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Audio digitally transcribed by Otter.ai

Introduction 0:00
Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast™, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns 0:18
It's a beautiful day for the #PirateBroadcast™. And I just wanted to welcome you into the pirate community and enjoy another conversation with #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. And today we have, Melissa, thank you so much for being here.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 0:35
You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

Russ Johns 0:37
Well, you know, we were talking before the show, and I almost forgot to turn on the show. It's like, okay, well, you know, let's keep going having having a wonderful conversation. And what we were talking about is the differences in the cannabis industry and how it's evolved and changed. And you went from cosmetics to cannabis in a new unique way and I want to kind of explore that a little bit and discuss how there are different areas of cannabis and what that actually entails. Because, you know, some people just think it's one thing. And it's more than one thing. So let's dive into it and find out a little bit more about what area of cannabis you're working on, and some of your backstory about coming from cosmetic industry and transitioning into what you're doing now.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 1:35
Okay. So five years ago, I was actually laid off for the second time from my big corporate job. I was the vice president of education and training at L'Oreal. For my fifth brand, I think I represented multiple brands. Usually it was dermatological skincare, but this time it was makeup. So I had to figure out what to do. And I had to deal with some medical things. So I had a surgery, I was recovering. And I kind of fell into the cannabis industry. A friend of mine called me up, who's now my business partner, Valerie, and said, you have to come with me to check out this company. She goes, it's cannabis and I went well, okay, I'm in California, you know, I get it. I have a medical marijuana card. I'm dealing with a lot of issues with my body. So I've tried it, I didn't understand that there were multiple ways to do it, that there were different sources and two sides. So I went and I started this journey of learning about what it is. So cannabis has hemp and marijuana. And I think you know, we're most familiar with marijuana. And maybe we've heard about the psychoactive aspects of marijuana. And we have, you know, maybe this culture associated with it, but it's so medicinal for so many people. It just comes with that little, you know,something attached to it for some people. And I realized that the stigma really wasn't necessary, because the other side is hemp. And it has the same amazing little molecules, these cannabinoids and terpenes in it that the other plant the marijuana plant has, but it's not psychoactive and it can be explored. People think it's just rope, you know, it was just used in the war. It was, you know, Betsy Ross made the first flag out of hemp and there's all these stories about hemp and it's amazing. There was even a little film called hemp for victory that was pro hemp, you know, for the war before it kind of went downhill and got lumped in with the evil marijuana. Yeah. So yes, I definitely went on a journey of discovery and learned a lot about CBD. And there's over 120 other cannabinoids that are in the plant that all work synergistically together. And I had a profound experience myself, crazy, in three months, like my life was changed. And I thought, okay, I have to talk about this, I guess this is what I've been selected to do. Now, you know, that I'm shifting into this new world, this new life. So it started a journey and that was five years ago.

Russ Johns 4:20
That's interesting that you know, and what we were saying before the show was this. Hemp was a huge industry at one point in time and the the opportunity to actually take a sustainable product that you could continue to grow, harvest and create products from is a huge upside and a lot of people, when it came to the psychoactive side, you know, it fell off the roadmap because of the association with that, and I think a lot of people are learning how to understand, you know, becoming more aware of the other things Advantages of hemp and some of the properties and the principles that you can develop products from. And everyday products that we use all the time, and I equated it to bamboo and how bamboo grows quickly. It's always like grass, it continues to grow. And then you can take that product and make other products out of it.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 5:29
Absolutely

Russ Johns 5:30
I think the same thing holds true with marijuana and hemp. And so now you're in an industry, you're taking the years that you used in cosmetics industry and then converting it to cannabis. And what are some surprising events that you've discovered along your journey about people's attitudes and the educational process? What's the first response people think?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 6:00
Well, five years ago, you know, living in suburbia with a young son in elementary school, I was like, you know, mommy's a drug dealer in the neighborhood or something, which is totally ridiculous. I think some people were open minded enough in my community to ask him to invite me to do little talks, you know, with groups of people who really, their kids needed help, you know, they had learning disabilities, or they had different challenges with just dealing with daily life. And they were curious, and they were wondering, so certain people opened up, but yes, of course, I was judged, and I had to overcome what other people thought. I had to not care what other people thought, because I knew so much from a scientific level, when I realized that our government had a patent on CBD as a neuroprotective and antioxidant, to deal with inflammation and all kinds of things in our body. I realized at that point, that this is real, this is something our government realizes, and they're pretty much keeping it from us, let's face it. So it takes people like e and all of my colleagues one at a time to talk to people and address it. So yes, I have overcome that. Now, today. It's awesome. Where people know about it, more people are open, there are still people that are scared. And you know, we have a product that's actually in the physicians Desk Reference, it's in the prescribers digital reference. Now a doctor can look it up on their app, and we're the only CBD product in there. So that comes with a trust factor, like about an extra validation. And I find that people take comfort in that when they're giving it to their dogs and their kids and their elderly parents and veterans, whoever it is, you know, they need to feel safe. Safety's key when it comes to misnomers with cannabis,

Russ Johns 7:55
It's interesting that, you know, the desk reference is, is the authority in our community. And, you know, I see CBD oil, I see CBD signs out here in Arizona, you know, all over and my mom's taken it and she's 84. It's really universal in a lot of ways. So, it's more common, and people are more open to it. And it's like, okay, well, now the curiosity starts, it's like, well, let's find out a little bit more about how to use it and what it's used for. And how do we start thinking about using it, instead of as a drug? Not merely, you know, drugs in a psycho, holy cow, you know, I'm sitting here in Arizona, and every time the TV is on, she's watching TV or something. It's like, pharmaceutical company after pharmaceutical company after pharmaceutical company. It's just like,

Melissa Temple-Agosta 9:08
Oh, yeah, with all the little fine print things, may cause, may cause, may cause and you're like what?

Russ Johns 9:13
The side effects are horrible. Oh, my God.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 9:17
It's scary.

Russ Johns 9:19
Yeah. So with it being more common and more open and everything. Are they creating more products or is kannaway creating more products and services that are associated with CBD.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 9:31
Oh yeah, totally and totally even exploring other cannabinoids, I think, you know, you do see it everywhere. So the important thing to remember is that you have to make sure you're getting what you think you're getting, because it's a green rush. Everybody's in it also to make a buck. So you have to find a company that's reputable that has their own source of hemp. You can't just grow hemp anywhere. True industrial hemp looks like bamboo. It's taller than all of us. And it can only grow in certain climates and you need huge areas of land to grow it, but it's a bio remediator. So what that means is hemp will absorb anything that's in the soil it's growing in. So it could be absorbing toxins and pesticides and herbicides and all kinds of chemical fertilizers that were there before. And so you have to know your source. So we always talk about know your soil, know your oil, and make sure that it's been tested, and it's a good quality product. Some people get something that's super cheap from the gas station, and you just don't know what's in that, you can't trust that. You're trying to introduce something good to your body. So what kannaway does, is invest in all of the research. You know, we own our own firms, we do our research, we have a lot of different partnerships with biotech companies that look at Phyto medicine and how the plant actually works. So recently, we just launched our first CBN product, which is a sleep aid. We know people have a ton of problems with sleep, especially now during the pandemic with a lot of stress and anxiety that is pervading around us. So CBN is a cannabinoid like CBD, but it is the sleepy cannabinoid. And it's not regulated, like CBD. It's something that people are replacing different other solutions. They're using sleep, and having great success. So that's part of the innovation, we're looking at all the hemp plant in terms of all of it's uses and what the future could be.

Russ Johns 9:34
Well, don't you find it ironic that hemp has been around for so, you know, centuries, and then used to grow and develop? You know, like you said, rope, flags, fabric, products and services? And now we're still discovering more about the plant?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 12:00
That's right. That's right.

Russ Johns 12:04
I think it's fascinating, that we can still, you know, discover some of the principles and properties of a plant after having used it for so many years. And that's science, you know, that's science at work and figuring out okay, well, this is what it's been used for. And what are some other uses that we can use? and develop from it.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 12:30
Yeah. And being open minded, natural to, yes, yes, it was put here, right for us to use. It's like, think of all the herbs and the plants. One of the people that I talk to you a lot about, you know, Eastern philosophy and herbology, and what plants do said, when they went to, you know, their training for acupuncture, excuse me, and Oriental Medicine, they put a hemp seed in your hand. And they say, this is one of the 50 fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, it is to do good. And so when hemp is combined with some other botanicals, they have a synergy together. So we do use a lot of other herbs as well in our formulas for nutrition, for wellness, for immunity for all kinds of things that we're all concerned about. And that's just going to the source of plants. It's an amazing science.

Russ Johns 13:28
I've talked to a lot of people that believe that everything we need is growing around us, and it's just a combination of different botanicals and herbs and different plants can actually create exactly what we need. And not necessarily anything from the lab. And you know, it's kind of, oh, I don't know, what's the combination? Because, you know, some plants are toxic

Melissa Temple-Agosta 13:57
Yeah, poison ivy is a good example.

Russ Johns 13:59
It's like, I don't want to eat that. So yeah, that's about it.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 14:08
Yes.

Russ Johns 14:09
There's so many things that we don't know. And when people decide that they know everything, it's like run, just run.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 14:19
We never stop learning. I swear, every day, I learned something new about this industry from another person. And even the business of this, you know, everybody thinks that to be in this business of hemp, you have to be a certain demographic or you have to have a certain background. And you know, there are people that are scientists and there are people that are figuring out all of the things that we just talked about and doing the research but then there's people like me, who do this for a living. But what I do is I just share this with people every day. I educate people. I help them understand how they can come into business like this to sitting at home, we work from home. Well, kids are homeschooling around us and other people are working around us and just between life, and it's actually possible. It's fascinating helping people do that every day. That's what really gets me up in the morning.

Russ Johns 15:14
Exactly true. Hey, I want to shout out a couple of people in the community here. Howard popped in, we're talking about Howard, even CBD and toothpaste and mouthwash can help with gum irritation, and more serious periodontal issues, gum and bone loss. That is absolutely true. You know, there are properties that we and he goes on to say, that is the industrial problem, the consumer is confused with so many inferior options, and does not know how or who to trust. And I think that to go back to the source that it's, you know, like you mentioned, it's somebody producing oil in their backyard for the corner drugstore, not the drugstore, but the gas station, you know, so it's one of those things that we still have a way to go. And obviously, you know, like in the cosmetic industry, the cosmetic industry has evolved over years and decades. And you know, there's a lot of regulations and things that it had to go through as well to get to the point where it is and people trusted, and everything.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 16:28
And that was what I had to do, too. I had bring that in.

Russ Johns 16:33
Darleen's here. A couple of pirates are in the house. Yes, working but listening. Thank you so much. Another pirate Matt Mohawk Denny, great conversation. Angie, she's here. Good morning pirates. Thank you so much. Bamboo is amazing. Sustainability, eco friendly. Think Green. I love that. Paolo says sorry for being late. Clients taking my time. Hello, everybody. That's Tapas. It's Good morning. How are you doing? I appreciate you and Hiett Ives is here from Houston. Good morning pirates. Happy Thanksgiving. It's a great week. What is the name again for sleep aid.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 17:19
It is called CBN. So look CBD but instead of a D, it's an N. It's cannabinol. So kannaway CBN is just a little tincture. And you put a little dropperful under your tongue about an hour 30 minutes to an hour before you want to go to sleep. And it's funny because CBN has been researched but it's kind of a lesser known cannabinoid. It actually traditionally comes from when THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid degrades. So back in the day, people would find an old stash of some marijuana. And if they did, you know partake in it, it gets super sleepy. And you know, it couldn't be separated from the psychoactive part before, but we now know how to isolate CBN by itself, so that it's not psychoactive, but it is now a viable sleep aid. So it's fascinating how far we've come with that. And that's just the latest innovation we've had. So exciting. Good to know.

Russ Johns 18:23
Good to know. Well, and guess who's on?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 18:28
Hey, Kelly,

Russ Johns 18:29
Kelly saying hi from the Big Apple. Hi, Russ and Melissa. Melissa introduced me to kannaway in 2019. The bebong formula of skincare line is everything. #Hempheals

Melissa Temple-Agosta 18:42
Yes.

Russ Johns 18:45
Then Shari asks, is CBN produced in a controlled lab, even if not regulated?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 18:51
Absolutely. It's really important. We have our own labs, GMP certified cleanrooms. We also...everybody has to have third party lab testing. But we also do a triple lab testing process with our hemp before it is even entered into a product. So it's tested at the point when it's growing, after it's harvested and then before the finished product is released. So yes, all of our products are registered and approved. And that's important because whenever we launch a new country, some people try to go into countries with CBD products or other products and they're not allowed. And we make sure that everything is registered and it's legitimate because of the testing. We're even us hemp authority certified so they, in addition, test our products over and above what we do and give it that extra something that people need for the reassurance. That's important to me. I give these products to my son, and I've been giving them to him for five years. He's 12 now and it's important for me as a mom to pick a very safe product. So I did a ton of research before I chose and that's why I aligned with kannaway.

Russ Johns 20:03
Yeah, it's and as with anything, you know, do your research and know what's right for you. It's not for everyone. And it's, you know, just like anything else. It's like, okay, I'm, lactose intolerant. It's really about the research and studying what works for yourself, what works for your body. And everybody's a little bit different. How do people learn more about...what are some good resources, Melissa, to understand and appreciate what's going on in the world today with CBD and the industry?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 20:48
Absolutely. I know, you know, on our websites and my personal website, we have some information that you can learn about the history and just the basic facts. If you're looking for more medical research, and by conditions or by I'm not a doctor, I don't make any medical claims, I just share information. And we have this amazing website called echoconnection.org. And I can send that to you to put out for your your viewers. It's great because they're a nonprofit organization that helps families who need cannabinoid therapies for their drug resistant children who have intractable diseases. And we donate money and support and cannabinoids to them. So they publish all of the white papers from pubmed.gov. And it's amazing, you can type in a condition and you can look up all the research that's behind it. When it comes to cannabinoid science, that's my go to, instead of just googling because this whole sea of stuff comes up, you know, some people write private articles, and they're really only trying to promote their product. So you have to be very careful what you find on the internet, too. I'm definitely finding medical based, science based facts about what you're looking for. Very important.

Russ Johns 22:09
Very important. And what's that site again?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 22:13
It's called echoconnection.org. I can type it into the chat too, if you want.

Russ Johns 22:20
Yeah, that'd be great.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 22:22
That's a fantastic resource, just because there's no products being sold. There's no agenda, the agenda is education and support. I mean, I donate to this organization because of the incredible work they do. Especially right now, giving Tuesday's coming up. So I'm definitely going to support eco connection.org. I've met a lot of these families, and their children and how they rely on cannabinoids. There's actually kids that rely on the things that we kind of take for granted every single day that we could just walk into a store and buy or call somebody up like me and buy and some people have to have it to get through the day.

Russ Johns 23:02
Well, and I think that we're going to find more and more of this. As the industry matures and products, more products are discovered and developed. And just like I was surprised with Howard's product, ORL, and the mouthwash and the toothpaste in the breath spray. It's a great product. I love the product and the way they package it up is top shelf and it's just a product and it's like why not?

Melissa Temple-Agosta 23:33
Well, I know, think about it, it's inflammation. So anything that's caused by inflammation in the dental industry is perfect for it. Think about the cosmetic dermatological industry, think about just about anything that's bugging you. It's caused normally from inflammation, some kind of inflammatory response of your body. You know, even health and fitness and weight loss and metabolism and all kinds of things that really with our ability to feel satiated after we eat. Everything is run by the system in our bodies called the endocannabinoid system. That is something research...it's this whole control center of our body. It's our body's largest self regulatory system. And guess what turns it on? Cannabinoids. So it makes so much sense. I know and you know you can find cannabinoids and other things. Why do we like craft beer? Why is that such a big industry in this country? Well hops also have some cannabinoids in them. Flax, echinacea, herbs and hemp has the most...the cannabis plant has the most cannabinoids of all of those things, but they're all turning the system on.

Russ Johns 24:49
it's not just hemp. It's other plants do in fact have this.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 24:54
Yeah, some herbs and some plants they have a little bit you know, so I think if you have all of those things, you know, the entourage effect is this thing we hear about, and it's about all these things working in synergy to create balance in your body so that you can behave normally, a properly functioning system. It's good.

Russ Johns 25:14
It's fascinating. Not being involved in the industry and understanding all these details limits our understanding of what the potential and the possibilities are. So if you've had this experience, and you've really needed to...inflammation is...I mean, there's a lot of things that cause inflammation, and if you've suffered from any kind of inflammation, anywhere in your body, it's like it can be dramatic, and really painful. And yes, a lot of people suffer from it. So anything going to attempt to reduce that and minimize that would be phenomenal. Plus the sleep aid, I know, Melanie would be willing and able to evaluate that and try that for better sleep. So many people are searching for an answer. And so how do people get ahold of you? Or, you know, your products and services? And what's the process? And how do you operate? And tell us a little bit more about that side of the equation.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 26:30
Yeah. So I have a website it's kannawoman.com with a K. And I think you guys have that website, you can put it up for people, but kannawoman.com is the website where you can go and look at the various assortments but you know, needing advice for selecting so many options, because everybody does their hemp differently. It's all about lifestyle. Some people like capsules, some people like liquids pouring into their smoothies or their coffee. Some people like to take a protein shake and have hemp in it, there's some people to wash their face with, you know, CBD enriched products, which is amazing. The Skincare is incredible. So I give advice. I do zoom webinars, I take phone calls, and I help walk people through what's important to them, and what they're really looking for. And then customize a program based on what we're willing to do. You know, there's some products that take a little extra work to use them and make sure that you're using them properly. And some products are just so simple. You just pop a capsule and you're on the go. But there's a lot of ways to use them that you need advice, you know, when to take it? What if you're taking medicine, what do you do? And should I take it with food or not? So I just help people navigate that whole process and make it simple.

Russ Johns 27:54
And by the way, everyone that's watching this either now or in the future, you can go to RussJohns.com/piratebroadcast, there's right on this homepage, you know, there you can access the replay, the transcription, the links, everything about it. And one thing I want to ask a favor for you is the idea that I'm expanding on the YouTube channel, I want to expand my YouTube channel, there's some recent changes there that motivate me to change. And I'd love to have you, after the show, go over on YouTube, and go to RussJohns and subscribe, please, because it really helps me and it helps support the channel and everything that we're doing here. And sharing #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. And I want to continue to support people like Melissa and the subjects and the topics we're talking about every single day. So a little PSA for me to help out and everything that's going on there, so awesome. And give us the website again, kannawoman...

Melissa Temple-Agosta 29:09
Kannawoman.com and I'll type that into. I also have a website, a personal website where there's a little education and some business information about what I do. It's just my name, Melissatemplateagosta.com without the hyphen. And I know my name is long. But take a screenshot. There you go. So yes, you can find information wherever you go. And then my contact information is there. My email address is also Melissatempleagosta@gmail.com without the hyphen, and I'm happy. I talk to people all day long about doing this as a business, finding products for their family, whatever it is, you know, that's important to them.

Russ Johns 29:57
Fantastic. Oh, here's someone that I haven't seen for a while. Rex Powers he's an advocate for the industry, it is critical to keep in mind that this is still an unregulated industry that operates without any mandated standards. We are aggressively working to launch a cannabis hemp industry employers Association.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 30:17
Yes, yes, yes.

Russ Johns 30:22
I'm just gonna say, you know, that's why I encourage people to do your own research, test and evaluate what works for you. And, you know, by no means are we intending to pursue any kind of claims that are beyond what is already advertised and produced out there on the world.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 30:48
It's so true. There's so many people making claims that are not allowed, that are not compliant. And kannaway was the category creator, the parent company of kannaway. It was the first company to legally import hemp into America before the Farm Bill even allowed people to grow hemp here. And he created the industry standards of testing than everybody else started to follow. Because we knew if we wanted to have a large scale business that we envisioned, we had to really set the tone and being a professional company in an unprofessional space at the time, was all about setting that standard. You know, until cannabis is federally legal. In America, you know, each country has its different categorizations like Europe, it's a food. in certain countries, it's a supplement or whatever it might be. And here, you know, we have to operate within the law, we have to be have our own standards that will happen when things are federally looked at. A lot of the bad companies will go away when things are federally legalized, because they won't be able to operate with what they have substandard, perhaps, or dangerous. In some cases, products, metals have been found in products like mercury. Or Guess what, there just might be no CBD in there. You know, it could just be oil. You remember the snake oil of the day? You know, it's not a joke. Like it really can exist. There's been a lot of people who've done tests on you know, they take 50 products, and they test it to see if what the bottle claims is really in there. And it's pretty shocking. Yeah, pretty shocking. See the lab reports. Whatever product you get, make sure you can get lab reports that prove what's inside the product. That's so important.

Russ Johns 32:36
Well, and Rex says, great session and great information. And then he goes on to say kannaway has always been an industry innovator. And Stewart has built a tremendous team.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 32:47
Wonderful.

Russ Johns 32:48
Obviously, we have some awareness out there and the pirate community. And I thank you so much, Melissa for being here today. It's just a pleasure for you to educate and inform people about interesting topics like this. And I just encourage everyone, you know, just understand that there's options out there for you, there's some things that you may not be aware of yet and and I want to bring them to your attention and continue to pursue a great day and because you know what? #kindnessiscool, #smilesarefree. And Melissa, thank you so much for being here and look forward to a happy Thanksgiving here in the US. If you're elsewhere, just wish you the very best week in the in the world. So thank you.

Melissa Temple-Agosta 33:37
You, too. Thank you so much.

Russ Johns 33:40
Take care everyone. #Enjoytheday.

Exit 33:46
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