Ah, owning a small business is what most people dream of. However, being self-employed comes with its own set of challenges while providing the freedom we all long for. Being a female in the CBD or cannabis industry magnifies said challenges in ways most folks never knew about. When I started this business back in 2017 my intent was to help people feel better by natural means rather than opioids or even over the counter medicine. It became personal for me for loads of reasons with one standing out from the rest. Opioid deaths are increasing every year and we need to do something about it. 

So, I set up my free WIX website and created my own proprietary formula for Blackberry CBD Honey. After ordering business cards and marketing materials I set out to do what I call God's work. Calling on stores, yoga studios, health and wellness stores, CBD stores and massage therapists. Hemp products were illegal at the time so that was rough since most stores were afraid to carry the products or simply wanted too much profit. I managed to get my first order on bumblebwell.com only to have Square shut us down. After several bank account closures, lack of capital, merchant account issues, back to the drawing board I went.

How can I show as many people as possible that CBD is an amazing supplement that has helped myself and countless others in ways I had to experience to believe? I know! Social media! I created Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Alignable accounts. The wind was taken out of my sails only to find I couldn't advertise on any platform. We were also restricted on Google Business from creating ads. So local markets were the next idea that was good then came COVID. We lost several stores when the world came to a halt. I kept going determined to make a difference no matter how small it may be. 

Fast forward to today and my Instagram and Facebook advertising accounts remain disabled. All while sipping my tea and CBD Honey watching countless large CBD companies flash their products all over my feed. On the bright side, the banking and merchant accounts are all good. Square is okay with what I do and for that I am grateful. It has been a long, stressful exhausting journey getting my small business off the ground and to what it is today. Thanks to COVID I'm still not where I want or need to be. But will remain focused until I get there. The good outweighs the challenges by far. I get to be creative with my products and help people feel better and that is awesome. The reward of seeing someone find relief right before my eyes from something I made with healing passion, love and intent makes it all worth it. Why do I keep going? I'm changing lives and making the world a better place, one product at a time.