bud brand inspired brand cannabis entrepreneur remedies neuropathy

Bud Brand Inspired by Band: Cannabis entrepreneur remedies neuropathy, pays homage to Phish with cannabis company

AURORA RAE FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE

Over a decade ago, Rob Robar made a decision that changed his life. After working a job that required driving long hours cross country, he blew his back out in 2001. Herniations, sciatic pain, and even surgeries followed. He returned to the job less than a year later, and for the next decade, remedied his neuropathy – and pain – with prescription drugs. “(It was) five years of straight Vicodin, and whatever else type things like that,” he said. “Then it was those plus Xanax or other benzos, things like that, that were to make me feel better about the other (because) you were so miserable… I never felt better, ever.”

FEELING BETTER

Robar said he made a choice, in 2010, to pursue natural methods… and found himself finally feeling better. “I left all pharmaceuticals behind,” he said. “For the most part cannabis is what saved me back then. It gave me great not only pain relief but focus. It also gave me the ability to get up and workout a bit, spending 30-minutes a day of movement, or just start to feel better… Next thing I know a year later, I lost 175 pounds.” Robar obtained a medical marijuana card and turned to cannabis infused products he bought from dispensaries, like Bloom City Club based in Ann Arbor, to relieve his symptoms. “I was buying them… and I was like ‘Wow this is really cool, its works’,” he said. “But then, also, it was a little bit expensive.”

AN INSPIRATIONAL TRIP TO COLORADO

In 2016, Robar traveled to Colorado to see his favorite band: Phish. Unlike his more recent discovery of cannabis, the rock band was nothing new to him. “I always call them the soundtrack to my life,” he said. His infatuation with Phish began after seeing them for the first time on a Grateful Dead tour thirty years ago in Ann Arbor. “The first ever show I saw was in (1991 in a) little, tiny bar downstairs, maybe 200 people and I’ve now seen them with as many as 150-some-thousand.” Phish has been “a big influence (on) how I do a lot of things,” he said, including entrepreneurship. It was in Colorado he bought “a bunch of topicals” that, as expected, helped him relax. He said his “legs constantly spasm”, especially in his sleep, and finding the relief he did with topicals inspired him to personally recreate it and do more with cannabis than simply use it himself. “When I came back home, it just inspired me to do something with it,” he said. “And create something that I thought was more.”

CREATING A PLATFORM

24 | www.MIGREENSTATE.com fall 2021| MIGreenState

The Helping Friendly Hemp Company was born. His original hand-made was pachouli scented. Within a year, he had a four-scent set including other smells orange lavender, unscented, and cooling. “I started researching 13 different essential oils that are all (for) treating neuropathy,” he said. “That’s how I came up with the first one, just spending about a year and a half of tweaking out the formulas and then once we were in a more commercial setting, we were able to really dial in… make sure it’s always consistent.” From there, he made different scents to appeal to a wider audience. “It became a thing of like how do we make other sets for other people,” he said.

HITTING NEW MILESTONES

Now, the company, based in Madison Heights, is approaching its 5th anniversary. Robar said they have products in 60% of Michigan dispensaries, over 1500 stores nationwide, and even in some countries like Mexico and China. “My first year… I think I might have done like 35,000 in sales,” he said. “Now, this year we should hit 2 million.” The company now has four partners with the company and sells a wide variety of products like flower, soft chews, tinctures, and topicals. He said they are in the process of expanding to sell THC products too. “Moving from a hemp brand that I started so many years ago to now being in the normal legal regulated marketplace is something that’s a huge thing for me,” he said.

PAYING HOMAGE TO A ROCK BAND

Robar’s favorite band, Phish, inspired the company name – Helping Friendly is the name of a bible-like book that existed within the story line of a collection of songs made by lead vocalist Trey Anastasio for his college thesis. “The normal world has no idea,” he said. Paying homage to the rock band is not the only way he keeps his love of the four-man crew alive. He has followed them around the country on tours, often on behalf of his company. Robar has even shared products with band members like Trey Anastasio and Jeff Holdsworth. “It’s… interesting that you’re able to get that close to the band,” he said. “I’ve met them quite a few times way back when… the last time I shook their hands was like ’95.” He said he completed an eightshow run over the summer, in which he officially attended his 100th show. Robar said his favorite song, Wingsuit, stands out because it offers a freedom he does not otherwise feel. “Wingsuit is a suit that you jump off a cliff in and you float. Why would you go out and do that?” he said. “Because it feels good. As somebody with disability issues, things like that you don’t get to do.” Robar said a “total uplifting spiritual” moment left him chasing the feeling their music evoked in him. “One time… my body was so sore, I felt like I was going to collapse,” he said. “I sit down, the song is playing, I listen to it and… I stood up and I was like “Holy shit!” Everything I just felt at the beginning of this 20-minute song went away.”

MEETING AND BONDING WITH FANS

Robar still finds ways to share his deep admiration of Phish with others. He has spent the last four to five years sponsoring fan-related events and a fan-based magazine, like Surrender to the Flow. He said Phish fans like him have been “instrumental” in his growth with the company because of their open-mindedness and optimism. “They’re accepting and inspired by it,” he said. “This is why I’m doing it.”

FINDING A PASSION OUTSIDE OF CANNABIS

Robar found inspiration from Phish in more ways than one. He said “going on tour and experiencing these things led me to” create a non-profit geared towards increasing accessibility at music events. Called The Weekapaug Collective, Robar said the main objective is to make music events easier for those with a disability to attend. “(Venues) are required by law to have a certain amount of handicap accessible seats, that’s it though, they don’t need to do shit for you,” he said. “Imagine trying to navigate a wheelchair into any of those porta-johns – or not even having a wheelchair, just trying to get into (them) sometimes.” Robar said there are many other ways able-bodied people use space unintended for them, too. “It’s like when you walk up to the accessible entrance that is literally loaded with 10,000 people who are not that,” he said. “Why is that entrance not open just for us?” He plans to reserve booths next year, at places like Electric Forest in Rothbury, MI on behalf of the collective.

IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES IN OTHER WAYS

Robar’s passion for improving people’s lives does not end there. He is involved in other initiatives like the Hero Project, a non-profit aimed to provide financial service to veterans. After seeing several of his friends and family members “being stuffed into the Veteran Association (that) is just so awful,” Robar decided to take on the cause. In addition, the Hero Project “helps bridge the gap (for veterans) to enter the cannabis space through either jobs, education, or even general plant knowledge to grow and helping take away some of their stresses… by connecting with a plant,” He said the Helping Friendly Hemp Co. donates 10% of their profit to the Hero Project. “Being a part of something much greater, always giving back as I go along this journey is a big part of it for me,” he said. “Anytime I can create things that can help give back as we go forward, it just does so much for everyone involved.”

Issue 4 | fall 2021

Proprietary CBG dominant blend salve.

It was 5 years ago the idea that became this brand came to light. The Helping Friendly Salve company now celebrates with their newest products. Dispensary Grade. It’s a continuation of that dream.