Why These Teenage Girls Started a CBD Lifestyle Brand

By Javier Hasse
Source: ctpost.com

CBD helped them ease the painful symptoms of multiple diseases. Now they want to bring the compound to other young adults.

Photo: Hoop Beauty

While weed is for adults only, CBD (a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, hemp, and hops) can be used by anyone. In fact, CBD products are used to treat numerous ailments in children, ranging from epilepsy to autism. Recently, the FDA approved a CBD-based drug to treat rare forms of childhood-onset epilepsy.

Although there's been plenty of news about kids using CBD, much less attention has been given to kids making a business out of it. But that's just what a new company called Hoop Beauty is doing.

Devastating Symptoms

For many years, Kristin Price, a 16-year-old from North Carolina, struggled with multiple autoimmune and auto-inflammatory diseases. "By early 2018, I had lost about 60 percent of the hair on my head, rashes covered my skin, and I was popping pain pills just to remotely function. I was in too much pain to sleep and I was anxious and depressed,” she told me during a recent conversation.

"My experimental treatments ranged from chemotherapy drugs to anti-malaria medications. These medicines were doing me a lot more harm than good. My immune system was so broken and I was getting weaker than ever before."

She says that "the pharmaceutical industry had failed me and I found myself in a place of true despair. I was being prescribed opiates for my pain and I was afraid of falling into the same trap of addiction as millions of Americans have."

CBD Spells Relief

Then Kristin's mother experimented by giving her hemp-based CBD and everything changed. After two weeks, Kristin not only felt better, but her hair began to grow back. "I haven't had a fever since March, which is absolutely incredible. I had been getting very high fevers that would last for 4 to 7 days every three weeks or so. The day I saw my hair growing back I will never forget. I want to bottle that feeling up and give it to everyone -- give everyone hope," says Kristin “I solely credit CBD for bringing my hair -- and my hope -- back to my life."

CBD also helped ease the daily pain caused by another condition she has called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder. It’s important to understand that Kristin does not consume cannabis, which remains illegal in North Carolina. The medication she uses is derived from hemp grown in Colorado.

An Idea Is Born

While grateful for the pain relief, Kristin and her best friend, Sarah Baker, 16, who also suffers from EDS,  say they "felt a void in the market when it came to safe, high-quality, effective CBD products for young adults," Kristin says.

She was also struck by the lack of education and information on CBD, cannabis, and hemp, explaining that most of her (and Sarah’s) friends had never even heard about CBD before they started using it.

“When we use the word ‘cannabis’ we often get met with blank stares. [So], together, along with my sister, Kasey, we decided to create a company that would not only make the highest quality CBD health and beauty products, but would also serve to empower young adults to live their best lives, speak up for what they believe in, and take control of their own health and wellness.”

The result was Hoop Beauty, which offers CBD information, beauty and lifestyle products. Hoop, which means “hope” in Dutch, is "all about empowering young adults to live their best lives and speak up for what they believe in," according to their Facebook page. "I am passionate about bringing hope to anyone who may need it, for whatever reason,” Kristin says. The company is run by Kristin, Sarah and Kristin's sister, 17-year-old Kasey Price.

Getting in the Family Business

For Kristin, cannabis is a family affair.

“My mother is CEO and Founder of Potnt Agency (a PR and marketing company in the space)," she explains. " I have been interning for her and learning about this industry since middle school. It does feel like a very inclusive space and we are so excited to be a part of it. We felt instantly supported and encouraged by all our parent’s friends and colleagues who have shared our story on social media and have followed us on Instagram (@hoop_beauty) and Facebook (@hoopbeauty). Although our products are currently in R&D, we only truly launched last Friday! I know that our company is starting in the right place at the right time. The youth are this country’s future, and we are smarter, braver, and more spirited than ever before."

Support from the Community

She says that she has some concerns that "we may get some push-back from larger businesses who may consider us a threat as we grow, but overall, I have been overwhelmed by the support." Since announcing their launch, Kristin says, " I’ve had so many companies reach out and DM us asking if we need any help. They are telling us that they are proud that we are building a new brand in this space, and at such a young age. Some may feel that we don’t know what we are talking about because of our youth and inexperience, but we are surrounded by many experts in this market who have tremendous knowledge and understanding of CBD and hemp. In many ways, I think we are teaching the adults around us as much as they are educating us.”

Kristin will also be speaking at the CBD Expo West in Anaheim, CA, in September, sharing a “Patients Perspective on Endocannabinoids and CBD.”