How an Organic Vegetable Farmer Turned a Hemp Crop into a CBD Business with Tonya Howell Founder of Mad River Botanicals | Ep. 118 | Business Podcast

Summary

Tonya is a mother of three, farmer, and entrepreneur who lives in the green mountains of Vermont.

She owns and runs a CBD and wellness company called Mad River Botanicals with her partner Aaron.

Listen to this episode and learn how Tonya and Aaron turned a hemp crop into an amazing CBD business.

Mad River Botanicals products are organicly grown in Vermont, full spectrum, potent, small batch, third party tested and affordably priced.

Order Mad River BotanicalsCBD products here
Find them on Instagram @MadRiverBotanicals 

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Brandon: 

Hello Friends. Welcome to the show. Today we have an exciting episode with Tanya how the co founder of Mad River Botanicals, a full spectrum certified organic CBD company Tanya tells the story about how she and her partner started Mad River Botanicals, how the business works. 

They actually grow the hemp themselves and produce it into a product which is really exciting. 

We also talk about all the benefits CBD has to offer from reducing inflammation to giving you a feeling of calm along with a whole bunch of other things CBD can do for you. Let’s get going. Tanya Hal co founder of Mad River Botanicals. 

Here we go. Welcome to build the business success secrets. The only podcast that provides straight talk for entrepreneurs whether you’re an entrepreneur starting with an idea or growing your business. This show is for you. We’ll teach you how to build a strong mindset, powerful body and profitable business so you can achieve success and here’s your host Brandon C White. 

Brandon: 

Hey Tanya, there we go. Yeah. Good. How are you? Well thank you. 

Tonya: 

Sorry that was, it’s been um 27 years almost. 

Tonya: 

Exactly right now on the 14th, hasn’t it? 

Brandon: 

Yes, I calculated that too. 

Brandon: 

Go nice to see you, Nice to see you what’s going on in Vermont this morning. 

Tonya: 

Uh Lots of preparation for the farmers market. 

Brandon: 

It’s a beautiful sunny Day finally. 

Tonya: 

Well I think it’s 70 today, so for recite finally spring. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, that’s warm for Vermont, isn’t it? 

Tonya: 

That’s warm for this time of year. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, we’re finally but it’s been so cold lately, we’ve had like I had to like the wood stove the other day just to take the chill off. 

Tonya: 

You know, it’s just like there’s snow, you know, snow on the mountain peaks and it’s pretty wild. 

Tonya: 

So are the plants blooming now? 

Tonya: 

Uh the trees are just leaving out, so it’s like policies and I would say um people who have allergies are not happy right now. 

Brandon: 

But uh yeah everything is just starting to green up. 

Tonya: 

So there’s like little like the, you know the cold loving flowers that crocuses and daffodils and like all those sort of things are just in full bloom. 

Tonya: 

It’s it’s beautiful here. 

Tonya: 

You will you get another frost? 

Tonya: 

Probably. 

Brandon: 

Yeah a light one, a light one, nothing major. 

Brandon: 

Um You know we don’t plant things out in the field around here until I mean certain things we can plant like onions, like hardy things but like all the tender annuals, we wait till June one. 

Tonya: 

Oh wow. 

Tonya: 

So how long is summer is, is Vermont? 

Tonya: 

I’m not really, I don’t even know, telling you. 

Brandon: 

I’ve actually ever been to Vermont. 

Brandon: 

I need to think about that but I don’t ski so I don’t either. 

Brandon: 

Really? 

Brandon: 

Well that’s unusual. 

Brandon: 

Well you know what I do ski I cross country ski, I’m not a go to the mountain, you know I’m more like just got in the back of out the back door into the woods, you know that’s it’s better exercise for me. 

Tonya: 

I’m not into like zooming down the mountain, I’m just not good at it. 

Brandon: 

Like speed. 

Tonya: 

Uh You know I I appreciate speed and I do, I like uh I do like a thrill. 

Tonya: 

Like I also used to rock climb and I got into ice climbing here um with Aaron, my partner. 

Tonya: 

And uh that’s uh it’s a thrill. 

Tonya: 

Is that an Echo hill T shirt? 

Tonya: 

I think I think I’ve heard of Echo Hill for 27 years either. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, I worked there for a little while. 

Tonya: 

Did you really in that? 

Brandon: 

Out and still pond? 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

You got it. 

Tonya: 

You know I used to live out there. 

Tonya: 

Oh no, I didn’t realize that I lived out there all through college. 

Tonya: 

I lived at the corner of a Still Pond Road. 

Tonya: 

And yeah, right there at the bottom of Still Pond Road where the bridge comes around and it’s on your way to echo hill. 

Tonya: 

It’s uh oh God, I know me too. 

Brandon: 

I can’t, it’s like I can’t, I know my way around still when I go home to chestertown, but I don’t like all the names of the roads. 

Brandon: 

I’ve I forgot I had I had an argument with my honestly argument disagreement with my younger brother that spencer that probably regular happens. 

Tonya: 

But he said that the store out there and it’s almost in Kennedy ville or no, not Kennedy ville. 

Brandon: 

It’s between Kennedy ville and galina. 

Tonya: 

More towards galina is called molly’s now. 

Tonya: 

And I said it used to not be called molly’s and I remember it because when I do was back on the east coast and I go back see my mom. 

Brandon: 

I ride bikes with my old friends there and we’ve written out there, but it used to be called Bonnie’s. 

Tonya: 

You remember that? 

Brandon: 

Yes, I do recall Bonnie’s. 

Brandon: 

It was like the little diner place where you but you could also go and get all of your hunting supplies and all that sort of stuff. 

Brandon: 

Exactly. 

Tonya: 

That is exactly what it used to be sort of run down. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

And we used to go there for breakfast and now it’s molly’s now. 

Brandon: 

It’s like a super duper wa wa Oh no, that’s awful. 

Brandon: 

You asked me, Well, at least you have fresh supplies. 

Brandon: 

That’s true, that’s true, that’s true. 

Tonya: 

So are you growing all of your well for people who are just listening, Tanya and I actually went to college together and how we found this podcast episode is I was looking for someone to talk to about CBD and all of this. 

Tonya: 

I don’t know you’re going to have to explain all this, telling us full full spectrum uh things and trying to do some research on it because I know a lot of people have been interested in it and I find it find it interesting and I came upon this website somehow. 

Brandon: 

It actually wasn’t your website At first it was an article about you and Aaron growing vegetables which we can talk about. 

Brandon: 

But it had suggested that you also were doing CBD company called Mad River Botanicals. 

Brandon: 

So I went to that. 

Brandon: 

I was like, I recognize this woman. 

Tonya: 

And sure enough Tanya and I went to Washington college together. 

Brandon: 

But I think you were, when did you graduate? 

Tonya: 

95. 

Brandon: 

So you are a year behind me. 

Brandon: 

And then when I came back to do my masters, I don’t know what you were doing. 

Brandon: 

Maybe you were just in and around, gesture down. 

Brandon: 

I guess it depends on when you were there. 

Brandon: 

I did go back briefly. 

Brandon: 

I coached for the Novice men’s rowing team. 

Brandon: 

Um That was a couple years after I graduated. 

Brandon: 

Well maybe you were there. 

Brandon: 

I don’t know. 

Brandon: 

I hit out and still pond and fish. 

Brandon: 

I was a nerd in the computing lab, which you probably weren’t hanging out. 

Brandon: 

Not that you’re not smart, but I would have remembered if I saw you there. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, computers are not my thing, but I’m learning. 

Brandon: 

Well, thanks for joining. 

Brandon: 

Um I want to talk about mad river botanicals, but I really want to understand your story. 

Tonya: 

You and I had talked a week ago. 

Brandon: 

I think I probably should have cut our conversation off, not because it wasn’t interesting, but because you’ve sort of had a crazy little journey maybe ring around the country to get back to Vermont. 

Brandon: 

What town in Vermont are you in? 

Tonya: 

So I live in Warren, Vermont and it’s centrally located. 

Tonya: 

Um people know of warren because there’s Sugar Bush resort, ski resort is here. 

Brandon: 

Um it’s a quaint little tiny little town um with other towns around, but waits Field is the other big one. 

Brandon: 

Um and I first came here, I think I was to Vermont, I was 21 years old, my grandfather went property here and my parents and I came finally made it up to Vermont and I fell in love with it and I knew I wanted to live here some day. 

Brandon: 

And so I, I didn’t happen right away, took a long time first. 

Brandon: 

I uh, lived in Missoula Montana uh, for me because I pretty much goofed around. 

Brandon: 

I just graduated, what is, what is goof around you that you were partying and waitressing? 

Tonya: 

I did wait just a little. 

Tonya: 

I worked at a, as a home carried for a while. 

Tonya: 

It was really hard, taking care of people in their houses that needed help doing all sorts of things. 

Tonya: 

I probably really wasn’t even qualified for, but I did them very well and I rock climbed and I camped a lot and helped a lot and I just kind of lived it up in Montana. 

Tonya: 

Well, how did you pick? 

Tonya: 

So for listeners out there, Tony is actually from chestertown Maryland where Washington College, where we originally met long time ago is located. 

Tonya: 

How does one pick Missoula Montana? 

Tonya: 

Because that’s a big place. 

Tonya: 

And, and honestly I say this lovingly because obviously grew up my early years in the east coast, but east coast people generally in general don’t venture out beyond the original 13 colonies once they’re there. 

Tonya: 

So how do you pick Missoula Montana? 

Brandon: 

Well, I’ll tell you I had my freshman year, I met someone who is still one of my very best friends today. 

Tonya: 

Um I remember seeing her like the first day at school, and sure enough we were fast friends. 

Tonya: 

Her name is Mary Clay and uh she spent one year at Washington College where we wrote together and she really, she helped me see there’s a big, huge world out there. 

Brandon: 

Um She had grown up very differently than I had and um she actually ended up transferring to the University of Montana, which happens to be in Missoula Montana. 

Tonya: 

I was devastated that she left me, but it’s alright. 

Tonya: 

I had also another really great um friend in school and other friends too, but she transferred out there and you know what? 

Tonya: 

I maintained a friendship with her over the next three years of school and um she had a boyfriend actually chris Murphy who she would come back and see and we she’s like Tanya, when you graduate, you should come out, you should come and live with us. 

Tonya: 

So I convinced my boyfriend at the time that we should pack up the car after graduation and go to Missoula Montana and that’s what we did and I stayed, he left. 

Brandon: 

I stayed and I I struggled to leave, but that’s what happened was I got offered the coaching job at Washington College and um, I knew some of the other people that were going to be coaching and we like, I just decided, all right, but I don’t really have that much going on in Missoula, so I should go home and coach and maybe get my masters, but I didn’t do that. 

Brandon: 

Uh But I did coach and that’s fun. 

Brandon: 

What were you thinking about getting your master’s in english? 

Brandon: 

Well, maybe it was i it wouldn’t have done me much good it honestly. 

Brandon: 

Uh yeah, I think probably a business degree now that I’m doing what I’m doing, probably would have been a better choice, but I’m completely biased. 

Brandon: 

But I think you’re not going to be a doctor or biologist or something in that field that having better business classes, it would be helpful. 

Tonya: 

I I actually think, I don’t know what you think, but I actually think there should be a life class because I don’t know about you. 

Tonya: 

And this isn’t just Washington College, this is across, oh, educational institutions, nobody teaches you a class on, hey Tanya, there’s going to be this thing called a mortgage And the mortgage is going to be do generally on the 30th and you don’t pay that mortgage. 

Tonya: 

You may not have a house. 

Tonya: 

And by the way, you also have to pay an electric bill and oh, if you want to buy a house and get a mortgage, you need to have this thing called credit, which means you need to build your credit to have credit. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, credit cards, which is so screwed up. 

Tonya: 

But anyway, I mean, don’t you think there should be a life class? 

Tonya: 

I think that’s kind of up to your parents. 

Tonya: 

You think so? 

Tonya: 

I’m teaching my kids that I think that’s great. 

Tonya: 

I just don’t think all parents may not have that acumen or to basically sit down and say, hey, if you want to be well, I’ll use me and I loved, I did get my psychology degree as we talked about, but Hey, if you want to be a psychologist and you want to practice, this is how much money you’re going to make likely if you do the standard right thing and then at least let you know if that’s okay Or if you’re going to be a lawyer, Hey, you’re going to work tooth out, you’re gonna have to build 2000 hours now. 

Tonya: 

Maybe you figure that out an internship and maybe maybe I just didn’t do that. 

Tonya: 

I don’t know. 

Tonya: 

No, I get what you’re saying and I think, yeah, I think that would be really helpful. 

Tonya: 

Absolutely. 

Tonya: 

Break things down a little, you know, like a lot actually to break things down for, for young kids who don’t really have a clue, you know? 

Tonya: 

Yeah, Save your money. 

Tonya: 

But um, so you, you’re coaching at Washington College rowing, you’re back on the Chester River in those cold mornings that I don’t know how you all day did it, but um survived. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, we actually, I know we actually had most of our practices in the afternoon, to be perfectly honest. 

Tonya: 

Now, we definitely did have some early morning practices for sure. 

Brandon: 

Um mostly on the weekends, but in general we did practice on the weekends. 

Brandon: 

I mean, sorry, on the, on the week afternoons, how long did you managed to coach a year? 

Tonya: 

And that was enough? 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

You know, I just, oh, as I think I may have said, I was a little bit of a lost soul, you know, and I didn’t really know, I didn’t really have like a I didn’t know what I really loved to do at that point in my life, you know, I was still young. 

Brandon: 

Um So it took me a while and you know honestly it was coming up here and like reconnecting kind of with my like country roots of like farm, you know I grew up with like surrounded by farmland and on the eastern shore of Maryland beautiful farms um farming done very differently from how I’ve learned how to farm here. 

Brandon: 

Um But I recognized it that was really what I enjoy doing and um had passion for and uh so that’s it took me a long time you know to figure out what it was that I really like doing and um so okay so let’s see, so I came back home from Missoula but I stayed for a while, I stayed for a while there and then I ended up going to san Francisco which was also really fun time challenging um for me to be so far away from my family, but when I lived in Missoula had traveled to all the coast, you know. 

Brandon: 

Uh huh. 

Brandon: 

I didn’t make it down to L. 

Brandon: 

A. 

Brandon: 

At that point, but eventually I did um I uh travel a lot and I san Francisco just, it seemed like such a cool place to live so I decided to go again with my boyfriend at the time and uh he was a boat builder and he was, he had some gate building boats out there and and so we went and it was a really cool experience but I I found myself back home again as my brother began to have, I guess he was having a second child and I really dismissed my family and I um I still miss them even though I live nine hours away in Vermont at least I can happen the car and go see my family and I missed the seasons and I had always wanted to be in Vermont and you know what as it turned out, there were other people that I knew from Missoula Montana who set up in Burlington Vermont and I was like, well you know what, I just need to go, so I just packed up a van one day and it’s like I’m going And here I am, you know, 1919 years later, um Vermont is now, I hope, what did you do in san Francisco? 

Brandon: 

I worked at a restaurant and I worked at an architecture firm, where were you living? 

Brandon: 

I lived on Washington Avenue, just off of pork. 

Brandon: 

I had a, I had a connection with a friend of, a sister of a friend and she had an awesome little apartment. 

Brandon: 

I mean we literally were paying 6:50 for this like sweet little, it was actually fairly big for an apartment in san Francisco, it was really cheap, it was so cheap, it was on that rent lock thing and like it was, it was like kind of like a miracle, we were like okay wow, this is super cool. 

Tonya: 

Eventually she moved, she came back and had to find a new place and that was really challenging, I had no car there and I literally rode my bike around everywhere, I moved myself pretty much on a bike, I put everything in my back pack and like moved my stuff to my new apartment and or the room of his renting in a house. 

Brandon: 

Um yeah, so san Francisco is just, I felt you know, fairly at home there, I have to say it was pretty cool, I wasn’t afraid there, I thought a little alone sometimes because it’s such so many people and I don’t know, it’s a strange feeling when you go from like a tiny little town like chestertown to a big city like that. 

Tonya: 

Pretty wild. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, I agree with you. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

I think it’s uh, a lot. 

Brandon: 

I like visiting cities. 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

And a visit cities. 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

I like visiting them, but living in one again. 

Brandon: 

I would never do. 

Brandon: 

I learned, I learned that lesson. 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

So how long were you there? 

Brandon: 

About a year and a half. 

Brandon: 

And then one day you just decided you had enough. 

Tonya: 

Did the boyfriend go with you on this crossing? 

Tonya: 

So he did. 

Tonya: 

He, well we moved out there together and then things kind of fell apart and then I was on my own. 

Tonya: 

And yeah, I just, I read, I recognize like I have had my, like, I felt like I had done it. 

Brandon: 

You know, I’m like, okay, got my city experience, I’m going to go home now, be with my family while they’re having another baby and like be there to support them and my grandparents were still alive at the time. 

Brandon: 

And you know, I have a lot of like, I’m a family person, you know, like I love my love my peeps and I wanted to be back there with him. 

Brandon: 

Well, I think it is good to know who you are and what you like. 

Tonya: 

I think I have experienced my mom lives back there and my dad lives in the middle of the country, but I, I don’t, I don’t generally miss the people. 

Tonya: 

Um I don’t know sometimes when I go back and I grew up over North of Baltimore on a farm, but uh, in the country, but the school in the city, the um I find sometimes that the people are talking about the same thing and dating the same people, but maybe they got divorced this age and remarried someone else. 

Tonya: 

And I think I just grew for me at least and being a tech person, it’s tough to be a tech person on the East Coast. 

Brandon: 

I’m not saying it’s impossible. 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

So you go now you want, you drive in a van across country. 

Brandon: 

Did you take your time or did you? 

Tonya: 

No, I’m kind of a zoom. 

Tonya: 

I kind of did that trip a few times and I, When I left San Francisco, I went to the truck actually and I remember putting everything in it and it was a ford ranger and like I drove like 13 hour days, 14 hour days. 

Tonya: 

You know, I have a picture actually of myself with one of my cats like sleeping behind me because I, I snuck them across the country on an airplane to get them out there. 

Tonya: 

I had him like under my seat in a, in a little like carry on thing. 

Tonya: 

Nobody even knew it was just before 9, 11. 

Tonya: 

And um anyway, so they were just kind of like, I had him like just in the truck, they were just like, they could crawl around and do what they wanted and I have a picture of one of them. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, but I just like zoo. 

Tonya: 

I just kind of went for it, you know, it’s a long drive and by myself, I was like, I think I’m just going to go for it. 

Tonya: 

So did you three Or four days? 

Tonya: 

Did you think three or four days? 

Tonya: 

That’s pushing it. 

Tonya: 

I think I’ve done it in five, I think I did it. 

Tonya: 

I think it was four, wow, that’s a lot Now, are you thinking at this point I’m going to turn into an entrepreneur, Did you think about building your own business? 

Tonya: 

Did you know I still know I honestly this my partner, Aaron who is just so smart and amazing and such a talented, creative guy who can figure anything out um when you’re a farmer you you have to know how to do everything pretty much. 

Tonya: 

He can he he can do electric, he can do plumbing, he can weld, he can, I mean he can he’s like a mechanic, he can do what, he can do it all, like he’s not like professional at any of those things, but he can basically he’s self sufficient in so many ways and he’s been really inspiring for me um because he had a success, he had begun a farm here in Warren and um had a pretty successful organic vegetable business and um so then I joined him and we were doing that and I that so that became like okay we got to I took it on you know like he I became a business owner with him on the for the farm and um we that that kind of inspired me to is that I started to understand like oh wow, it’s so cool to like go on a business because it’s yours and it’s like the successive, it depends on you, but it also there’s a lot of other factors that enter in and so we we’re going organic vegetables um and that was going pretty well but we also had trouble finding people to work on our farm that we’re really willing to work hard and stick around and be committed because it is really hard work um and it’s a lot of your pulled in a lot of different directions often and you have to multitask and um that stuff you’re out there working in the rain, you’re out there, you know, working in the freezing cold mornings, like harvesting, it’s in october and you know, it’s it’s the work has to get done and you don’t really, you can’t really just be like, I don’t feel like it today, I mean sometimes you can do that, but pretty much it’s like you got to get it done. 

Tonya: 

Um So we found ourselves, we we actually um were approached by another group of of farmers to become part of an herb growing coop, so we um decided that that would be an interesting direction to go in because we have been doing a lot of root vegetables, that’s kind of our thing, we’ve done it all, but like root vegetables are big crops, but they’re really heavy, you know, and we’re, you know, forties and we’re like, okay, well let’s think about the future here. 

Tonya: 

Like, wouldn’t it be nice to be doing something something later? 

Tonya: 

Right. 

Tonya: 

And um, so we decided like this, this herb thing would be kind of cool to go down that road. 

Tonya: 

So we did, and um, it’s, it’s, it’s, it was, it wasn’t, it was a good move. 

Tonya: 

Um, because we were able to get a bunch of good accounts through the our growers co op as a cooperative that were part of an, um, it was going pretty well. 

Tonya: 

Uh, we recognize we definitely had to make some investments. 

Tonya: 

We needed a, we needed a sickle bar mower. 

Tonya: 

We needed a processor that actually we need to build a dryer to dry the herbs we needed. 

Tonya: 

Um, and these are all new things to us, right? 

Tonya: 

Like we don’t know how to actually go about all this work. 

Tonya: 

We’re learning as we go. 

Tonya: 

We’re doing lots of reading, we’re talking to folks. 

Tonya: 

Um It’s a whole new thing. 

Tonya: 

So we build ourselves a big dryer. 

Tonya: 

Uh that took a couple of tries actually to get it right. 

Tonya: 

Um And we actually bought in oregano processor from Greece so you can put the dried material and this this big thing spins around and it separates everything out right? 

Tonya: 

And pretty pretty cool. 

Tonya: 

Um We still use that to this day, the dryer as well. 

Tonya: 

Um But yeah it was just it was it was pretty cool where we were we were selling thousands and thousands of pounds of dried herbs, you know, so um but that kind of want to ride because as it turns out uh we so we didn’t make the account, but one of the other members of the growing coop head gotten us an account with this company called Global Healing and they were our biggest account. 

Tonya: 

I mean we were actually were like so sad because we’re actually making your like wow we’re really this is actually successful, we’re making money like this is cool, we are able to produce thousands of pounds of really high quality certified organic medicinal herbs. 

Brandon: 

And um what happened with that was that we found out that the person who owns Global Healing was in cahoots with the Alex jones and was supplying him with medicinal herbs. 

Brandon: 

So we we could not the associate, we just were like there’s no way we can be associated with anyone who is associated with Alex jones. 

Tonya: 

So we were like how did how did you got a bunch of questions but how do you come to that conclusion? 

Tonya: 

That because actually when you told me that story and be people, well judge me for this, I don’t know because that seems to be what happens, but is uh I didn’t actually know who Alex jones was and I looked him up and sounded like he was financing his media company by selling supplements by making false claims that weren’t true? 

Brandon: 

Well yeah, he’s a he’s a conspirator uh conspiracy. 

Tonya: 

Yes, so I’m just curious. 

Tonya: 

I’m just curious because sometimes my brother says that I smoked, I still smoke pot and that I’m not in the real world and I he doesn’t know where I live actually, but that’s completely untrue. 

Tonya: 

I actually haven’t smoked pot since Washington college a long time ago and haven’t had another drugs. 

Tonya: 

But um how do you, how do you, how did you, did you just did someone say hey Tanya tap you on the, on the shoulder when you’re in the farmer’s market one day and be like hey you’re selling to Alex jones it’s a bad deal. 

Tonya: 

And and how did you know about Alex jones? 

Tonya: 

Well I mean I had heard of him because I not that I can retain everything but I’m a little bit of an NPR junkie and um that’s like what I listen, I don’t watch the news but I listened to the news every day and a lot of times when I’m out in the fields I have on these headsets and like and like when I’m driving the tractor or whatever and they have they play the radio right? 

Brandon: 

So it’s like I mean we have a great public radio station. 

Tonya: 

V. 

Tonya: 

P. 

Tonya: 

R. 

Tonya: 

Is awesome and so like I have listened to it all the time and I had heard I had heard like just heard about Alex jones and um I honestly didn’t know much about them but I had you know run about for sure. 

Tonya: 

But anyway one of the people that was also involved with the growing cooperative, she came across this article. 

Tonya: 

It was an article in some whatever, I don’t know magazine newspaper. 

Tonya: 

Not sure but like a physical article about the connection between Alex jones and um global healing who we were going to herbs for and we have been lied to. 

Tonya: 

You know we wanted to know when we signed up with them, we wanted to know that they were the ones that it was just their company using our herbs and we actually had we had asked specifically and they and they outright lied to us. 

Tonya: 

Um So we just we weren’t comfortable with it. 

Tonya: 

You know we just couldn’t. 

Tonya: 

As a group you know we decided that we could not, we cannot grow for global healing anymore. 

Tonya: 

Did it go through your mind? 

Brandon: 

I’m just curious because you, you, you’ve made some very interesting decisions that I want to talk about, that you made a pivot in your growing, not necessarily because of the market availability, but because of the weight, which I find extremely interesting. 

Brandon: 

Well, it was that, but also that we were kind of getting burned out on vegetables. 

Brandon: 

Okay, what does that mean? 

Tonya: 

You’re getting burned out? 

Tonya: 

You mean for instance? 

Brandon: 

Okay, so like you’re taught you’re so tight. 

Tonya: 

Okay. 

Brandon: 

So like for instance, like are we would grow these beautiful little baby greens, right? 

Tonya: 

Baby, regular baby mix salad greens started with the baby kales and they’re all pretty and little mustard greens and all that literally every day are not every day, but every three days you have to go and receive these things every every three days you receive them so that you have them always coming right? 

Brandon: 

You always have it. 

Brandon: 

So basically for like five months you’re constantly out there, seating, seating, seating, seating, seating, and the And that doesn’t make me sound like, but Erin’s been doing this for like 25 years, so like, he’s kind of like really sick of this and don’t they have a machine? 

Tonya: 

It’s not like you’re putting each seed in the ground. 

Tonya: 

Yes, it is with a machine, but it’s still it’s tedious, it’s time consuming. 

Tonya: 

And you have to do it every three days. 

Tonya: 

You say you talk about these baby irregular that are totally defenseless as if there evil elves in the field. 

Tonya: 

No, I it’s the you know, the thing is like the greens were great, but we also there was the other thing was that we were um there are very very very time consuming and we were putting them all on these little plastic bags that we didn’t like, and so there was lots of reasons for us to switch things up, but we um it also got back and I must say the market did change, we have had some really great markets um with a bunch of the local restaurants um and those basically just went away um they didn’t want to pay the price, they were really really really challenging to work with. 

Brandon: 

Um There are always changing hands um and there’s this is a ski town, there’s no stable, it’s restaurant owning a restaurant here is really really hard um uh There’s just it’s when there’s no tourists there’s kind of like there’s not very many people here so it’s kind of hard to keep going. 

Brandon: 

Um So these fancier restaurants, they’ve all just kind of gone away like they’ve gone away like it’s it’s different, it’s different here. 

Brandon: 

Um It’s the it’s almost like food businesses. 

Brandon: 

It’s like take out um Take out his big is doing great still obviously with Covid but even before um and then kind of like kind of like I want to call it like high end fast food. 

Brandon: 

Like we have this great place called them at taco and it’s just like all sorts of really good mexican food but we did sell a little bit to them but it’s not this it’s less of the like fine dining, you know it’s more just casual stuff that people want um here so it’s it’s changed our market changed, we lost a lot of accounts and so the C. 

Brandon: 

S. 

Brandon: 

A. 

Brandon: 

And the local grocery store were good but they weren’t really enough. 

Brandon: 

So that’s why we that was the other reason that we switched to medicinal herbs. 

Brandon: 

Well it also sounds like you’re very environmentally conscious. 

Brandon: 

We are we also. 

Brandon: 

Yes like all the plastic it would take to do you know? 

Brandon: 

So there’s this thing called plastic mulch. 

Brandon: 

So think of like a five ft wide piece of plastic that just basically covers your whole whole bed right? 

Brandon: 

So we use that for a lot of things. 

Brandon: 

It is ok under the organic practices like it’s considered organic. 

Brandon: 

You can use it you have to take it up at the end of the year which is a pain two and then you’re throwing it away and then it ends up in the ocean. 

Tonya: 

We’re not doing that anymore. 

Tonya: 

Like even the hemp we grow people were like oh you have to put you have to use plastic mulch. 

Tonya: 

Well no you don’t actually you don’t hemp is just fine without plastic so we no longer use any sort of plastic whatsoever in our farm. 

Tonya: 

Plastic mulch seems like a very deceiving word. 

Tonya: 

So is this to cover on top or is this where you put the holes in the in for each plant? 

Tonya: 

Like and then you yes you lay the plastic, it has no holes in it, but then you create the holes for your plants right? 

Tonya: 

Like they do for landscaping. 

Tonya: 

But why can’t you use fabric for that? 

Brandon: 

We don’t use plastic. 

Tonya: 

We have a fabric type thing. 

Brandon: 

Um Well the plastic the plastic mulch is supposed to really helped keep the we’d get the weeds down, right? 

Tonya: 

The fabric, a lot of weeds can grow through that. 

Brandon: 

Um And that would just it would also cost like so much more. 

Brandon: 

I don’t know how much more but a lot more um Than the plastic mulches. 

Brandon: 

It’s uh how do you get the reeds down if you’re not? 

Brandon: 

So this plastic most thing is just I don’t even it’s total crap. 

Tonya: 

It’s not true and that’s like saying what they use it. 

Tonya: 

I mean look I appreciate marketing of all people in the world. 

Tonya: 

I love marketing but I find it very interesting how they position things right? 

Tonya: 

Like there’s I don’t know what else is out there that something comes to mind. 

Tonya: 

But plastic plastic much. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

It’s not cool. 

Tonya: 

It’s really not. 

Tonya: 

And they make biodegradable ones that actually are not certified for organic use even though they are actually they do biodegrade after a while. 

Tonya: 

In my mind, that would be better than the plastic because the plastic just ends up in the ocean anyway. 

Tonya: 

Recycle it. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, not as far as I know. 

Tonya: 

So it’s at the end of its recycling cycle. 

Tonya: 

Hopefully it’s been, hopefully it’s recycled, but I I are made from recycled materials. 

Tonya: 

But yeah, so you you sort of skipped over something. 

Tonya: 

But I think it’s important for our listeners because you’re out there in Vermont, you’ve done this solo thing, you’re sort of really making it all happen and you’re doing all this. 

Tonya: 

You started the business, which I want to ask you about. 

Tonya: 

But You also have three kids that you’ve raised in the process here. 

Tonya: 

Mm hmm. 

Tonya: 

Yes, I was definitely a torn a lot. 

Tonya: 

Like, so I feel like, you know, a lot of moms say this, but you our mom first like uh you know, I I couldn’t work as much as I wanted to because of the kids, which is, which is fine. 

Tonya: 

But you know, it’s also hard because farming is, like I said, one of those things where things need to get done in a timely fashion or you’re kind of screwed, I mean you let the weeds go and they take over and you don’t have your crop anymore, you know, like, so we so yes, raising my kids as a priority, but were you farming when you were raising your kids? 

Tonya: 

Because not when they were little, not super little, but Yeah, well Earl was really little. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, but I no, I was myself, I worked at a restaurant for years so that I could be home with the kids so that I could just not miss out on there. 

Tonya: 

There are little selves growing up. 

Tonya: 

So like they it happens, but you know, you blink your eyes and like now I have one graduating high school, so um even though that was hard for me because I’m not a night person um and I don’t yeah, you’re not a night person, I’m not a night person at all, I’m much more like get up early in the morning kind of person, but how did that relate to high school, high school? 

Tonya: 

You’re saying your daughter, I think it’s your daughter who’s graduating? 

Tonya: 

Oh well, yeah, no, I was just saying when they were little, it worked out great that I was I could be here for them when they were small during the day and work in the evenings. 

Tonya: 

So yeah, I switched my my thing, I understand that. 

Tonya: 

And hopefully we caught you early enough today. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, I always talk to try to talk to people before 12 noon their time, And I never make major decisions after 12 noon, maybe 1230. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

That’s interesting. 

Tonya: 

What is that what’s interesting about that? 

Tonya: 

Well, I don’t know because I guess sometimes I feel like uh but if you have to know so that so let’s talk about that. 

Tonya: 

There’s always these these human made deadlines. 

Tonya: 

Mhm. 

Tonya: 

How many Tanya in your lifetime so far? 

Tonya: 

And we’re still young for everybody out there but old enough. 

Tonya: 

Oh. 

Tonya: 

How many times has a deadline? 

Tonya: 

Really really mattered. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

I guess that’s true. 

Tonya: 

Not that much. 

Tonya: 

There’s always a way to get out of it right? 

Tonya: 

Well often often there is I try to think of it as not always getting out of it but but allowing time to pass so that you can acquire more data and make a more informed decision when you have better energy. 

Tonya: 

That’s true. 

Tonya: 

You’re absolutely right. 

Tonya: 

You’re absolutely right. 

Tonya: 

I don’t know if I’m right or not but I found that after 1230 I don’t always make the best decisions. 

Tonya: 

Hm You know, I guess I haven’t thought of it as like what time of day it is necessarily, but just like you were saying like how much time I’ve had to think about it and let us settle and like had time to kind of mull it over and like not just be reactive well what time do you get up in the morning? 

Tonya: 

Mm six and then what time do you generally go to bed? 

Tonya: 

Mm 99 30. 

Tonya: 

So how did you meet Aaron? 

Tonya: 

Because that’s really the start of your entrepreneur journey? 

Tonya: 

For sure. 

Tonya: 

He, well, he was, he was here and we were, we were friends and we were acquaintances really and we honestly, I started working for him and that’s how our relationship began and um, we, I think just had a lot of respect for each other. 

Tonya: 

Um, I certainly did for him and um, so I we we’ve been together ever since and how long working out, how long is that? 

Tonya: 

6.5 years and how is it being in business with your partner? 

Tonya: 

You know people marvel at that. 

Tonya: 

Um It’s really for us it works out really well because you know we our boat were we talked to each other about it all the time like it’s almost like you know I think about how hard it would be. 

Tonya: 

Honestly I have not have your partner involved because it’s so great. 

Tonya: 

We are always like you know talking about ideas or things we for it or you know check out this, check out that like we just like it’s it’s wonderful you know like we not only do we enjoy doing what we do like farming and you know other things and camping like but cooking hanging out um but now we have this you know this business that were like trying to grow and it’s just so awesome to have someone um to talk to about it, you know my kids don’t always want to hear about it but it’s great because like Aaron you know he’s such a smart guy and he like definitely has a lot to add a good ideas and you know he is I give him the credit for like you know he’s figured out how to grow all these things and in a really good way. 

Tonya: 

Um He’s a he is definitely like a how do we do this in the most efficient way kind of guy. 

Tonya: 

Um So the things that we grow now we we can manage the and I basically ourselves and we and the kids help us to for sure. 

Tonya: 

Um And um but you know where he knows he, No, like I said, we have uh the tractors that we need, the implements that we need. 

Tonya: 

Um We have we have mechanized leaders, there’s nothing fancy but you know, we know how to we know how to keep the we de pay through flame waiting through flame leader. 

Tonya: 

So basically when you direct seeded crop um before the crop pops up, often times the weeds will pop up first. 

Tonya: 

So we literally have an attachment that goes on the back of the tractor, that’s basically like these propane tanks that are lit. 

Tonya: 

And they they singe little baby reads that have just sprouted. 

Tonya: 

So like a big flamethrower. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, yeah, that we pulled behind the tractor and um it eliminates the a bunch of little weeds. 

Brandon: 

Um And then you’re you have at the timing, that’s the thing, like that’s a very good example of them. 

Brandon: 

Like you you got to do it right before say all the carrots pop up, or the baby Tulsi is pop up, you know, or the baby lemon bombs or whatever it is. 

Brandon: 

Um But uh so that’s one thing we do, and the second thing is we basket, we’d think of like a double wheel. 

Brandon: 

Um but there’s a there’s a bunch of them and they actually go right in between where all your crops are, So you’re just like fluffing up the soil. 

Brandon: 

You drive, this is an old thing, it’s like from the fifties, fifties or sixties at least. 

Tonya: 

Um It’s uh you’re just staring down like trying to drive the streets again, not trying to run any of the crop over, it’s really fun, I like it. 

Brandon: 

Um So we do that and then we have a we have things you drag behind too, so I kind of just like, disrupts the little little small little beads. 

Brandon: 

Um We have a finger reader, which actually uh you attach it to a different type of tractor, but you basically just goes around all of the little plants that are your your plant, your crop, it goes around them and it just leads everything around them. 

Brandon: 

It’s really, they’re like little rubbery fingers that like, just, it’s really cool. 

Brandon: 

Um so, you know, we’ve set ourselves up pretty well and we we like figuring out systems too, you know, even deceiving of these things, like Aaron is really, really good at like knowing how to use the tractor implements um to make our beds super super flat, which is really important for when your direct seeding crops into a field if it’s bumpy and and and there’s big clumps of dirt or there’s chunks of weeds or there’s a bunch of rocks or whatever like you and you’re pushing your seat or along your, you’re not going to be able to control the depth of the seed as it goes in the soil, etcetera, etcetera. 

Brandon: 

So you, so you need like a nice beautifully prepped bed and Aaron is really great at that. 

Tonya: 

So uh, Yeah, Well I think he made a really important point that I just want to emphasize because I think business owners and entrepreneurs, not everybody gets to work with their partner and it doesn’t always work out. 

Tonya: 

Although there’s certainly been a lot of successes and I made it work with the vet on our first company, the and we enjoyed it for the same reasons that you’ve discussed. 

Tonya: 

Like 2nd First of All, It’s fun. 

Tonya: 

2nd of all, if you don’t do that, you really are in your business all the time. 

Tonya: 

So you get to spend like two hours with your significant other and 20 with the other. 

Tonya: 

Yeah sorry I got I got off track there for a little bit. 

Tonya: 

But yeah it is really great. 

Tonya: 

That’s nice. 

Tonya: 

But your real partner in all businesses isn’t necessarily the team you build but your significant other, whether they work with you or not. 

Tonya: 

I think people need to recognize that I read something I don’t know about you but sometimes I read these, I don’t know where that book is. 

Tonya: 

These quotes. 

Tonya: 

I don’t know why I just find them interesting like words of wisdom, they always sort of keep you positive and and it said um remember and this is an old one so it’s sort of male oriented but it obviously flips. 

Tonya: 

It’s like remember to send your wife flowers at least once a month or something because you’re spending more time with your assistant than you are with your wife and you know there’s a there’s a real I think there’s a deeper meaning to that. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

Mhm. 

Brandon: 

Sure. 

Brandon: 

Yeah it’s true. 

Brandon: 

Well you get caught up in you know and your business you know and it’s it takes a lot, it takes a lot of focus and energy and staying on top of things and you know constantly researching and figuring things out and it’s very consuming. 

Tonya: 

It just takes a lot of, it takes a lot of your time and energy. 

Tonya: 

So so you’re growing vegetables, you’re selling vegetables, you make a pivot into this herb cooperative I guess I’ll come together put your stuff and then price it accordingly so that you get fairness. 

Tonya: 

Is that how is that why you do it? 

Brandon: 

Um It was a cooperative basically because uh well some there’s so many medicinal herbs, right? 

Tonya: 

Well we kind of needed the diversity, like some farms were Good at. 

Tonya: 

So there was one that was perfectly in particular, there was 1 um one farm that was already set up and they already did a bunch of medicinal herbs and so they were good at some things and then other people were getting other things and we were good at other things, you know, so it was like we all just divvy it up that way we could actually have and and then also to, you know, if we didn’t have, let’s say we needed, you know, it was actually also a way to kind of protect ourselves because we could grow, we could have a couple of people grow the same thing and then if somebody had a crop failure or whatever, we were kind of covered at least a little bit. 

Tonya: 

Um So yeah, it was kind of like diversity and um, so that, that’s, that’s why. 

Tonya: 

And then also just getting it going, you know, we had, we needed the connections, we need people, some people knew already, some, you know, had connections and we didn’t really. 

Tonya: 

So it was just made sense. 

Tonya: 

And then you find out that this conspiracy or this company is selling it to the conspiracists, you decide what to do it. 

Tonya: 

And then did you have any discussions or any struggle? 

Brandon: 

Wait, you’ve said it as if that was it. 

Tonya: 

Like once you found out was it? 

Brandon: 

But did you and Aaron and other people sit down and say, um, you know, if we lose this account, we go negative in our revenue or something like that. 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

We recognized that it would really, we take it be taken a huge hit and we did. 

Tonya: 

And I think we struggled along for another year or two with a couple of little kind of just counts. 

Tonya: 

It didn’t amount to enough and we just decided Aaron was president actually at the time I believe he was the president of the cooperative and we just like he just decided and we will, we voted or whatever that it was time to just call it quits on the, on the co op. 

Tonya: 

So, so did you on the Herb called in which effectively cut off that account and that. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

What are you and you and Aaron come home from that meeting. 

Tonya: 

Did you have a business plan or something of what you were going to do next? 

Tonya: 

Well, well no, I guess that to be perfectly honest, I don’t I mean Aaron always thought he may have had a business plan kicking around. 

Tonya: 

But what were you thinking? 

Tonya: 

Like what were you thinking on that drive home from that meeting that night? 

Tonya: 

You have three kids got a house. 

Tonya: 

You got your just like how are we gonna yeah how you gonna make money make it? 

Tonya: 

Um Well what we did though is we set it up so that we could it’s almost like we divvied up certain accounts. 

Tonya: 

There were a few accounts that we still had and we basically like kept some of them so we knew we would have like a little bit. 

Tonya: 

Um And then we we were like well we’ll just continue growing vegetables for the C. 

Tonya: 

S. 

Tonya: 

A. 

Tonya: 

And the for the C. 

Tonya: 

S. 

Brandon: 

A. 

Brandon: 

That we have and what those of us who don’t know what that is. 

Tonya: 

Community supported agriculture. 

Tonya: 

So basically we had like 100 and 70 shares that we sold people. 

Tonya: 

And um we had a summer a 12 week summer see ECE. 

Tonya: 

And then uh you get a box of goods every week and people pay you for it basically. 

Tonya: 

Yeah so people sign up for either a larger small share and then we actually did that and that was with two other farmers. 

Tonya: 

Um So that because we were like we don’t grow sweet corn, we don’t grow strawberries, we don’t grow broccoli and cauliflower, those sort of things was not there not are stick and so um uh we enjoy we have other there were other farmers um that we were a. 

Tonya: 

Part of the C. 

Tonya: 

S. 

Brandon: 

A. 

Brandon: 

With so that our vegetables were you know it’s like this really beautiful array of vegetables every week like you’re not just getting the same thing over and over there is variety. 

Brandon: 

You know there’s um like I said like strawberries and sweet corn and things like that that we didn’t grow. 

Brandon: 

So um but then a lot of staples to potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, I mean the whole and we did a lot of like herbs, we did you know the big screens and the herbs and carrots and the parsnips and Rutabagas and turnips and the and all that stuff. 

Tonya: 

So um so I’m gonna go back to my question, you know people say I repeat myself, my wife says I shouldn’t do it a lot, but I still do uh can you remember back to that moment when you’re driving home and thinking like I’ve got three kids, I’ve got this partner, we just turned off this. 

Tonya: 

Yeah we have a few accounts. 

Brandon: 

Was there ever like were you just like oh okay well wake up tomorrow and figure it out. 

Tonya: 

You know? 

Tonya: 

The thing is um it was honestly it was a relief. 

Tonya: 

The Herb Coop had gotten messy, it had gotten messy, nobody was happy things weren’t working out was honestly a relief because um we hadn’t ever since the global healing thing happened and we had kind of given definitely given them the boot. 

Tonya: 

We we, you know, we kind of were like scraping along, but like we um it was just there was too much drama, it was just too much trauma. 

Tonya: 

People really weren’t like people were signing up to grow things and then and then they would have things happen, it wouldn’t work out and it just got to be honestly, it was a relief. 

Tonya: 

So it hadn’t, for a couple of years, it had already hadn’t been going well. 

Tonya: 

But the other thing that happened was right along that very close to the timing of when it ended, we were approached by a company to grow 1000 hemp plants and why do you think they picked you for help? 

Tonya: 

Is this just like a message from the universe? 

Brandon: 

And the it comes down and says, hey Tanya and Aaron, you’re going to, your future is going to be growing hemp. 

Brandon: 

I mean, do you think about that? 

Brandon: 

Um we thought, wow, this is an interesting opportunity. 

Brandon: 

Um, we weren’t sure at first, we were kind of like, I don’t know, because we’ve had, you know, somebody else approached us, like, because when they thought that cannabis was like, THC cannabis have this cannabis to um, like, the someone that approached us, like, I want to do this can of butter business, you know, and he like, scouted out farmers, you know, to grow cannabis for him. 

Tonya: 

And we were like, kind of excited, we’re like, wow, this is a cool opportunity, but um, it kind of fizzled because the legalization didn’t happened right away. 

Tonya: 

And so it’s kind of sheltered anyway. 

Tonya: 

Um, and then at the same time that something was going on and we were a little skeptical because it was like, okay, uh, grow 1000 plans will pay 25 bucks a plant, we’ll bring them to you. 

Tonya: 

All you have to do is put them in the ground, grow them, take care of them. 

Tonya: 

We’ll even do the harvesting and we’re like, sounds a little too good to be true, but okay. 

Brandon: 

You know, it’s like we played the plastic mulch and, you know, prep the field and laid the mulch and then waited for these plants, waited and waited and waited for these plants to cough. 

Tonya: 

And um, we knew some other farmers that were involved. 

Tonya: 

So, you know, that was kind of cool. 

Brandon: 

Like, all right. 

Brandon: 

So are you doing it? 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

Okay. 

Brandon: 

We’re going to do it too. 

Brandon: 

Um And So we did it and the thing is eventually the plants came and I think there were only ended up being like 700 plants. 

Brandon: 

There’s some process to this this whole hemp growing. 

Brandon: 

Is there a I mean it’s magical. 

Tonya: 

I mean it does it produce marijuana? 

Tonya: 

Like you’re growing marijuana plants are not really well I mean so cannabis hemp plants are in our cannabis but they just don’t have THC So literally these plants look like a regular old weed plant like there. 

Tonya: 

Well yes, like it’s the same plant is the same plant minus the th chemical part. 

Tonya: 

That’s how do you get that out of there? 

Tonya: 

Is it not pollinated in a certain way or? 

Brandon: 

No. 

Tonya: 

It’s just chemically made up. 

Tonya: 

It’s just chemically different. 

Tonya: 

Is it natural or is it man made? 

Tonya: 

I think it’s just the breeding like they’ve been able to breed. 

Tonya: 

I know they can breed for certain cannabinoids THC is a cannabinoid. 

Tonya: 

CBD is a cannabinoid. 

Tonya: 

CB gs cannabinoid there CBN like like there’s a bunch of different cannabinoids and you can mess with the you can alter those, you can change those depending on how you breed them. 

Tonya: 

Um So we were in these plants that actually work loans which is um basically cuttings taken from a mother plant. 

Brandon: 

And so you have all then exactly the same genetics right? 

Brandon: 

Because it’s just taken from one plan or a few different plants. 

Tonya: 

Um But as long as you know that you’ve taken it from a female plant then you know you have all females. 

Tonya: 

You don’t want males. 

Brandon: 

You only want the females. 

Tonya: 

Why is that? 

Brandon: 

Because um If you have seven ist a mail, if you have a male plant and it is allowed to to grow and release the pollen, then it can it will turn and it will turn the female plants all of the in the, within the bud structure of the female plant will turn to seeds and you don’t want the seats, you just want the flower. 

Tonya: 

So um we had all females. 

Tonya: 

Sometimes there are even hermaphrodites, so it’s like part female apart. 

Tonya: 

Male. 

Brandon: 

Really complicated plant. 

Brandon: 

The cannabis plant is the most chemically complicated plant around. 

Brandon: 

So erin has still made and I believe it, what I read about it, it says there’s all these can avoids and that’s why Hopefully you’ll help Sean. 

Brandon: 

But you only have 700-300 die. 

Brandon: 

No, we were only given so many. 

Brandon: 

Apparently there was a big issue with the person who was doing the cloning. 

Brandon: 

Cloning is kind of challenging. 

Tonya: 

honestly. 

Tonya: 

It’s much easier to just grow these plants from seeds you get a much sturdier plant. 

Brandon: 

Um It’s uh, the root system is better. 

Brandon: 

Um, so cloning is challenging. 

Brandon: 

They were struggling and uh, so we only, I think most of the farmers only got uh like they never got the full number, they were supposed to get right, We’re supposed to get 1000 we got 700 or something like that. 

Brandon: 

Um, but anyway, we just put them in. 

Brandon: 

So what do you do here in California? 

Brandon: 

Well even sometimes on the East Coast, but here in California is watered short shortage normal. 

Brandon: 

So there’s all these aqueducts that do all this stuff and feed the Central Valley for all these pistachio plants and almond plants and whatever else. 

Brandon: 

Trees, maybe a plants and trees. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, growing strawberries probably. 

Tonya: 

Do you need to monitor the rain in Vermont or does it just rain enough that it works? 

Tonya: 

Um We we don’t just depend on the rain. 

Tonya: 

Um Some summers we get so much training that we don’t need to irrigate, but we unfortunately it’s called drip irrigation. 

Tonya: 

So it’s basically this little plastic tube that you you put under your next to your plant um and it has little teeny slits in it and it’s attached to a big header system. 

Brandon: 

Um We were actually just pump water from the river that’s close by. 

Brandon: 

So we pump we had this like crazy pump system, you pump it and um and then it just you can just turn it on and you can actually, we had Aaron had it set up so he could actually fertig eight as well so he could actually put nutrients when we would water. 

Brandon: 

We would also give the plants nutrients. 

Brandon: 

So that’s how we ensure that our plants are getting enough water. 

Brandon: 

Well I don’t have a question is that plastic hydration? 

Tonya: 

I’m only being a smart ass. 

Brandon: 

But the the hoses are plastic. 

Brandon: 

Mhm. 

Tonya: 

I mean isn’t this doesn’t this cause it’s very hard to get away from plastic? 

Brandon: 

It’s really hard to get away from plastic. 

Brandon: 

Yes it is. 

Brandon: 

Um So we did we for for him I mean we did it that way. 

Tonya: 

It makes a lot of sense. 

Brandon: 

Mhm. 

Brandon: 

You can get different thicknesses of the drip so you know it’s not necessarily destroyed because you use it once. 

Tonya: 

Um But if it gets a hole in it you have to patch it with a little special thing that it uh it’s a pain. 

Tonya: 

Um And yes it’s unfortunate but like that’s as far as our plastic use, like that’s all we use now. 

Tonya: 

Just basically just that for a small amount of time that we grow. 

Tonya: 

Um So you grew, so you wound up growing 700 plants. 

Tonya: 

We grew 700 plants. 

Tonya: 

We actually got we got paid for the full amount. 

Tonya: 

That’s good, which was interesting. 

Tonya: 

Right? 

Brandon: 

We’re like, wow, that’s nice. 

Brandon: 

Um So all in all, you know that first year we were like this is so crazy, like all right, we got, I guess this is legit because wow, we all got paid. 

Tonya: 

So what were they using the hemp for? 

Tonya: 

So they were the whole idea, this is this is 2018, right? 

Brandon: 

The farm bill just It was just about to pass. 

Tonya: 

I don’t exactly understand how that all happened because the farm bill passed late in the year 2018. 

Brandon: 

We grew in 2018. 

Tonya: 

So, and that’s when hemp really became truly legal right Throughout the whole country. 

Brandon: 

What was it just, I want to go back to why everything you’ve told me so far hemp is just as any would be like growing cotton. 

Brandon: 

I mean it doesn’t it doesn’t have THC in it, it’s not going to get you high. 

Brandon: 

It I think grows quickly, right, It goes really fast, it’s amazing. 

Tonya: 

It does have a little THC just you know, there is a little THC like that, we’re going to get high. 

Tonya: 

No, not enough, they’re going to get high. 

Tonya: 

That’s the big thing with hemp is that it’s it’s there and it’s important that it’s there and get into that a little later on. 

Tonya: 

Um But it does have a little bit but it is mostly it’s other cannabinoids in hemp. 

Tonya: 

And what were they, what were these people that paid all of you to do this making? 

Tonya: 

So the company um was going to then take the hem they were gonna they didn’t they were either going to dry it somehow or freeze it. 

Tonya: 

Um and then they were gonna uh take it to be extracted. 

Tonya: 

Um or and they had a plant. 

Tonya: 

I think they were supposed to have actually gotten their own extractor but I don’t know that they ever did but I think they ended up taking it to main um to have it extracted there. 

Tonya: 

So it did a lot of it did get turned into what people call crude. 

Tonya: 

I like to call it crude, I like to call it whole plant extract because that’s actually what it is, is the extract of the whole point minus like the big stalk. 

Tonya: 

And then they were going to use it for then they were going to sell that to companies who needed the extract to put into products um and then and also create their own line of CBD products with the whole plant extract. 

Tonya: 

So that was their thing. 

Tonya: 

Um We were just the growers which is what we love to do. 

Tonya: 

So you were psyched and um they really liked us and um we We were approached by them to do their cloning and for the for the next year 2019 crop. 

Tonya: 

So Aaron and I were um hired by this company to do all the cloning and all the starting of seeds. 

Tonya: 

Um for this company, I basically spent the entire winter figuring out how to how to clone things. 

Tonya: 

Um Did they just think you knew how to clone because you were such a good grower? 

Tonya: 

Yeah, pretty much they hired someone who was, they called him the field manager and he had some experience because he had worked in a dispensary and um he did know some stuff but the problem was the scale that they wanted to do this was insane. 

Tonya: 

It’s like they wanted like, yeah, oh God, they wanted late 30,000 head plants or something crazy like that’s a lot. 

Tonya: 

Um And so the scale was the issue, right? 

Tonya: 

And uh cloning is, it takes a lot of climate control and um that was the hard part. 

Tonya: 

Um and looking back on it, like, so a mother plant is basically you take cutting from one of your plants, ideally that plant is high in CBD has a really nice um structure to it is sturdy and strong and beautiful, right? 

Tonya: 

Beautiful bud structure, all that stuff, right? 

Tonya: 

Um They didn’t really, you know, they have to, the thing is you have to take the cutting before the plant begins to flower because it doesn’t like to, doesn’t like to put out roots if it’s got a lot of other stuff going on. 

Tonya: 

So anyway, um cloning is it’s fairly complicated and we were, we did it um it was a crazy intense period of time, um but we were able to do it and we were able to start a bunch of seeds to um now we were getting paid along, although it was sometimes challenging to get money out of this guy. 

Tonya: 

All of a sudden the money wasn’t just flowing, right? 

Tonya: 

I would send him an invoice and he wouldn’t pay us, and I was like, so annoying and I would call him up and I’d be like, so, I mean, can you please pay us? 

Tonya: 

And he’s like, oh yes, just don’t be afraid to ask. 

Tonya: 

I’m like, well I already sent you an invoice, so to me that means pay your bill. 

Tonya: 

Um But he was, things are getting a little bit weird, right? 

Tonya: 

We’re like, this is annoying, like what the heck is going on with this guy? 

Tonya: 

And anyway, we We were contracted by the company to grow uh 10,000 plants. 

Tonya: 

That’s a lot for us. 

Brandon: 

How many speakers is that? 

Tonya: 

Uh we it was about it was gonna be like eight acres. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, but it’s a lot because it’s a lot of maintenance and a lot of work, like, you know, I mean laying out, imagine eight what eight acres looks out, it looks like uh you know, and that being filled with plants, like it’s that’s first of all, it’s a lot of ground preparation, it’s a lot of plastic molds, delay, it’s a lot of irrigation to lay, you know, all these things, right? 

Tonya: 

You laid eight acres of plastic Mulch pretty much, you know, rose I mean it’s not like cover to cover its its you know, you have bed so it’s like um yeah, I mean it was just it was it was nuts. 

Tonya: 

And do they get God they can get eight ft tall? 

Tonya: 

How big? 

Tonya: 

Like around big around uh Gosh. 

Tonya: 

I mean 4, 5 ft. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, huge. 

Tonya: 

People thought like people who, you know at a glance because you could kind of like on one of our main roads, you could glance over and see our field on the field we were renting at the time and people were like this at a christmas tree farm. 

Tonya: 

You know like it’s like kind of has that look from a distance, you know they have, can you smell it? 

Tonya: 

Yes, you can totally smell it once. 

Tonya: 

It’s once they’re flowering. 

Tonya: 

Oh my goodness. 

Tonya: 

You can smell it. 

Tonya: 

It’s not like regular pot plant. 

Tonya: 

Yes, it smells amazing. 

Tonya: 

Amazing. 

Tonya: 

It’s such a lovely smell. 

Tonya: 

How do you test, you made it? 

Tonya: 

You said you want to do the cloning and you want to make sure that it has high THC how do you test C. 

Tonya: 

B. 

Tonya: 

CBD? 

Tonya: 

Sorry what? 

Tonya: 

I don’t know what I was there, I don’t want to confuse people. 

Brandon: 

I’m getting all these blood tests lately, so I’m uh hearing all these acronyms. 

Brandon: 

Uh So how do you test it? 

Brandon: 

Okay so um to test uh the like the percentage of CBD in a hemp plant, you you take basically just take some of the flower and you send it off to a lab to be tested in And they come back and they’re like hey CBD and five other. 

Brandon: 

Yeah okay so this plan is uh you know 14% CBD which is kind of, I’d say medium to high Um if you get a plant that has like 17% CBD, like that’s kind of high um like a percent CBD CBD, a small amount. 

Brandon: 

Um You know, probably uh I would say, well, I mean there’s plants tonalities that are like half CBD have TFC, but it’s down and lower, you know, just a small, like, maybe 10% or something like that. 

Brandon: 

Um There’s usually always, there’s going to be CBD um in there. 

Brandon: 

It’s just that it’s just much less than a regular THC plant. 

Brandon: 

The THC is a dominant cannabinoid, which is what they want for that. 

Brandon: 

Certain. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, I mean, some people just want that. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, so we were growing eight acres of, we’re going, this guy who’s not paying you regularly and you’re getting annoyed, you’re getting annoyed and we’re getting nervous. 

Tonya: 

And as the season progresses, we um we’re like, wow, it seems like he’s really dropping the ball, like he’s not like having a plan, a good plan for, you know, we’re not the only farm, right, There’s all these other farms that we grew all these little baby plants for and you know, he’s got acres and acres and acres of hemp to harvest and dry and process right, like, and he’s kind of losing it, we’re like, okay, what is wrong with him? 

Tonya: 

And who knows? 

Brandon: 

But he’s a major alcoholic, we know that um but he basically was that something to worry about. 

Brandon: 

Yes, I mean there are people who function still, but anyway, this guy couldn’t apparently um he okay, so we erin likes this, he always reminds me, he’s like, I knew what he’s like in the very in the beginning of the, at the, like the end of the summer, he’s like, you know, I would be surprised if if we don’t get paid for at least some of this crop. 

Brandon: 

Like he was like, he’s like, I call it, he’s like, he’s not going to pay us for some of it. 

Brandon: 

I just guarantee you he’s not. 

Brandon: 

Anyway. 

Brandon: 

We um we saw, you know these red flags and we’re like Doug, we’re like God and the guy, we’re like, look, we’re going to do our own harvesting because we can tell that you’re not, you are not ready, you prepared, you don’t have your shit together. 

Brandon: 

We’re going to make sure this crop gets harvested. 

Brandon: 

So we basically, you know, turned our whole barn and there’s some pictures on instagram. 

Brandon: 

Um We we set our bar, we used to we used our barn strung up from the tippy top of this 1950s bar. 

Brandon: 

And we strung up this like plastic netting and we are plastic and we we hung the hamp in there. 

Brandon: 

I mean we work for a month straight, just just full force a month, Putting in, you know, probably 14 hour days just getting the barn ready, Well getting the barn ready, but then also harvesting the crop. 

Brandon: 

How do you harvest hemp? 

Brandon: 

Um We actually, we haven’t got an attachment for like a weed whacker. 

Tonya: 

You basically just put a little salt blade on the bottom of it. 

Tonya: 

So we just literally run through and just like zip the plants down. 

Tonya: 

That was actually kind of fun. 

Tonya: 

So we would like, I would what we and we modified our trailer so we could just are we have this really big trailer and we just modified it so that we can just lowered me basically just fill the thing with with template like hundreds of implants. 

Tonya: 

And um yeah, we just go through, buzz them down. 

Tonya: 

A couple of people, we go out with a few people, we just cut them down and you know, one person be cutting the other two would be loading that was that. 

Brandon: 

And then um bring them back and you have an idea what the heck you’re going to do with all these plants that you’re harvesting? 

Brandon: 

Well, we knew we were going to hang them in the barn and then we were going to let them kind of so as long as you can get them kind of like you want to get them to the state where they’re just like they’re not stopping wet so they start to dry out. 

Brandon: 

And then from there we would then put them in our herb dryer. 

Brandon: 

And um and then we would uh basically such a process. 

Tonya: 

But we would basically remove you rub you once they’re dry, you can kind of rub the buds through the mesh of the dryer and then throw away the stems. 

Tonya: 

And then we would just like scoop hemp flour into these big, huge giant sacks and we just started accumulating all these sex. 

Tonya: 

But what did you, did you have an idea what you’re going to do with all these sacks? 

Tonya: 

We Thought we were going to get paid for it still. 

Tonya: 

We still thought at this point that the fellow was going to come and take our hemp away and pay us 180 grand. 

Tonya: 

I see. 

Tonya: 

We were just helping him. 

Tonya: 

We thought we were helping him. 

Tonya: 

Well you were really losing money in the process too because you didn’t negotiate a deal to do the harvesting, Did he show up in the field one day and he’s like, hey Aaron, hey Tanya, I’m supposed to be harvesting this. 

Tonya: 

Yes, he did do that. 

Tonya: 

And he was like he’s like, I’ll finish it up for you and we waited and waited around for him to show up and finish and he never did. 

Tonya: 

And then we went back out and finally finished most of it because you could wait too long because what happens is it gets too cold, it freezes here. 

Tonya: 

This was probably late october, you know, mid, mid to late october, it’s starting to get chilly nights and once a once a plan gets hit with frost, it just starts to degrade the flowers. 

Brandon: 

Just you know, they get all brown and yucky and the mold sets in and it gets gross pretty damn quick, like it’s amazing. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, within days, yeah, you and Aaron or having dinner there in your kitchen and you’re like, okay tomorrow we’re we’ve waited for this dude and we’re done. 

Brandon: 

Yeah, so we’re like, all right, well we’re just going to finish up. 

Brandon: 

We recognized he wasn’t gonna come. 

Brandon: 

I mean we and like, I mean some plants we actually had to just leave in the field because they were, they had gone past like they actually had degraded so much. 

Brandon: 

Um but we didn’t want to heart, we didn’t want to mix them in with like moldy yucky plants. 

Brandon: 

I don’t want to mix in with all your good stuff. 

Tonya: 

So anyway, we just left them. 

Tonya: 

Um But I was out there I would like, I like click, I had bought a clicker so that I can count all the plants cause we’re supposed to be getting paid by the plant right? 

Tonya: 

25 bucks every plant. 

Brandon: 

So I like to collect every day. 

Brandon: 

I would like go and keep track of like how much we have harvested. 

Brandon: 

I had a whole written down and I would send him the bills, I would send him the bills now, never got paid. 

Tonya: 

Um and and he really wasn’t around very much either. 

Tonya: 

He was actually so busy pretending to harvest other people’s hemp um that were, he had contracted, but he really wasn’t doing a good job, It was kind of just this, he was just so he was such a wreck at that point, he was just going through the motions, literally just going through the motions, not really following through with anything, he had a warehouse, it was just full piles of hemp, just all over the floor. 

Brandon: 

It was insane. 

Tonya: 

So it turns out this guy was kind of a big Ponzi scheme. 

Tonya: 

He had been getting money from a friend of his to kind of float this CBD business. 

Tonya: 

Um He had no money of his own. 

Tonya: 

He drove around in this crazy fancy car that he called his, but he it wasn’t his, he he said he had a house upon the ski mountain. 

Tonya: 

He called it his house, it wasn’t his, he called his other house. 

Tonya: 

His, it was just a rental. 

Brandon: 

Like he just was a liar. 

Tonya: 

Like he literally just lied to everybody. 

Tonya: 

Um He, I mean we learned all these things out later on, right? 

Brandon: 

Because I mean we actually start going after him. 

Tonya: 

Like we try to find, we go to his house, we track him down, we find him because we’re like, what the heck, okay, we’ve done all this for you and you get past where, why are we getting paid? 

Tonya: 

We need to get paid. 

Tonya: 

And he had no money. 

Tonya: 

He had no money had run out of money, He started writing bad checks just to keep things going and um not to us, but to other farmers, he had, but he had written us some bad checks, but he always fixed it, he always like ended up paying his cash or something like that somehow or other, I don’t know. 

Tonya: 

Um but he uh he, we started as we were like, we we only can take a cashier’s check or a direct wire, like that’s how in the end we learned were like, that’s all we can accept from you is a direct check, you know, a cashier’s check or bank check or whatever. 

Tonya: 

Anyway, in the end turned out, yeah, he was basically just yeah, and it had no money was basically lying to his friends to get money to kind of string this thing along. 

Tonya: 

It was horrible. 

Brandon: 

It was a nightmare. 

Brandon: 

I never got paid. 

Brandon: 

And we, and we had you know £7,000 of hemp in our barn sitting there and we had like actually the guy who his quote unquote friend that had been giving him money too that he had been lying to. 

Brandon: 

Um he tried to, he he wanted to get involved with us because like we actually had our crop, like we had harvested it, it wasn’t sitting there in a very like stable state in our barn, a lot of folks, you know, they had taken a hero, he kind of harvest it and took it from them and you know moulded in the warehouse or whatever or he just never got around even harvesting, like there was plenty of places where he just never came and there have just rotted in their fields, That’s awful, horrible. 

Tonya: 

Um So anyway uh yeah, I guess it’s interesting to think about because I guess the first year the first, you know the first time we grew for him and he turned that hemp into oil, he never even sold that, I don’t think, I don’t know why, but he somehow he didn’t and I’m like he had a lot of other problems, it sounds like he probably had a problem getting out of bed, so getting him sold is probably a yeah, but that’s when everything started to really boom, right, and that’s when the market got flooded with hemp, not only biomass is in which you call standpoint, it’s been dried and kind of broken down. 

Tonya: 

Uh And that’s what, that’s what you take to an extractor to get extracted into whole plant extract that the market was flooded with that and then it was even flooded with the actual whole plant extract itself, or the crude as people call it. 

Tonya: 

Um And so I mean just, it was literally you drive around Vermont and like you think of like it’s super picturesque, lots of farms are, there used to be um dairy farms especially um so certain places, certain counties in this state were just like covered with help, just hundreds and hundreds of acres of help because it was legal in Vermont adult, yes, because it was legal and all of a sudden it was like going to be legal throughout the whole state, our whole country, so like everyone was going just like all these dairy farmers that were struggling, they had gone out of business because of the milk prices um because Vermont was full of little dairies, like you know, 100 cal dairies or whatever, like that’s just a little bit, a bunch of them, hundreds and hundreds of them and now there’s they’re gone, they’re just gone. 

Tonya: 

Um So anyway, these dairy dairy farmers are like sweet, we’ll try some hip, but I don’t think it really worked out for a lot of them. 

Tonya: 

So what do you, so we so what do we do? 

Tonya: 

Well, we we hold onto our tent biomass and we did want to have looking back on it, you know, we regret this, we could have sold it to somebody, but the price, like, you know, they were like 20 bucks a pound, that’s what it was going for, and it was like all of a sudden it was just dropping like so low, like six bucks a pound. 

Tonya: 

And we’re like, no, it’s worth more than that, and we didn’t sell it to this guy, we wish we had um you wish you had because you didn’t have income coming in because we didn’t have because we never got paid right? 

Tonya: 

So we were counting on that chunk of change to put back into the business, pay ourselves get out of the debt that it took to grow all that hint because about the infrastructure that we had to do around the farm, you know, it was, it was a lot of infrastructure and it costs a lot and we got ourselves into a little debt. 

Tonya: 

So you basically get your crop, you get paid really once or twice a year or whatever when you harvest the crop and then you have to sock that money away and live on it because you only get it in chunks. 

Tonya: 

Right. 

Tonya: 

Right. 

Brandon: 

Exactly. 

Tonya: 

So we were really that big trunk mattered a great deal to us. 

Tonya: 

The moment we realized that we were never going to get paid Aaron just went out and got a he just was like okay, I have to go to, I have to go to work. 

Tonya: 

That’s what you have to do sometimes. 

Tonya: 

Because because you got to do it sooner than later because I’ve talked to a lot of entrepreneurs out there who don’t want to face that reality. 

Tonya: 

And I think, I think the difference is, is that you just gotta get through, it doesn’t mean it’s forever. 

Tonya: 

It doesn’t mean that you doesn’t mean that you given up your lifelong dream means that you just got to figure out how to boot strap it again basically. 

Tonya: 

That’s right. 

Tonya: 

So that’s what Aaron did. 

Tonya: 

And he, it’s really, he got really lucky and he’s working for the super cool company. 

Tonya: 

They build net zero houses, um super efficient. 

Tonya: 

Um, you know, solar, lots of passive solar going on there. 

Tonya: 

Really cool. 

Tonya: 

Um, and he loves it. 

Tonya: 

Uh, but you, but I then was still, I was basically in charge of creating mad river botanicals because how did that happen? 

Tonya: 

Well, how that happened was were like, all right, so let’s get let’s get some of our um pent biomass turned into oil or the whole plant extract. 

Tonya: 

We we had somebody who wanted to kind of be in with us thought that he thought he could, he thought he had markets for the oil and he basically did lend us some money to get the hemp extract turned into oil. 

Tonya: 

So we did and um but they were like, okay, well maybe we can sell that, we can sell this oil, we can just, you know, we can just sell it as oil, it’s worth more. 

Tonya: 

Um But he thought he could find markets and he couldn’t and we didn’t know we tried, I mean, we we had it on all the marketplaces that we, you know, that we could think of and just never worked out. 

Tonya: 

So anyway, and we’re like, well we kind of thought would be cool to have just our own oil that we could sell. 

Tonya: 

And so we were like, well, I guess we need to make some CBD, no, I need we need to make some oil when you get some oil made. 

Tonya: 

Um, so we uh at first we were using this company called Northeast processing. 

Tonya: 

They did our extraction for us and they made us some some oil. 

Tonya: 

And um, yeah, not for botanicals was kind of born then, like we we um we wanted it, we also wanted to sell some of the other crops that we had. 

Tonya: 

Like. 

Tonya: 

We had a bunch of dried culinary herbs and we had a bunch of uh, Tulsi tea, peppermint, tea south. 

Brandon: 

Uh we had like this array of products, right? 

Brandon: 

Which is a little beard. 

Brandon: 

Then we’re also introducing CBD and um we decided to call it matter for botanicals because the Mad River Valley is, it’s you know where we live, People know what they’ve heard of it. 

Tonya: 

A lot of people have it’s small, but if you ski the east, you’ve probably heard of it. 

Tonya: 

Um So we decided to call it Manager of botanicals and we had this idea to use um to come up with just this really simple line of products, right? 

Brandon: 

Just CBD oil, some sort of saf topical and then some sort of like fun way that thank you. 

Tonya: 

Yes. 

Brandon: 

And some way to take it internally. 

Tonya: 

That tasted good. 

Brandon: 

Yes, like gumdrops. 

Tonya: 

So I was like Aaron is working and I’m like well I guess I got to figure out how to make CVD gumdrops, what are we going to do? 

Tonya: 

So, we had some really huge giant, beautiful elderberry bushes and we’re like, okay, we can make elderberry, we can make elderberry gumdrops, whose community? 

Tonya: 

Oh, Meanwhile Covid hit. 

Tonya: 

So things are getting really hard. 

Tonya: 

Two packaging is really hard, labels are getting really hard. 

Tonya: 

I mean, it was insane. 

Tonya: 

So we’re like starting this business in the middle of Covid. 

Tonya: 

We have no money, but we, the margin on these products we know is really good. 

Tonya: 

So we’re like, let’s, we got to make this work. 

Tonya: 

Some are you taking are you just out of curiosity, are you, are you, have you tried it yourself? 

Tonya: 

Have you been on the CBD craze if you will movement? 

Brandon: 

I mean, and and did it? 

Tonya: 

Or you just were like, hey, we got a lot of, we got a lot of oil. 

Brandon: 

There’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of press out there. 

Tonya: 

Some research, not the researches. 

Tonya: 

Um research says some of it works. 

Tonya: 

I told you, I think I told you last night. 

Tonya: 

Did I tell you last night? 

Tonya: 

I don’t know when you get through this morning. 

Tonya: 

I think, yeah, you know, I use this uh on my neck and I have regular neck pain mainly from riding a road bike. 

Tonya: 

Um Maybe from a big brain or heavy head maybe matter in my head, not my brain, but but it actually relieved the pain. 

Tonya: 

Now, here’s the funny story on that. 

Tonya: 

Mhm. 

Tonya: 

I tell my wife Yvette, I was like, you’re not gonna believe this that woman, Tanya, who we went to college with thing I put on my neck And and I mean, I don’t want to say it was instant. 

Tonya: 

It was probably within 20 minutes, my neck was loose. 

Tonya: 

I do neck exercises to make my next drawing. 

Brandon: 

I do movement. 

Brandon: 

It I know, I know when the joints are loose and when it’s stiff and Within 20 minutes I swear, I swear right now it works. 

Tonya: 

It works. 

Tonya: 

It works. 

Tonya: 

Well, here’s the joke though, because this is a good, my wife says of course it works. 

Tonya: 

Brandon, I told you this stuff works good. 

Tonya: 

I was like, so she said that her friend, I think she put it on her ankles or knees, She fell off a horse. 

Brandon: 

And um I think she’s got like seven screws and three plates, but it gets sore and she she had done that. 

Brandon: 

Um I was just, I don’t remember, you know, I don’t remember not using it or whatever, but this stuff is, yeah, you know, I put it on my finger. 

Brandon: 

Uh it’s gonna be weird. 

Brandon: 

So I it looks like I have some sort of inflammation from using my mouse. 

Brandon: 

I used I used these old uh collect them. 

Brandon: 

You can’t get them anymore. 

Brandon: 

Don’t make them. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, it’s the only mouse that sits for me, for me, put my hand right without getting carpal tunnel syndrome. 

Tonya: 

I do use the pad. 

Tonya: 

I do have a touch pad and I have a touch pad on my computer, but I use that mouse. 

Tonya: 

But I think my fingers getting um I don’t know, it’s you really can’t hear in the mic. 

Tonya: 

But I put it on my finger now my finger feels better. 

Tonya: 

So it does it. 

Tonya: 

So were you doing this? 

Tonya: 

Did you know that? 

Tonya: 

Going back to the question? 

Tonya: 

Did you know this? 

Tonya: 

And by the way, for all the listeners, I paid for this. 

Brandon: 

So this wasn’t this wasn’t given to me. 

Brandon: 

I paid when I had Search down Tanya always anybody. 

Brandon: 

Even if I know him, I still want to see if this stuff is real, if it really comes and you know if it works. 

Brandon: 

But it is um yeah. 

Brandon: 

So did you know that or was this just a forcing function? 

Brandon: 

Because you’ve got £7,000 of hemp and you’ve got to make some money? 

Tonya: 

Well, I knew it worked because Aaron, a friend of ours had later in a couple of CBD lost changes. 

Tonya: 

Um and he was suffering from back. 

Tonya: 

You know, he always has issues with his back like once or twice a year. 

Tonya: 

I swear he’s always like back. 

Tonya: 

Um but and he does go to a chiropractor, which else. 

Tonya: 

But anyway, the CBD helped him. 

Brandon: 

It really helped him and I ended up getting him some oil also. 

Tonya: 

Um at some point as president, I remember I was like I know how but it really helps with your pain. 

Tonya: 

And I ordered with some CBD oil from what do you do with the oil? 

Brandon: 

Do you put it in your like you put that you drink it in your mouth so what you do is you take the dropper yeah. 

Tonya: 

Um You take the drop of the oil and you you put it under your tongue and you leave it there for I like to leave it there for like a minute if I can do something like wipe the counter or whatever. 

Tonya: 

Like I try to distract myself, I put it under my tongue, you leave it there and you just swallow it down and that way it gets into your blood stream you know fast and that’s what you did with the oil and the oil is really a very efficient way to take CBD um What about these gummies here? 

Tonya: 

Do you just chill them? 

Tonya: 

You know I actually try to suck on them, I chew them a little bit and I suck on them. 

Tonya: 

But yeah you can just you can just eat them, you can eat them. 

Brandon: 

We have actually you have kevin cannabinoid receptors in your gut as well. 

Tonya: 

Um So the thing is with like eating a gumdrop I feel like or to um What are you suggesting that it should be to? 

Tonya: 

These are 25 mg. 

Tonya: 

I was trying to understand 20 mg. 

Brandon: 

Yeah that’s 20 mg of CBD in there. 

Brandon: 

A good 20 and there’s usually a little bit more to be quite honest. 

Brandon: 

Um You get these tested yes. 

Brandon: 

With a lab. 

Brandon: 

Yes and these are certified Organic because you are a certified organic growth. 

Tonya: 

There’s there’s this movement on I’ve been watching ever since I’ve been interested in this is there’s some people out there that are just marketing CBD. 

Tonya: 

So these are just a market. 

Brandon: 

This is why I think your story is so interesting and and I I wanted to connect with you. 

Tonya: 

Probably thought it was a crazy guy from college um still partying reaching out to you. 

Tonya: 

But the is because a lot of these companies from what I can tell are just marketing companies. 

Brandon: 

So they’re marketing companies and then they’re buying it wholesale probably for what you are growing and whether or not they get it tested as questionable. 

Tonya: 

They’re really not, they’re really not controlling it from plant and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. 

Tonya: 

I think you can make a lot of money like that. 

Tonya: 

I just think that from a person who’s been taking supplements and I used to wait lift weights and I’m a fitness nut. 

Tonya: 

I mean, so you take my things and I don’t know if all of them work. 

Tonya: 

I mean some of them never worked. 

Tonya: 

You know the protein shakes and stuff I think are mostly Bs after. 

Tonya: 

I think I get to say that after two plus decades of maybe even of abusing them. 

Tonya: 

But I like to know if I’m going to buy a supplement that the company is controlling it basically for lack of a better word that supply chain and not just marketing it as hey, there’s some CBD in here, take it, it’ll reduce inflammation, it’ll make you feel calmer. 

Tonya: 

I will tell you I took this coming and I was hesitant. 

Brandon: 

So but in preparation for this, I was like, you know, it’s not a drug in that way. 

Tonya: 

It’s no different than me taking glucosamine probably or l thinning or six other things that I that I take. 

Tonya: 

I was like you know what, I’ll take it, I can’t go I can’t go on the air and not say that. 

Tonya: 

I know well and I didn’t take any of my other, I take out dining because they said it makes you calmer. 

Tonya: 

I think it probably does for me and I’m a pretty intense person. 

Tonya: 

So taking the edge off for all of the people around me on a regular basis is sometimes good. 

Tonya: 

Uh This was really relaxing. 

Tonya: 

Is that is that is that uh ah that’s that’s the idea. 

Tonya: 

Um It’s it is relaxing. 

Tonya: 

Um It also they promote like for me um it relaxes me enough that like sometimes I have trouble sleeping with actually since I’ve started this whole business because there’s so what’s going on? 

Tonya: 

There’s so many moving parts, it’s really complicated in my mind. 

Tonya: 

I have trouble shutting off at night sometimes and honestly see me, helps me sleep, it helps me sleep. 

Brandon: 

So do you take this before now? 

Tonya: 

You obviously have an unlimited supply of mad river. 

Tonya: 

So you take this before you go to bed, How many milligrams do you take? 

Tonya: 

Um I take about 40, so I’ll take two gumdrops. 

Tonya: 

Like it’s kind of like if I, if I feel like I went a little something sweet, I’ll have to gumdrops, but usually if I don’t and I don’t always um I’ll just take the oil which is about, I end up taking about 30 mg of that. 

Tonya: 

Um I think we should just say to all listeners who are listening, Tony and I are not doctors were not trading positions and before you take CBD or any supplements you should consult your doctor physician or professional so that they can meet your needs. 

Tonya: 

Thank you Brandon. 

Tonya: 

Yes. 

Tonya: 

Well said that is I want to emphasize that too. 

Tonya: 

Especially as I start talking about how CBD works in our bodies. 

Tonya: 

Yes. 

Tonya: 

So let’s talk about CBD now that I’ve got your prescription and I took So again I took that 1:00 AM. 

Tonya: 

Uh you know did I have less inflammation? 

Tonya: 

I could have like I can hear my joint which and I and I work on this every single work on the mobility exercises every single morning. 

Tonya: 

Me as if you ride You know 70 miles on your road bike. 

Tonya: 

You I know the position like a weird thing with your neck, you can get stiff. 

Tonya: 

But um yeah I took one, I was like well this thing I read all about it says that you can sleep better and generally Kennedy. 

Tonya: 

I don’t have a lot of trouble sleeping. 

Tonya: 

I am so tired and I’ve learned I think after two plus decades of an entrepreneur that you know you’re gonna go to bed stress, you’re gonna, there’s going to be stressing your business and if you don’t turn it off, you will not survive long term or you, when you’re 60 you’re gonna look like you’re 90 because of all your wrinkles. 

Tonya: 

Um but the, so I took one, you know, I slept and I had gotten a good right? 

Tonya: 

I I measure my sleep too with the center in our under our mattress that takes breath, heart rate, all this stuff last night. 

Tonya: 

You know, I got 82 usually I’m in the, in the seventies. 

Tonya: 

So you know, am I a believer so far? 

Tonya: 

I’m believing your CBD story. 

Tonya: 

So how does this thing work in your body, Tanya? 

Tonya: 

Okay. 

Tonya: 

Um so we have an endocannabinoid system in our body. 

Brandon: 

Uh We all animals do even invertebrates um And basically it keeps our body in balance. 

Tonya: 

It keeps it keeps us in the homeostasis ourselves are especially um the endocannabinoid system helps with our immune system and our nervous system. 

Brandon: 

Um And it this is interesting. 

Tonya: 

It are endocannabinoid system was only discovered Um and named in the late 80s early 90s. 

Tonya: 

So there is not people don’t know about it because it hasn’t but it was only discovered like then so that’s not that long ago. 

Brandon: 

So that’s why are doctors don’t really talk about it very much. 

Tonya: 

Um Hopefully that changes because it is really important. 

Brandon: 

So. 

Tonya: 

Mhm. 

Tonya: 

So the home you stasis part so we it helps ourselves be able to perform like the best way they can their optimum performance. 

Brandon: 

So um that’s what the endocannabinoid system does. 

Tonya: 

There’s three parts um there’s the endocannabinoid, there are the receptors and then there’s enzymes and the endo cannabinoids are already in our bodies, they’re already there. 

Tonya: 

What CBD does is it is a Fido cannabinoid. 

Tonya: 

It comes from a comes from a plant. 

Tonya: 

So it’s a phyto cannabinoids but it’s basically it’s so similar to what we already have in our bodies that it can come in and work and help two basically tell us to tell ourselves what to do to get back to that homeostasis. 

Tonya: 

So um it’s it’s a uh that’s why it helps with keeping our mood stable, it helps to decrease our stress, it helps with pain, it helps with inflammation. 

Tonya: 

It it is um it’s a form of it is already in our bodies naturally and we are just adding to it because as we all know our bodies don’t always work like they’re supposed to and we you know, we need extra vitamin C. 

Tonya: 

We need an extra sink, we need, you know sometimes we’re not getting all that we need um and we need we need help. 

Tonya: 

So so we take supplements sometimes and um that’s where CBD comes in. 

Brandon: 

Um Yeah it’s it’s really amazing because and we we promote and we use only full spectrum CBD our whole plant extract in our products because before you, before you explain it, I’ve been waiting for this. 

Tonya: 

What what is that? 

Brandon: 

That means that it’s not just CBD, is that correct? 

Tonya: 

So it is there’s there’s three ratings apparently. 

Brandon: 

Yes, there’s full spectrum, there is a distillate and there’s isolate. 

Tonya: 

Full spectrum takes all the cannabinoids, all the turbines and all the flavonoids that are in that plant. 

Brandon: 

They are all in that extract. 

Brandon: 

So when you’re eating a gumdrop or when you’re putting on the Tulsi staff, it’s a full spread. 

Tonya: 

All those things are in there. 

Brandon: 

The cannabinoids. 

Tonya: 

So that means CBD a tiny tiny tiny bit of teach me just enough so that it’s there. 

Tonya: 

Um It’s not gonna it’s not gonna be psychoactive. 

Brandon: 

Um The and all the other, there’s there’s I think there’s like 10 cannabinoids, so there’s a bunch of different ones um but CBD is the big one. 

Tonya: 

Um So those are all there, the Turpin’s are all whatever is in the, not every plant has the same Turpin. 

Tonya: 

Um Turpin’s are what makes this plant smell the way they do. 

Tonya: 

Lots of plants have Turpin’s. 

Tonya: 

Most plants after Pete’s think of like pine needles or sage or lemon or whatever. 

Tonya: 

Those all have Turpin’s that make them smell the way they do and the cannabis plant has so many. 

Brandon: 

And um so the turbines are intense, the turbines are there and so are the flavor flavonoids which are like taste essentially. 

Tonya: 

Um So they’re all there and they work synergistically together. 

Tonya: 

Um They work best together. 

Brandon: 

They help regulate each other, they help communicate to the cell. 

Tonya: 

Oh okay. 

Tonya: 

I need this now, it’s time to stop. 

Tonya: 

Okay. 

Tonya: 

You know like they work together so they regulate each other. 

Tonya: 

Um And that’s why for us like we have we’ve well first of all we had some distillate made just to it basically a lot of the flavonoids and terrapins are taken out. 

Brandon: 

And uh it’s a clearer, it kind of looks more like honey but it has a strange taste. 

Tonya: 

I really don’t care for it. 

Tonya: 

And um it’s supposed to taste less but I think I find it better. 

Tonya: 

Um People use it because um you know, some people don’t like the smell of all the trappings in there, but I I really prefer it and it really full spectrum is the way to go. 

Tonya: 

Now. 

Tonya: 

Isolate is literally everything is taken out except for the phenomenon the CBD. 

Tonya: 

And that is like this white powdery stuff that there’s no THC um there’s no no no Turpin’s, no flavonoids, nothing, it’s just the CBD. 

Tonya: 

Um I’m not saying that those other products won’t work at all, I’m sure that they do something but um you know, having them all together the way that, I mean they’re already in the plant um and they all should stay. 

Tonya: 

I believe in the plant because there’s this thing called the entourage effect, where it’s like if they’re all there together, they work best synergistically together. 

Tonya: 

So that’s why full spectrum is important. 

Tonya: 

And one other question is the, is it it’s subdermal, so it’s absorbed through your skin when you put on this. 

Tonya: 

So yes, we have cannabinoid receptors in our skin and our brains in our lungs and our livers um all throughout our body. 

Tonya: 

There’s certain ones like there’s a there’s CBD one is more like um the receptors in our brains are more, they are going to be affecting our mood are stress our you know our hunger, things like that appetite. 

Tonya: 

Um And then the other receptors are found like on our skin and um are more like our our immune system. 

Tonya: 

Um So that’s why these receptors like when you when you have you know an Iraqi joint and you put it on your skin, that’s why it works and it’s direct, right? 

Tonya: 

It’s like It’s yes it might take 20 minutes for you to really feel it but it’s still definitely the way to go like put it topically right on there, you know arthritis? 

Tonya: 

Like people swear by it, they’re like, we have customers where they’re like this one customer was like, it hasn’t come yet in the mail. 

Tonya: 

So I overnighted a massage because he didn’t want to go on vacation without his staff because he needed it, you know, like. 

Brandon: 

So yeah, it’s it’s amazing, amazing anti inflammatory properties. 

Tonya: 

It definitely has worked for me. 

Brandon: 

I did I did put on my back last night too and it worked. 

Tonya: 

So this is 500 mg. 

Tonya: 

do you just jack up the milligrams? 

Tonya: 

Because it’s in the savin, it needs to get absorbed into skin versus like if I ate 500 mg. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, you wouldn’t want you wouldn’t want to eat 500 mg. 

Tonya: 

I do know somebody who ate a whole pack of gum drops at once and they they like it put him to sleep and knocked him right out. 

Tonya: 

So yeah, there’s that, uh, you can, you can’t, it’s not like you can overdose on any of this stuff. 

Tonya: 

Um, but you know, you want to, you don’t need it, eat it in excess, actually, reading some clinical studies, believe it or not yesterday. 

Tonya: 

And they said that for people again, you need to talk to your psychologist, physician or whatever for anxiety and depression, which there’s some mixed results, but the results seem to suggest that it is a, a good, um, I want to say this because it’s going to sound like I’m a drug dealer, but I’m not because I think long term for anxiety and depression and those things you should not depend on drugs, not because they don’t work, but because it’s not a long term solution that’s sustainable. 

Tonya: 

In my opinion, I think that you can, you may need some drugs for people who have chemical imbalances if people like you and I have a little bit anxiety because we’ve got our life on the line every day trying to build a business to pay the bills. 

Brandon: 

You know I think you should also exercise I think is what I’m getting at because exercise is proven to to alleviate those things. 

Brandon: 

Now when you exercise you’re gonna get inflammation and you’re gonna have all these other right that this is good. 

Tonya: 

But the there’s been some studies, there was a study of all the studies that says that there needs to be more studies but then there were a bunch of other studies that said and show that CBD for inflammation and um what is it uh inflammation and uh relaxing benefits basically. 

Tonya: 

I I think it’s like l signing that that stuff they work the patients do that. 

Tonya: 

I also think that there’s there’s there’s problem. 

Tonya: 

I don’t know what you think that with all these people who are just on the C. 

Tonya: 

B. 

Brandon: 

D. 

Tonya: 

Wagon and being marketers and buying it they’re not getting their stuff certified in a lab like you who are saying you know this is at least 20 mg. 

Brandon: 

Maybe they are but I don’t see it well and if they’re not then I would. 

Tonya: 

It’s a joke. 

Brandon: 

I mean you have to get your products tested in an I. 

Brandon: 

S. 

Brandon: 

O. 

Tonya: 

Accredited facility. 

Tonya: 

You it’s no one will take you seriously if you don’t is what we’ve learned. 

Brandon: 

And so we are we send all of our stuff to the same lab every single time. 

Tonya: 

Um And it’s I mean it’s because there are unfortunately there are people out there that you know are claiming to have a CBD product and you know maybe they’re claiming it’s 1000 mg in a little, you know, in a one ounce star, but maybe they’ve only put 200 in there and so somebody buys it, right? 

Tonya: 

And then they take a dropper and they’re like, yeah, that didn’t work, you know? 

Tonya: 

But it’s because it’s not been, that’s what I’m getting at. 

Tonya: 

It’s the it’s the people that ruin the market. 

Tonya: 

So I have probably five minutes ago to figure out about this full spectrum. 

Brandon: 

And um, I think where I interrupted you was that you you you do the oil, you get too mad river botanic botanicals and you decide that you’re going to do this business. 

Brandon: 

Yes. 

Brandon: 

So we decide that, you know what uh this would be, this is a really there is money to be made. 

Tonya: 

Um and this is a product that actually helps people, it takes away arthritis pain and it, you know, helps people with anxiety to be likes less anxious, that it helps people sleep. 

Tonya: 

It brings our bodies to this place of balance, right, and it’s so easy to get out of whack. 

Tonya: 

And so why not have products that are certified organic, full spectrum, reasonably priced, high quality taste good, you know, smell good, are also using other, you know, things that we grow like the Tulsi that’s in that sound. 

Tonya: 

We grew that it was turned into essential oil and extract and put in that sad because it is also full of anti oxidants as as hemp is um and you know, it smells great, it works, you know, it helps you feel better. 

Tonya: 

So we’re like, okay, this is, this is cool and we’re, you know, hopefully to, we will kind of expand that. 

Tonya: 

We want to be this wellness business where we’re like, we have products that we have CBD products and we have other products too, and maybe there’s always a little bit of CBD in our products. 

Tonya: 

Um so, so yes, it’s, it’s been a crazy road. 

Tonya: 

Um we, you started off kind of like, uh huh, I have to say it was like, in a rush, right? 

Tonya: 

Like, oh my gosh, we didn’t get paid what it was. 

Tonya: 

A little bit of a reaction. 

Tonya: 

We made a lot of mistakes along the way. 

Tonya: 

We didn’t think about our branding well enough. 

Tonya: 

In the beginning, we, you know, we rushed into that, we rushed into, you know, a website that really wasn’t representative of us, or even just interesting enough to kind of make people want to buy our stuff. 

Tonya: 

Um we, we are and we, we, you know, we didn’t know a lot about how to go about all this stuff right. 

Tonya: 

Like it’s complicated all the testing, all of the, you know, getting products certified Organic is a pain in the butt. 

Tonya: 

It’s not easy. 

Tonya: 

Yes, we were an organic farm. 

Tonya: 

We have organic camp, but you know what anything you add, you need to have it certified Organic need all the paperwork that goes along with that. 

Tonya: 

You have to have the certified or come out to your farm and your kitchen and make sure that you are doing everything right and you know, it’s a lot, it’s a lot of things to line up and cross off your list. 

Tonya: 

Um and everything takes longer than you wanted to um that’s for sure. 

Tonya: 

Um but we, and we even ended up actually, you know, shutting down our wet first website, changing rebranding ourselves. 

Tonya: 

You know, we recognize how important that is and like how, you know, we, we need to explain who we are that this is like single source CVD that you know we are with their with this product from start to finish, you know from the seed to the you know when it ships out the door like quality control small batch like you know we we appreciate that and we hope that our customers do too because you know, we’re not just like buying some hemp extract to put it in our products were created, you know, we we haven’t made and then we are actually doing it ourselves. 

Tonya: 

So it’s a good way to control equality. 

Tonya: 

Um And let’s see, okay, what else? 

Tonya: 

Well how does it make you feel, does it make you, how does it make you feel knowing that you’re helping customers by selling your product. 

Tonya: 

You know, I feel really good about it because it’s something that I have always wanted um in my life and now granted like growing really delicious, beautiful certified organic vegetables also feels really good. 

Tonya: 

Um Yeah but this feels better in a way because um you know these are these are like if this is really like a quality of life life thing for people, you know when you’re walking around with arthritic knees, you know and in pain all the time and you and I’m providing somebody with a product that actually takes their opinion away. 

Tonya: 

That feels good. 

Tonya: 

You know people who are anxious suffer from anxiety, lack of sleep data that cancer patients, it really helps cancer patients. 

Tonya: 

Um I don’t have any, I don’t know what people don’t always, they’re not going to tell them like I have cancer but you know it does, it helps, it helps people’s appetite. 

Tonya: 

Um Sometimes it can um you know it feels really good, it feels really good and I like the challenge of it to you know I like I like figuring this stuff out. 

Tonya: 

It’s overwhelming at times. 

Tonya: 

Um But it’s you know it’s challenging and I’ve learned so much about this plant about CBD. 

Tonya: 

About how start a business how to keep the business going. 

Tonya: 

It’s it’s really been a fascinating journey. 

Tonya: 

Um So you have three products currently you have gumdrops, Tulsa and oil on your website. 

Tonya: 

Let’s take a look. 

Tonya: 

Yes I have 1000 mg CBD oil. 

Tonya: 

Um That’s in our the CBD. 

Brandon: 

It’s it’s been in it’s formulated into an organic N. 

Tonya: 

C. 

Tonya: 

T. 

Tonya: 

Oil which is a coconut um fat that’s easily digested. 

Tonya: 

Um It absorbs quickly into our a body can absorb it quickly. 

Tonya: 

We really need to change that picture because it’s spring now and that’s on our list. 

Tonya: 

Um But the oil is great and it’s a very effective way to take CBD, you have to get used to it because it’s funny for people to put an oil under their tongue. 

Brandon: 

It just like we’re so like a pill popping culture. 

Brandon: 

Um Unfortunately like the oil sometimes seems strange, but people need to get over that because taking the oil is the most cost effective way for you and it is for us to like it’s it’s simple, it’s easy, it’s straightforward. 

Tonya: 

Um The gumdrops are delicious, they’re made with our organic elderberry juice um and a bunch of other organic ingredients in there and um the full spectrum humpbacks jacked and they’re just delicious. 

Tonya: 

There’s kind of sweet tart fruity, you can taste the turbines of the hemp in there um and the Tulsi sad is just, I think it smells really good, it’s super soothing. 

Tonya: 

Um So yes, but uh in a couple of days we’re going to come out with uh just I’m waiting on the labels of show up to 1500 mg oil. 

Tonya: 

Um So that’s gonna be available next week. 

Tonya: 

And then I am just waiting for some Of our organic certified or to get back to me about our I’m creating a peppermint Seth, it’s 1000 mg. 

Tonya: 

So it’s packed with VD super powerful. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

Um with the menthols of the peppermint that we grow and arnica as well, which is also like a pain relief. 

Tonya: 

So with the trifecta peppermint, when can we get that? 

Brandon: 

That’s probably going to be online. 

Tonya: 

Uh huh. 

Tonya: 

What is the best place for people to buy your product? 

Tonya: 

And can they buy it if Is this legal in all 50 states? 

Tonya: 

It’s legal in all 50 states. 

Tonya: 

Yes. 

Tonya: 

Where can they go? 

Tonya: 

They can go to matter botanicals dot com. 

Tonya: 

Let’s go. 

Tonya: 

Ok. 

Brandon: 

And um we have a instagram as well. 

Tonya: 

I think it’s just a matter for botanicals. 

Tonya: 

Um We’re on facebook. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, the big one is our website Mad river ba chemicals dot com. 

Tonya: 

And that’s where I purchased your stuff from, which was super easy. 

Tonya: 

And it came in a empty box, which I thought was cool. 

Brandon: 

And I think you’re you know, you talk about the Brandon, I don’t know how you figured that out, but you know this feels I don’t know it feels ramani it feels homegrown. 

Tonya: 

It feels organic. 

Tonya: 

Mhm. 

Tonya: 

Well that’s what you were going for. 

Tonya: 

I wanted like kind of like old school apothecary but with a modern twist. 

Tonya: 

Um I wanted it to be interesting to look at. 

Tonya: 

Um I wanted to use packaging that was not plastic. 

Brandon: 

Um That’s why the only thing plastic is the little, like, little band around that thing, but there they are so pretty and um yeah, so we’re very conscientious. 

Brandon: 

Um The packaging, I really try tried hard and it’s really complicated to find the right packaging for your product. 

Tonya: 

How long that takes. 

Tonya: 

God, I mean, months. 

Tonya: 

Really? 

Tonya: 

Like, I found one gumdrop 10, for instance, we liked it. 

Brandon: 

It was, you know, I had to try to figure out how many gumdrops we’re going to fit exactly. 

Brandon: 

And just so right, you can’t have 10. 

Brandon: 

Can’t be too tall, it can’t be too wide too long, but it uh um And, you know, it took a long time and then they then it was discontinued. 

Brandon: 

Then I had to start over and find another tin, you know, So it’s it’s challenging. 

Tonya: 

Um But yeah, that’s why I like kind of like the wood chips to, because there is somebody, you can just put them in your compost, you can start a fire with them, whatever. 

Tonya: 

It’s not like that was smart. 

Tonya: 

Yeah, I noticed that just out of curiosity because people tell me Tanya and I think your story is a real inspiration. 

Tonya: 

They’ll say, well, I’ve never done that, I don’t know if I can do that, I can’t figure this out. 

Brandon: 

Uh best I can tell you didn’t know any of this and you somehow figured it out with reading books, the web web. 

Tonya: 

So let’s just use this tin for instance, you go about finding a 10 to, to package your product. 

Tonya: 

Well, I basically, I would I would kind of have an idea like, okay, well what am I putting in there? 

Tonya: 

And how many do I want to put? 

Tonya: 

And then I would look up like dimensions, like, you know, uh small rectangular tin. 

Tonya: 

I would just punch that in right and google, yep, google it. 

Tonya: 

And I would just, you just start researching looking and looking and I would look up all the label, you know like the how big the label needs to be and all the exact dimensions of it. 

Tonya: 

And um often I would just then get a sample shit to me so that I could, you know, actually put the gum drops in there to make sure it worked on and on. 

Tonya: 

I mean that’s yeah, that that’s it just takes a lot of time. 

Tonya: 

A lot of time. 

Tonya: 

We’re working on a little tiny, like a gumdrop sampler. 

Tonya: 

So like, you know some people have sticker shock. 

Tonya: 

It’s like, oh I don’t want to commit to buying a whole 10 of these things. 

Tonya: 

What about if I just got four? 

Tonya: 

So we’re working on this like tiny little like round the little tin has four gumdrops in it and you know, it’s a good way for people to just be able to try the product without committing, you know? 

Tonya: 

So we’re so, but that’s a whole process to like, okay, well can you find it in small enough that’s gonna fit you know? 

Tonya: 

So yeah, it’s it’s a lot of time, but it’s really fun. 

Tonya: 

Are you packaging these at home? 

Tonya: 

I package them at the farm, at our at the kitchen, in our kitchen, certified, there’s a certified kitchen at the farm that I we rent that out to somebody. 

Tonya: 

Well we’ve whatever it’s complicated. 

Tonya: 

I use a certified kitchen, you go in there and you pack it and you make them and I package them. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

Even this. 

Tonya: 

Oh well. 

Tonya: 

Uh okay so that is you do that in between growing the hemp harvesting the hemp, managing the website and everything else. 

Tonya: 

So you have a long day. 

Tonya: 

I do, I’m busy. 

Tonya: 

I’m busy. 

Tonya: 

I mean I’d really like to get to the point that I can hire someone to do the gumdrops. 

Tonya: 

You know there is a time consuming process making them. 

Tonya: 

I would like I make them. 

Tonya: 

Yes, I made that recipe. 

Tonya: 

I created the rest of you myself Multiple trials, multiple like multiple, Probably 20. 

Tonya: 

Why? 

Tonya: 

That’s really cool. 

Tonya: 

Yeah. 

Tonya: 

Yeah it’s my own, that’s my own thing. 

Tonya: 

I think maybe a blueberry lime would be good too. 

Tonya: 

Um But yeah it’s a lot of work and you know there’s a lot of work for us to be done to like we definitely, you know there’s things that we just didn’t, we’ve kind of known about but it’s not our strength so we’re just you know, putting the effort in now to those things too. 

Tonya: 

Hopefully get us out there to more people. 

Tonya: 

Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. 

Tonya: 

Uh doing everything to on here. 

Tonya: 

It’s been really fun for anybody out there who is looking and interested in trying these. 

Tonya: 

Like I said, I’m not getting paid for this. 

Tonya: 

I paid for this stuff, do that on purpose so that if I don’t like it, I can say it, although I will be nice about it. 

Brandon: 

Um Mad River Mechanicals dot com. 

Brandon: 

How many you can follow them on instagram. 

Brandon: 

Tanya, thanks so much for taking time. 

Brandon: 

You’re welcome. 

Brandon: 

My pleasure. 

Brandon: 

Thank you. 

Brandon: 

Thanks for being generous with your time and joining us for this episode of build a business success secrets. 

Brandon: 

Before we go, let me ask you a quick question. 

Brandon: 

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Brandon: 

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Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

There we go. 

Brandon: 

Hey good job, thank you. 

Brandon: 

Uh I was I was so nervous to do this, but you were, that’s why I made that video and I was like just get on and start talking it all. 

Brandon: 

Yeah. 

Brandon: 

Well it’s funny because like I was running around this morning and so it’s a farmers market starts tomorrow so I definitely have stuff to do. 

Brandon: 

But I was like and I didn’t really I brought this particular computer home and then all of a sudden it was like time and I was like oh my gosh he sent a video and I started watching it and then I was like I don’t even have time

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