We recently connected with Allen Pickett and have shared our conversation below.

Allen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to support the pollinator population and address addictive patterns, with a focus on the opioid epidemic.

Over the past 6 years of operating my business, and embracing a constant state of evolution, I have come to realize: the only thing in life that does not change is the element of change itself.
At an individual and societal level, it can be difficult to navigate life’s changes and “be in the present moment.” I have found the two pillars where I feel called to make an impact are addressing dis-ease and distress with the pollinator population and addictive patterns which often times manifest as substance abuse. Both of these focuses seem to be more distorted than ever and are a direct result of disharmony and lack of present moment awareness.

My brand intends to serve as a florescent beacon of light, like how a bee sees a blooming flower, for those who seek to come back to presence by engaging their heart and human senses.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Honeybee Hemp Farms is located in Lewisville, North Carolina where we create hemp and medicinal mushroom extract infused honey, topicals, and dog biscuit products.

My company practices regenerative farming and offer Reiki healing energy throughout our crop production and the creation of our products. Infusing everything we do with life-force energy helps restore balance to our precious world and customers.

My inspiration to create this brand began when I witnessed the accidental opioid overdose and death of a dear friend a few years ago. It felt like my soul left my body as he passed away and my sense of reality seemed to flatten and disappear. As I came back into my body, still in a state of shock, I knew whatever I did for the rest of my life would be backed by my personal mission to spread heart-centered healing. It is a blessing to alchemize this emotion into energy-in-motion as a force to share the love!

I have always loved animals, connecting with people, and growing plants. This company as it stands today is the product of these passions coming together in an authentic expression of my inner joy.

I am most proud of producing and hosting our first annual music & healing arts festival, Honeybee Hemp Fest, in September 2024 and am in the process of planning the second annual festival for September 2025.
This festival takes place at our farm in North Carolina and serves to unite community around music, farm workshops, healing arts, local food, camping, and much more.
I enjoy farming and creating products very much but this festival feels like the start of something on a whole other level and like the brand has truly come to life!

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Over the past 6 years of operation, I would say this business has had several “near death” moments.

The first was in 2019 after harvesting my first hemp crop when it seemed like the hemp industry was going to crash before it even had a chance to take off. Many farmers grew hemp at this time and the industry way over-saturated, steeped in malpractice, and bottlenecks galore. My crop was not as potent as I had hoped and once it was dried it was very difficult to find an extractor to process it to CBD hemp extract. I felt forced to pivot and begin creating my own value-added products in late 2020 which is when I rebranded to Honeybee Hemp Farms. It was a slow transition but sales started to come in.

The second was in 2021 after my hemp crop was entirely lost due to pest damage and male plant pollination plus covid supply chains were difficult to naviaged and I made some unwise investments monetarily and with my time. I lost trust in myself and was not sure if I wanted to try to keep doing business. I began to work part-time at a pet store to generate a little extra income and maybe learn more about the pet food industry. I had just launched my first website at this time and every time I would lose hope in myself I would get a couple web orders, some of which customers would leave order comments saying how the products were improving their quality of life. Little by little more confidence became restored and I carried on.

The third was in 2023 when I was spread far too thin and fell behind in production. I felt like I was collapsing under my own weight and psychologically felt like I was at a dead-end without much help, mainly because I was trying to do everything myself. I found myself stuck trying to figure out how to make my production process more efficient while managing farm work and setting up as a vendor at festivals most weekends. I had lost work-life-balance and little by little I learned how to receive help and took it one day at a time.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I enjoy reading books (much more than I used to due to having dyslexia), find great utility in podcasts, and value in attending regional farming conferences.

Some of my favorite books include: They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan, The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, Be Here Now by Ram Dass, A Lively Hive by Alex Tuchman, The Gene Keys by Richard Rudd, and Originals by Adam Grant.

Some of my favorite podcasts include: How I Built This with Guy Raz, On Purpose with Jay Shetty, and Know Thy Self with Andre Duqum.

Great farming conferences which have provided abundant resources and connections for agribusiness include: Organic Growers School (Asheville, NC), Virginia Biological Farming Conference (Roanoke, VA), and Mycofest (State College, PA).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.honeybeehempfarms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeybeehempfarms?igsh=MXN6NWU1YTFmczZ0Ng%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/ER5hNN899hXAsBh1/?mibextid=LQQJ4d