Gillian Levy, Co-Founder & CEO, Humboldt Apothecary
Gillian Levy, the Co-Founder & CEO at Humboldt Apothecary, a women-owned and run company in the heart of Humboldt County is passionate about crafting the highest quality cannabis-based tinctures and topicals, offering safe, effective solutions to target a wide variety of conditions and support general health and wellness. Together with her business partner Susan Cleverdon, she formulates unique botanical blends, combining cannabis and complementary herbs to create products with maximum therapeutic benefits. Committed to using the highest quality, and most environmentally sustainable ingredients including Humboldt County sun-grown cannabis, the company supports small farmers and organic practices. As a Botanist, Herbalist, business owner, and mom to two teens, Gillian believes strongly that entrepreneurship and business growth can go hand-in-hand with environmental stewardship and responsibility.
https://www.humboldt-apothecary.com/
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:01] You're listening to Thinking Outside the Bud where we speak with entrepreneurs investors thought leaders researchers advocates and policymakers who are finding new and exciting ways for cannabis to positively impact business society and culture. And now, here is your host Business Coach Bruce Eckfeldt.
[00:00:30] Are you a CEO looking to scale your company faster and easier. Checkout Thrive Roundtable thrive combines a moderated peer group mastermind expert one on one coaching access to proven growth tools and a 24/7 support community created by Inc. Award winning CEO and certified scaling up business coach Bruce Eckfeldt. Thrive will help you grow your business more quickly and with less drama. For details on the program visit Eckfeldt.com/thrive. That's E C K F E L D T.com/thrive.
[00:01:05] Welcome everyone. This is thinking outside the bud. I'm pre-sexual. I'm your host. And our guest today is Julien Levy. She is president of Humble Apothecary. They're based in Humboldt County. We're going to learn more about that. We're gonna learn about the work that they do. Excited for this? I'm always curious about companies that are building good brands. Building good products. Working with local farmers for local curators to put together products that are addressing the market. I think the branding and the product side is fascinating right now in the cannabis space. jr.s this conversation and learn more about that with that. Jillian, welcome to the program.
[00:01:36] Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
[00:01:39] Yeah. So what do we start with learning a little bit more about your background? Obviously, you're based in Humboldt County, so I'm quite curious about that. But what was the experience like being in humble? How did you get into cannabis? And tell us about the starting of Humble Apothecary.
[00:01:52] Sure. I think we have really kind of a unique story to tell. So I love to share.
[00:01:56] I've been in Humboldt County for about 20 years now and I always was witness to the cannabis industry, sort of like an ancillary part of it, but didn't have my own farm. And, you know, at that time there were many products on the shelves and dispensaries. So I came into the cannabis industry with my business partner in 2015. We actually started developing the products in 2014 and we are both herbalists. So we work with different botanical extracts to kind of help support health and wellness and vibrant health, as we like to say. And we were surprised. Our understanding our relationship with cannabis to that point was it's a medicinal herbs.
[00:02:36] It's one of thousands of really wonderful medicinal herbs. And we're happy to have it in our medicine chest of options. And so we were surprised when we kind of started surveying the dispensary shelves at that time to see what kind of products were available, because we wanted to treat cannabis like a plant, like a whole extract. And we saw it being treated more like a single molecule constituent. At that point, there was not a whole lot of CBD on the shelves. It was largely, you know, high THC products. And most of them were, you know, if they were an edible, they were in like a whole lot of sugar or maybe they had some artificial colors and flavors. And we were kind of insulted by that, frankly, as herbalists. So we wanted to create a line of products that spoke to us and our needs because we thought there probably a lot of people out there that want to be able to experience the benefits of cannabis without feeling totally incapacitated because they're so overly sedated or high from too much THC. So we really sought to create a line of products that was functional for many users kind of across the spectrum with all kinds of different needs.
[00:03:44] Gonna talk to us more about herbalists, what it was like. Guess what is what is the profession? What is the scope? What is the kind of science of of that relative to just more cannabis specific? Give us a broader sense of the definition.
[00:03:56] Sure. So herbalism is really the science and art of infusing either teas or, you know, you can work with different solvents, the most common one being alcohol with different extracts of a whole plant. So basically it's literally that your macerated whole plants in a solvent or water-based to extract the different constituents. And it's a very ancient form of medicine. And it's also quite effective for sort of, you know, balancing the body and managing minor symptoms. I mean, obviously, if you get hit by a Mack truck, you go to the E.R. and get every drug that you can. But for everyday minor imbalances, herbs work very well to kind of support the immune system, to minimize inflammation, to kind of help with everyday problems. And they're quite effective and quite safe as well. So it's also a form of medicine that is readily available for most things. You know, they're easy to use. You don't need a prescription. You can buy them at your local health food store. And so, you know, we're passionate about using medicinal plants to us. Cannabis is one of many and it happens to work quite well when combined with other different herbs in formulas. Historically, that's how herbs are used. There is a phenomenon known as plant synergy, which is actually well-documented. And there is even like peer review data about this where kind of like the some of the different parts together are greater than the individual components. So one example that I like to give is turmeric, right? We've all heard of the. Anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric. Well, there are these compounds in the turmeric. Kirk humanoids that need to actually be active. They're not bioactive in your body alone, but when you combine them with black pepper, the constituents in the black pepper actually make the correct humanoids activated so that they're a similar bill into your body. So when you combine two plants, often there's a there's a synergy that exist if you combine many. And the same is true with cannabis.
[00:05:58] Now you're giving me flashbacks. I had a back surgery many years ago and I was doing making tumeric and black powder paste and making teas and stuff. That's wonderful.
[00:06:07] And hopefully you receive some benefits.
[00:06:09] Oh, great. Yeah. Now, the anti-inflammatory stuff was great. And yeah, you gave me an appreciation for not just the individual, you know, consuming plants, but but that kind of combination and the synergy between them. Talk to us about how cannabis fits into this. I mean, I'm assuming you mean there are many, many plants that as a herbalist you deal with. And I guess, how does cannabis fit into the world of or the taxonomy of plants that you would consider and what qualifies it or what characteristics of that have that make it fit into that into that space?
[00:06:36] I think what's so unique about cannabis is the fact that it really is acting on this central endocannabinoid system in our body, which is kind of like in charge of almost every other physiological system in the human body. And most other species as well, animal species. But, you know, so I think that what's really neat about cannabis is that, you know, at its core, it's really remarkable for pain and inflammation, as we know, and also for balancing kind of the adrenal system. And, you know, regulating the nervous system, the immune system, so many systems in our body. So when you combine cannabis with specific herbs that are going to support our particular system in your body, it tends to be remarkably effective. And from my experience, magnifies the effect of the other plants. And I think the other plants, you know, work well to support the cannabis. So so in that way, it has sort of like a wide threat, a very diverse application.
[00:07:33] I think in terms of supporting a lot of different health concerns in humans and how much you get into the THC, THC, a CBD in all the different kind of compounds that are we're now discovering inside the cannabis plant. But how much are you looking at those as individual compounds versus, you know, just looking at the plant, as you know, it's in in its whole form or its entirety.
[00:07:55] I mean, I think the study of cannabinoids science's really fascinating. I like to read all the current literature and learn as much as I can about the individual cannabinoids. But, you know, the beauty of being an herbalist is kind of this philosophy of like we're not trying to innovate anything new in nature. We're really just working with the whole plant, because our belief is that, you know, that's kind of like a tried and true way of interacting with this. This plant is to, you know, basically consume the spectrum of cannabinoids that are available in the plant, as is. However, I do think that the science is fascinating into kind of like, you know, learn more about the individual cannabinoids. And, you know, I know there are companies that are selecting genetics specifically for the one cannabinoid. And I think it's fascinating. It's not something that we're incorporating heavily into our own practice because we're so kind of focused on on just the whole plant extract.
[00:08:52] Yeah. Well, and it seems like there's so many products out there now that are so kind of potent and so focused on very, very particular kind of parts of the plant that, you know, everyone's kind of trying to figure out how to use these things in different forms and you know what percentages and ratios and stuff.
[00:09:06] But there's this whole kind of the science of the underlying molecules and the chemistry is fascinating.
[00:09:11] It's so fascinating. Yeah. Especially because it's really quite new. You know, you look at like our understanding of cannabis. You know, even the understanding that we have this cannabinoid system and then the identification of these individual cannabinoids is fairly recent.
[00:09:27] Yeah, that's right. And for me, it makes this whole industry fascinating as we're not only dealing with kind of business models and politics and legal issues and regulatory challenges, but you're actually dealing with with science and really understanding how the plant works, how the molecules work, how they impact us and what they're used for.
[00:09:44] And so it's just as fascinating that we don't talk to me about then from a business point of view, what are some of the products that you focused on or how have you taken this knowledge and passion you have for the plant and bringing the plant as a additional tool? How do you kind of approached it from a business in a market and a product standpoint?
[00:10:01] Yeah, you know, I think coming from the world of herbalism, my business partner Susan and I have been heavily influenced by kind of the health and wellness market that is, you know, more tied in with natural food stores and kind of like holistic health stores or outlets. And so in terms of product design and packaging design, we've been very influenced by what we've seen in that realm. And we wanted to create packaging and. That sort of spoke more to that consumer than you know, then more so than you would like with it. With a heavy like high THC kind of cannabis consumer. So we're we're really treating this as another herbal extract that's regulated in a different way than Ekin Asia is, obviously, but in some ways very much in the same vein.
[00:10:49] And what what are some your initial products that you came to market with and what have you been developing?
[00:10:54] So we initially came to market with a line of products that was a mix of different medicinal herbs with cannabis that were were intended and designed to address kind of specific needs of the customer. So, for example, we have a product called Deep Sleep and it has a variety of other very sedating medicinal herbs in with cannabis that's in all THC products. And, you know, we really focused on educating the customers about the synergy of the different plants and why this is a very different and unique product because of that effect. And it also makes it a lot easier for new users when you have products that are intended for specific needs, because then they don't need to ask a lot of questions. It's very obvious com is used for, you know, just that like creating a sense of calm, supporting the reduction of anxiety inflammation. Soother is quite obviously used to help support the decrease of pain and inflammation. So that was our original line. It's in an alcohol base that is unique in California cannabis and that I don't know of maybe any other products right now that are using an alcohol base. And the benefit of that is that you get very rapid onset into the bloodstream. Very little work is needed by your digestive tract. It's partially bypasses the digestive tract, goes through the liver and into your bloodstream.
[00:12:11] Quite quickly to tell you, you, too. Right now, you're focused on extractions and you're sort of the formulation side of it. Where do you source your material? Tell me about those relationships. Have you developed, you know, both the raw material and the extraction processes in terms of developing partnerships and relationships to make that make them work for you?
[00:12:30] Sure, absolutely. So because of my long history and humbled the small community of people, I feel fortunate enough to know like a pretty broad and diverse group of farmers in the community. And when we built this business, we really saw that Humboldt County needed our love and support. You know, it's a it's a small community. It's very isolated. The farms here in Humboldt are small and people take a lot of pride and care in what they do here. So we made a very conscious choice to name our company Humboldt Apothecary, because under the regulations in California right now, if you call something by a geographic region in California, you need to source 100 percent of your product from that region. So, yeah, so we're very committed to our farmers. And because, you know, we have these close relationships, we can work closely with them in the wintertime to help kind of plan what we want them to grow for us in the coming year. And we have the opportunity to have our hands on the product and to see it growing in the fields and to really get a sense of the quality and what's going to be coming our way in terms of extraction.
[00:13:37] We actually don't extract. We work with two extractors, mostly just one actually, who happens to be a dear friend and they have their business right across the street from ours. So we're actually in an area of the town of Arcata called the Medical Marijuana Innovation Zone, which is actually quite outdated. But that was a name that was developed probably four or five years ago. And essentially, it was an area of town that was historically mostly like ancillary businesses of the timber industry. So it was industrial. And then as the timber industry kind of started to disintegrate and, you know, lose momentum in the area. A lot of those buildings and businesses were abandoned. You know, since that time, they have actually been built up into this marijuana innovation zone. So it's all cannabis industry. And so I'm fortunate enough to work with several outstanding businesses in the building that we have two suites in. And likewise, right across the street from us.
[00:14:32] So we're sort of surrounded by these really high functioning, really talented people that are building these incredible cannabis businesses. And we have the opportunity to work with these people every day. So, you know, I worked closely with mostly a company called Wild Seed, and they do all of our extractions or I'd say 90 percent of them, and they actually steam distill the cannabis. TURPIN So we get this beautiful cannabis turpentine profile with these steam distilled cannabis turbines that get folded back in extracts. And I don't actually have to have any of the complicated science of the extractions down. I try to focus on what I'm good at, which is, you know, formulating great products. But I do work very closely with the extractors that produce great products for us.
[00:15:18] Yeah, no, I was sort of find that these sort of tight partnerships, joint ventures where, you know, people that are there are passionate, knowledgeable in different parts of the process can come together to create great products. It's hard for one person to know every single part of every single step, so it sounds like you've got a good, good setup there with your partners. Yes, I feel fortunate. I'm curious about humbled. I mean, I know one of the things we often talk about on the show here is there's kind of a social, cultural aspect of cannabis and the change in cannabis. And, you know, I know humbolt has had a long history with cannabis and cannabis culture, I guess. What have you noticed? Good, bad.
[00:15:52] Otherwise, in terms of, you know, as we've moved into this legal but regulated cannabis industry, cannabis market, what are some of the things that have impacted the community there?
[00:16:03] You know, as everything's kind of gone through this shift and change, what have you noticed?
[00:16:07] Yeah. Humboldt County has had some pretty challenging growing pains. We've seen, you know, many of the farmers that intended to go through the licensing process kind of have to bow out because it's incredibly expensive.
[00:16:19] I think something that's really unique about Humboldt County is that it's heavily forested and it's a very kind of steep for the most part. And the areas that are more agricultural are on the coast. And those don't tend to be great for farming because it's just too moist. And the cannabis, unless you have a very controlled and regulated greenhouse setup, it's just, you know, historically, a lot of the regions where people work have been farming. Cannabis was on land that was actually designated for timber production. And, you know, many of the farmers came in to purchase this land after that area had been kind of like clear cut and compromised already by the timber industry. So Humboldt County farmers, you know, now going into regulation have some big challenges ahead of them, partially because they're kind of liable for the mess that a lot of the timber companies created in the first place, such as roads that and culverts under the roads that are producing sediment and fish, buried streams. You know, we have a lot of environmental issues that have been kind of that probably were initiated by the timber industry that were, you know, potentially over time not cleaned up the right way and then continued to be compromised as cannabis farmers moved in. And now the cannabis farmers are learning the hard way that they've got that all up and be responsible if they want to have a farm. And then, you know, most farmers in our community aren't doing more than 10000 square feet canopy. So all the farmers here that we're coming out of, like, you know, gorilla cannabis farm in ten thousand square feet of canopy seemed like a really big deal.
[00:17:57] And a lot of the regulators thought so as well when they were building regulations for our county. But the truth of the matter, when you look around at what other communities are starting to do, is cannabis is going ultimately it's going to be treated like any other agricultural crop. And, you know, from my perspective, the farmers in Humboldt County have their work cut out for them to ensure that they continue to have a place in this industry going forward. Now, I like to believe I really believe in these people. I really believe in the quality of the product that they have and the genetics that they have curated and selected, you know, over the last 50 years. But it's a tough road ahead. And, you know, for them to make it, I think that the whole county kind of needs to support, you know, sort of like the development of the appellation and terroir of this region so that their value kind of retained with the product that comes from this small community. So we're really pushing for that as a community. And, you know, we're really hoping that it's so there's a lot of factors. There are a lot of factors that are still so unknown in this developing market, you know, but we continue to believe in our farmers and really hope that they can pull through these tough times.
[00:19:03] Yeah, yeah. I know it's a challenging transition for a lot of folks, but from a business point of view and from a culture point of view. Christy, so you're using I think you mentioned earlier in our conversation you were using under percent sun grown. Tell us a little bit about why that like what's what's your kind of take on the quality or the characteristics of the product when you're looking at a sun grown versus a greenhouse or other other type of growing method?
[00:19:28] Sure. I mean, I personally, I love the sun grown cannabis because it has a slightly more variability in terms of phenotypic expression of traits in the sun, because there are so many other factors that aren't controlled, such as the weather and the different nutrients and minerals and microbes in the soil. And so there, you know, like from a pharmaceutical perspective, they would make the argument, well, that's too much variability, you know, from a journalist's perspective. I have that buffer. This is a whole plant medicine. There is going to be some variability. But I love the expression of the beans that you get from the sun grown. And just the quality of the flower to me is really wonderful. But but for me, actually, the reason that we use sun grown is really more of an environmental reason because the carbon footprint from indoor and even from greenhouse growing is pretty significant. And at a time on the planet when I don't think that we have the luxury to really afford that kind of excessive use of fossil fuels, I think it's. Really important to support industries that have the lightest footprint on the planet and our most sustainable. So to me, that's the core of why we use sun groaners as we really have a vision of building a business that is a little bit more sustainable and ethical for the environment.
[00:20:44] Tell me more about the business in terms of things you've learned along the way that might be helpful for other folks getting in the industry or in the industry. What has been easy, what has been hard would have some of the lessons learned in terms of putting together the business, taking to market, you know, making it successful. Give us some insights.
[00:21:00] Yeah. Where to even? I think we probably did a lot of things the wrong way. You know, most people that come into business have a very clear business plan about, you know, where they're headed and how they're going to get there. They might have like a few SKUs that they offer to keep things really simple. You know, we sort of came in from the perspective of like this was a total passion project. We didn't really have any idea where we were going because we came in at a time when there are so many unknowns in the industry. We have way too many SKUs because, you know, it really is our baby and we love it and we want to make a product for everybody. And so probably I would advise against a lot of those things like get get someone like yourself who does business coaching and advising about, you know, how to kind of like lay the framework for the business and then execute. I think that's probably a hard lesson learned. And, you know, I think that a lot of us sort of legacy cannabis brands have honestly paved the way for the newbies coming in because we had to learn some really tough lessons about jumping through the different hoops of regulation. So coming from an industry that was totally unregulated to an industry that is one of the most tightly regulated industries was a real challenge for everybody involved. And so I think, you know, now that we are where we are, there's hopefully going to be a lot less of that. So, you know, I think that that is valuable for people. And the benefit for us was that the barrier to entry was quite low at the time. Now, that has changed significantly, I think, in order to build a business in cannabis. You really need to raise some capital to start. You need a nice cushion to help you get off the ground. So we were fortunate in that way to not need that because we were, you know, brave enough or dumb.
[00:22:46] Exactly. Something during this very little understanding of.
[00:22:50] Now I get it and I see it again and again. I think that I think there's a bit of a feeling that everyone else must have a really good business plan. I think the fact is most people end up in business without a very clear business plan.
[00:23:01] That's the norm exception.
[00:23:03] And I think you're right. You said you said something at the beginning of our call about cannabis businesses or people coming from cannabis that need more experience in business and then business people coming into the cannabis space that have, you know, little understanding of cannabis. And so that really has kind of become this in some ways really amazing nexus. You know, where I now have access to people that are really brilliant business, people that give me a really good perspective about how to grow my business and in a better way. And, you know, I think the same is true of people coming into business. Maybe it's frustrating because cannabis right now is still different than probably most other businesses, but it's ultimately heading in the direction of being another business and just another industry. And so we all can learn a lot from each other that way.
[00:23:52] Yeah, it's fascinating. I think the one thing I see a lot of is people coming from these kind of adjacent industries and getting into cannabis, you know, whether it's pharmaceutical or other kind of agricultural science and things like that. And they there's kind of an expectation or a set of assumptions, even beliefs around how an industry should work or certainly how a mature industry works. And getting into cannabis, which is so new and so dynamic and it is undergoing so much change and a lot of people don't make the switch very well, you know, or at least find it very, very challenging. And so I think.
[00:24:19] Absolutely, you know, knowing what you're getting into, understanding kind of where we're in cannabis, what's going on, what's developed, what's not developed, what's changing is a huge part of being successful in the industry. Agree? Yeah. Talk to me about the brand. I mean, I know you mentioned that you chose humble because you wanted a connection to the community when a disparate community, you know, has had restrictions or it gave you requirements in terms of where you source your products. But tell me more about how you've gone about kind of the branding side of it. I'm just I'm fascinated these days about companies that are really particularly on the product side, developing cannabis brands. What went into your thinking? What was kind of your strategy? What have you been kind of learning about developing the cannabis brand today?
[00:24:57] Yeah. You know, for us, we intended to create a product that had a very kind of like clean and polished look in order to sort of attract people that were kind of like the newer users. A lot of folks that may have been timid about using cannabis product. We wanted to really make those people feel welcome. And we wanted to kind of help sort of present the product in a way that was intuitive and comfortable to people that were new to cannabis, but really wanted to start to experience the benefits. So that is kind of. The design of our packaging is very simple, very clean, very clear in terms of the suggested dosing and the ingredients that all of that is laid out in a very clear way. On the other side of things, I think we created a product line that is also a little more complex than just eating an edible, because it does really require kind of an understanding of why you might use medicinal herbs. I'm not going to tell you that our alcohol based tinctures taste better than a chocolate bar. They don't. And that's not why you use them. They really are kind of more on the medicinal end of things. But I really firmly believe also that there's no adult use and medicinal. There's a big crossover there. And you know, why not have a great time? Feeling better? You know, that's kind of my perspective on it. So but we do have you know, we've realized that it's a big responsibility and a big part of our marketing push as well to educate our customers because our products do really require a level of education. So that's been our biggest challenge, is figuring out kind of creative ways to get our message out there and to get people kind of armed with the right information about how to use our products successfully. Because oftentimes when people try our products, they use them, they have success. You know, then we have a return customer. They're happy and they want to look good.
[00:26:50] And tell us in terms of what you see kind of coming down the pike. I mean, we've got various of legislation going on. We've got states that are doing different things. There's international events. What's on your mind when you look at your strategic plan on your roadmap? What are the things that are most interesting or most impactful for you in terms of how you see this industry kind of developing and shaping and the things that you think people really ought to be paying attention to in terms of things, factors that are going to change the way the cannabis industry works?
[00:27:17] Well, that is a really big question, and it's really hard for me to know. I think there are other people that can probably make more accurate predictions. You know, I personally truly believe that health and wellness products like our own have yet to really see like the height of their popularity because people are still really trying to understand how to use them. I think that in the future, as we see more probably kind of natural health companies, health and wellness companies, as well as pharmaceutical companies jumping in, and we're gonna see these products get a lot more sophisticated and developed and be more widely available probably, you know, across the country and internationally. Just judging on the way that companies, much larger companies, whether they're agricultural, whether they're extraction or product development, are jumping in kind of on a global scale. You know, I know that a lot of that is it's going to have to be the CBD that is federally permitted. So it's going to have to contain less than the point, 3 percent THC. But I think that there's a huge swath of growth that we will see in that sector. I hear a lot of people in cannabis talking about drinks being kind of like an up and coming category that is really gaining in popularity, partially because it's an easy way to kind of titrate a very specific dose for your own needs. And also partially because I think people are looking for alternatives to alcohol. And so people are kind of, you know, starting to discover that you can have this really kind of like fun and pleasant experience consuming cannabis in a drink, but without any of the terrible side effects that so many people suffer from when they drink too much alcohol.
[00:28:54] Yeah, exactly. Interesting, Jillian, but a pleasure. Great conversation, great insights. If people wanna find out more about you, about Humboldt Apothecary, what's the best way to get that information?
[00:29:04] You can check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Humboldt Apothecary. And then you can also go to our Web site, humbolt, Dash Apothecary RT.com. We'd put out blogs and newsletters and try to create a lot of content about how to use cannabis holistically to kind of promote vibrant health.
[00:29:23] I will make sure that those links and the handles of the show notes people click through. We get that. Again, Julian, thank you for taking the time today. Great conversation. I learned a lot. I think everyone on the podcast here learned a lot. I really appreciate the time.
[00:29:33] Thank you so much. It was a great pleasure. I really enjoyed it, too.
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