 Welcome to rational alchemy today. I am joined by two wonderful people from exotic elephant Now I can almost hear your brains ticking over there going exotic elephant. What an earth is he waffling on about well? I'm gonna let them explain Joining me at the table today is Elle and Megan Elle, why don't you just give us a brief introduction of yourself and where you fit in? I'm Elle. I am An esthetician co-founder of exotic elephant and Megan's daughter And Megan I Co-founder of exotic elephant and I do a lot of the marketing sales website all of that stuff and Keeping her in line That must be an uphill struggle. It is And now You're basically the wizard. Oh, yeah kind of when it comes to the formulation It's the product formulation understood excellent that makes you a wizard doesn't it or an alchemist It's called rational alchemy, of course Now what we haven't done is explained exactly what exotic elephant sells now I know you spent a year in the development and you've been selling for a year, but why don't you explain? Exactly what it is. We're talking about sure so we create CBD products on we grow hemp here in Longmont and we Take the oils from that the hemp flower and we make topicals and tinctures Okay, so Let's just go back a little bit Who came up with the name exotic elephant? Yep, that was me. I came up with the name and the reasoning behind that is because Cannabis and hemp has been around for so long, but in our how we see it in our society It's such a new thing. It's such an exotic plant and so I thought Exotic had to be in there and I needed it to be catchy So elephant and elephants are such strong animals, but they're gentle Now CBD a lot of people have heard the expression a lot of people seem to think they know what it is Okay Why don't you talk a little bit first? How is it actually extracted? CBD is primarily in hemp plants and hemp also has trace amounts of THC But not enough to get you high it could increase but the regular limits is point three percent you grow Hemp you can grow it indoor you can grow it outdoor we grow outdoor only and we harvest we hand harvest and We shuck the plant and then we take the flower We use co2 processing and we get an oil and we use full-spectrum crude oil Some distillate, but primarily crude oil and we like the co2 because it's cleaner. There's no solvents and Provides a better product. Okay, so it really is helping to keep it as a natural product exactly crude oil now Everyone's gonna think Fractured right and I'm sure that's not what you mean No When you say crude oil, what are we talking about? So that is the first step in processing the hemp plant you get crude oil and We what is it? It's an oil. It really looks like oil. Oh really? Yeah. Okay, and if you use different types of methods to get it it looks like Tar tar almost we use co2 because it's golden looks like honey. Oh So Yeah, so that's and then you can go on to do You could take out THC and then you have broad spectrum Then you have isolate But the reason why we like full-spectrum because you get an entrainage perfect And your body recognizes the hundred and plus cannabinoid oils in the the product So you will You will get the benefit that you need We'll talk about benefits a little bit later because I know Different products have different benefits and how even how they're applied have different benefits But you mentioned the farm Do you own the farm? Yes, we have a farm here in Longmont, okay as real close to here actually by union reservoir And so we grew 13 acres there in 2019 And I was really lucky Didn't have any impact with the typical hailstorms or wind that we had. That was lucky. Yeah, and we had great great plants It means you control the whole cycle right from the planting of the original seed to the development Of the product. Yeah, exactly. And it must be nice having that total control over everything Oh, yeah, and it also allows us to create a really quality product and Provide affordable prices on it. That's good. Yes, I'm going to assume I know the answer. I'm sure all GMO free. Yes, not no genetically modified anything In this product, right and we did um, we we picked the genetics the seeds We hand seeded them grew them in hoop houses Then we transplanted them in the ground. We tested the soil the water Um, and then along the way to make sure that there was no, um, toxins or heavy metals If any of The farmers next to us if we have rain if anything washes we made sure that um, it wasn't coming cross contaminating with our crops Excellent excellent. Yeah, so you really do keep an incredibly tight control Over the whole process. Oh, yeah. Yeah, excellent. That's good to hear I think it's worth mentioning you you're growing hemp not marijuana. Yes. So if anyone's thinking of trying to find the farm They may as well give up now. Oh, yeah, unless they're into paper making as you mentioned cbd is it's just one of a hundred cannabinoids associated to a marijuana hemp, but the benefits of cbd sort of a little unproven at the moment though Millions of people swear by it Can you give a brief Example of some of the benefits that really help people the most When it comes to cbd. Sure. I think the first thing that people Will recognize and use cbd is for anxiety um depression inflammation um, and so you have, um Edibles or things that you digest you put in your mouth to eat. You also have topicals for an isolated Pain relief So those are the main ones. There's so many others that that are coming out that are being, you know, small studies But those are the the main reasons why people use cbd. Okay, so so basically, um Should we say meant not mentally honest? I don't want to use that term really, but how how would you describe it? Um, well, you know, I would say managing. Oh managing. Yeah more of managing your mood managing Your body so if you are having immense pains that can affect your mood and that affects how your your thought processes and all of that so it's more of a pain management Okay substance and then yeah mood management and now they're finding even with Acne it's really helping acne and the skin so oh, okay. Okay I notice that that you know that there are Hundreds of different types of products and I know you brought along some of ours and we'll talk about these in in just a few minutes But there's oils. There's lotions. There's edibles Um, I think that's covered the three main food groups Um, can you think of anything else? Um, our newest product and a product that's Becoming very new on the market is the bath bombs A lot of products don't have enough cbd. So it becomes diluted. They're not formulated for dilutions So ours that was one of our big focus is if we're going to launch a new product with cbd would be Formulating a bath bomb that's going to concentrate. Oh, okay. You're really going to feel the benefit. I suppose at the moment I know trade has been hard when we first met we were doing the the fourth avenue thing here in town That's how we all came together on this How successful was that for you because you'd only been in business then probably what three or four months? Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was actually Very successful and we found that in local events that longmont has produced and Has really helped us get our name out there and create a following We Do a lot of events and then online now would be a good time to do this Why don't you take us a little bit through the different products that you brought along today? I know this is not everything Our best sellers will put it that way a good way of putting it Why don't you just briefly go through there and explain, you know, what its use is and what it's trying to help sure so We have the tinctures, which is tinnocon innovations our sister company that we cultivate with And the tinctures we have a citrus tincture an elderberry tincture and a sleep tincture The fan favorite is the citrus and it's 1000 milligrams of cbd organic mct oil, which is coconut oil and An an organic extract. So this is citrus the elderberry is organic elderberry extract and then Our sleep has lavender and mint and it has an additional cbn in it the cbn is what makes you sleep Um, a lot of people use a melatonin, but that can mess with your natural sleep cycles when you become immune to it So we added cbn and the cbn to the cbd helps promote restful sleep and That also helps with anxiety All cbd helps with inflammation But it's kind of like a vitamin if you Take it regularly every day. You'll feel the benefits better um, so it helps with relaxation anxiety inflammation Many other things, but those are the the main ones See one of the things that surprised me a little bit I know you want to talk about a couple of things, but I just want to backtrace Because I I found this article, which I found absolutely fascinating and i'm probably going to pronounce this horribly wrong Okay. Well, what I didn't know was the human body has this thing called endocannabinoids Which is for sleep. Yes Basically, um, and it affects the neurotransmitters in the brain Now I do smoke smoke and I know how that affects the neurotransmitters in the brain So it's kind of interesting that the cbd of course Being a cannabinoid. Yeah It's sort of like meshes together with the body's own Yeah, uh-huh and the receptors. Yes in our body One thing we do As well as we add it with magnesium because magnesium has a smaller mackerel than the cannabis Our body will recognize it absorb it and utilize it quicker Amazing. Yeah, amazing. Yeah, and I think that's why so many people feel the benefits of cbd Marijuana is because your body recognizes it because it's in our body. It's in our bodies, which is why it's of course natural Which means that all these laws that have been governing us for centuries are just well a century Absolute nonsense. Yeah Because you're keeping away from the body something the body does on its own Oh, yeah, exactly Duh Anyway, let's go back to these products. I think there's a couple more you wanted to talk about Yeah, so we could talk about the bath bombs. Okay They are we have a variety of different milligrams But our strongest is 3000 milligrams and it has zero thc in it And the topical products, especially the bath bombs are a great way for people who want to experience cbd But can't digest it because they might get drug tests They can utilize the bath bombs and the cream. Oh, okay They are we try to really Minimize the essential oil use and up the absolutes because it's softer on the skin And we don't use any harsh fillers with like cornstarch Um Or I don't know on the other scary things people are putting in their bath products. Yeah. Yes, and then the creams It's all in-house. So we start with a shea butter coconut base And then we melt down the magnesium the coconut and the jojoba and we combine it all together and whip it And you get amazing results. There it is. Yes. Yeah And one thing that um all of our products are vegan gluten-free No animal testing and even our packaging is biodegradable. You can test it on me anytime you wish And um the film that we use is also um ocean friendly. So everything that we have We try to minimize any plastic or anything that's going to harm the environment or anyone else. So And we do have I think the only real plastic In our packaging is the The caps is the caps to the top. Yes, right now you have to have them child proof. Yes, so But that's sort of that kind of makes sense Yeah, oh, yeah, I mean you could obviously go for something like aluminum. Yeah, but but now the cost is starting to go up And obviously, you know when it comes to retail Yeah, every penny counts and I there really isn't anybody producing Biodegradable child safe caps for the products. That doesn't surprise me. Yeah So once we find somebody Where we'll make the switch you'll make the switch. That's good Now I also know because a little birdie told me this that you're also developing new product So here you you're covering sort of like, you know creams and bath, etc How about something shall we say That can be ingested Sure, so we um what we're going to come out with first is capsules So it'd be the tinctures in a capsule, which is uh vegan free or vegan. Um And that is very simple. It's clean. You can take it with you. Um, and then we'll move into gummies Or candies because people do like that. That's very popular But we want to make sure that it's um sugar free Gluten-free and vegan and that recipe is really hard to master with oil. I can imagine Let's talk about selling the product We've just gone through two years of hell and unfortunately it doesn't look like it's ending anytime soon So how are you still able to sell your product? We do it online Selling online is a little bit more challenging when it comes to marketing and sales because even though it's federally legal There are companies the biggest ones facebook google don't allow any To to promote cdd. Um, it's still lumped in with marijuana So that's been challenging, but we have um, you know pretty decent online following and we have a website we do free shipping and that's helped And those sales have increased. Um, it does help having things in person. Um, but that's why we do the events that are Following all the regulations with covet and what's happening here, but um Online is our our biggest Yeah, biggest maker. Well, I mean what's happening with covet is probably one of the only safest ways Of being able to sell product Um, I mean I hate spending money with amazon to be honest with you. However, I spent one hell of a lot over the last two years I can't believe it. I mean there's something I ordered In the morning. It was on my doorstep in the afternoon. Oh, yeah, you're not crazy Yeah, I mean just just amazing. You'd never realize it. Oh, yeah. No and before it's like you're waiting Three weeks to get your package and now it's the couple of hours later. That's right It's um, it really is unbelievable. Let's talk a little bit here about The different ways cbd affects a person Because obviously it can be a little bit confusing. We've got the bath balls We've got the gels. We've got the tinctures. We've got all of this soon to have gummies and You know capsules, but obviously each one is aimed at a particular Thing, right, right. Why don't you quickly talk about where these products fit in? Sure. So I have always been very active But I'm also accident prone. So I have a lot of injuries and So that's why I wanted a cream for sore muscles joints things like that So the creams are really good for anything that is isolated whether you have arthritis or You just exercise a lot or you're like me and your accident prone you fall So the creams are really good for that the tinctures last longer And that would be the same thing with a gummy or an edible So you would take those to have a longer lasting effect And the bath bombs I'll let you explain a little bit more about the benefits you get from the bath bombs Oh, yeah, I think you get an all Overbody effect with the bath bombs and again going back if you can't Have thc you can definitely get the benefits of the cbd with the bath bombs And we have a lot of people that will just like if you don't iron into baths They'll fill up a little foot bath and soak their feet if they're on their feet a lot. Oh, okay. Yeah If you have carpal tunnels just a little dish with warm water soak your wrists It's a good way to get the benefits of cbd if you can't have thc, right and we've had some of our Clients actually have been A little older in age and we had one particular who fell and broke his ribs And he was on oxy cotton and his nurse Tell him to try cbd for the healing and the anti Anti-inflammatory effect and he was able to quickly get off the Pain medicines used strictly the the cbd inhaled a lot quicker So it does help with Injuries to interesting when I was going through this one thing they mentioned that a lot of athletes actually take it After they have run a marathon Because it helps the body recover That much quicker. Yeah, something that I'd never ever considered before right with point three THC in there. I doubt whether that you'd fail a drug test It's hard because again, if you're doing it over time it kind of you could have a small build up but um With the topicals some people Even if it does there's a little bit of thc. They won't use it, but I don't necessarily know how The THC would penetrate through the skin into the bloodstream where you would fail a drug test interesting I've had a good idea You're gonna like this. Why don't you open a spa? That is actually what we are looking into We already had your idea There's been actually a lot of movement in the beauty industry For cbd because how it has been proven to help skin And blemishes. Yeah skin blemishes and again relaxation. So a lot of people are going to the spas to Get centered relax and giving people a little bit of cbd before their treatment Brilliant helps achieve that effect And massage therapy too a lot of massage therapists are Implementing and incorporating cbd in their oils. Oh, okay. Yeah, I did not know that So because you are definitely getting into the spa business That means you must be going bricks and mortar in the near future. Yes. Yes As soon as we find the right location, um in the right building, then that's where we will open up I like bricks and mortar shops. I really do. Yes. Yeah, you know, I like to wander around and just look at stuff Me too. You know, it must be my female side. I don't know We'll have to go wander and look at stuff. Absolutely. Um I think we have covered everything that we wanted to talk about today But do you have any closing words? Um that you'd like to say now to to the audience About cbd your company yourself, etc Sure. Um, so one thing I'd like to say is one thanks for everybody in longmont and our online followers to support us because you're supporting small businesses and We also like to, um Say that, you know, we have very lovely clean Organic natural products. So, um Yes, and I'd like to say if anybody has any questions about cbd or how They should incorporate it into their lifestyle. Definitely. Sure doesn't email or call because we can answer those questions. Excellent. Excellent Thank you so much for coming into the studio today It's been an absolute pleasure sitting down and talking to you rather than standing up with thousands of people around us Um all elbowing their way to give you your product Um, obviously, I hope your business is highly highly successful. You deserve to be highly successful Just for the effort that you put into it. You're you're not buying product. You're creating Yes from start to finish and that sums up what small business is all about or should be all about I wish there was more money being spent on research to find out the actual benefits But as we talked about cannabinoids are actually part of us We're born with them. Yeah So there's obviously a lot of stuff to be looked at Investigated and all the rest of it. But once again, thank you so much For coming into the studio Thank you. Thank you This was rational alchemy. I'm Nigel Aves your host signing off The only thing I'd like to end with I wish I had been sitting between these two wonderful people Purely because I could then say I was a thorn between two roses over and out Rational alchemy. Thank you