In this episode of the Women of Wayland Podcast, we sit down with Sarah Patel, the founder of Kelia, a brand revolutionizing the world of cannabis beverages. Sarah shares her inspiring journey of rediscovering the transformative effects of cannabis as a mother. In this conversation, Sarah reflects on the stigma surrounding cannabis and on the jettisoning away of some of these traditionally held beliefs. She discusses her mission to redefine the cannabis experience through Kelia and empower others to embrace its benefits openly and without shame. Join us as we delve into Sarah's story and discover how Kelia is leading the charge in transforming the conversation around cannabis, one sip at a time.
Podcast Episode Sponsor : Lifetechs Gym, Wayland
Links
- Women of Wayland Podcast Website
- Podcast Instagram
- Music by Epidemic Sound
- Podcast Subscription
- Kelia drink
- Non-Profit Spotlight
- Patch article
- Boston magazine article
- Podcast host's website
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Women of Wayland podcast.
Podcast Episode Sponsor : Lifetechs Gym, Wayland
Links
- Women of Wayland Podcast Website
- Podcast Instagram
- Music by Epidemic Sound
- Podcast Subscription
- Kelia drink
- Non-Profit Spotlight
- Patch article
- Boston magazine article
- Podcast host's website
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Women of Wayland podcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
This episode is brought to you byLife TeX's Jim Whaland. Welcome back podcast
listeners. Welcome to Women of Valentpodcast. Join us on a journey through
the vibrant community of Whaland as wespotlight the extraordinary stories of women right next
door. From entrepreneurs to activists,caregivers to creators. Each episode of Women
(00:27):
of Whalen brings you closer to theremarkable women shaping our towns fabric. In
this episode of Women of Valent Podcast, we sit down with Sarah Patel.
Sarah's journey with cannabis began in herteens, but it wasn't until after becoming
(00:47):
a mother that she truly appreciated itstransformative effects. She recalls feeling judged and
misunderstood, but when she reintroduced cannabisinto her life after giving birth, everything
changed. Suddenly. Sarah found relieffrom anxiety, quieted negative thoughts, and
(01:07):
became more present and focused, allwhile caring for her daughter. It was
a revelation cannabis wasn't about stereotypes orstigma, It was about feeling like her
best self. With this newfound clarity, Sarah set out to share this experience
with others. She envisioned Keelia asmore than just a beverage. It's a
(01:29):
conduit for change, whether sipped throughoutthe day or enjoyed as a mocktail with
friends, Keelia aims to redefine thecannabis experience. Sarah's mission is clear,
to change the conversation around cannabis andempower others to embrace its benefits openly and
without shame. So join us aswe dive into Sarah's journey and discover how
(01:52):
Keelia is leading the charge in transformingthe world of cannabis one sip at a
time. Well, welcome, Welcome, welcome. I really want to get
into the story, but before doingthat, I want to know what got
you to Whyland school system and theusual the usual? And I, you
(02:15):
know, grew up in Newton ornot a big city, but it's a
city. And I really liked thethought of my daughter growing up in a
community rather than a city, andso I really wanted that for her.
It is so exciting to have youhere with an exciting product. Before I
jump into the product site, Ireally want to know a little bit about
(02:37):
yourself and what motivated you to launchthis special product. Yeah, so I
had have a cannabis beverage out andcalled Kilia. And I had been a
cannabis user for you know, sincemy teenage years, and truthfully, I
used quite regularly. It was dailyfor me, and it was something that
(03:01):
you know, especially as a teenager, I used it a lot as for
like the euphoric effect. It calmedme. It you know, made me
helped me relax a lot, andyou know, through college and in my
twenties, you know, still continueduse. When I met my now husband
(03:22):
and when we tried to get pregnant, and while I was pregnant, while
I was breastfeeding, I did notuse any cannabis products, and I didn't
realize that anxiety was kind of sneakingup on me, you know, especially
like no one really likes to talkabout like postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety,
and it's so common. And whenI finished breastfeeding my daughter, I took
(03:51):
an edible and I remember being ona walk with her and we were just
walking and I was just like feelingnice, and I realized my anxiety in
a way that voice in my headthat was mean to me basically like you
(04:11):
you know, aren't smart enough forpretty enough for whatever. It started to
really quiet, and I started tofeel like I was connecting back to the
person that I had been when Iwas growing up, like more confident,
more relaxed. And I didn't realizeat that time that, you know,
anxiety had crept up on me.And it was kind of eye opening when
(04:35):
I got home. It was somethingtruly that I wanted to bottle for other
women, especially because it's you know, cannabis is something that as someone who
used it for years, you geta lot of negative stereotypes put on you.
You you know, people maybe don'tthink you're motivated, or they don't
(04:57):
think that you are intelligent, orthat you're lazy, like all of these
like quote unquote stoner attributes they puton you just because you use cannabis.
And I'm like, I want tostop that. You know, let's let's
make a new conversation around cannabis,and let's include more women as moms or
(05:21):
even as a single empty nester,or as a woman who's just like in
her twenties, thirties, what isthe name it? We're always surrounded by
judgments, judgment of this that,how we look, how we what we're
eating, drinking, how we're keepingour families. There's a lot of pressure
on women overall, and then withthe system that we live in. No
(05:45):
matter how equal your partner is,you're still doing a lot. Yes you
are. Like you know, Ihave felt the stigma attached to cannabis a
lot more than the alcohol. Socoming to point which takes me time,
it is I want you to tellme that moment in your life when you
(06:08):
were a user and that people likesaid something to hold you, was it
tough? So I will say,just point blank, cannabis makes me a
better mom. I am not scaredto say that. It's relaxing. I
can get on the same level asmy daughter. I can be more creative
(06:29):
as a mother. I can bemore present as a mother. So I
will say that first and foremost.Not a lot gets to me when it
comes to cannabis. But I dohave a recollection of I was dating this
guy and he used cannabis with me. I mean, we both smoked,
(06:50):
but mostly it was just you know, like in his family, it wasn't
really something that was smiled upon.And I remember his brother said something to
me, but he said it ina way like I was part of a
Cheech and Chong movie, you know, like oh you know, oh you're
really gonna do that, Sarah orwhatever. And I remember just wanting to
(07:14):
be like, would you speak toyour brother that way? Probably not?
Yeah, because you know, justbecause I'm a woman and I'm doing it,
and I'm honestly, women are sortof easy targets, especially if you
know I am someone who will hearthat and be like ah, because you
know, just kind of like laughit off and maybe not stick up for
(07:36):
myself. And that it didn't.Now I was able to walk away from
that being like what a jackass,but like it's not something that that hurt
me, but it is something thatI remember. It was a little bit
like how dare you judge me onthis? And like and so, but
(07:58):
you know, now that it's likelegal and coming out with the beverage,
I'm just sort of like to anyonewho judged me, like keep doing Yeah,
I keep doing it. Like there'snow I understand that I I don't
think I have a target on myback, right, but I think that
I'm definitely opening myself and frankly whatscares me is I'm opening my daughter up
(08:24):
to judgment, and that's something thatI've definitely been thinking more about. You
know, are there moms that aregoing to be like, you know,
maybe Hannah isn't the best play dateto have. I can imagine that.
(08:45):
It's scary because you don't want todo anything that gets in your any of
your children's way of being the bestthem and most successful them that they can
be. And yeah, that scaresme a little bit that, like maybe
I'm just sort of hoping that forthe most part. You know, if
(09:05):
you want to judge me, judgeme. Don't judge my daughter. She
didn't make up, you know,she didn't decide that I should do this.
I did, frankly, if itmakes me a better person and it's
not hurting anyone, Yeah, ifsomeone judges me, like, so be
it. I'm still going to bea better you know, I kid,
(09:28):
You'll you know, there will alwaysbe people who are going to judge me
or think differently of me when theyfind out that I do what I do
and I have what I have andwhatever. But no, Sarah, this
is beautiful because you have thought aboutthis from all directions. I can see
this as a woman, as ahost. There would be people who might
(09:50):
think that you know you know it'sbecause because I know that Valaen has has
had the history of saying no toa dispensary. Know that I don't know
this when I was trying to interviewyou, and I have I have this
habit no matter where are women comefrom. The incredible journeys, the bravery
(10:13):
they show is why Women of Whalenstands. It's what Women of Whalen stands
for. Yeah, when you decidedit will be a cannabis beverage, who
was the first person you broke thisnews? It was mister Pottel. It
was my husband. I I actuallygot home from that walk and I mean
(10:35):
like it was all that I couldthink about. I got home and I'm
like, I know what I'm supposedto be doing with my life. I
know what I'm supposed to do.I'm supposed to make a cannabis beverage.
And he looked at me and smiledand said no. And I'm no,
(10:56):
no, no, I yes,I this is what I'm supposed to do.
And I'm like, think about it, and I'm trying to sell him
and he's like, Sarah, no, this is like our daughter is eighteen
months old. You know this isthis is too much, and I'm like
okay, And so you know,I went on a walk the next day
and I came back and I couldtruly taste one of my flavors in my
(11:20):
mouth. Watermelon coconut is how I'mlike, I can taste what this drink
is supposed to taste like. AndI got home and again I said,
I know that one of my flavorsis supposed to be watermelon coconut, and
he again was like you're still onthis, no, and I'm like okay.
And then later I still pushed forward, and later on either that day
(11:45):
or the next day, I couldn'tstop thinking like, well, what would
I name this beverage? And Ialways liked the k sounds. I feel
like it it's a strong sound,if that makes sense. And I said,
could you imagine if someone said,hey, could you pass me?
(12:07):
Like I don't think that I hadthought of kilia yet, but like,
could you pass me a can ofkilia? And he was like you are
serious about this? And I'm like, I am letter. I definitely know
I wanted that sound. Yeah,well, well true, you know certain
letters definitely have a good sound toit. Yeah, so I understand and
(12:28):
that is honestly, when I foundout when I came across the word kielia
or the name Kilia, it meanswarrior, intelligence, beauty, all of
the strength, all of these thingsthat I wanted for my consumers to feel
and to embrace. I see,and I thought that that could be pretty
(12:50):
amazing. That could be pretty incredible. I didn't want it to be something
that was like a play on cannabisor one of the many names cannabis has,
like Mary Jane or marijuana or potor whatever. I didn't. I
wanted it to be something that thisis a juice that has cannabis in it.
(13:15):
Okay, so you told me thatyou were walking and this thought came
up to you and you had agummy and that was your euphoric moment.
Now my question to you is,you have launched a cannabis beverlege. Why
not gummy? Why not any otheredible? A I thought that gummy is
(13:37):
I mean, there are so many, there are so many. Yeah,
beverage is a relatively new part ofthe industry. I'll be totally honest.
I didn't know that there. WhenI came up with the idea, I
thought I was the first person thatcame up with the idea to make a
cannabis beverage. I had no ideathat there was already like many on the
(14:01):
market. But I also wanted abeverage because for a few different reasons,
you can make it social. Agummy you just take and you know,
the only other way to be socialis maybe by smoking a joint or something.
But not everyone wants to smoke,and I don't want to. It's
(14:24):
not like a cigarette. I meanyou could keep get buffs out of the
same uh joints. Yeah, Iwas like, not everyone wants to smoke,
or a lot of people are probablya little bit more health conscious,
and smoking can be quite intimidating forpeople who may be curious about getting into
cannabis, but they don't want tosmoke. And it's intimidating because you know
(14:48):
a lot of people have that likeone experience where they were very paranoid and
then they just stop using cannabis.That would be me. And what's funny.
I always say to people, like, imagine if everyone stopped using alcohol
because of like one bad experience,no one would drink. Everyone's had a
bad experience with alcohol. And soanother reason with the drink was for those
(15:13):
people who are what's called canna curious, a curious god, you're a canniboss
exactly. Yes, So with abeverage you can ingest cannabis at your pace.
You can, you know, witha gummy. If I gave you
(15:33):
five miligrams of a gummy, youjust took five miligrams of a gummy.
That and however it affects you,it affects and it's you don't know if
someone's scared or nervous. Whereas likewith a beverage, sip on it.
I'm giving you, let's say,five milligrams of a beverage, but you
(15:56):
can chug it if you want allfive miligram all at once, or you
can sip on it like you wouldany other like a glass of wine.
So to that, I had thisthought. And I can instantly say that
somebody is smoking up because of thesmell, yes, But with the drink,
I don't think that's one of theproblems that you know, you won't
(16:18):
get the marijuana smell around, youknow. I think that's also one of
the plus with absolutely if it's myaudience is gonna be like, are you
already a fanger? No, I'mI feel like drinking has so many negative
It's just has been crazy how marketis flooded with alcohol and it's it's five
(16:44):
o'clock somewhere. Yeah, And Iwas thinking on those grounds. I want
you to talk to me about asa user and now as someone who's providing
that user experience to the consumer.What is that unique thing that you think
you are in when your consumers drinkKalia for Kilia specifically, it's something that
(17:06):
can be I want people to feellike they are treating themselves well when they're
drinking Kilia. There are health benefitsin as I mentioned, each can hydration,
there are electrolytes. In are myimmunity, there's vitamin C and zinc,
and in my metabolism drink there's prebioticsand fiber. I want you to
(17:30):
feel like you're doing something good foryourself, but you can also get a
little buzz and frankly with a drink. It it really it's not like this
overwhelming sense of like you just tooka hit of a bong. You know,
it's not that it's it's it's likeyou drink and alcohol seltzer, But
(17:52):
with this, it's a non carbonated, low calorie, low sugar juice that
you can feel good about yourself drinkingit, and you maybe if you want
to bring it out socially, youcan do that and still feel like you're
actually putting something in your body that'sgood for it and not something that's harming
(18:15):
you. I mean, there areso many studies that come out now.
You know, everyone growing up itwas like, well, a glass of
wine a day is good for you. Yeah, it turns out it was
only good for you because there arelike some antioxidants in red wine. Yeah,
it's like if you grab a handfulof blueberries, you'll probably get more
antioxidants. And that's it. Andyou know your liver is gonna work better,
(18:40):
and your skin is gonna be better, and you'll have better sleep,
and your health, your overall healthand mental health that includes mental health will
be better. Your drink has whatkind of strain of cannabis and what does
it exactly? Do so say,for example, all of them have the
same effect or is it different andhow different? That's a great question.
(19:04):
It's sativa, but they each havedifferent effects because of the minor cannabinoids.
With either the presence of the minorcannabinoid or in the watermelon coconut situation,
I just it will just be fivemilligrams of THHC, sativa and indiga.
So there is a very quick andvery popular thing to remember this. So
(19:26):
if it is indiga, it meansin the cout, yes, gonna,
it's gonna right, yeah, yes, So it's gonna bring you, calm
you down, slow you down likeyou know, easey you, and relax
you. Yes. Whereas sativa makesyour creative juices, it cuts out the
noise yes, in your brain andyou're focused on things. Yeah, that's
(19:48):
what I've read about. Yes,I prefer sativa over indiga, just because
it makes me a bit more alert. Actually, so what is kalea basically,
So when it comes to the effects, the reason why it's going to
be different is it's called an entourageeffect. What that really means is THHC
(20:12):
with the minor cannabinoids that they'll they'llgive you a different feeling for these two
flavors over here, for pineapple halipano, for most people, not everyone.
Everyone reacts differently to everyone reacts differentlydifferently to everything. So for many people
it would give you a nice bodyhigh. It would give you a really
(20:33):
nice, light, euphoric effect.It would be happy, It would be
relaxing, but happy. And youknow what I mean, Like, I
think that, like all THHC productsor all cannabis products, has the potential
of putting someone to sleep, butnot not if you I mean, if
you are used to taking it,probably not. Five milligrams for a lot
(20:56):
of people wouldn't be that much,but for some people that's like an extraordinary
amount. So it kind of dependson who you are and who you ask.
I will say though, that forgrapeful ginger, you probably won't put
you to sleep because of the THHCVand very little goes a very long way.
And how is it different from TC? How is dhcv? It's just
(21:17):
a different molecule. Yeah, thatwill give you a more focused and energized
effect. So if you want tobe creative, write a thesis, PhD
thesis, No I don't have aPhD, then you're going for the THHCV.
Giank oh, my god, sir, Okay, this is very enlightening.
(21:40):
Before we dive back into the story, let's take a moment to acknowledge
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dot com. Did you know theprocesses of making this emulsion distill it?
(23:15):
I've been doing my research a littlebit. I did go to the dispensary
too, but I was blown awayby how the biomass is taken and then
that's in the oil soluble way,like it's an oil that is extracted,
and then to distillate the TTC andthe CBD part of the biomass. I
(23:38):
mean, all of this complexity.Did it intrigue you? Made you scared?
Hesitant? What was your thought whenyou were like, oh my god,
I have this idea and I needto figure this out. What did
you do? I just we kepton calling people when we found out that
people could just kind of make theemulsions, because that is a big thing,
(23:59):
right. I would not know howto extract the oil from the plant.
I would not know how to thenmake the oil into water soluble and
nanomulsify it and all of that funstuff. So what I we ended up
doing was, you know, talkingto these people and then going to the
again the product developer. Well,my husband and I did to figure out
(24:25):
flavor wise what we wanted. Becausewe aren't food scientists and I didn't know
necessarily how to do this. Wewent to the grocery store and I bought
watermelon juice and coconut water and mixthem and then I like, cut up
kalapanos and you're going, You're goinginto the roots. You really really really
like. We tried everything because Iwanted to know are these flavors even going
(24:49):
I thought they would go together,but I don't know. And I needed
a basis of what should the drinktaste like. It is all natural,
so I want to taste all natural. It's a low calorie juice. I
love that. So for me,I told my husband that, you know,
I've never been to a dispensary.I will be my first visit and
(25:11):
I want to do my homework andguess who I meet there at the front
desk. They let you in oneby one. I believe it depends on
the comedy people are let in.And another amazing stuff that I found with
you have to have cash or debitcards to pay for it. No credit
cards, yeah, and I thinkit's because of the federal regulations. So
(25:33):
anyway, coming that point, therewas this guy in his twenties. He
was working in that dispensary and hewas from valand oh really, And he
told me that if you have anyquestion, you know, I'll be available,
and he educated me on this.My whole point was to not just
go into the dispensary and check outstuff or the varieties, was to understand
(25:53):
because I had to interview you.Yeah exactly. So I bought certain stuff,
but I was not educated on thestrains. So I picked up in
the couch and sativa and hybrid okay, and my favorite, I would say,
was the one which tasted like Fantaorange soda. But your drink is
(26:18):
not carbonated, right, why notmake it a Seltzer? First and foremost.
When I started this journey, itdefinitely was there were only Seltzer's,
There were only Seltzers out. Everythingwas carbonated everything. So I was like
that, I mean, let's dosomething different. And I thought, you
(26:42):
know, you know the drink buyb Ai, it's not yeah, yeah,
yeah, it's like the coconut lowcalorie juice. That's where I modeled
this from. Was this idea thatyou can have of, you know,
something really really tasty with not thatmany calories. Actually a lot of people
(27:07):
have come up to me and sayinglike they love it because carbonation can make
you feel like very full floated,very bloated. Yeah, very yeah,
but that's what it can make younot feel. And some people there is
some disort, not disorder, there'ssome genetic something that and I don't know
(27:29):
off the top of my head whatit's called, but you just cannot have
carbonation, right, And so likecheers to them with you know, I
came up with this, and thisway you're giving people at least variety because
initially a year ago, walking intoa dispensary, you were only going to
get a carbonated drink. We alsoused I want to mention minor cannabinoids.
(27:56):
See, the cannabis plant is sointeresting. The cannabis has something like over
four hundred and fifty properties. Sixtysix of them are categorized as cannabinoids,
thcnes, CBD as major cannabinoids.That's the most those are what different molecular
No, they don't have to bepsychoactive, but they each have been studied
(28:18):
to have their own unique effect.So in my immunity drink and pineapple jalapeno,
I put in five miligrams of CBGbecause it can actually help fight cancer
causing cells. It actually is antidepressantproperties. This is all studied to perhaps
(28:40):
be this, so perhaps it hasantidepressant properties, and I can't really make
claims, but that's why I putit in that drink. It fights cancer
causing cells, fights bacteria, inflammation, skin, it's it's a healing property
and I found that so interesting.And then in our in my grape root
(29:02):
ginger in the metabolism drink, Iadded something called THHCV, which is a
thought to be a stimulant and appetitesuppressant good for metabolism. There are some
studies that show that could have promisingeffects on diabetes and being able to regulate
insulin. And I also thought thatthat was so interesting just because it's so
(29:26):
not what you would being a stimulant, appetite supressant is the opposite of what
most people think of when they thinkof cannabis. And that's what's so incredible
about this plant. Yeah, Iwas about to say, like, you're
not getting hungry with this product.That means, you know, I have
people tell me that they replace theircup of coffee with my beverage in the
morning they work out. I'm sorry, the work where they work out.
(29:49):
Yeah, I have read about that, yes, Seta. I know that
it's legal in certain states, butfederal on a federal level, it's not
marijuana. And our cannabis has beencategorized as Schedule one drug, which means
it does not have any medicinal properties. Yeah. So, now, how
(30:11):
did you navigate the legal and regulatoryyou know, landscape of it because you
were in Massachusetts where it is legal. What were the challenges, what were
the unique things you learned about it? We worked really closely with our lawyer
on what was legal, what wasn'tlegal, and it becomes very clear pretty
(30:33):
quick we are technically not cannabis touching. I purchased the cannabis, but I
don't actually touch it, Okay,So we didn't need a license, I
see, which was like a prettygood for us, just because that's very
expensive. It can become a lot. What I found to still finding to
(30:55):
be the most challenging about it beingfederally illegal is the fact that you can't
cross state borders, even from onelegal state to another legal state. So
I can only sell in Massachusetts rightnow, and that's where that's that's a
(31:17):
bummer though it's a huge I meanit's because like what how many states have
legalized it? Four or five fullylegalized it? I mean, I know
the California is a lot of themhave it like medical I see, so
some of them aren't adult use.There's also it's just kind of difficult because
(31:41):
it's not it's you can make thisbeverage, but you sort of want to
be able to sell it in volumeand you're not able to do that.
But is it exactly being made rightnow right now in Easthampton, mass Nice?
It can only be local. Howdo you see the market evolving with
kind of beverage right now and infuture and with your product? What do
(32:06):
you see the trends right now?Are people like jumping to go to the
dispensary or like, how do yousee the market responding to cannabis beverage?
The trends you know, flower isking, people who use cannabis like to
(32:28):
smoke often or I believe that asregulations lift, and I do believe that
regulations are going to eventually lift federally, I heard something that there they want
to maybe as you had mentioned earlierthat it's a it's a Schedule one substance,
which means that in some states whereit's not legal, it doesn't matter
(32:50):
if you have cannabis or like heroine, you would get the same type of
you know time it's so which isjust ridiculous. And so I do think
that I heard that they're trying toactually bring it down to a Schedule three,
which would I don't I don't knowif it would necessarily mean that it
(33:13):
would be a misdemeanor in those places, but it certainly wouldn't be categorized the
way that like it used to becategorized in you know, federally speaking.
So, as I had mentioned,Flower is King, I do think that,
as I said the Kin of Curious, I think the numbers are growing.
And from what I'm seeing and fromwhat I'm reading gen Z, they're
(33:39):
not drinkers. I have read thattoo. Yeah, they're not drinking.
They're trying to replace it with somethingthat can just give them that they really
like more of a chill, notangry, not waking up hungover. They're
healthier, they like to go tothe gym more than our generation did.
It's just so interesting, and soI just do think that as that cannabis
(34:04):
is going to expand. I thinkthat the beverage portion of the industry can
only go up in doing all ofthis. Alcohol is very popular in the
culture. You know, we candrinking or just like going out with friends.
But then we also know that thereare so many people who suffer from
(34:29):
alcoholism overdosing. Does that prevail inthe cannabis industry? Can you overdose on
cannabis? No? I think Iread you would have to consume just an
unimaginable amount to have an overdose.Okay, people can sometimes consume too much
(34:51):
for themselves where they may feel thatparanoia, the anxiety, the just you
might be hearing things you could evenhave maybe perhaps you know visual you might
see things, you know, thingslike that. That though, is like
you really went past your own limit. And frankly, what normally ends up
(35:16):
happening is you fall asleep and thenyou probably wake up really hungry. So
that's pretty much like the only there'snot side effects. Yeah, I see,
you don't get that anger that youwould get with alcohol or that some
people get there, you know,maybe people who you know misusing anything is
(35:39):
not good for you. So Ithink I've asked you so many questions about
the product. Right now, ifthere was one advice you would give to
an entrepreneur getting into this industry,what would that be. Anything that you
(36:00):
faced and you don't want them toface, or anything that you realized that
was new and unique, anything anything. I would say, probably pick your
partner as well. Not for anyreason, just I just think that that's
important information or important advice. AndI think one of the best pieces of
advice that I got was from mylawyer, and she said, be prepared
(36:22):
to pivot. Pivot to what likeif your beverage for some reason, if
you're coming up with a roadblock,because there are going to be hopefully one
day it will open up to bejust like any other beverage. It can
be sold in that market. Ican exactly, but right you just you
(36:42):
might come up with different roadblocks ormaybe what you know, what I think
she was also trying to say,is like you might be thinking that your
product is going to be one thing. It might be something totally different.
It might just end up like forming, don't get stuck. Don't not do
this because what you want to doyou couldn't do. I was lucky.
(37:04):
I ended up being able. Ididn't have to pivot. There are other
things you have to pivot on,and also to you know, familiarize yourself
with the plant. There's always thingsto learn and hopefully just be kind to
your consumers. Go to a dispensary. Don't be shy. There are literally
(37:29):
the nicest people and dispensaries. Imean, like they work if you work
in the cannabis industry, like you'reyou're you're pretty nice and they want to
help you. They know the products, they know what they're selling. They've
tried it. Yeah, he wasvery kind and they're like he he was
like, you know, this iswhat you need because you're trying it first
(37:51):
time. I would suggest this exactly. I see that. And so that
is something that doesn't happen with alcohol. No, that does not have been
with alcohol. And nobody told methat. IPA. I mean, I
love IPAs. I used to loveIPAs, I should say, and the
happiness, the taste of the beer, but there was nobody to guide you
(38:12):
through it. Now and there aremillions of IPA varieties now, yes,
and some of them are like MassachusettsVermon competing with each other, and then
you have other in the West.So yeah, there was nobody to guide
you through this? No, thereisn't, and you know, so with
go into a dispensary, talk topeople. Let them know what you're looking
(38:32):
for. If you're looking for sleepaid as, tell them that that's what
you're looking for. If you're notlooking to be in the couch, ask
them they have products that will bevery uplifting or the opposite. If you
are not looking to you know,you just want to chill on the couch
and whatever. They know where toguide you. Start if you're new,
(38:59):
start because you can always add on. If you're taking a gummy, wait
the forty five minutes, Oh yeah, it's it didn't happen. Nothing's working
on me, and all of asudden you're like ten milligrams deep tripping out
now tripping. But it's happened.It totally has happened. Good thing with
(39:22):
as I had mentioned, if it'sif it says that it's nano emulsified.
Beverages are pretty much all nano amulcified, but not all gummies are.
That will hit you faster nano andnano emulsification will definitely it will just you'll
digest it easier, so we'll getinto your bloodstream easier and all of that
fun stuff. It's not as scaryas people want to think it is.
(39:46):
You know, it just isn't.It's it can be a very peaceful,
nice experience. That was my question. You've answered all my questions without me
asking. I love that I wantedto. I wanted to know. How
would you educate how do you planto educate the crowd people around you?
(40:06):
You know you're saying it right thatyou know, don't be scared because there
are so many elements in one plant. It's amazing how mysterious this plan is.
It is, and it's been aroundfor thousands of years of course and
celebrated and then the Hindu culture inIndia, cannabis drink is called pank and
it has been a part of theFestival of Colors for long holy so you
(40:29):
know, it has been since ancienttime and now yes, being you know,
revived in a different ways, togyways. It's such a shame that
like, you know, there's abook called Branding bud Sky David Palashak,
and he's great and he explains howit got became you know, illegal basically
(40:51):
after the prohibition, Like and Iforget what the sector of the government it
was, but it like eventually endedup being the DEA changing to the DEA.
They had nothing to do anymore andthey were going to be kicked off,
and so they were like they wentwith the and I'm paraphrasing and probably
getting maybe a little bit of thiswrong, but I think that they teamed
(41:12):
up with the the timber industry becausea lot of paper was being made from
hemp, oh, and the likewhat was beginning to be like the pharmaceutical
industry because a lot of people wereusing cannabis and hemp as you know,
if they had a headache or backacheor it's and been a different plant altogether.
(41:38):
Answer, it's a family, it'sit. They're like, yeah,
legally, hemp means it has meansthe plant has point three percent THC.
Oh, that's the only difference.If it's point four percent THHC, it
(42:01):
becomes cannabis. Oh, that isso interesting, it's so, and so
hemp is legal. Now I've beenseeing hemp or protein powders because always say
this, and I don't want togive the government any ideas, but I
was explaining to someone they kind ofmade a mistake. They didn't do their
(42:22):
research because technology was going to catchup. In twenty eighteen, it's called
the twenty eighteen Form Bill, andthey basically that states anything hemp is federally
legal, cannabis is not federally legal. States decide how to deal with that.
The technology has come so has becomeso good that you can extract,
(42:45):
you know, just go through morehemp. You can still extract all of
the THHC, and THHC is THHCmolecularly, It's identical in both hemp and
cannabis. So if you have youknow, THC that's hemp derived, it's
the exact same thing. But it'slegal and you can send it across states.
(43:07):
Oh boy, states. Now thereare a lot of not a lot,
but there are a few states,including Massachusetts that you know, Massachusetts,
I how do I say this.I love that Massachusetts made this legal.
I appreciate it. But they aremaking money, uh huh from the
(43:34):
cannabis industry. They are getting theirtax dollars. And if I started selling
a hemp based beverage in Massachusetts,they would not make the money. So
I don't think you can make hempbased And it's sort of up in the
air, whether you can sell it'sa it's a lot to unpack. I
(43:59):
know, you know, but youknow, this was a great, great
way of approaching this topic, atleast for our local people to listen to
this story, and also for allthe other countries people who are beyond living
beyond Massachusetts, who don't have itlegal in their states yet not. Hey,
here's advice to them. If you'relistening from another state and it is
(44:22):
illegal and you would want to tryanything with teachcing it, then order it
online. It can come to youliterally, look it up. There are
beverages everywhere that there's gummies there.You know, I get it. Oh,
that's a good tip, Sarah.This was amazing. Congratulations Sarah from
(44:45):
launching this amazing product. I wishyou all the success in future. Thank
you. Thank you for tuning into Women Ovailent podcast, where we amplify
the voices and stories of local womenmaking a difference in our community. If
you've been inspired by today's episode,don't forget to like, share, and
subscribe to our podcast. And whileyou are at it, be sure to
(45:07):
visit our show notes. That's whereyou'll find all the details about Sarah's product
Khelia and information about our episode sponsor. Together, we can continue to uplift
and celebrate the incredible women of Whalen. Stay connected for more empowering stories,
and remember every voice matters. Thisis your host, Yamini, and you
(45:29):
were listening to Women of Whalen thepodcast
This episode is brought to you byLife TeX's Jim Whaland. Welcome back podcast
listeners. Welcome to Women of Valentpodcast. Join us on a journey through
the vibrant community of Whaland as wespotlight the extraordinary stories of women right next
door. From entrepreneurs to activists,caregivers to creators. Each episode of Women
(00:27):
of Whalen brings you closer to theremarkable women shaping our towns fabric. In
this episode of Women of Valent Podcast, we sit down with Sarah Patel.
Sarah's journey with cannabis began in herteens, but it wasn't until after becoming
(00:47):
a mother that she truly appreciated itstransformative effects. She recalls feeling judged and
misunderstood, but when she reintroduced cannabisinto her life after giving birth, everything
changed. Suddenly. Sarah found relieffrom anxiety, quieted negative thoughts, and
(01:07):
became more present and focused, allwhile caring for her daughter. It was
a revelation cannabis wasn't about stereotypes orstigma, It was about feeling like her
best self. With this newfound clarity, Sarah set out to share this experience
with others. She envisioned Keelia asmore than just a beverage. It's a
(01:29):
conduit for change, whether sipped throughoutthe day or enjoyed as a mocktail with
friends, Keelia aims to redefine thecannabis experience. Sarah's mission is clear,
to change the conversation around cannabis andempower others to embrace its benefits openly and
without shame. So join us aswe dive into Sarah's journey and discover how
(01:52):
Keelia is leading the charge in transformingthe world of cannabis one sip at a
time. Well, welcome, Welcome, welcome. I really want to get
into the story, but before doingthat, I want to know what got
you to Whyland school system and theusual the usual? And I, you
(02:15):
know, grew up in Newton ornot a big city, but it's a
city. And I really liked thethought of my daughter growing up in a
community rather than a city, andso I really wanted that for her.
It is so exciting to have youhere with an exciting product. Before I
jump into the product site, Ireally want to know a little bit about
(02:37):
yourself and what motivated you to launchthis special product. Yeah, so I
had have a cannabis beverage out andcalled Kilia. And I had been a
cannabis user for you know, sincemy teenage years, and truthfully, I
used quite regularly. It was dailyfor me, and it was something that
(03:01):
you know, especially as a teenager, I used it a lot as for
like the euphoric effect. It calmedme. It you know, made me
helped me relax a lot, andyou know, through college and in my
twenties, you know, still continueduse. When I met my now husband
(03:22):
and when we tried to get pregnant, and while I was pregnant, while
I was breastfeeding, I did notuse any cannabis products, and I didn't
realize that anxiety was kind of sneakingup on me, you know, especially
like no one really likes to talkabout like postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety,
and it's so common. And whenI finished breastfeeding my daughter, I took
(03:51):
an edible and I remember being ona walk with her and we were just
walking and I was just like feelingnice, and I realized my anxiety in
a way that voice in my headthat was mean to me basically like you
(04:11):
you know, aren't smart enough forpretty enough for whatever. It started to
really quiet, and I started tofeel like I was connecting back to the
person that I had been when Iwas growing up, like more confident,
more relaxed. And I didn't realizeat that time that, you know,
anxiety had crept up on me.And it was kind of eye opening when
(04:35):
I got home. It was somethingtruly that I wanted to bottle for other
women, especially because it's you know, cannabis is something that as someone who
used it for years, you geta lot of negative stereotypes put on you.
You you know, people maybe don'tthink you're motivated, or they don't
(04:57):
think that you are intelligent, orthat you're lazy, like all of these
like quote unquote stoner attributes they puton you just because you use cannabis.
And I'm like, I want tostop that. You know, let's let's
make a new conversation around cannabis,and let's include more women as moms or
(05:21):
even as a single empty nester,or as a woman who's just like in
her twenties, thirties, what isthe name it? We're always surrounded by
judgments, judgment of this that,how we look, how we what we're
eating, drinking, how we're keepingour families. There's a lot of pressure
on women overall, and then withthe system that we live in. No
(05:45):
matter how equal your partner is,you're still doing a lot. Yes you
are. Like you know, Ihave felt the stigma attached to cannabis a
lot more than the alcohol. Socoming to point which takes me time,
it is I want you to tellme that moment in your life when you
(06:08):
were a user and that people likesaid something to hold you, was it
tough? So I will say,just point blank, cannabis makes me a
better mom. I am not scaredto say that. It's relaxing. I
can get on the same level asmy daughter. I can be more creative
(06:29):
as a mother. I can bemore present as a mother. So I
will say that first and foremost.Not a lot gets to me when it
comes to cannabis. But I dohave a recollection of I was dating this
guy and he used cannabis with me. I mean, we both smoked,
(06:50):
but mostly it was just you know, like in his family, it wasn't
really something that was smiled upon.And I remember his brother said something to
me, but he said it ina way like I was part of a
Cheech and Chong movie, you know, like oh you know, oh you're
really gonna do that, Sarah orwhatever. And I remember just wanting to
(07:14):
be like, would you speak toyour brother that way? Probably not?
Yeah, because you know, justbecause I'm a woman and I'm doing it,
and I'm honestly, women are sortof easy targets, especially if you
know I am someone who will hearthat and be like ah, because you
know, just kind of like laughit off and maybe not stick up for
(07:36):
myself. And that it didn't.Now I was able to walk away from
that being like what a jackass,but like it's not something that that hurt
me, but it is something thatI remember. It was a little bit
like how dare you judge me onthis? And like and so, but
(07:58):
you know, now that it's likelegal and coming out with the beverage,
I'm just sort of like to anyonewho judged me, like keep doing Yeah,
I keep doing it. Like there'snow I understand that I I don't
think I have a target on myback, right, but I think that
I'm definitely opening myself and frankly whatscares me is I'm opening my daughter up
(08:24):
to judgment, and that's something thatI've definitely been thinking more about. You
know, are there moms that aregoing to be like, you know,
maybe Hannah isn't the best play dateto have. I can imagine that.
(08:45):
It's scary because you don't want todo anything that gets in your any of
your children's way of being the bestthem and most successful them that they can
be. And yeah, that scaresme a little bit that, like maybe
I'm just sort of hoping that forthe most part. You know, if
(09:05):
you want to judge me, judgeme. Don't judge my daughter. She
didn't make up, you know,she didn't decide that I should do this.
I did, frankly, if itmakes me a better person and it's
not hurting anyone, Yeah, ifsomeone judges me, like, so be
it. I'm still going to bea better you know, I kid,
(09:28):
You'll you know, there will alwaysbe people who are going to judge me
or think differently of me when theyfind out that I do what I do
and I have what I have andwhatever. But no, Sarah, this
is beautiful because you have thought aboutthis from all directions. I can see
this as a woman, as ahost. There would be people who might
(09:50):
think that you know you know it'sbecause because I know that Valaen has has
had the history of saying no toa dispensary. Know that I don't know
this when I was trying to interviewyou, and I have I have this
habit no matter where are women comefrom. The incredible journeys, the bravery
(10:13):
they show is why Women of Whalenstands. It's what Women of Whalen stands
for. Yeah, when you decidedit will be a cannabis beverage, who
was the first person you broke thisnews? It was mister Pottel. It
was my husband. I I actuallygot home from that walk and I mean
(10:35):
like it was all that I couldthink about. I got home and I'm
like, I know what I'm supposedto be doing with my life. I
know what I'm supposed to do.I'm supposed to make a cannabis beverage.
And he looked at me and smiledand said no. And I'm no,
(10:56):
no, no, I yes,I this is what I'm supposed to do.
And I'm like, think about it, and I'm trying to sell him
and he's like, Sarah, no, this is like our daughter is eighteen
months old. You know this isthis is too much, and I'm like
okay, And so you know,I went on a walk the next day
and I came back and I couldtruly taste one of my flavors in my
(11:20):
mouth. Watermelon coconut is how I'mlike, I can taste what this drink
is supposed to taste like. AndI got home and again I said,
I know that one of my flavorsis supposed to be watermelon coconut, and
he again was like you're still onthis, no, and I'm like okay.
And then later I still pushed forward, and later on either that day
(11:45):
or the next day, I couldn'tstop thinking like, well, what would
I name this beverage? And Ialways liked the k sounds. I feel
like it it's a strong sound,if that makes sense. And I said,
could you imagine if someone said,hey, could you pass me?
(12:07):
Like I don't think that I hadthought of kilia yet, but like,
could you pass me a can ofkilia? And he was like you are
serious about this? And I'm like, I am letter. I definitely know
I wanted that sound. Yeah,well, well true, you know certain
letters definitely have a good sound toit. Yeah, so I understand and
(12:28):
that is honestly, when I foundout when I came across the word kielia
or the name Kilia, it meanswarrior, intelligence, beauty, all of
the strength, all of these thingsthat I wanted for my consumers to feel
and to embrace. I see,and I thought that that could be pretty
(12:50):
amazing. That could be pretty incredible. I didn't want it to be something
that was like a play on cannabisor one of the many names cannabis has,
like Mary Jane or marijuana or potor whatever. I didn't. I
wanted it to be something that thisis a juice that has cannabis in it.
(13:15):
Okay, so you told me thatyou were walking and this thought came
up to you and you had agummy and that was your euphoric moment.
Now my question to you is,you have launched a cannabis beverlege. Why
not gummy? Why not any otheredible? A I thought that gummy is
(13:37):
I mean, there are so many, there are so many. Yeah,
beverage is a relatively new part ofthe industry. I'll be totally honest.
I didn't know that there. WhenI came up with the idea, I
thought I was the first person thatcame up with the idea to make a
cannabis beverage. I had no ideathat there was already like many on the
(14:01):
market. But I also wanted abeverage because for a few different reasons,
you can make it social. Agummy you just take and you know,
the only other way to be socialis maybe by smoking a joint or something.
But not everyone wants to smoke,and I don't want to. It's
(14:24):
not like a cigarette. I meanyou could keep get buffs out of the
same uh joints. Yeah, Iwas like, not everyone wants to smoke,
or a lot of people are probablya little bit more health conscious,
and smoking can be quite intimidating forpeople who may be curious about getting into
cannabis, but they don't want tosmoke. And it's intimidating because you know
(14:48):
a lot of people have that likeone experience where they were very paranoid and
then they just stop using cannabis.That would be me. And what's funny.
I always say to people, like, imagine if everyone stopped using alcohol
because of like one bad experience,no one would drink. Everyone's had a
bad experience with alcohol. And soanother reason with the drink was for those
(15:13):
people who are what's called canna curious, a curious god, you're a canniboss
exactly. Yes, So with abeverage you can ingest cannabis at your pace.
You can, you know, witha gummy. If I gave you
(15:33):
five miligrams of a gummy, youjust took five miligrams of a gummy.
That and however it affects you,it affects and it's you don't know if
someone's scared or nervous. Whereas likewith a beverage, sip on it.
I'm giving you, let's say,five milligrams of a beverage, but you
(15:56):
can chug it if you want allfive miligram all at once, or you
can sip on it like you wouldany other like a glass of wine.
So to that, I had thisthought. And I can instantly say that
somebody is smoking up because of thesmell, yes, But with the drink,
I don't think that's one of theproblems that you know, you won't
(16:18):
get the marijuana smell around, youknow. I think that's also one of
the plus with absolutely if it's myaudience is gonna be like, are you
already a fanger? No, I'mI feel like drinking has so many negative
It's just has been crazy how marketis flooded with alcohol and it's it's five
(16:44):
o'clock somewhere. Yeah, And Iwas thinking on those grounds. I want
you to talk to me about asa user and now as someone who's providing
that user experience to the consumer.What is that unique thing that you think
you are in when your consumers drinkKalia for Kilia specifically, it's something that
(17:06):
can be I want people to feellike they are treating themselves well when they're
drinking Kilia. There are health benefitsin as I mentioned, each can hydration,
there are electrolytes. In are myimmunity, there's vitamin C and zinc,
and in my metabolism drink there's prebioticsand fiber. I want you to
(17:30):
feel like you're doing something good foryourself, but you can also get a
little buzz and frankly with a drink. It it really it's not like this
overwhelming sense of like you just tooka hit of a bong. You know,
it's not that it's it's it's likeyou drink and alcohol seltzer, But
(17:52):
with this, it's a non carbonated, low calorie, low sugar juice that
you can feel good about yourself drinkingit, and you maybe if you want
to bring it out socially, youcan do that and still feel like you're
actually putting something in your body that'sgood for it and not something that's harming
(18:15):
you. I mean, there areso many studies that come out now.
You know, everyone growing up itwas like, well, a glass of
wine a day is good for you. Yeah, it turns out it was
only good for you because there arelike some antioxidants in red wine. Yeah,
it's like if you grab a handfulof blueberries, you'll probably get more
antioxidants. And that's it. Andyou know your liver is gonna work better,
(18:40):
and your skin is gonna be better, and you'll have better sleep,
and your health, your overall healthand mental health that includes mental health will
be better. Your drink has whatkind of strain of cannabis and what does
it exactly? Do so say,for example, all of them have the
same effect or is it different andhow different? That's a great question.
(19:04):
It's sativa, but they each havedifferent effects because of the minor cannabinoids.
With either the presence of the minorcannabinoid or in the watermelon coconut situation,
I just it will just be fivemilligrams of THHC, sativa and indiga.
So there is a very quick andvery popular thing to remember this. So
(19:26):
if it is indiga, it meansin the cout, yes, gonna,
it's gonna right, yeah, yes, So it's gonna bring you, calm
you down, slow you down likeyou know, easey you, and relax
you. Yes. Whereas sativa makesyour creative juices, it cuts out the
noise yes, in your brain andyou're focused on things. Yeah, that's
(19:48):
what I've read about. Yes,I prefer sativa over indiga, just because
it makes me a bit more alert. Actually, so what is kalea basically,
So when it comes to the effects, the reason why it's going to
be different is it's called an entourageeffect. What that really means is THHC
(20:12):
with the minor cannabinoids that they'll they'llgive you a different feeling for these two
flavors over here, for pineapple halipano, for most people, not everyone.
Everyone reacts differently to everyone reacts differentlydifferently to everything. So for many people
it would give you a nice bodyhigh. It would give you a really
(20:33):
nice, light, euphoric effect.It would be happy, It would be
relaxing, but happy. And youknow what I mean, Like, I
think that, like all THHC productsor all cannabis products, has the potential
of putting someone to sleep, butnot not if you I mean, if
you are used to taking it,probably not. Five milligrams for a lot
(20:56):
of people wouldn't be that much,but for some people that's like an extraordinary
amount. So it kind of dependson who you are and who you ask.
I will say though, that forgrapeful ginger, you probably won't put
you to sleep because of the THHCVand very little goes a very long way.
And how is it different from TC? How is dhcv? It's just
(21:17):
a different molecule. Yeah, thatwill give you a more focused and energized
effect. So if you want tobe creative, write a thesis, PhD
thesis, No I don't have aPhD, then you're going for the THHCV.
Giank oh, my god, sir, Okay, this is very enlightening.
(21:40):
Before we dive back into the story, let's take a moment to acknowledge
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dot com. Did you know theprocesses of making this emulsion distill it?
(23:15):
I've been doing my research a littlebit. I did go to the dispensary
too, but I was blown awayby how the biomass is taken and then
that's in the oil soluble way,like it's an oil that is extracted,
and then to distillate the TTC andthe CBD part of the biomass. I
(23:38):
mean, all of this complexity.Did it intrigue you? Made you scared?
Hesitant? What was your thought whenyou were like, oh my god,
I have this idea and I needto figure this out. What did
you do? I just we kepton calling people when we found out that
people could just kind of make theemulsions, because that is a big thing,
(23:59):
right. I would not know howto extract the oil from the plant.
I would not know how to thenmake the oil into water soluble and
nanomulsify it and all of that funstuff. So what I we ended up
doing was, you know, talkingto these people and then going to the
again the product developer. Well,my husband and I did to figure out
(24:25):
flavor wise what we wanted. Becausewe aren't food scientists and I didn't know
necessarily how to do this. Wewent to the grocery store and I bought
watermelon juice and coconut water and mixthem and then I like, cut up
kalapanos and you're going, You're goinginto the roots. You really really really
like. We tried everything because Iwanted to know are these flavors even going
(24:49):
I thought they would go together,but I don't know. And I needed
a basis of what should the drinktaste like. It is all natural,
so I want to taste all natural. It's a low calorie juice. I
love that. So for me,I told my husband that, you know,
I've never been to a dispensary.I will be my first visit and
(25:11):
I want to do my homework andguess who I meet there at the front
desk. They let you in oneby one. I believe it depends on
the comedy people are let in.And another amazing stuff that I found with
you have to have cash or debitcards to pay for it. No credit
cards, yeah, and I thinkit's because of the federal regulations. So
(25:33):
anyway, coming that point, therewas this guy in his twenties. He
was working in that dispensary and hewas from valand oh really, And he
told me that if you have anyquestion, you know, I'll be available,
and he educated me on this.My whole point was to not just
go into the dispensary and check outstuff or the varieties, was to understand
(25:53):
because I had to interview you.Yeah exactly. So I bought certain stuff,
but I was not educated on thestrains. So I picked up in
the couch and sativa and hybrid okay, and my favorite, I would say,
was the one which tasted like Fantaorange soda. But your drink is
(26:18):
not carbonated, right, why notmake it a Seltzer? First and foremost.
When I started this journey, itdefinitely was there were only Seltzer's,
There were only Seltzers out. Everythingwas carbonated everything. So I was like
that, I mean, let's dosomething different. And I thought, you
(26:42):
know, you know the drink buyb Ai, it's not yeah, yeah,
yeah, it's like the coconut lowcalorie juice. That's where I modeled
this from. Was this idea thatyou can have of, you know,
something really really tasty with not thatmany calories. Actually a lot of people
(27:07):
have come up to me and sayinglike they love it because carbonation can make
you feel like very full floated,very bloated. Yeah, very yeah,
but that's what it can make younot feel. And some people there is
some disort, not disorder, there'ssome genetic something that and I don't know
(27:29):
off the top of my head whatit's called, but you just cannot have
carbonation, right, And so likecheers to them with you know, I
came up with this, and thisway you're giving people at least variety because
initially a year ago, walking intoa dispensary, you were only going to
get a carbonated drink. We alsoused I want to mention minor cannabinoids.
(27:56):
See, the cannabis plant is sointeresting. The cannabis has something like over
four hundred and fifty properties. Sixtysix of them are categorized as cannabinoids,
thcnes, CBD as major cannabinoids.That's the most those are what different molecular
No, they don't have to bepsychoactive, but they each have been studied
(28:18):
to have their own unique effect.So in my immunity drink and pineapple jalapeno,
I put in five miligrams of CBGbecause it can actually help fight cancer
causing cells. It actually is antidepressantproperties. This is all studied to perhaps
(28:40):
be this, so perhaps it hasantidepressant properties, and I can't really make
claims, but that's why I putit in that drink. It fights cancer
causing cells, fights bacteria, inflammation, skin, it's it's a healing property
and I found that so interesting.And then in our in my grape root
(29:02):
ginger in the metabolism drink, Iadded something called THHCV, which is a
thought to be a stimulant and appetitesuppressant good for metabolism. There are some
studies that show that could have promisingeffects on diabetes and being able to regulate
insulin. And I also thought thatthat was so interesting just because it's so
(29:26):
not what you would being a stimulant, appetite supressant is the opposite of what
most people think of when they thinkof cannabis. And that's what's so incredible
about this plant. Yeah, Iwas about to say, like, you're
not getting hungry with this product.That means, you know, I have
people tell me that they replace theircup of coffee with my beverage in the
morning they work out. I'm sorry, the work where they work out.
(29:49):
Yeah, I have read about that, yes, Seta. I know that
it's legal in certain states, butfederal on a federal level, it's not
marijuana. And our cannabis has beencategorized as Schedule one drug, which means
it does not have any medicinal properties. Yeah. So, now, how
(30:11):
did you navigate the legal and regulatoryyou know, landscape of it because you
were in Massachusetts where it is legal. What were the challenges, what were
the unique things you learned about it? We worked really closely with our lawyer
on what was legal, what wasn'tlegal, and it becomes very clear pretty
(30:33):
quick we are technically not cannabis touching. I purchased the cannabis, but I
don't actually touch it, Okay,So we didn't need a license, I
see, which was like a prettygood for us, just because that's very
expensive. It can become a lot. What I found to still finding to
(30:55):
be the most challenging about it beingfederally illegal is the fact that you can't
cross state borders, even from onelegal state to another legal state. So
I can only sell in Massachusetts rightnow, and that's where that's that's a
(31:17):
bummer though it's a huge I meanit's because like what how many states have
legalized it? Four or five fullylegalized it? I mean, I know
the California is a lot of themhave it like medical I see, so
some of them aren't adult use.There's also it's just kind of difficult because
(31:41):
it's not it's you can make thisbeverage, but you sort of want to
be able to sell it in volumeand you're not able to do that.
But is it exactly being made rightnow right now in Easthampton, mass Nice?
It can only be local. Howdo you see the market evolving with
kind of beverage right now and infuture and with your product? What do
(32:06):
you see the trends right now?Are people like jumping to go to the
dispensary or like, how do yousee the market responding to cannabis beverage?
The trends you know, flower isking, people who use cannabis like to
(32:28):
smoke often or I believe that asregulations lift, and I do believe that
regulations are going to eventually lift federally, I heard something that there they want
to maybe as you had mentioned earlierthat it's a it's a Schedule one substance,
which means that in some states whereit's not legal, it doesn't matter
(32:50):
if you have cannabis or like heroine, you would get the same type of
you know time it's so which isjust ridiculous. And so I do think
that I heard that they're trying toactually bring it down to a Schedule three,
which would I don't I don't knowif it would necessarily mean that it
(33:13):
would be a misdemeanor in those places, but it certainly wouldn't be categorized the
way that like it used to becategorized in you know, federally speaking.
So, as I had mentioned,Flower is King, I do think that,
as I said the Kin of Curious, I think the numbers are growing.
And from what I'm seeing and fromwhat I'm reading gen Z, they're
(33:39):
not drinkers. I have read thattoo. Yeah, they're not drinking.
They're trying to replace it with somethingthat can just give them that they really
like more of a chill, notangry, not waking up hungover. They're
healthier, they like to go tothe gym more than our generation did.
It's just so interesting, and soI just do think that as that cannabis
(34:04):
is going to expand. I thinkthat the beverage portion of the industry can
only go up in doing all ofthis. Alcohol is very popular in the
culture. You know, we candrinking or just like going out with friends.
But then we also know that thereare so many people who suffer from
(34:29):
alcoholism overdosing. Does that prevail inthe cannabis industry? Can you overdose on
cannabis? No? I think Iread you would have to consume just an
unimaginable amount to have an overdose.Okay, people can sometimes consume too much
(34:51):
for themselves where they may feel thatparanoia, the anxiety, the just you
might be hearing things you could evenhave maybe perhaps you know visual you might
see things, you know, thingslike that. That though, is like
you really went past your own limit. And frankly, what normally ends up
(35:16):
happening is you fall asleep and thenyou probably wake up really hungry. So
that's pretty much like the only there'snot side effects. Yeah, I see,
you don't get that anger that youwould get with alcohol or that some
people get there, you know,maybe people who you know misusing anything is
(35:39):
not good for you. So Ithink I've asked you so many questions about
the product. Right now, ifthere was one advice you would give to
an entrepreneur getting into this industry,what would that be. Anything that you
(36:00):
faced and you don't want them toface, or anything that you realized that
was new and unique, anything anything. I would say, probably pick your
partner as well. Not for anyreason, just I just think that that's
important information or important advice. AndI think one of the best pieces of
advice that I got was from mylawyer, and she said, be prepared
(36:22):
to pivot. Pivot to what likeif your beverage for some reason, if
you're coming up with a roadblock,because there are going to be hopefully one
day it will open up to bejust like any other beverage. It can
be sold in that market. Ican exactly, but right you just you
(36:42):
might come up with different roadblocks ormaybe what you know, what I think
she was also trying to say,is like you might be thinking that your
product is going to be one thing. It might be something totally different.
It might just end up like forming, don't get stuck. Don't not do
this because what you want to doyou couldn't do. I was lucky.
(37:04):
I ended up being able. Ididn't have to pivot. There are other
things you have to pivot on,and also to you know, familiarize yourself
with the plant. There's always thingsto learn and hopefully just be kind to
your consumers. Go to a dispensary. Don't be shy. There are literally
(37:29):
the nicest people and dispensaries. Imean, like they work if you work
in the cannabis industry, like you'reyou're you're pretty nice and they want to
help you. They know the products, they know what they're selling. They've
tried it. Yeah, he wasvery kind and they're like he he was
like, you know, this iswhat you need because you're trying it first
(37:51):
time. I would suggest this exactly. I see that. And so that
is something that doesn't happen with alcohol. No, that does not have been
with alcohol. And nobody told methat. IPA. I mean, I
love IPAs. I used to loveIPAs, I should say, and the
happiness, the taste of the beer, but there was nobody to guide you
(38:12):
through it. Now and there aremillions of IPA varieties now, yes,
and some of them are like MassachusettsVermon competing with each other, and then
you have other in the West.So yeah, there was nobody to guide
you through this? No, thereisn't, and you know, so with
go into a dispensary, talk topeople. Let them know what you're looking
(38:32):
for. If you're looking for sleepaid as, tell them that that's what
you're looking for. If you're notlooking to be in the couch, ask
them they have products that will bevery uplifting or the opposite. If you
are not looking to you know,you just want to chill on the couch
and whatever. They know where toguide you. Start if you're new,
(38:59):
start because you can always add on. If you're taking a gummy, wait
the forty five minutes, Oh yeah, it's it didn't happen. Nothing's working
on me, and all of asudden you're like ten milligrams deep tripping out
now tripping. But it's happened.It totally has happened. Good thing with
(39:22):
as I had mentioned, if it'sif it says that it's nano emulsified.
Beverages are pretty much all nano amulcified, but not all gummies are.
That will hit you faster nano andnano emulsification will definitely it will just you'll
digest it easier, so we'll getinto your bloodstream easier and all of that
fun stuff. It's not as scaryas people want to think it is.
(39:46):
You know, it just isn't.It's it can be a very peaceful,
nice experience. That was my question. You've answered all my questions without me
asking. I love that I wantedto. I wanted to know. How
would you educate how do you planto educate the crowd people around you?
(40:06):
You know you're saying it right thatyou know, don't be scared because there
are so many elements in one plant. It's amazing how mysterious this plan is.
It is, and it's been aroundfor thousands of years of course and
celebrated and then the Hindu culture inIndia, cannabis drink is called pank and
it has been a part of theFestival of Colors for long holy so you
(40:29):
know, it has been since ancienttime and now yes, being you know,
revived in a different ways, togyways. It's such a shame that
like, you know, there's abook called Branding bud Sky David Palashak,
and he's great and he explains howit got became you know, illegal basically
(40:51):
after the prohibition, Like and Iforget what the sector of the government it
was, but it like eventually endedup being the DEA changing to the DEA.
They had nothing to do anymore andthey were going to be kicked off,
and so they were like they wentwith the and I'm paraphrasing and probably
getting maybe a little bit of thiswrong, but I think that they teamed
(41:12):
up with the the timber industry becausea lot of paper was being made from
hemp, oh, and the likewhat was beginning to be like the pharmaceutical
industry because a lot of people wereusing cannabis and hemp as you know,
if they had a headache or backacheor it's and been a different plant altogether.
(41:38):
Answer, it's a family, it'sit. They're like, yeah,
legally, hemp means it has meansthe plant has point three percent THC.
Oh, that's the only difference.If it's point four percent THHC, it
(42:01):
becomes cannabis. Oh, that isso interesting, it's so, and so
hemp is legal. Now I've beenseeing hemp or protein powders because always say
this, and I don't want togive the government any ideas, but I
was explaining to someone they kind ofmade a mistake. They didn't do their
(42:22):
research because technology was going to catchup. In twenty eighteen, it's called
the twenty eighteen Form Bill, andthey basically that states anything hemp is federally
legal, cannabis is not federally legal. States decide how to deal with that.
The technology has come so has becomeso good that you can extract,
(42:45):
you know, just go through morehemp. You can still extract all of
the THHC, and THHC is THHCmolecularly, It's identical in both hemp and
cannabis. So if you have youknow, THC that's hemp derived, it's
the exact same thing. But it'slegal and you can send it across states.
(43:07):
Oh boy, states. Now thereare a lot of not a lot,
but there are a few states,including Massachusetts that you know, Massachusetts,
I how do I say this.I love that Massachusetts made this legal.
I appreciate it. But they aremaking money, uh huh from the
(43:34):
cannabis industry. They are getting theirtax dollars. And if I started selling
a hemp based beverage in Massachusetts,they would not make the money. So
I don't think you can make hempbased And it's sort of up in the
air, whether you can sell it'sa it's a lot to unpack. I
(43:59):
know, you know, but youknow, this was a great, great
way of approaching this topic, atleast for our local people to listen to
this story, and also for allthe other countries people who are beyond living
beyond Massachusetts, who don't have itlegal in their states yet not. Hey,
here's advice to them. If you'relistening from another state and it is
(44:22):
illegal and you would want to tryanything with teachcing it, then order it
online. It can come to youliterally, look it up. There are
beverages everywhere that there's gummies there.You know, I get it. Oh,
that's a good tip, Sarah.This was amazing. Congratulations Sarah from
(44:45):
launching this amazing product. I wishyou all the success in future. Thank
you. Thank you for tuning into Women Ovailent podcast, where we amplify
the voices and stories of local womenmaking a difference in our community. If
you've been inspired by today's episode,don't forget to like, share, and
subscribe to our podcast. And whileyou are at it, be sure to
(45:07):
visit our show notes. That's whereyou'll find all the details about Sarah's product
Khelia and information about our episode sponsor. Together, we can continue to uplift
and celebrate the incredible women of Whalen. Stay connected for more empowering stories,
and remember every voice matters. Thisis your host, Yamini, and you
(45:29):
were listening to Women of Whalen thepodcast
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