Five Questions with Melissa Parker, founder and CEO of Reed’s Remedies, a new line of CBD sprays that include Focus, Sleep, Calm, Detox, Desire, Relief, and introducing Soothe — a new pain mitigating lotion. Offering an exact 7 mg dose every time, Reed’s Remedies sprays combine the power of steam-distilled CBD in its absolute purest form with a dynamic blend of plant-based compounds (called terpenes) that, when combined, produce effects far more powerful than what any element could achieve alone. But there’s more to this line of CBD products found throughout Southern California’s Erewhon Market locations, which is why it’s a NEXTY Award finalist for “Best New Hemp/CBD Product” at the 2020 Natural Products West Expo, the nation’s largest annual gathering of health and wellness brands and retailers.

Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me about yourself? Where are you from? What was your path to healing? Tell me about your company?

Melissa Parker=MP: I am a Los Angeles native, a wife, mother of three girls, and founder of Reed’s Remedies. For as long as I could remember, I’ve had a passion for nature and, more specifically, a fascination with medicinal plants, pharmacology and human biology. I get it from my father, Bill Reed, who passed away from a brain aneurysm when I was 17, and I suppose he got it from his father, Ernest “Dale” Reed, who was a chemist. Like them, my happy place is being neck deep in science and research… but always with a focus on the natural world and an aim to heal. In 2015, I discovered CBD, and the more research I consumed, the more I became utterly convinced that this cannabinoid would revolutionize health, wellness and medicine as we know it. 

Since 2015, I’ve been working with one of the industry’s leading scientists on a new technology that combines advanced molecular steam-distilled cannabinoids (CBD) and powerful terpenes to create formulas that are highly concentrated, designed for quick absorption, pure and targeted. Alone, each ingredient has a level of therapeutic value, but the “magic” happens when each of our formulation ingredients are brought together. Their medicinal properties are strengthened, and they work together to produce powerful, fast-acting results in the form of an oral spray. 

Our sprays deliver a precise dose of 7mg of CBD-rich hemp oil in each pump. The closed container maintains its purity and strength by keeping it safe from exposure to air and contaminants.

Three years of R&D work has gone into Reed’s Remedies, which launched in 2018. Other than my three daughters, these products are my proudest accomplishments. Seeing Reed’s Remedies featured throughout Erewhon Market stores is a beautiful reward too, as Southern Californians know that Erewhon is synonymous with cutting-edge innovation, sustainability, and the highest quality health and wellness products. 

WB: I wrote a book, actually my first book- on Apothecary Cocktails. How much is the current craze surrounding CBD different from the pharmacists working in pharmacy science in the 1800’s? What do you think about the term Snake Oil? How does this affect your work?

MP: Because of my reliance on apothecary sciences and botany, I’ve always felt like a pharmacist from the 1800s, especially back in 2008 at the height of my herbal medicine practice. A hundred years ago, essential oils and herbal tinctures (including cannabis and hemp oil!) were available at pharmacies throughout the U.S. and used as a primary source of medicine.

Snake oil in today’s marketplace is rampant and very real; study after study confirms that the majority of products online that claim to be CBD are in fact oils low in CBD and high in dangerous toxins. It falls upon companies like mine to combat the poor reputation they have created. To that end, each bottle of Reed’s Remedies bears a QR code that allows easy access to independent, third party lab test results on the exact formulation scanned. I don’t want consumers to take my word for it; I want them to see for themselves and feel assured that Reed’s Remedies are free of solvents, heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, chemicals and additives. Our formulations are pure by nature and design so that my customers are only ingesting what they need, and nothing more. We also source from one of just 13 hemp farms to bear the U.S. Hemp Authority seal, a stamp given to a select few that follow the strictest, cleanest and safest growing practices.

WB: Please tell me about how you deal with stigmas? How do you tell people about what you do? What is their most common reaction?

MP: In California, there isn’t too much stigma or resistance, though I was initially hesitant to tell acquaintances in my outer circles about what I do. I’m comfortable with it now and those same people who I once worried wouldn’t understand CBD now come to me for advice and direction on how they can use it to achieve relief for themselves or a loved ones. The question I hear the most from first time users is, “How is CBD going to make me feel?” Some people are anxious about the possibility of feeling out of control or high. The beauty of CBD is that it makes you feel like the best version of yourself, which is why we say at Reed’s Remedies that “You are within reach.” We also take the guesswork out of it by offering formulas for specific needs. Consumers are looking for more sleep, more focus, more relief, more calm, and more desire in their lives. It’s about being empowered to take your health and wellness into your own hands so that you can finally feel more you, naturally.

WB: Do you cook? Have you ever prepared foods that your grandma made when you were young? (If you were lucky enough to have a grandma who cooked for you?) What is your favorite restaurant? What kind of food? Where is it?

MP: I don’t have many chefs in my family, but I am blessed to have grown up in Los Angeles, where there is so much diversity in cuisine. When I want comfort food, I drive to a little hole-in-the wall place in the heart of the San Fernando Valley called Mandarin Deli which serves authentic Mandarin food which makes my soul smile. I always order the same thing: scallion pancakes and beef noodle soup. The best! Makes me drool just thinking about it. I’ve been going for 24 years now.

WB: What is your passion?

MP: Helping people who are suffering. Life is full of suffering, and none of us are immune to it. From losing my father in my youth to experiencing a car accident as an adult that left me dealing with chronic pain and a host of long-term medical problems, I know first-hand how painful life can be. Helping people in any way I can, by providing relief that is within reach, is what has and continues to drive me. Sharing my knowledge of plant medicine and giving people a renewed sense of hope and excitement in life is beyond fulfilling.