BY ED NOTE
GET TO KNOW Mae Bereal >>> BY JENNIFER WALKER
OWNER OF LAV8 CBD- cbd for holistic health, wellness & sustainability
Mae Bereal is no stranger to cannabis. As a teenager, she consumed cannabis to treat medical bouts of depression and anxiety. And, as a young woman, as she began having children she sought out education on the plant as her focus turned to a more holistic way of living. Today, Mae operates LAV8, her CBD company while also focusing on beginning her journey into the THC side of things. I recently had the opportunity to speak with her regarding her role as a religious woman of color who is raising four children while running a multitude of businesses. VEGAS CANNABIS MAGAZINE: You are not only a woman, but a woman of color, a mother of four and a woman of God. Did these things open doors for you or prove to be obstacles? MAE BEREAL: Honestly, both. When obstacles have arisen, I have been able to lean on my faith and push forward. It is never easy to be the first in an industry to do a certain something. In being the first, you then have to pave the way. It’s a trial and error process. If you don’t have the faith in it and the passion behind it, ultimately you are going to abandon it. For me, in the beginning, walking into a room as a religious, black woman was difficult but it was also empowering. And it gave people that I would speak to a different perspective which they could relate to and oftentimes it made them listen. It is a good time to be a woman of color in the cannabis industry as well as a mom. VCM: You took a leap and began introducing CBD products within your local church. How did that go? MB: It was difficult. Having to approach something delicately while understanding that there has been a lot of misinformation. Educating people is so important. Especially people who have been influenced by old propaganda regarding the cannabis plant. I took it slowly,
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asking people to tell me what they knew so that I could then replace what they knew with actual facts. Once people began opening up, the next step was for them to tell me what their problems were, where they had pain, and I offered solutions to help. It was an easy swap for me to replace the chemical-ridden creams with non-toxic pain reducing topicals that I could assure them came from a plant created by God. Once you understand where people are coming from and why they believe the way they do, you can easily give them the information they need to go down a better path. VCM: Tell us about your own journey with cannabis. MB: I began consuming cannabis as a teenager. As a teen, I suffered with depression and anxiety and was at times suicidal. I was introduced to cannabis, and at that time I didn’t truly understand the medical impact of the plant. All I knew was that this flower made me feel this way and removed these feelings. I was a patient for a while and then as I began having children, with each child I had, I became more and more holistic. Eventually, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the natural healing powers of cannabis - why it worked and how it worked. I wanted to help other people who were going down the same path I had gone down. VCM: Tell us about your product line. MB: Currently, our product line includes a soak, various body balms, a beard balm and some essential oil products. Our Rose Gold products include 24 karat gold within them which actually has antibacterial properties. That, along with hemp-derived full spectrum CBD oil and other organic ingredients really sets our products apart.
