W E L L B E I N G
Passion for Wellness Fuels CBD Business Lawyer Turned Wellness Business Owner Driven by Late Father's Legacy By Abby Meaux Conques
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hen you walk into the Green Time Wellness shop off Pinhook in Broussard, La, you’ll find what most wellness shops carry: CBD oils, tinctures, infused salves, soaps, lip balms, etc. What you may not find in other CBD stores is a female former lawyer turned wellness shop owner with the knowledge, fire and vigor to help others with deficient bodies and endocannabinoid systems. Enter Tara Elwell, owner of the newly opened Green Time Wellness at 3711 W Pinhook Road. Tara and her fiance, Jeff Guidry, are the managing duo of the wellness business that was built out of what Elwell saw as sheer necessity. “I had my career established; I owned my own law firm specializing in Succession & Probate, Wills & Trusts, and Estate Planning. But after my father got sick, everything changed,” Elwell said. Elwell’s father, Robert Elwell, was diagnosed with a very aggressive and advanced cancer in November of 2018. His diagnosis would create waves that would carry Elwell in a very different direction than she ever dreamed of. “I became his primary caregiver. He was my best friend. We knew the ultimate outcome of his diagnosis and I was going to do whatever it took to make him as comfortable as possible during his transition,” she explained.
She started her father on a daily schedule of CBD capsules and infused salve. Elwell began to take stock of her own ailments that could benefit from a daily CBD regimen. She began taking CBD for the anxiety that came with her emotional situation and sleeplessness due to the enormous stress she was encountering. “I was still working a bit, but dwindling my workload to be there for him as much as I possibly could,” she explained. “The stress became too much, and I knew with his passing, it would be very difficult for me to work with others who are grieving and needed wills, successions and such - something like the loss of parent makes you see the world with different lenses and I wanted to do something else that I could manage with passion and be able to help others,” she continued. After many discussions with her father, Elwell decided to close her law firm. CBD became such a big part of her life, helping her father to be more comfortable and in aiding her own symptoms. She began further research on CBD and the laws surrounding it. “Although Louisiana law had not yet caught up with the Federal law at the time, I started getting involved in advocating with a great hemp group who were encouraging our legislators for hemp and hemp-derived CBD to become legal here in Louisiana,” Elwell said.
IF I WAS GOING TO DO THIS, I WAS GOING TO DO IT WITH THE BEST QUALITY PRODUCTS FROM EXTREMELY TRUSTED SOURCES
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Elwell is a long-time advocate of natural, holistic and alternative health options. When it came to research and documentation, Elwell’s tenacity was a by-product of her twelve year law career. “I began to research CBD and its effects - I wanted to get him to agree to try it daily,” Elwell explained.
“My father was an extremely intelligent man and I completely trusted his business advice. When we started talking about me opening a wellness store carrying CBD products, he was fully supportive and encouraged me to do it with full force and passion,” she explained. Elwell began her new business venture and never looked back.
The timing was right because the Federal Farm Bill of 2018 was passed that December, which took hemp and hemp-derived CBD off of the Federal controlled substance list. Luckily, her father also agreed to add it to his treatment plan and they began a daily CBD regimen to aid the massive discomfort of his disease and the aggressive medical care that came along with it.
The only time she was away from her father was when she would make trips to Colorado to seek out the best CBD manufacturer she could find. “If I was going to do this, I was going to do it with the best quality products from extremely trusted sources so I could be the best service to people here who needed CBD for themselves or their loved ones,” she said.
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