Stacy Verbiest is the founder and CEO of W!nk, the nation’s first therapeutic cannabis line created for women, by women. She started W!nk in 2015 after her best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. Stacy tried to find products that would help her with the pain but not get her high. When she entered her first dispensary, Stacy realized that all the branding looked very masculine, and their goal was more recreational than medicinal. Stacy began doing her research on CBD and THC, and started creating CBD products for women. With over five years of experience in the industry, I’m excited to have Stacy on today’s episode of the Heal podcast to share her knowledge and how it can help those of us with Lyme and other Chronic Illnesses.
To learn more about the podcast go to https://www.lyme360.com
I put together a Free Detox for Lyme Checklist for you. Click here to get your copy:
https://lyme360.com/podcast-checklist/
To learn more about our podcast guest, click here:
https://lyme360.com/healing-properties-of-cbd/
If you enjoy this podcast, please help support the podcast by purchasing some of my favorite products on the shop page. Lyme 360 receives a small percentage for the sale of each item. Thank You for your support, I really appreciate it!
https://lyme360.com/shop-products-for-lyme-disease/
Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lyme.360/
Stacy Verbiest is the founder and CEO of W!nk, the nation’s first therapeutic cannabis line created for women, by women. She started W!nk in 2015 after her best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. Stacy tried to find products that would help her with the pain but not get her high. When she entered her first dispensary, Stacy realized that all the branding looked very masculine, and their goal was more recreational than medicinal. Stacy began doing her research on CBD and THC, and started creating CBD products for women. With over five years of experience in the industry, I’m excited to have Stacy on today’s episode of the Heal podcast to share her knowledge and how it can help those of us with Lyme and other Chronic Illnesses.
To learn more about the podcast go to https://www.lyme360.com
I put together a Free Detox for Lyme Checklist for you. Click here to get your copy:
https://lyme360.com/podcast-checklist/
To learn more about our podcast guest, click here:
https://lyme360.com/healing-properties-of-cbd/
If you enjoy this podcast, please help support the podcast by purchasing some of my favorite products on the shop page. Lyme 360 receives a small percentage for the sale of each item. Thank You for your support, I really appreciate it!
https://lyme360.com/shop-products-for-lyme-disease/
Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lyme.360/
Mimi (00:03):
Welcome to the heal podcast for all things related to Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses. I'm Mimi McLean, mom of five, founder of Lyme 360 and a Lyme warrior. Tune in each week to hear from doctors, health, practitioners, and experts to hear about their treatments, struggles and triumphs to help you on your healing journey. I'm here to heal with you.
Mimi (00:24):
Hi, welcome back to the hero podcast. This is Mimi, and today we have Stacy Verbiest. She is a mom of four and a serial entrepreneur, always looking for ways to make life better by following trends and exploring her creative side. She's the founder and CEO of wink. The nation's first therapeutic cannabis line created for women by women. Stacy, thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate it.
Stacy (00:49):
Well, thank you for having me on. I'm happy to be here.
Mimi (00:52):
Awesome. I'm so excited to go through this and learn all about CBD. I know there's some confusion with people, the difference between CBD and regular marijuana, which has THC in it. And so I really want to dive into why CBD is super important for people with Lyme and chronic illnesses. I know it's helped me out a lot for pain and inflammation. So I would love if you could just dive in and speak to that at first.
Stacy (01:16):
Okay. Well, CBD is known as the anti holistic health drug in a good sense. It's an antiinflammatory and antioxidant it's known for anti-aging anti-depression anti-nausea and the list goes on a classic sign of an auto immune disorder is inflammation, which causes pain, whether it's Lyme disease, like you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, MS, Lupus CBD works by interacting directly with specific receptors within our body, specifically designed to work in tandem with cannabinoids. Now this collection of receptors and neuro-transmitters is what we call the endocannabinoid system. Essentially endocannabinoids maintain an internal balance on the body. And when this balance is disrupted, which happens with auto immune diseases or disorders pain sets in. Now CBD interacts with the cannabinoid receptors within our body, which ultimately reduces inflammation, which ultimately reduces pain. And I'm sure that's what you're experiencing when you use CBD.
Mimi (02:32):
Yes, it definitely definitely helps. I have found it. It's been great. Now I would love for you to talk because I definitely use it in a couple of different forms and I really enjoyed your products that you have sent to me. There's the gummies that you can eat. So they're kind of like candy. I also love like the lotions that you can put actually right on the pain itself and then there's like different tinctures. And then you also have a sugar scrub like you use in the shower. So can you talk to the different products and like, what are the different benefits? Why you would use one over the other or can you use them all at the same time?
Stacy (03:03):
You're so funny, but you can definitely use a lot of them at the same time. And I'm happy that you're enjoying our products. Wink does offer several different types of cannabis products, all derived from the hemp plant. We have our oils, we've got beauty and skincare products, gummies and capsules, starting with the oils, which I think you've used the tincture. The oils are likely in the cannabis industry the largest, most popular form of using cannabis. And oils can either be found in vapor products or sublinguals known as tinctures. Wink oils and our vapor products are the fastest method for entering the bloodstream and they work almost immediately. A lot of our customers use our vapor pens for pain management, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and nausea. Tinctures, which we touched on are sublinguals. And they are the drops of oil that you place underneath your tongue. Now, when these drops are held for about 20 seconds under your tongue, the oil travels through the membranes underneath your tongue, bypassing your digestive track. So it takes effect faster. It's not as fast as a vape pen, but it's probably the second fastest method. Tinctures too are also used for inflammation, anxiety, pain, and nausea. The nice thing about tinctures too, is that they can be used these topically for muscular pain or skin irritation. Our skin and beauty products, skincare products are used topically and wink topicals have shown to deliver very effective relief for muscular aches and also common skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis and acne and rosacea. Wink oils, when you use them on the skin or CBD oils on the skin, they create a barrier of protection against free radicals. And that's why CBD is known for its anti-aging properties. You can definitely use the vapor products, the tinctures, and all the skincare products in conjunction with one another. We also offer gummies. So gummies seemed to be the most popular form of taking CBD. They're an excellent way for first time users to try CBD and they also support someone's existing wellness regime. So a lot of our customers primarily take them is for pain, inflammation, sleep disorders, also anxiety and depression. If you're doing the gummies or the capsules, you would probably not do the tincture and the vape pen, but you can always use the skincare products in conjunction with the gummies and the capsules. The capsules are not as sweet as the gummies. They're an option for those who want something just to get the job done. You know, they don't want the sugar, they don't want the sweets. They're used to taking medicine and they like taking a pill. When you take a capsule, it does go through your digestive track. So it takes about 45 minutes to take effect but our capsules have 25 milligrams of CBD. So they are probably the highest concentrate for what we sell and they work amazing for pain management and sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, neuropathy, and probably our most popular product for treating autoimmune diseases and disorders.
Mimi (06:10):
Now that's great, I have a question I've never taken a vape pen because I've been afraid to do a vape pen because of like my lungs, you know, are, tend to be weak. So does vape pen affect the lungs at all?
Stacy (06:21):
There's no scientific evidence right now of oil on the lungs. I definitely don't like to recommend vape products because the science behind them is so tricky. All the negative publicity that came out about vape pens really had to do with artificial flavors and nicotine. But I do think when you're using a vape pen, medicinally like using CBD. It's like taking Advil. You're in, it's not an oral fixation where you're vaping every few seconds and you're addicted to it. You're really using it like medicine to treat an ailment. And you're not going to overdose on the medicine. Like you're not going to take too much of a vape pen.
Mimi (06:59):
Okay. That makes sense. That makes sense. Then it's more about the what's in it. Not necessarily the, the vaping itself, it's what you're actually vaping.
Stacy (07:07):
I would think so. But with the lung condition, I just don't know. It's very tricky. You would have to talk to a doctor about that and to be honest.
Mimi (07:15):
So the difference between like a THC and a CBD, like what really is the difference? Like, is there a benefit to the THC for medicinal factors or is all the medicinal benefits just in the CBD?
Stacy (07:28):
No, they're in both for sure. CBD and THC are two of the more well-researched and popular phytocannabinoids people take CBD and THC in a variety of ways and they can be consumed separately or together. Dosing is the most important factor. And you really should research before starting either or both. I always tell my customers, make sure you read product labels and you know, how much is in each dose. Beginners should never take more than two and a half milligrams to five milligrams per serving. And you just have to be really aware that if you're taking edibles, you need to wait 45 minutes for the effects to take place. Especially if it's a THC product. A lot of people like combining both of them, it just depends. You know, one has an intoxicating high and the other one doesn't you just have to really test out products to see what works for you. And a lot of people don't like going into dispensaries. The only way you could find products that are combined would be in a dispensary. So that's why a lot of people refer to CBD and hemp based products.
Mimi (08:31):
Right. That makes sense. Now, if you were to take a CBD product like a student athlete or professional athletes, would they fail a drug test?
Stacy (08:39):
CBD should not show up in a drug test. However, a lot of CBD products contain trace amounts of Delta 9, which is THC, which is found in drug tests. THC is marijuana main active ingredient. If enough THC is present, it will show up on a drug test. And that means in rare cases, using CBD might lead to a positive drug test. Again, consumers have to read labels and make sure the CBD is derived from the hemp plant. And it does not exceed the 0.3% of THC, which is a government standard to be sold in stores. Most labels will state THC free. And the main thing is companies should always publish their lab tests on their website WINK products fall under the government standards. And we always publish our lab tests online. And every time we get a batch of oil and we check it to make sure that there are trace amounts or zero amounts of THC. So it's really going to be about the labels and the company that you're purchasing from.
Mimi (09:43):
Right. Which leads me to my next question is what makes you different from other CBD brands? I mean, there's so many brands out there. So what am I looking for when I'm trying to decide on a CBD company?
Mimi (09:55):
Well, when you're looking for products, the main thing is product should be listed with a full spectrum, hemp oil or a multi cannabinoid hemp oil. The label shouldn't just say CBD, because that means you're only getting one cannabinoid and CBD on its own is known as an isolate. And there's not a lot of therapeutic value to it. That's been proven scientifically. Full spectrum and multi cannabinoid. Hemp oils contain an array of cannabinoids. CBD is only one of them. And, um, a lot of like the essential vitamins and minerals and fatty acids and proteins and chlorophyll and fiber and flavonoids and turpines are all found in the hemp plant. So if you're looking for a product, you want it to be a full spectrum or multi cannabinoid hemp oil. Our products, wink products contain hemp oil. So you're getting all of the healing elements. The hemp plant has to offer. I think we differ from other brands because we really put our heart and soul into our formulations. We also take pride in our customer service. And we offer full disclosure of our lab tests. Currently, I was just looking at that today. Our customer return rate is over 50%, which brings us great pride in what we're creating. I think our brand also stands out because wink was created for women by women, after a friend of mine who was diagnosed with breast cancer. And there were really no products developed by women for women. I developed wink to ease that emotional and mental and physical side effect that women have, you know, with specific conditions, we have starting at age 15 when we get our 13, 12, whenever you get your period up until my mom and dad who are in their eighties, who suffer from sleep disorders, neuropathy, anxiety, you know, so I just really wanted to cover women's needs across the board.
Mimi (11:46):
That's wonderful. So can you tell the listeners where the best place is to find your products and also maybe a little bit about the affiliate program that you're starting. If other people want to share your products and what maybe the best sellers are, if they, they want to go online.
Stacy (12:01):
Our products, we sell to a lot of retailers, but because of COVID, we've been kind of shut down with retailers. We also sell to a lot of spas. We've got different massage oils and lotions that a lot of response is, but right now the best place is to buy online at wink-wink.com. We started launching our affiliate program, the She Winks entrepreneur program in April, but because of COVID too, we kind of put that on a hold, the affiliate program should launch by the end of this year, we're trying to work out different zoom options and ways that people can reach their friends and get the brand name out there through education. You can always sign up online. We're collecting email addresses right now. And as soon as that program launches, we're going to be so excited to get that going. I think with wink and any CBD brands, selling CBD is all about education and targeting specific consumer needs. And that's why we're going to move forward with the program. And we're very excited for it to launch.
Mimi (13:00):
That's great. And then what would you say are the most popular if they wanted to go online and buy one or two things? So what are your bestselling products?
Stacy (13:07):
Our best selling product right now is our disposable vapor pen. That is because of what we talked about before you have immediate results. And a lot of people suffer from anxiety and depression. So they'd like the pen because it acts immediately, I think for auto immune diseases and disorders, our bestselling products would be the gummies and the gel caps. And if someone's just looking for skincare products, you know, our sugar scrubs and salt scrubs, we've got a full line of face serums and eye creams and face creams. We even have a CBD candle. I can honestly say across the board, everything sells really well. Once a customer goes into one product, they always come back and try out a few more and the products are fun. They smell good. They work well. And they're long lasting.
Mimi (13:55):
Yeah, they do definitely smell well. I do enjoy them. So, but thank you so much for coming on today. You definitely helped clarify some questions I had about CBD and THC.
Stacy (14:05):
Thanks Mimi for having me. It was fun
Mimi (14:12):
Each week, I'll bring you different voices from the wellness community so that they can share how they help their clients heal. You will come away with tips and strategies to help you get your life back. Thank you so much for coming on and I'm so happy you are here. Subscribe now and tune in next week. You can also join our community at Lyme360 warriors on Facebook and let's heal together. Thank you.