HempLily

Intro:

Welcome to the Best of LKN, a podcast, featuring the best small businesses and the most influential professionals around Lake Norman, North Carolina. Each week we spotlight those businesses and individuals that are making a positive impact here in the Lake Norman area. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the show.

Jeff:

Hi friends, welcome back to the podcast. Before we get into this episode, I want to remind listeners that the home for the Best of LKN podcast is online at www.thebestoflkn.com. There you’ll find show notes and transcriptions and pages for each business owner and business that we feature on the podcast. You can also sign up to receive an email notification every time I publish a new episode, which is basically weekly. So you’ll never get more than a weekly message, and I’ll always be respectful of your inbox. These emails are very short and to the point, and obviously your information is never shared with a third party. So I hope you’ll consider signing up to receive our email notification every week. And you can also follow The Best of LKN on Facebook and Instagram. So I hope you’ll do that as well.

Jeff:

All right, that’s enough housekeeping for now. Let’s get on to this conversation with Terri Long, the owner of HempLily in Cornelius, North Carolina.

Jeff:

Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. I’m really excited to be bringing you a great guest here with a business based in Cornelius. The business is HempLily, they are a boutique CBD brand and store in Cornelius and owner Terri Long is joining us. Terri, welcome to the podcast.

Terri:

Hi Jeff. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Jeff:

Oh, pleasure. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to diving into everything that HempLily offers and all of the benefits that listeners, including myself, would like to know about CBD. But before we dive into HempLily, you have your own journey with CBD to share, and I’d like to get into that. And also just a basic overview of your background and career leading up to starting HempLily and the inspiration behind that.

Terri:

Sure. So I come from a corporate background, I was in investments, mutual funds, software support, I became a business analyst. I love working with software and things like that, but I was always sick. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 20 years ago and I was one of the first, I didn’t really know what that was. So I took the normal path that doctors do, you go see eight doctors and nobody really knows what’s wrong with you, except you hurt all over. So they ended up pegging you with fibromyalgia, which was kind of new at the time. And there wasn’t really a solution for it. You just take these medicines, you hope you feel better. I tried that, I wasn’t feeling better. They still shrugged their shoulders, they didn’t know what to do with you. So I just refuse to believe that the body wouldn’t heal itself and that this was a life sentence of never feeling normal again.

Terri:

So I did research on my own on how to heal the body. I learned how to detox, eating organic, eliminating wheat, which isn’t the same wheat that we used to have, going gluten-free. I talked to a couple of the right doctors, one doctor had fibromyalgia himself and had some insight on it. So I went through that and did that for years of eating right and cooking right and eating organic and all that. But along my journey, I knew I wasn’t feeling good when I was in the office. My doctors were even saying … they actually said, you’re allergic to work. I was like, “Oh cool. Can you write me a letter that says that?” Or something like that. For some reason I felt horrible when I was at work, so I don’t know if it’s all the radiation in the office, if it’s mold, the wifi. I don’t know what it was, but I did not feel well when I was there. Kind of along with the fibromyalgia, but different.

Terri:

So anyways, my research led me to find out about cannabis as being one of the only things that was helping fibromyalgia suffers with their pain relief and really helping their symptoms. So that intrigued me and I was already pretty convinced that this was a plant that caught a bad rap. So I was very interested in learning more about how it can be the right natural medicine for us. So I kept the pro cannabis research going. Now I did not consume it for me because I was in corporate, I could get a drug test. The only thing I knew was to smoke it, I don’t like smoking anything, I didn’t know anybody in those circles to get it from. So for all those reasons, I just never had access to it and I fixed my fibromyalgia through eating well and detoxing, removing chemicals from my life, things like that.

Terri:

But in 2017, I had been in corporate for so long, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I found out that hemp can give you most of the medical benefits, the relief without the high. I was like, “Wow, that sounds pretty amazing. Is this true?” And then I find out it’s backend wording legal at the time, you need an attorney to really get started with it and understand how to navigate those waters. So you don’t have to smoke it, it has most of the medicinal benefits and you don’t get high. I was like, “This sounds really too good to be. And it’s legal, I have to be a part of this and I have to start sharing this with the world.”

Terri:

So in 2017, I started, like I said, with an attorney and I launched HempLily on the web only. And law enforcement wasn’t even that clear on the rules and regulations of it. So everything was going really well in December of 2018, the farm bill was passed that made it front end wording legal. So that’s when all the other stores started popping up was because now it was out there legal, it’s in the news, it’s legal. But we were already off and running. And we started our store … well, I went from online and mobile to having an office in 2018. And then a physical store next to the office in 2019.

Terri:

So that’s my history, I no longer have fibromyalgia. I love talking with our customers. If they come in with issues, I love talking with them on more than just how cannabis can help them. And tell them about my journey and the things that I did to help get rid of chronic disease. So that’s what I like focusing on is people with chronic illness that just aren’t finding a relief they need from their doctors and medicines.

Jeff:

That’s really interesting. CBD has so many … from what I’ve heard and I certainly am not an expert and I’ve just scratched the surface of the information that’s out there for the benefits of CBD. But there’s so many benefits from stress relief to sound or better sleep to other health benefits. I definitely want to dive into a lot of the benefits that people can consider when considering CBD. You started online in 2017, office came in 2018 and your storefront opened in 2019. Before we get into all the great benefits of CBD and the products and services you offer there, where is HempLily located?

Terri:

It’s on West Catawba Avenue next to the Waffle House. So it’s just two blocks off of highway 77, exit 28. So you pull into the Waffle House parking lot and we are right there next door.

Jeff:

Okay. Share some of the products and services that you offer there at HempLily and the various benefits that listeners could consider.

Terri:

Okay. At HempLily, we are very consultation based. We want to spend as much time with the customer as they need to feel comfortable trying cannabis for the first time. Our store is designed to make people comfortable coming in and feeling relaxed, to not feel like a typical dispensary. So people will come in and we just sit down with you and find out, why are you coming to us? What are your issues? What would you like to do? What kind of relief would you like? What are your expectations, basically? And we’ll spend as much time as they need. The average customer will be there 15 to 30 minutes just asking questions. We’ll show them our products, we’re very generous with samples. And our goal is to give you free samples and see if we’re going to get you feeling better while you’re there before you even decide to buy. So that’s huge.

Terri:

We want you to know you’re comfortable with the product, we want you to know that it’s working before you decide to buy. It’s not always the case, it’s not always a magic bullet. And we have a return guarantee. If you’ve tried everything and it’s not working for you, absolutely 100% money back guarantee.

Terri:

So what we do is we talk to you about topicals if you have localized pain. That’s the fastest and easiest way to pain relief. Now let me back up again and say, CBD isn’t a cure for anything. It’s simply something that helps you along the way. Hopefully you are going to still improve your diet, eat better, do all the things that we’re supposed to do for health. But this helps you through the day and helps you get there, it’s not a cure for anything. But the topicals, we’ll start with the customer first because it’s the simplest and fastest way to really feel localized pain. We give you just a pea size amount of our [inaudible 00:10:21] and when you put that on the spot of pain, you’re going to feel relief anywhere from instantly to up to 60 seconds. 60 seconds or less, and if you’re not feeling better, you just don’t buy it. It’s not going to work for you.

Terri:

We have multiple strengths, our goal is to find your lowest effective dose. So we have multiple strengths to let people try the topical. But that is the most amazing thing that blows people away is almost the second they put it on sometimes they say, “It already feels better, is that normal?” And I’m like, “Yeah, it is normal. It’s anywhere from instant to 60 seconds.” So it’s really great, a really great feeling that we get to share that with people when nothing else has really helped them.

Terri:

So after we give them a topical and they start feeling better, we go on to an adjustable liquid, they’re called tinctures where you put drops under your tongue. The topicals are for fastest pain relief and skin healing. If you take it internally, it’s the same product. If you take it internally, it helps with pain plus, plus, plus. So helps you, like you mentioned, also with sleep, anxiety, stress. Now, we’re not supposed to say those things, we’re supposed to say legally that it helps with daily discomfort or supports restful sleep. We have to be more gentle on those, but we’re going to talk to you straight when you come in or call us for help.

Terri:

But it definitely helps for pain, anxiety, sleep, stress, digestive issues. It helps with the whole slew of things and we still hear daily from people, it helped me with this or that, that we hadn’t heard of before. So the possibilities, the list of things that it can help you with is really long. But the main ones are pain, sleep, anxiety, stress. We know we all could use a lot of that right now. Even myself have doubled and sometimes tripled my dose.

Jeff:

Oh, for sure. If ever there was a time for stress and anxiety relief, and even support with more restful sleep, it would be these days, for sure. I personally take melatonin in the evening and I’ve always had difficulties shutting down in the evening to go and fall asleep. So I’ve been curious about the benefits of CBD for supporting restful sleep. So I’ll be following up with you on that subject, for sure.

Terri:

Good. Well the tincture, we give you a free serving of tincture while you’re there too. The average dose for an adult, we give you a full serving just for free. And that one first dose, average time to feel relief is 15 to 30 minutes. Again, some people feel it almost immediately upon swallowing, especially for anxiety. Average is 15 to 30 minutes to feel relief on that, but not always, it’s not always the magic pill with the tincture. Sometimes it takes days or weeks, you have to figure out how much is right for you, when do you like to take it, how often do you want to take it? Do you want to take it in the morning before bed, half and half? So there is trial and error when you take it internally, it’s not as straightforward as applying it topically. So we give people that sample.

Terri:

If they want, they can just try the sample and go about their day. Go see how they feel the rest of the day, see how they sleep at night. And they’ll usually come back and be like, “Wow, I slept amazing.” Even if they tried our sample at say 11 in the morning because it’s not a sedative. The right dose shouldn’t make you drowsy, but it’s too strong, it makes you drowsy. But the right amount shouldn’t make you drowsy, it’s a mind and body balancer. So you may still get your sleep benefits even for taking it in the morning, but you can take it before bed too. So we love those samples, so people can try it and make sure they like the taste. We have multiple options with that. So they learn how to hold it under their tongue and how long to hold it under their tongue and how to find the right dose. So people are absolutely welcome to come in and just try it. And then leave and see how they feel and think about it and come back if they love it.

Jeff:

And is that particular form, is that a pill that you swallow or?

Terri:

Tincture, it’s oil drops that you hold under your tongue-

Jeff:

Okay.

Terri:

That gives you the highest absorption rate and the fastest response because it’s bypassing your digestion.

Jeff:

Okay.

Terri:

That’s why it’s 15 to 30 minutes. If you were to just swallow it, you can put it in your coffee or food or something like that. It can take up to an hour and you lose strength through digestion. So that’s why people like to, and that’s the number one way is to put drops under your tongue and hold it there before you swallow.

Jeff:

Okay. Is that the most common method of consuming CBD or are there-

Terri:

It is.

Jeff:

Okay. And I may edit this part out, is there a dog in the office? There’s some background noise, it almost sounded like a dog snoring.

Terri:

Yes, you can hear her?

Jeff:

Yeah.

Terri:

Oh.

Jeff:

It’s okay, it’s very faint. You know why I recognize that? I have two dogs, I have a Labrador, but I also have an English Bulldog and the English Bulldog snores.

Terri:

I’m so used to it, I don’t even her. She’s down under the desk, she’s just a tiny little thing and she does snore.

Jeff:

My wife works from home full-time and obviously teleconferences all day long. And our English Bulldog sleeps under her desk at home while she works and she’ll get questions all the time, does someone hear somebody snoring?

Terri:

I do. When I’m on the phone, people are like, “Who’s snoring? They snore like an old man.” She’s nine pounds and she is a short nose breed, so she snores. So I thought maybe you heard the dog, there’s a dog in the neighborhood barking, I thought, “Wow, you have good hearing.”

Jeff:

I doubt listeners would have picked up on that, I’m not going to edit that out. That’s real life and that way listeners will know if you do pick up on it, it’s the pup. So it’s the pup snoring, taking a nap.

Jeff:

All right, cool. The drops that you place under the tongue, most common way of consuming CBD. To topical pain relief, what type of pain would someone … I guess it’s a little bit challenging with the wording, obviously I don’t know how to word it exactly. But what are some common ailments that folks will use to topical relief for? Would it help relieve arthritis or?

Terri:

Arthritis neuropathy is big, any kind of injury, over working out when you’re sore, it’s any kind of pain.

Jeff:

Really?

Terri:

It is.

Jeff:

So it could be muscle, joint?

Terri:

Yes. Any kind of pain. The plant is phytocannabinoids, our body is endocannabinoid. Our body actually produces a little bit of cannabinoids, always [inaudible 00:17:30]. But we’ve been without it for 80 years that it’s been prohibited and that those cannabinoids, those receptors go from our mind all the way down to the cellular level of our skin. So when we apply it topically and often, for the first time we get this whoosh, “Wow, that’s amazing.” Our bodies are saying, “Where you’ve been all my life?” We’re meant to consume it, we’re meant to use it to balance out.

Terri:

And topically is absolutely the fastest in any kind of pain. People do come in and they say, “Will it help for this kind of pain? That kind of pain?” The answer is, yes. It’s pain, it’s inflammation and it’s an anti-inflammatory, so it will give you the relief for that. Now, how long does it give you relief for? Depends on the person, but I’ve had people tell me it relieved it for up to two days, some people say it’s for four hours. Everyone’s different.

Jeff:

Yeah, so really comes back to the trial and error as far as strength of dosage, how long you can feel the benefits and that sort of thing. It’s really pretty personal and varies from person to person.

Terri:

It does, yes. Just know that you can’t get too much, there’s nothing toxic about it. You can do internally, you can do topically together. You can’t get too much. If you do get too much internally, it just makes you sleepy and really grounded feeling.

Jeff:

Yeah.

Terri:

There’s nothing harmful about it whatsoever.

Jeff:

Nothing dangerous, so to speak.

Terri:

Not at all. And you’ll never get high from the plant … the plant products that are legal here in North Carolina, you’ll never get high from them, no matter how much you take too.

Jeff:

So if someone were to … this is for my own personal benefit. If I were to consume CBD as a sleep aid, and I would have the option of either using the drops under the tongue, or I could put it in a beverage in the evening, like a tea.

Terri:

Yeah, you could. We even sell coffee, that would be more for the morning because they are caffeinated. We sell tea, we have caffeinated tea, we have a herbal tea that has hemp CBD in it. Gummies, gummies are really popular for sleep. We do have it in capsules, too. We have it in smokes.

Jeff:

So really various.

Terri:

So really comes down to preference, once you know that it is beneficial to you, you like the benefits, you know about how much it takes to be effective. It’s about preference. So right now tinctures and gummies are really popular. Gummies are fun, what’s not fun about eating little gummy snacks?

Jeff:

Yeah, I have heard that some people can be an aversion to the taste of the drops under the tongue. So it’s good that there’s alternatives based on preference.

Terri:

That is true. And that’s another reason why we like people to taste it and give them that serving and then you get flavor choices. All of ours are very mild tasting. The peppermint is getting to be a little strong, I’m asking my manufacturer to lighten up on the peppermint. But we have natural lemon and mint. And some brands are really strong, earthy hemp tasting. Like it tastes like bong water or licking an ashtray. Can be really awful, so if you’ve ever tasted a CBD product and you’re like, “Oh, I just can’t handle the taste.” Try HempLily, people have told us that many times, they come and taste ours and say, “Oh, that didn’t taste bad at all, it’s very pleasant.” And then there’s some products that have no taste at all. So ours are in the very mild range and very palatable.

Jeff:

That’s interesting. And that’s really good to know. And where do you source your … is HempLily your own brand of CBD?

Terri:

It is my own brand.

Jeff:

Okay.

Terri:

Yes. Homegrown, absolutely my own brand. And I source most of our products, especially our tinctures and topicals, things like that come from a farm in Colorado. I trusted them the most at the time, they were willing to work with a small business like me. And they really helped me grow, so Colorado.

Jeff:

That’s awesome. Let’s talk a little bit about the team there at HempLily. Do you have employees?

Terri:

I have two part-time employees, we call them HCAs or HempLily certified associates.

Jeff:

Okay.

Terri:

That’s Amanda and Marty. I am at the store part of the time and when I’m not there, it’s either Amanda or Marty. I’ve trained them fully, I keep them up to date, refresher training because the industry changes a lot. It has already changed a lot since we launched. But they’ve both been with us for a long time, they’re very caring, they’re very educated on the plant. They both have their own stories of what brought them to HempLily. They were my customers that were just really impressed with everything, so they’re wonderful. If you can’t talk to me, they will help you all the same when you go into the store and walk you through the process.

Jeff:

Excellent. And what are the hours for the boutique?

Terri:

We are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. And always by phone, if we’re not there, you can always call us. If somebody calls us and says, “I’m driving by, I’m not going to be around.” I will go meet them, I will go meet people on a Sunday, on a Monday, I’m very flexible. But I do need a day off, which really Sunday is the only day I get myself completely off. And Monday is just crazy catching up for taking one day off, a home office day. But yeah, the store Tuesday to Saturday, but we’re flexible if you need us to help you.

Jeff:

That’s wonderful. And really only small business can say that when it comes to flexibility. And as a small business owner myself, I understand the value of that. So I know your customers love that. Correct me if I’m wrong, you were the first dispensary in the Lake Norman area?

Terri:

Yes. Almost three years ago now. In all of Charlotte, it was me and one other fine lady in South Charlotte. We both came on with our websites around the same time, she’d been working kind of underground for a couple of years. And then we both launched our websites the same week back in 2017. So we’ve been supporting each other as other dispensaries have come on the scene and said they were first in Charlotte. We’re like, “Well, maybe not, we just didn’t have as big of a budget to get on the news media and things like that.” HempLily is just me, no one else. Everything was born and created from me, the design of our store, our packaging, everything is me so far. So looking to grow and that may change. But right now it is still just a small, small boutique.

Jeff:

Well, the boutique, the store is really, really pretty. I’ve seen photos, I haven’t visited personally, but I’ve seen photos on your website and social media. What am I missing? What else would you like to talk about?

Terri:

HempLily is a give back. We want to give back, we not only love talking with customers and helping you feel better, that’s our goal. But we also want to give back to the local community, so 10% of all sales, whether we’re profitable or not, are given to Hope House Foundation in Huntersville. We feel very important about giving back, that it’s beyond us, that we’re blessed and grateful to have what we want. So we want to give to others as much as possible. So that’s a good chunk of change, we’ll let you know everybody who purchases, you’ve donated this much to the Hope House Foundation with your purchase today.

Jeff:

I love that. What is … and forgive me for not knowing this off hand. What does Hope House Foundation … who do they benefit primarily?

Terri:

They benefit women and children who are without a place to live. They give them temporary housing, help them get back on their feet, give them the skills they need to get back in supporting themselves. So they give them that housing and guidance.

Jeff:

I will definitely do some more research on Hope House. That’s wonderful. And thank you for doing that. I would definitely encourage listeners to check them out as well. I’ll make sure that there’s a link to more information about Hope House Foundation in the show notes and on the website.

Terri:

They can go to hemplily.com and our about us page has a link to them as well.

Jeff:

Okay, great. Terri, is there a message? Anything else you’d like to share with our audience, our listeners, the community, your customers? Any words you’d like to share or a message?

Terri:

Yeah, just don’t believe that you have to live in dis-ease, where diseases dis-ease. There is a way to heal your body and cannabis can really be your friend along the way, and really give you the balance you need. Mind and body balance, it seeks out whatever’s out of balance, brings it into balance so you can heal. It is our God-given plant to help you along the way. So we want to educate people on that. And if anybody has any questions, we’re here for you.

Jeff:

Absolutely, I love that. Where can listeners learn more about HempLily?

Terri:

They can go to hemplily.com or they can call us (704) 448-5999. And again, our stores at 20124 West Catawba Avenue in Cornelius, that’s exit 28.

Jeff:

Right next to the Waffle House, which is pretty easy to spot, I pass it almost every day.

Terri:

It’s also right across the street from the new Chick-fil-A, that’s been helping people find it too.

Jeff:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, now a giant landmark there as well. Terri, I want to thank you so much for joining the podcast. I can’t wait to share your story and all the information about HempLily with the audience. Obviously I’ll have links to everything HempLily related in the show notes on the website. Again, the company is HempLily in Cornelius, owner Terri Long. Thank you so much for joining the podcast.

Terri:

And one more thing, Jeff, I forgot to mention. That our listeners who hear this, I want to give them a discount.

Jeff:

Excellent.

Terri:

Whether online or if they come into the store, they would just mention it in store that they heard about us on your podcast. We’re going to give you 15% off your purchase. If you want to order online, we have free shipping, free local delivery, we ship free anywhere in the country. But the code for online is LKN15, enter that at checkout and you will get 15% off your purchase.

Jeff:

Wonderful. Thank you so much for that. LKN15, listeners. Terri, thank you again so much. Really appreciate it and enjoyed this conversation.

Terri:

Yes. Thank you, Jeff.

Jeff:

Well, thanks again, Terri, I enjoyed that conversation. Listeners, I hope you did as well. You can learn more about HempLily at hemplily.com or give them a call at (704) 448-5999. Thanks Terri, for offering a discount code to The Best of LKN listeners, that was very generous. Listeners, if you shop online or in the boutique, be sure to use that discount code. And that code again is LKN15. I’ll have all the links for HempLily as well as their contact information and location in the show notes at www.thebestoflkn.com. Until next time, listeners, thanks as always for supporting your favorite local small businesses. I’ll be back soon with another episode. Bye for now.

Outro:

We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of The Best of LKN. For more information about this podcast, show notes, video episodes, and links to our featured businesses, please visit www.thebestoflkn.com. We publish episodes weekly, so be sure to subscribe and stay up to date. Until next time, cheers Lake Norman!