We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Wilburne. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?
I had a few internships when I was still living in New York City. The first one was at a marketing company called Takeout Marketing. It was my first time working in a cool office with people around my age. I developed business relationships there that I still have today. Interning went very well there, but I also realized I had a lot to learn. Also at this time I wanted to work in the music business, so I got two different internships at two different record labels at the same time. Looking back this sounds crazy, but I was determined. Two days a week I was at Matador Records doing radio promotion & three days a week I was at Definitive Jux Records doing graphic design. I was eventually hired by “Def Jux” to work retail promotion full time and worked there for three years.
After working at an indie record label for years, I was ready to go mainstream. I had also started Djing out in clubs at this time. A friend offered me an internship at Universal Records, which I took and was eventually hired full time in the New Media Department to work Rock, Pop & Urban Music. I loved it & stayed there until I left to pursue Djing full-time.
There are many benefits to interning besides the knowledge you get. For me it was the free shows and the cool swag, but some amazing business contacts and friendships were made along the way. I always recommend it!
Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a comprehensively certified Pilate’s instructor. I got into Pilates when I injured my back. I was in a lot of pain for many months until I found Pilates. I was so impressed that Pilates healed me, because I had tried everything else! I love being able to pass on the Pilates knowledge and help people heal or strengthen their bodies.
I got into the CBD industry and started Ewwe Wellness as a way to educate people and produce the highest quality CBD at the best price point without using any artificial flavors or additives that unfortunately are in most of the CBD’s that are out on the market now.
I will tell you my story from the beginning and how I even got to this point. I have suffered with anxiety and stress for a long time. My mother was the one that actually had me try CBD one night before I went to DJ. It was an immediate life changer! Once I started taking CBD my life became easier and I found myself less anxious and stressed. I got my Medical Marijuana card and started researching & buying CBD from a dispensary.
I stopped going to the dispensary when I was introduced to a woman making her own CBD. I started buying the CBD directly from her. She had a policy that you had to buy 10 bottles at a time. Ten of her bottles were the price of two bottles from the dispensary. I started selling her CBD to my friends and family.
At this point I had the opportunity to white-label my own product from a lab in Oregon. I white-labeled my first product and sold out, mostly selling to friends, family & my Pilates clients. I felt that there were things I wanted to change about the white-labeled product I was selling. This is when I wanted to create and formulate my own 100% clean CBD line, and this is where Ewwe Wellness came from. Ewwe (pronounced E-we) stands for- Earth Wind Water Energy
How’d you meet your business partner?
I was extremely fortunate to have been introduced to my partner Katerina Termentzi PHD, by a mutual friend in the cannabis industry. On our first meeting we discovered that we have the same exact birthday & a gluten allergy. Kat is from Greece and has a PHD that specializes in Natural Product chemistry and she is also an expert in extra virgin olive oil. She has formulated ALL of our products, which are all extra virgin olive oil based; this is what sets us apart from other brands. We don’t believe in using artificial flavors or any chemical additives to our CBD. We also believe in educating our consumer, which is why there is so much information about CBD on our website. When our mutual friend that introduced us found out we had the same birthday, he said “there are no coincidences in life”.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?
My partner and I are completely funding everything ourselves right now. All of our money that is made is going back into Ewwe. We just launched in March this year and the feedback on the products has been amazing! We are very confident in the quality of the product and that it will sell itself. There is truly nothing like Ewwe on the market right now.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ewwewellness.com
- Instagram: ewwewellness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ewwewellness
Image Credits
Viveca Ljung Michael Matthews