty much spearheaded the fight against the kDa along
with the Kentuck Camp Association, which I'm on the board now.
But we filed a lawsuit and we won, and those products,

(10:59):
Delta eight products are legal. Now. Fast forward to twenty three.
I think it was Governor Basher he filed Housepill five
forty four making the products legal. But there's there's certain
restrictions now involved, which we we all championed four because
they are excuse me, adult products twenty one and up

(11:21):
behind the counter. Make sure you have your testing, make
sure you've got your labels that are correct. So all
the things that we've already done, just now, as of
this year, the products that are being sold in some
of the retailers, they have to be approved products through
the state. Well as of this morning, there are only
one hundred and forty eight approved products through the cabinet.

(11:43):
Granted three of them are mine, Martismid and another three,
but it's taken some time to get those products approved.
But you know, it's it's been baby steps along the
way with all the fighting and back and forth. And
right now Housepill eleven is in effect. As of today,
there's no vaping in Kentucky. And that's granted that's supposed

(12:03):
to be tobacco and nicotine vape, but I do worry
that it's going to affect the hemp vapes as well.
So there is a pending lawsuit. I think they're taking
that to the Supreme Court. I know federally there's already
a lawsuit there from someone else. So it's a lot.
I have never been into politics until I started this

(12:25):
all I opened my store. It's crazy. You didn't know
what you were getting into. No, I didn't. All right,
stay with us. We will be back with more from D. D.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Taylor with five O two Hemp on Talk Radio ten eighty.

Speaker 4 (12:42):
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(13:03):
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Speaker 1 (13:12):
Thanks for listening to real news, Real Talk Talk Radio
ten eighty.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Welcome back DDE. Taylor and five O two Hemp. We
are talking about the hemp industry, talking about laws and
all the ups and downs you have been through.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Tons tons Every time a legislative session starts, I'm like,
oh gosh, what's it going to be this time? But
you know, I must say I truly feel blessed because
not only did our industry and other retailers rally against
rally for us for the Delta eight lawsuit, so did
my customers. They were all calling in to their legislators

(13:49):
and be like, you know, for every call, that's ten votes.
And I truly believe that's how we saved it because
we didn't have that grassroots movement to save those products.
I don't know that we would have because there was
so many legislators against it. And that kind of leads
into the whole medical marijuana movement too. I was also

(14:09):
part of that and lobbying and going to meet legislators
and and you know, you walk into one legislator's office
and his office is filled filled with bourbon. Right, I'm like, dude,
and stuff will kill you. Cannabis has never killed anyone.
But whatever, It's hard for me how much we put

(14:29):
into into alcohol in this state, especially the bourbon industry.
One that's gross tasting. I'm just telling you, cannabis tastes better,
but I just think I think bourbon's gross. Not that
I haven't had my share, because I have, but I
just you know, it kills people every single day, same
thing with tobacco, and yet those are two very readily

(14:53):
available products, and we jump for him and even marijuana
we've had to jump through more hoops than anything. And
you know, so it's just a shame because there is
research out there that this helps. Not only helps my
husband with the seizures, but I take it for my
own anxiety. I use CBD products every day now. Delta
nying THHC is not a new product. We call it

(15:15):
delta nying THHC because we can't say it's marijuana, but
it's the same THCHC that you will find in marijuana. So,
like I said earlier, when people are waiting for the
real stuff or I'm waiting for medical, you don't have to.
And the medical program. While I'm thrilled that it passed
and I was actually on the Governor's board his advisory

(15:36):
committee to bring it into the state and get it
voted on, what kills me is that it is only
allowing for six ailmates. So if you don't have any
of those six, you're sol for the card. But what
I've been saying forever now is that you don't need
the medical card. You don't need to wait. Come into

(15:56):
my store. Come into another reliable CBD shop, and not
a grocery store, not a gas station. That's not where
quality is you need to get. Even if it's not
at my store, go to someone who's been in the
business for a while and knows what they're talking about,
somewhere you could go and ask questions and get real

(16:16):
answers and make sure that they've done the testing on it.
That's the most important thing to me, is that they've
done the testing and you know what is in that
bottle is what you're going to get. But it was
funny I went down. I'll back up a little bit.
So Delta nin THHC we have it. You do not
have to wait, period right. Getting medical pass was huge,

(16:38):
But again only those six ailments and you have to
pay for that medical card. Yep. Why annually too, Yeah, annually,
And you got to meet with the doctor. And some
of these doctors that are writing these scripts, they don't
know what they're talking about, you know what I mean.
And even if they do know what they're talking about,
that's probably not going to be the same thing that
one of the bud tenders tell you. But what's crazy

(16:59):
about that whole process and the lottery process, And we
get into that a little bit. I did apply. I applied.
I had actually two applications. My husband applied for a processor,
and then one of our very very good friends applied
for the grow None of us got it right, and
all went to big companies. It all went to big companies,
and it was such a shame to see that. And

(17:21):
in the rules it even said that you couldn't have
a license where you are the processor, the grower, and
the dispensary. Well, this company called dark Horse, their owners
have all that. So they are technically vertically vertically integrated
now and they will pretty much be probably run in
the state as far as growing, processing, and dispensing. And

(17:42):
it just it made me sick because I know that
is not what was intended and hardly I don't know
of any people that were in the HINT program that won, not.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
One yet, nobody locally. No been in the state.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
I think a couple of There's one dispensary guy up
in northern Kentucky. He had a vape store and he won,
So I would if I was gonna buy that's where
I buy it. From but it's a kicker. You know,
you're not supposed to have your guns anymore, right if
you got medical yep see, and with him, it don't matter.
And I mean I have guns, my husband has guns.

(18:22):
That's just our second amendment, right. I don't see why
that has to be an issue, because again, I'd a
rather deal with a high person with a gun than
a drunk person with a gun all day long. Yeah, right,
And most cops would probably tell you the same thing.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
Well, here's the thing too, You got PTSD and that's
one of the ailments that you all help with.

Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, exactly. So it's it just amazes me that they've
got all those restrictions to it too. And even on
the milligram for the gummies, they're only allowing ten milligrams.
I already got twenty. I got a thirty getting ready
to come out. That's why I'm saying, you don't need
to wait. You do not need to wait. But our
products are also more about the health aspect too, yes, like,

(19:03):
and we guide you on what you should take. Never
eat a whole gummy, y'all.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Speaking from experience, I called my my I called my
d D when my husband accidentally did this because he
didn't listen to Virginia and he didn't read the directions.
It's even in the direction we tell y'all, but men
don't read directions.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
No, they don't. Sorry, guys, but we know, we know.
You know what.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Sometimes you live and.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
You learn sometimes I mean, yeah, and then you know better.
You'll learn your lessons. You do well, like you hope
they do. But I could, I really could write a
book on all the great stories that I hear when
people come out and be like, oh, I should have
listened to you. It wasn't such a good time. I said, yeah,
do not take a whole one ever.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
And I've also seen you guide people through cancers and
not just you know, you're it's not just a customer
that's fine from you. They become family too. Do you
get integrated? You help them.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
It's all about education, it really truly is, because these
products can help with so many different things. And the
main reason why they help is because we all have
an endocannabinoid system, So the cannabis products should have never
been taken out of our diet. Our bodies actually respond
to the cannabis products in different ways. It helps build

(20:21):
healthy cells. That's why you know what changed my mind
about THHC not being a drug, I truly do not
believe it is, is because our bodies keep it. It's
like the only thing you can truly fail a drug
test on. You can go out and do heroin and
you know, seventy two hours later, your system's clean. It's
because our bodies are designed to clean poisons. That's why

(20:42):
I have kidney, That's why we have a liver, because
it gets sort of the poisons in our system. And drugs,
even pharmaceutical drugs, they're drugs. Your body knows it's poisoned.
But tell me why your body keeps THHC up to
thirty forty five days gets stored in your fat cells.
If it was truly a drug or truly poison that
you know, our government claims forever, our bodies would get

(21:03):
rid of it.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
Now, so let's talk about their legal lives in marijuana.
They already have uh cannabis. But what about drug testing
because federally they it's still illegal, correct, But statewide, how
is that gonna affect drug testing?

Speaker 3 (21:19):
No wonder, It'll still be up to the employers. Okay,
and now a lot of state I think like if
you work for the state, and they're still going to
drug test you. Some do, some don't. I know there's
a lot of employers that will not test for THHC
because they wouldn't have any employees in all honesty. I
mean because considering hemp's legal, and there's THHC in the hemp,

(21:39):
even up to that point three percent in the CBD products.
But even isolating that and just having the delta night,
you're gonna fail. You're gonna fail drug test. And that's
what most people don't understand. Even though it's a point
three percent, it gets stored in your fat cells. And
I'm a big girls, I know, I'm you check me
and I'm all filled with it. But the thing is

(22:00):
about the THHC. It can stay in your system for
so long and even though you're not high. If I
was to get pulled over and get tested like breathalyzer,
it had passed. But if they did, like a blood work,
you would show back that you have THHC in your system.
That's the one thing that worries me. I know that
the powers that be they've been working on trying to

(22:21):
find a more up to date test for people that
are you know, using marijuana and driving or whatever, and
I truly advise you not to do that. Don't be stupid,
don't be stupid. Use these products at home. You know,
they're great for sleep, they're great for laughing on a movie.
They're great to relax and you know, unwind or or

(22:42):
deal with pain too, because THHC is amazing for pain
relief and it's natural and you don't get hooked on
it like you do opioids. So but just do it
at home. Don't drink, don't be stupid. Don't drink and
don't or don't well, don't drink and drive either, but
don't cannabis and drive either. And I intermingle the words,
by the way, cannabis marijuana because marijuana is the name,

(23:04):
yes it is, but cannabis is the actual name of
the planned cannabis el sativa. But back in I don't know,
the thirties or whatever, the government called it marijuana because
it was a Mexican name and they went to scare
people with that. So that's why you know people call
it marijuana today. I try to just say cannabis and

(23:25):
it encompassing, encompasses both himp and marijuana. Awesome.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
So let's talk about dry January real quickly. Oh yeah,
we're wrapping up here, so it's dry January. But I
know DEDI has some products to help you to shay.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
I do, so I have some amazing cannabis drinks. And
they're not like I've got like soft, medium and hard drinks,
let's put it that way. But they're great because I
have quit drinking alcohol. My husband has quit for his health,
and I rarely really drink. I might have a drink
when we have a girl's night, but I prefer cannabis.

(24:00):
There's no hangover, you don't feel like crap the next day.
You definitely don't get the unsolicited calories, which I like.
So I can have a drink. It's like ten fifteen
calories and I'm just nice and buzzed and enjoying a movie.
Those are like five milligrams. I've got some that are
ten milligrams, and I've got ones that are one hundred milligrams.

(24:21):
And I do not recommend you drinking that whole thing
because they it hit you, that would hit you hard.
But for tried January, and if you're just trying to
stay away from alcohol but you still want to, you know,
feel good, get a little relaxed, and not feel it
the next day or the next and feel like crap,
and you can still get up and do things. I

(24:43):
highly recommend cannabis drinks. Start out small, yeah, anything else, Yes,
I'll start out small. And if you get one that
is mixed with CBD, so you got the delta min
and the CBD mix, it's an even kind of feeling.
You don't get super super high because CBD will block
some of those THHC receptors in your brain, so you're
not like uber inebriated with the THHC. And I think

(25:07):
those are the best. I absolutely love them. I recommend
them constantly. Awesome.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
If you could give somebody coming into this industry one
piece of advice besides run, what would it be.

Speaker 3 (25:18):
Go make sure you know what you're doing, have your
make sure you got a good banker and you know
where you can process your credit cards, because I think
that was probably the hardest thing I've been through. And
make sure that your products are approved for sale through
the state, because if not, I think that's just going
to be a cluster. The more we get into twenty five.

(25:39):
If people are selling products that aren't approved they're going
to get in trouble and I hate to see that.
I'm working on eliminating some of those, but it's tough.
It's tough. I know what you're selling, my gosh, know
what you're selling exactly well.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
I would like to thank our guest today, D D.
Taylor with five two him for joining us. If you're
interested in more information on the Chamber of Saint Matthew's,
check out our website at Saint matthews Chamber dot com,
or find us on Facebook and LinkedIn. Until next time,