If you are searching for Black excellence in CBD and hemp, your cup floweth over.
Consumers hold power. The power to decide where your money goes is one small piece of our impact on the world. Cannabis justice is racial justice. It is necessary to back up your buying behavior and social media statements with both action and accountability. It is also important for all entrepreneurs to continue the momentum of this movement and to share Black stories outside of the Black Lives Matter civil rights uprising, including year-round.
These Black entrepreneurs who work in the hemp and CBD space have been worth highlighting. There are so many ways to support Black-owned hemp and CBD businesses. Their work is paving the way in terms of groundbreaking medical research and product development to wellness, health, nutrition, beauty, and fitness using hemp-derived products. All while tapping into the power of cannabinoids. THC and CBD are the most well-known cannabinoids that sit in the wide beneficiary spectrum.
For the most impressive and comprehensive list of every Black and Brown-owned cannabis company, follow the work of cannabis Evangelist, industry veteran diversity expert Mary Pryor. The company that Pryor founded called CannaClusive lists every single BIPOC-owned cannabis company in the space on its InclusiveBase.
Here are 15 noteworthy CBD companies owned by Black entrepreneurs who are working tirelessly to destigmatize this cannabinoid in the consumer marketplace.
Lion X
Nico Marley, yes he is from that Marley legacy family, is the founder of this CBD company Lion X. “Our goal is for you to embrace your inner lion,” Nico Marley says in a press release. The grandson of Bob Marley, Nico Marley made his own name as an NFL player, a linebacker who has played for the Washington Redskins, Tulane his alma mater. Marley entered the CBD wellness game with a lineup of products, with his goal of intention to "heal our communities through their mind, body, and soul." Marley and his family today has an entrepreneurial umbrella of brands in the cannabis space. Lion X launched on Earth Day, April 22, 2020, and its offerings range from Vegan gummies with 200 milligrams of CBD to a muscle and joint Cooling Balm with 500 milligrams of CBD, and capsules with 750 milligrams.
Zelira Therapeutics
Zelira Therapeutics Ltd (formerly Zelda Therapeutics) is a powerhouse global therapeutic medicinal cannabis company. It is a well-known international medicinal cannabis research and clinical trial organization that conducts trials on CBD for autism, insomnia, nausea and more. The goal at Zelira is to create branded products for a range of medical ailments, using clinical trial and a web of candidates capable of launching brands across the world. Zelira's brand HOPE® is available in two proprietary formulations for Autism in Pennsylvania and Louisianna, with plans to expand internationally. Zelira conducts research in partnership with accredited universities like Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). More impressive still: Zelira is currently working with Ethicann to create a proprietary product called CAN-001, specifically developed to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Important work, from co-founder Osagie Imasogie who currently sits as Chairman. Imasogie brings 30 years of experience in the fields of law, finance, business, healthcare, and the pharmaceutical industry, to Zelira.
Soul and Wellness
Founded by Tiffany Reynolds, Soul and Wellness opened as a medical marijuana card service and education business in 2016, expanding to a CBD line. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Soul and Wellness today offers a vast array of CBD products in addition to appointments for people who seek a medical marijuana card in Illinois. Reynolds took her Masters degree in Psychology and her experience at one of the top medical marijuana agencies in Chicago to form her unique "hollistic" health approach in her line Soul and Wellness. Her CBD products range from edibles to tinctures, hemp flower, concentrates, vapes, and even Momma Verde apothecary bath salts with 50 milligrams of CBD. Reynolds has fought for racial equality in cannabis for years, saying on Instagram: "On our journey towards legalization, we must make it our priority to fight for those incarcerated, killed or criminalized for using a medicine that we should all benefit from."
Kayaire
Ebony Clay is the founder of this botanical, inclusive skincare line Kayaire. Clay wanted to find a plant-based solution to her own skin problems, psoriasis, that didn't involve harsh pharmaceutical chemicals that didn't work for her, like steroids. So through her own health journey, Clay took the entrepreneurial route to develop Kayaire, a CBD skincare lineup of gels and moisturizers. Clay happens to be a working mother of four children and a U.S. military veteran. Kayaire is the American dream, realized.
Hemptation
Using olive oil and coconut oil, among organic carrier oils, Hemptation uses hemp that is extracted with the CO2 method alongside aromatic cannabis terpenes, which are steam-distilled. Hemptation carries seven strain-specific offerings, a unique way to experience the natural terpenes that exist in hemp.
Ayaora
From "seed to body," as Ayaora puts it, this CBD company is also a diverse, multi-generational team dedicated to the "conscious cultivation" of hemp for all of its products. This New Mexico-based company sells products that range from a CBD-infused chocolate bar to tincture and massage oils. Their cultivators (who are equal parts spiritual warriors) speak to growing hemp as a "craft of artisanal alchemy and embodiment of creative sovereignty." The same spiritual meticulous work can be found in their CBD products. Ayaora said on Instagram: "Natural law will naturally bring things back into alignment. Time can feel eternal when waiting for change—that’s why we mobilize, activate, we live the way! Step by step each day. Committed. Simultaneous to the collapse of this oppressive reality has to be the birth of the one we deserve."
CBDeluxe
CBDeluxe is a unique skincare line created by Dawna Capps-Evans. Based in Florida, the products you will find from the CBDeluxe family include a dead sea CBD mask, a tattoo repair moisturizer, massage oil, and even a line of products for pets. CBDeluxe also caters to haircare with a hair growth shampoo and conditioner and even a beard CBD oil for the men consumers. Capps-Evans works as an advocate in risk management for the cannabis industry, as well, and was appointed as the Executive Director of The National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) in 2019.
Brown Girl Jane
Bow down to Brown Girl Jane. Brown Girl Jane is a beloved CBD company owned and founded by a trio of women: Malaika Jones Kebede and Nia Jones, who are sisters, and their lifelong friend and beauty expert Tai Beauchamp. Brown Girl Jane holds true to its ethos of sustainable farming, formulating its CBD products with no binders, fillers, excipients, dyes, or unknown substances. Popular products in their lineup include a Glow serum, which has been referred to as "little bottles of magic," as well as a potent sleep tincture with 1500 milligrams of CBD, and an intimate oil. Jones, a working mother who speaks to the importance of equity in hemp for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, says on Brown Girl Jane's website: "My background as a director in philanthropy has also made me especially cognizant of the inequalities within the hemp industry overall, and I'm committed to changing the face of its beneficiaries and leaders while also working to make it much more accessible to people of color." The company is also actively asking consumers to pledge support for Women of Color-owned businesses in beauty in an initiative called The Brown Girl Swap.
Undefined Beauty
Undefined Beauty prides itself on its nontoxic and cruelty-free sourcing. The company is on a mission to infuse social purpose into all of its work in the CBD space. Consumers are in love with its lineup of CBD products that include a CBD lip treatment, a firming serum called Glow Gelee, Glow Bars, and even a Detox bath soak with a charged crystal in three varieties: Unwind, Unplug, and Undo. Its founder and beauty industry heavyweight Dorian Morris told Allure: "I’m not going to shrink back and be this delicate flower, I’m going to go for what I want. And if you tell me ‘no’ I’m going to force you to explain why because sometimes, nos are yeses in other ways.” Morris is a champion for justice in health and beauty, as products from this company avoid harmful ingredients like parabens, sulfates, artificial dyes, synthetic fragrances, mineral oil and petroleum, among a longer list.
Buena Botanicals
Sisters, twins, and co-founders of Buena Botanicals, meet Coral and Rah Hines. The duo each bring unique expertise to Buena's CBD lineup of products. Rah is a world traveler, an "eco-spiritual social justice warrior," as well as an artist and cultivator with experience facilitating community events orbiting social and environmental justice issues. Coral's experience comes from fashion, and she is a working mom of two who explains one of the best uses of CBD in her life is for her parenting stress. "Fast forward to having her second child and discovering CBD, which has been a valuable tool for managing all her stresses," Buena says on its website.
The CBD Skincare Company
Founded in 2018 by Natalie Noe and her father, this is one of the most refined CBD beauty lines on the market today. From body bars infused with CBD to moisturizing sleep masks and probiotic face and body detox masks, the CBD Skincare Company receives divine praise in reviews from consumers. Noe, who is a fitness and health coach, started out her career in CBD by experimenting with some milligrams in soap to help her with itchy skin. Noe decided to launch her own CBD Skincare Company, alongside her father, to help others using only organic ingredients, shea honey oatmeal soap bars which use honey gathered for the soap bars is exclusively sourced from humane bee farms.
Frigg
Kimberly K. Dillon is a force within the cannabis world. She brought her expertise in wellness to her new CBD skincare company Frigg. Marie Claire called Dillon the "OG of CBD," and for good reason: Dillon has consulted and offered career coaching for a bevy of cannabis brands, retailers, and investors. Dillon is known for crafting the beginning of massive brands including Papa & Barkley. In 2009 Dillon founded House of Mikko, an acclaimed early pioneer of the Beauty Influencer movement. She brings 15 years of expertise to Frigg, CBD skincare that is the culmination of her career of cannabis experience. Frigg launches in July of 2020 and is offering a prelaunch discount.
Hollingsworth Hemp & Elio Wellness
Founded in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington, back in 2013, a family-run hemp farm and brand called Hollingsworth is one to have on your radar. Co-founder Rhonda Hollingsworth, born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, came to the power of CBD after suffering scoliosis throughout her childhood. Powering through complex spine surgeries as an adult, Rhonda says that she uses Elio and Hollingsworth Hemp daily for her own health and wellness. In 2011, another member of the family, Auntie Jackie, created a line of different CBD infused topicals to help her mother and quadriplegic husband, which became Elio Wellness. Even the Hollingsworth matriarch grandmother Dorothy at 99-years-old also swears by both Helio and Hollingsworth daily. Their farm uses solar energy and sustainable methods, making them two vertically-integrated, all-in-the-family CBD companies that we love.
Balanced Beauty
Founded by Kelle Jacob, Balanced Beauty is a wellness and CBD beauty line that is rigorously clinically tested. Its goal is to "redefine the concept of modern beauty and re-shapes how we approach our skin wellness." Jacob's passion for beauty led her to heal through CBD. Jacob is a cycle three American's Next Top Model contestant and beauty veteran with experience in development and marketing for Estée Lauder, working for ten years at Estee Lauder Companies. Jacob told psfk: "Wellness is here to stay. Similar to what we are seeing around topics of sustainability, the broader concept of wellness, or as I like to think of it, conscious consumerism, will no longer be for a select few, but rather a consideration that more and more consumers will continue to demand from the brands they engage with."
Written By: Lindsey Bartlett
Original Article: https://www.greenentrepreneur.com/article/351621
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