Today we’d like to introduce you to Toby Streett.
Hi Toby, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The Cbdeeme story began a few years ago after I moved to Georgia with my wife and dog from Boston. I had been working in PR and media for several Tripadvisor companies in the online travel space (Jetsetter, Smartertravel, Airfarewatchdog…) and decided to venture off on my own. I started Oyster Communications right around the same time that I founded Cbdeeme, so had two ventures running simultaneously. Oyster was a natural for me because I love the media space and getting clients in the news and telling their stories. That’s what makes just about anything in life interesting: The story.
My personal journey took me through a stint in journalism where I was the editor-in-chief of a tongue-in-cheek Boston mag, head writer with NBC and then Trip – where I was given the opportunity to build a fantastic, small PR department working alongside the best people I’ve ever worked with. Smart, funny, highly creative, ethical people. A humbling experience when you see just how much talent is floating around.
Then, off on my own to start Oyster, where I’ve decidedly worked with only businesses and people who I liked and whose products or services I could stand behind while being able to sleep soundly at night. PR as an industry always seems to take the punches on the chin, and it can be thankless until you have a client who actually understands exactly what it is that we do: which is shape and manage how a brand or organization is perceived by the public—building trust, guiding narratives, and maintaining positive relationships through strategic communication with journalists, producers and influencers among others. I’ve gone from working for the largest travel company in the world to taking on boutique clients in the consumer travel and leisure fields as well as medical, media (AJC), HR, dining, wellness, and, most recently, the hemp and cannabis industries.
The diversity in clients has been exciting. And since you can work from anywhere with a laptop and a good connection, I thought it would be an easy transition to move my Oyster efforts to Atlanta from the frigid winters of New Hampshire’s White Mountains and the city vibes of Boston. My wife wanted to make a change and move our lives to the South to be near her sister. We packed up, sold the house and moved our lives and everything here. But the real underlying impetus for the move was centered around mending a difficult, rough patch that reared its head when my alcohol use grew out of control. Detox facility, interrupted (and debilitating) sleep, and then on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, I tried CBD and hemp – on my doctor’s recommendation. And it helped!
Shortly after the move and a lot of thought, I decided to put my efforts into launching a CBD and hemp company that focused equally on educating the everyday person on CBD and hemp products while providing an opportunity for them to buy trustworthy products for conditions like poor sleep, anxiety, physical pain, and overall general wellness. My company Cbdeeme, has a rapidly growing educational hub and a great shopping experience and I’ve built the company to address those two glaring needs: Product education and buying reliable products.
I also understand how overwhelming the thought of taking any CBD or hemp/cannabis products can be, as I was hesitant at first to take anything until the threat of another night of deprived sleep scared me into taking a couple of CBD/CBN/THC gummies. And that’s despite the mind-blowing stigma that still surrounds hemp and marijuana use today. It’s amazing that even now, in a world where AI is making sometimes critical decisions for people, consumers are still deeply entrenched in the dark when it comes to understanding the benefits of a single plant. So with that mission in mind, I started Cbdeeme and it’s now going on a year in the business.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to where Cbdeeme is today has been filled with daily obstacles:
Consumer ignorance (through no fault of their own), slippery amendments/changes to the U.S. hemp and cannabis legal landscape (with senators and wannabees jockeying for position to vote against well-intentioned legislation), shoddy products and dangerous pundits shouting about the inherent dangers of hemp and cannabis, it’s an absolute wonder that the industry is still here. And thriving.
The people I’ve met in this business all tell me to stay in the game, educate anyone confused about CBD products and listen to and educate those who can actually benefit from our products. The biggest challenge – hands down – is educating people on the benefits and safety of hemp. Yes, there are obviously some products that can be mismanaged, but just like alcohol, there are always going to be associated risks, but a little education can go a long way to ease that challenge. After that challenge, you’re left with another brick wall (there are many) which prevents most in our industry from advertising on traditional media platforms. Google and Facebook say no (unless you have a topical product and are prepared to jump through pricey hoops just to be able to advertise), most TV networks and Radio outlets don’t allow it, TikTok has its rules and the list goes on. But one silver lining here is that these dead-ends and exceptionally preventive measures have forced us to be creative. To actually think for ourselves and find channels that will at least allow us to get our messages out. And if you want some powerful messages, check out the story of young Charlotte Figi – the inspiration for Charlottes Web or Courtney, the daughter the couple who began the Hemp Doctor in North Carolina – a fantastic company with the absolute best people – all who care about hemp (sounds so simple). And if that’s not enough, throw in state-by-state regulations, the economy’s regional maturity and sheer lack of consumer understanding and you have the hamp/cannabis industries standing where Silicon Valley was in the 1990s—an emerging frontier dismissed by skeptics but destined to redefine entire markets.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m the founder of Cbdeeme, an e-commerce and educational online platform dedicated to making CBD, hemp, and cannabinoid wellness accessible, transparent, and trustworthy – for everyone. We have a robust learning hub to educate people on “everything hemp” and sell curated product collections of gummies, topicals, oils, and flower products. We’ve also built easy-to-use free tools like a CBD dosing calculator (humans and dogs), the CBD Dosing Guide for Anxiety and unbiased editorial reviews. We are laser-focused on the consumer and have designed our site and concentrate our efforts on helping consumers navigate hemp with confidence.
We specialize in educating and selling products that are all lab-tested with certificates of analysis – and all made in the U.S. We carry products that have transparent labeling and unlike some of the shoddy products you’ll find at a gas station, actually are known to help people. So while we’re a young company, we are getting known for our balanced approach to truly educating consumers and giving them one destination to both learn and buy. I figured that while they’re learning on the site, why not link them to good products and save them the wasted hours of surfing site after site.
I’m most proud of how the site has developed from what was originally aimed to be a shopping site for premium products, to what is now a morphed learn-and-buy site. That’s my transparency in a nutshell: learn something at Cbdeeme and then buy something from us. And if you buy some extended-release sleep gummies (my wife and I sleep like babies with no morning-after grogginess) from us, then we’ll all sleep better. And though I’m having some fun with that last topic, in truth, we’re the outsiders. The ones who want you to learn and be your own expert on hemp and cannabis products. We’re not here just to sell sh*t. We promote a balancing act and that’s what sets us apart.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is helping someone sleep through the night, lower their daily stress levels and live an improved life. I’m a four-year recovering alcoholic and was sleep-deprived and swear by cannabinoids like CBD, CBN and THC blends. Unapologetically and wholeheartedly, I’ll shout the benefits to the rafters to hear anyone share a story about how a product helped.
Others have dropped me a line that the Delta 9 gummies they bought from us are helping them through challenging times. A tennis buddy of mine uses a CBD pain freeze that he loves and knowing how physical pain prevents us from doing things that we cherish, it’s those little (not to diminish significance) things that make what I do matter. And now I’m pointing friends, colleagues and family (my mother is a great example of someone who thought a CBD topical muscle freeze gel would “get me stoned”) to our Hemp Lies Exposed piece on the myths and truths about hemp.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cbdeeme.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbdeeme/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cbdeeme-61556658702522/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cbdeeme-iu7hr
- Other: https://oystercomm.com
Image Credits
credit: cbdeeme
