Meet The Family – GWL Founder
Meet the Family
We’ve received such great feedback on our Green Wellness “Meet the Family” series featuring Cara and Hannah. Thank you for wanting to know us and be part of the GWL family! Small businesses like ours appreciate it so much. Now it’s my turn. My name is Brandy Palmer and I started GWL back in 2015. It’s been both a long and short 7 years, which I suppose is how these things go!
All About Brandy
I’m originally from Vermont, but have lived in West Michigan for my adult life, apart from a 2 year stint in Southern Arizona. My husband, Jim, is an automotive engineer and we have two busy kiddos in middle school. Our son will be a freshman next year, which I am wholly unprepared for. He loves football, while his sister can be found in the craft room or on the soccer field. So, I’m pretty much a taxi driver for underage customers that don’t pay well.
We’ve got plenty of non-human family members as well. Jim is a salt water fanatic and we have a beautiful 180 gallon tank in our living room. We also have a geriatric bearded dragon named Spike (obviously) and some stinking cute hermit crabs. Last, but not least, there are the cats. We have 4 of them – three are hairless sphynx and the fourth is furry. The total cat count between Cara, Hannah, and myself is 7. So if you’ve thought “Man, Green Wellness posts a lot of cat pictures” – that’s accurate. How could we not? They’re the best. (No side eye to dogs here – we love them, too!)
New Ventures
I was not a natural entrepreneur. The idea of owning my own business was scary and just seemed unnecessary. I was a successful project manager for a manufacturer here in West Michigan – no need to change it up. Until, that is, we needed more flexibility for my young family than my employer could give. It’s true that necessity is the mother of invention. I fell into a role for a manufacturer of hemp products without knowing much about the plant. That role led to a love of alternative medicine in general and cannabinoids in particular. It’s still going strong 6 years later.
The Green Wellness Way
I started this business with a drop-shipper, meaning that I picked from a set catalog of products that someone else shipped for me. I was able to focus solely on servicing customers. That worked well, until it didn’t. I didn’t want to sell products to people that I hadn’t tried myself. Additionally, I wanted to be able to branch out and offer more brands and products to choose from. We now carry more than 200 products on Green Wellness Life and another nearly 100 on Grow Green Wellness. All of those (yes, all of them) have been used by our team and/or our families. We’ve tried the good, the bad, and the super gross – all in an effort to carry what we believe to be the best hemp-based products on the market today. We also look at the lab reports for all of the CBD products to make sure those bottles and bags contain what they say they do so that we are only putting safe products in the hands of our people and pets.
All of those products ship from our Michigan warehouse. Cara, Hannah, or myself package everything and ship it out the door, so the process is truly managed here in full, from product selection to fulfillment. It’s a lot, but we love it!
Products I Love
I am very grateful that I am not someone who lives with chronic pain. My successes with CBD run the gamut. I take a daily supplement for mood. These gray Michigan winters can take a toll and I often need an assist to keep my emotions and frame of mind on an even keel. My husband swears by topicals for sore feet and ankles. CBD patches have also been an absolute lifesaver on more occasions than I can count.
Here are my current top 5 favorites:
Social Boost Capsules
As a 43 year old mom and business owner, I’m tired. Regularly. 25-35mg of CBD daily is my sweet spot to find relief and these capsules are my tried and true daily supplement. Each capsule contains 33mg of CBD along with yerba mate and moringa for a boost of energy. Coupled with Social CBD‘s new lowered pricing, it’s hard to beat this one.
Lazarus Energy Gummies
Lazarus is a brand that we’ve carried for a while, but these gummies are brand new. We’re carrying their Calm and Energy option. “Calm” is a full-spectrum gummy that adds l-theanine and ashwagandha for a soothing benefit. The “Energy” option is a 0 THC gummy that includes B12 for that energy lift. Both are 25mg and both are excellent. I like the Energy as an alternative on those days when coffee doesn’t feel like the solution or for an after lunch boost. The bright blackberry flavor is delish!
Entourage Microcaps
These are my husband’s preferred capsules. They’re small and easy to swallow and packed full of whole plant cannabinoids. Entourage offers a really well-rounded cannabinoid profile that’s a perfect fit for people looking for a higher serving. My husband is a big guy who did some damage to his knees, feet, and ankles playing football over the years. He doesn’t go a day without these 50mg capsules. Entourage has recently lowered pricing across their line, which we love to see.
The Good Patch
We are big fans of CBD patches in my house. Sore back or shoulder? Grab a patch. Broke a toe playing soccer like an idiot on cement? That would be me – grabbed a patch. Headache? Painful period? You get the drift. This isn’t something that I reach for daily, but I’m so grateful to have them in my CBD arsenal. This is our newest patch line and they come in 4 packs – each can be used for a day.
cbdMD CBD Drink Packets
This is another new product for us. It’s a booster – meaning that it’s super fast acting. It’s intended to get into your system quickly but it won’t “buy and hold” like a traditional internal product. They just give you the boost you need to get through – whether it’s with a mood lift or an unexpected ache or pain. Each drink packet goes right into a bottle of water and contains 25mg of CBD with 0 THC. I keep packets in the car, in the store, and at home where my family can grab them and get balanced.
What’s Next?
As there are only three GWL employees, it would make sense that we wrap this series up here. But, wait! Didn’t we allude to furry (and not so furry) family members? Shouldn’t they get their own article, too? We think so – watch for that soon. In the meantime, if there’s anything we can do for you – we’re here! This is a great starting point if you’re new to CBD. If you’d rather talk to a real live human, give us a call at 866-244-4223 or shoot over an email at support@greenwellnesslife.com. Thanks for getting to know us!