289: Starting a Business in The Rapidly Growing CBD Industry - with Susan Crews

Meet Susan

 

Susan lives life out loud, loves deeply, and celebrates when others shine bright. She's the president and CEO of Huntsboro Hemp Company, a rapidly growing CBD company dedicated to producing high-quality products to help improve the well-being of customers globally. Susan is a trusted entrepreneur and sought-after speaker whose mission is to educate people about the hemp plant and the benefits of quality CBD. She and her husband live on the family farm in North Carolina.

 

Why did you decide to start a CBD company?

 

My son-in-law was in college at North Carolina State University and he came home and he was so excited about what he was learning about industrial hemp and about CBD. He told my husband who has farmed his whole life, "Jimmy, you've got to start growing industrial hemp," and he looked at me and I've been in the health and wellness industry for about 16 years. He's like, "Susan, we need a CBD company," and I told him, I said, "You know what, Garrett, I think CBD is snake oil," even though I've been in the health and wellness field for about 16 years, and teach people about eating a plant-based diet and to let your food be your medicine. I could not understand or did not understand how CBD did all the things that people claimed CBD would do. My husband was like, "We've tried different crops, and we're just gonna stick with what we know, and not add him into the growing rotation." But what both my husband and I did was starting studying CBD. I found doctors that were using it in their practices with patients. I found him meetings to attend and CBD expos. My husband was also researching and studying about growing of the plant. But what I learned was that CBD is the real deal and that we all have an endocannabinoid system and when you understand how the endocannabinoid system works with the other systems in the body, and how CBD works in the body, you start to realize that it will do many, many things in the body. One thing I'd like to say off the bat is I am not a doctor, and I'm not a pharmacist, but I understand how it does work. CBD will cure nothing and that is something I love to make sure people understand is that CBD will cure nothing. But what it can do is reduce the inflammation in your body and when the inflammation is reduced, then the symptoms that are associated with many diseases are alleviated or reduced, therefore causing you to feel better.

 

What is important to know prior to actually purchasing any CBD products?

 

When you go into the marketplace, it is so easy to get overwhelmed because there are a plethora of CBD products. So the important thing to know when you are out in the marketplace, is you want to know where the CBD was grown. Therefore, you want to make sure it was grown in the United States with a licensed grower. That's very easy to find out either by asking the person selling it or looking at the box. You also want to look for a certificate of analysis. What that is, is that is third-party testing that is done on all CBD products or should be done on all CBD products. Now, it's a little bit harder sometimes to find that. Sometimes you have to ask if the person selling it has the certificate of analysis to show you, or sometimes you have to go to the company's website and look and put in your batch number and find this certificate of analysis. One thing that we are doing at Huntsboro Hemp right now is we are transitioning to putting a QR code on our labels. Therefore you just take the picture, scan the QR code, and that'll take you directly to the certificate of analysis for that product in that match. Then the other thing that I think people really need to understand is the three different types of products out there. If you're someone that is working in a job where you are randomly tested, you need to know if your CBD product has any THC in it. If you're taking a full spectrum product, that is a product that could have up to the legal limit, .3% THC in it. It also has all the cannabinoids from the hemp plant. So if you're taking a full spectrum, and you are drug tested, it's possible that you could ping for THC, which is what's in marijuana, and then you're going to have to explain to your boss why you're pinging for THC. The other two products that are on the market, a broad spectrum, which the broad spectrum does not have any of your THC in it, but it has all of the cannabinoids from the plant so you will not test positive. Then there's also what we call isolate-based products and this is what we use in Huntsboro Hemp products is isolated CBD. We know exactly how much CBD is in there, there are no other cannabinoids in our products. Also with the isolate-based product, you will not ping in a drug test because there should not be any THC in there. So those are really the main things that you're going to want to know.

 

Can we go a little bit deeper into the different types of products that are out there?

 

So we're going to go with our full spectrum and that is an oil. As I said, it's going to have your THC in there and it's going to have all of the cannabinoids. You can find this product, the full spectrum, the broad spectrum, and the isolate, you can find all three of them in edibles, in tinctures which is an oil or a liquid that you put underneath your tongue and you hold for 30 seconds to a minute let it absorb and swallow what is leftover and then you've got your topicals. The best way to get a product into your system is through the tinctures because it absorbs sublingually and that is just a great way to get it into your system. You also get it into your system through your edibles. Now here's the thing when you take a product that you ingest, you eat, or swallow, it's getting in there and it's working systemically. So it's working on your whole body and it's not a magic pill. You didn't get this inflammation, or arthritis or, whatever is ailing you overnight. So when you take CBD in one of those two forms, you've got to give it time to work and consistency is key. Just like with any other supplement, you want to make sure you're taking it consistently. The difference between your tincture, your edibles and your topical is that when you apply a topical, it's very localized. So if your fingers, your knuckles, or your joints are hurting on your hand, and your hip is also hurting, and you apply a topical to your hand, it's not going to help your hip at all, it's only going to be localized to that area. 

 

Can you share with our listeners, one of your most successful or favorite networking stories that you've had?

 

You know Lori, you and I met through the Know Women. That has been by far one of the best decisions I've made, especially because I made this decision to get involved in this particular networking group in 2020. I joined the group in March and so all of the live events were canceled. So I joined the Raleigh group and I wasn't going to be able to go to the events and the big national event was canceled. But what I did there was I jumped on board and started connecting virtually with these women and that has been a great relationship and a great opportunity for me to receive as well as to give. I've met a lot of women that have helped us get our products into places that I wouldn't necessarily have had the opportunity especially because of COVID. That particular group has been wonderful and I think I've been able to plug in and offer education to other people and teach which has allowed me to move my product into areas that I wouldn't have gotten it.

 

How do you best stay in front of and nurture the relationships that you are creating, especially since they are spread out across America now?

 

I can tell you what my favorite is, I love a handwritten note. So when I can, I like to send after I've met or talked with someone, I like to send a handwritten note. It does not always happen, but that's one of the things that I love. I also love follow-up emails and then reconnecting and checking in. I have a notebook that I keep all of the network people I've met and then I put it in a rotation to try to stay connected through some type of writing and then following up with other face-to-face get-togethers through zoom.

 

What advice would you offer that professionals looking to grow their network?

 

Jump in with two feet, and there's no right or wrong. Sometimes you'll end up in a space and you might look at yourself and say, "What am I doing here?" But you can always learn something from somebody, no matter what event you're in, whether it's virtual or live. Also if you go into the networking, thinking, what can I offer someone or how can I make someone's life a little bit better today, you come away with something too.

 

If you could go back to your 20-year-old self, what would you tell yourself to do more or less of or differently with regards to your professional career?

 

First off, I would tell her, I was very proud of her and that she should be very proud of who I have become. Then I would tell her that she needed to be present and enjoy what she was doing at that moment.

 

We've all heard of the six degrees of separation. Is there someone that you would love to connect with and do you think you can do it within six degrees?

 

When I was looking at your podcast, I saw that you had an interview with Bob Berg and I love his book! So he would be the person I’d love to connect with and since you’ve already talked to him I guess I’m only one degree away! 

 

What would you ask him, or what would you want to chat with him about? 

 

If I knew I was going to talk to him, I go back to the book real quick. I would just want to know how he came about writing the book and sharing the beautiful stories that are in the book and how he learned at such a young age how important it is to give and that the more you give, the more you get.

 

Do you have any final words of advice for our listeners with regards to growing and supporting your network?

 

I would just go back, just jump in with two feet and if you don't know where to start, start looking for Facebook groups or on LinkedIn because what I have learned and understood even more through COVID is there are some amazing people in our world.

 

Connect With Susan

 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susansayecrews/ 

 

Instagram: @susansayecrews

 

Susan’s Website: https://huntsborohempco.com/