Laura Brenner, the inspiration and one of the founders of Sugar and Kush CBD, recently did a podcast on CBDSchool. She discusses our CBD gummies, CBD oils and little about her story as an ovarian cancer survivor.
Transcription:
Host: On today’s episode of the CBD School podcast, it is a steamy July Pennsylvania Atlantic East Coast day and I am interviewing Laura, one of the founders of a brand called Sugar and Kush today. Welcome to the show Laura.
Laura: Hi! Thanks for having me.
Host: Absolutely, thanks for being here. We were just talking a little before I started recording and I grew up in Pennsylvania and you grew up in New Jersey. Is that right?
Laura: Yes, that is correct.
Host: That’s cool, I broke my collar bone in New Jersey.
Laura: That’s not good.
Host: It was fun until that happened. Where in New Jersey?
Laura: So we are central, we actually live by Asbury Park near the beach, so it’s nice.
Host: I know exactly where that is. So, we have these hot summers, do you like them?
Laura: I never hate summer. I love love love summer. I am not a cold person, I love the warmth so I will take summer over anything else. It’s the doom and gloom feeling, it gets dark so early it throws me off.
Host: So, how did you get into CBD and why did you name your brand Sugar and Kush? Because it’s a cool name.
Laura: Thanks! So, my story is kind of crazy. When I was 31 years old I was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. After that happened to me, I had surgery done. I had a tumor on my ovary which they removed, I had one on my uterus which spread to my diaphragm. When I met with my oncologist they wanted to do chemo. In my heart, it just wasn’t the right thing for me, so I started studying alternative holistic medicine and I watched a documentary called the Gerson Miracle. That changed my life forever because they were healing people through juicing and changing your diet. I thought that was so intriguing. I thought, wow this is amazing, this is how I am going to heal myself. My doctors did say that I still had micro-invasive cells still left in my body after surgery so that was important for me to try and figure out how to kill them. I went and studied doctors, I went and found an amazing doctor in Cherry Hill, New Jersey that does all holistic alternative medicine. CBD was a huge part of my life. You kind of get really scared when you get diagnosed with cancer. Pretty much I just lived an entirely holistic alternative lifestyle ever since then.
I was talking to a couple of my best friends that we founded this company with and I said I would love to be able to reach out and affect people on a different level. Whether it’s for cancer or it’s for stress, depression, inflammation, whatever it is I want to be able to reach the world on a bigger scale. So, that’s what we are trying to do.
Host: Yeah, that is not a common story. So, I talk to a lot of people and anybody that starts a CBD brand sees the potential of the space and how exciting it is, but that is quite a personal story. So, you are now healthy I assume?
Laura: Yes, I am. I’ll be seven years cancer free in January, 2020. January 18, when I was 31, I was diagnosed. I am 38 now. You know, it’s crazy, I have very strong faith. I then found all of these plant based healing properties.
Host: How long ago did you start the brand?
Laura: Over a year ago, we were working on it for a while now. Years ago, after I was diagnosed and kind of in the healing process, I started making CBD oil in my kitchen. Which is kind of a funny story because back then, if you think about it, seven years ago, the word organic was kind of quacky. It wasn’t the norm back then. Now, people are beginning to see that there are actually plant based products that are actually healing the body naturally. People are starting to become more aware, which is great. We started the idea a long time ago, I had the idea in my head. We invested in an 8-acre farm of hemp just to have it, to grow and that did very well. Then our team came together and I said why don’t we start a CBD company? I always did one-on-one to help people with their health and their eating and how if you change your eating it can help tremendously with a lot of the ailments people have. So, we put this concept together and it came naturally to me because it was something that I did everyday.
Host: That’s great, and what made you decide on the name?
Laura: Sugar and Kush, it’s kind of funny because we have zero sugar in any of our products.
Host: Yeah, I was wondering about that.
Laura: Zero sugar in any of our products, and Kush, we don’t use any THC.
Host: Yeah, I think that’s interesting about it that there is no sugar or Kush. That’s good for people looking to avoid sugar. The name is cool, it does flow together, those two words.
Laura: You know what it is? Ok, from what I have learned in my healing process, every CBD company is very medicinal looking and when you are going through something that is kind of dark, whether it’s cancer or you are sick in some sort of way, whether it is anxiety or depression, I just kind of wanted to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Sugar and Kush made me happy, it’s fun, it’s pretty, it’s cool, it’s got a good vibe and energy about it. I wanted all of those things. We were originally go with a more medicinal look and then one of my business partners came up with this name and I thought, wow, this is great! It’s catchy, it’s fun and I think people need that in their life. We have a lot of darkness in this world and I think bringing a little love and light really goes a long way.
Host: I like the color. What is the main product people are attracted to?
Laura: I think it’s the CBD gummies. It’s an edible, an easy on the go. The CBD gummy bears are our number one seller. They taste amazing, there is zero sugar. I do a lot of R&D behind our products and the main point was for everybody to be able to enjoy it.I want people that have diabetes, that have cancer so that they can enjoy the product and not worry about sugar. You know, sugar is a big factor in our everyday lives. I wanted everyone to feel involved. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I couldn’t eat. I stopped sugar and I didn’t eat anything.
Host: You have to cut it out.
Laura: Yeah, when you are going to family events, when you are going to parties I would bring my own sugar free foods. I would make my own stuff so I feel like people can still be involved and still feel like they are a part of something. I wanted everybody to feel that.
Listen to hear more of Laura’s story.
Sugar & Kush CBD Helpful Links
Find out how CBD with no THC can be safe for drug tests.
Using CBD oil for anxiety and the benefits of using CBD Oil for anxiety are popular topics of studies world-wide.
Using CBD oil for pain can be a safe and effective way to find relief of symptoms for women.
CBD edibles can be an effective CBD product for pain relief, especially with our popular recipes for CBD baked goods.