We recently connected with Weiwei Fellman and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Weiwei thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

When I first heard about CBD, it was right after the Federal government passed the Farm Bill in 2018. I suffered severe panic attacks after my son Patrick was born in 2016. Because of Patrick’s heart condition when he was born, we stayed at NICU of Masonic Children Hospital for 4 weeks. That’s how I developed panic attacks syndromes. I have been looking for remedy here and there and didn’t want to take pharmaceutical drugs. In early 2019, the first CBD store opened its door in our neighbor city Moorhead, MN. After hearing a lot of great things that CBD can do for our mind and body, I went to that store hoping that I could find something to help with my anxiety and panic attacks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. The staff working at the store was not able to provide the in-depth level of education for me. And I wasn’t convinced of the product quality that I was seeing. I returned home empty handed but I kept on doing more research online. Eventually found a brand from Colorado and spoke with their rep for over 40 mins on phone since I have so many questions about how CBD works, why it works, & safety etc. I ordered a product from them and used it. I immediately felt the result to calm my mind. I was telling myself, “Man, I wish there’d be a platform to help guide the customers when they look for quality CBD products in our community.” That was almost a light bulb moment. I told myself “Why don’t I start building something and provide a safe, comfortable, easy shopping experience to the people who live in our community?” When I first was doing research on this business idea, my husband was suggesting that I should do online only because that’ll save me a lot of overhead cost such as rent, utility, & labor etc. I insisted on opening a brick-and-mortar because I know that people would want to come visit you, ask questions, try out the samples if they want to make a purchase from you. That’s how Kota Botanics ™ was born. We opened our door as a brick-and-mortar in December 2019.

Weiwei, 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 was born and grew up in Zunyi, China (a small city in southwest area with a population of 6 million.). I immigrated to the U.S. in late 2009 after I turned 30. I met my husband Jeff who’s a Fargo native in Beijing in 2004. After we got engaged in 2008, we started our long immigration process like everybody else did. After I got my immigration visa in October 2009, I moved to Fargo, ND and married my best friend in December 2009. I have always been passionate about entrepreneurship. I was inspired by my late mother who passed away in July 2021 due to a sudden illness. My mom has always been a strong woman in our family. She started working at a local department store when she was 16. She’s always been fearless and a lady boss in her company that she helped building. After I moved to the U.S., I started a couple of companies but failed. Simply because I wasn’t passionate about running them. I’ve been looking for business ideas that could keep me motivated. I’ve searched for a long time and eventually discovered CBD and was blown away by the benefits it could bring to us. Growing up in China, I’m very familiar with plant-based medicinal wellness. I’ve seen great results on myself and so many testimonies on how CBD changed our clients life after they started trying it. “Kota” in Japanese means longevity & happiness. We are super proud of what we do every day which is to help our customers find the best CBD products to suit their needs by providing the exceptional services, education, & products. We also give back to our community constantly. We’ve been a great supporter to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Red River Valley, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Stop AAPI Hate, and other non-profit charity organizations. For each Kota Botanics ™ product sold, we donate a meal to No Kid Hungry program. So far, we’ve donated more than 2000 meals since we launched our own branded CBD products.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When COVID hit, we had to switch our retail business from brick-and-mortar to online because we had to close our door at the beginning of the global pandemic. Luckily, we launched our e-commerce site when we launched our brick-and-mortar. We started offering free shipping and free delivery in our FMWF area. This strategy not only kept us alive but also helped our business grow and thrive.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The level of expertise that we have to help educating the customers and guiding them throughout the purchasing process. We spent a lot of time and effort on training our staff. We made sure each of them will be equipped with the knowledge of CBD and cannabis in general including regulations, industry trends as such. We care about our customers so much. We always follow up or check in with them to show them that we are there for them. That’s why our client retention rate is so high.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kotabotanics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kotabotanicsstore
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kotabotanicswellness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kota-botanics/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kotabotanics
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/kotabotanics