On June 5, 2015 I had an almost fatal motorcycle accident where I collided with another vehicle at high speed and I was catapulted 40 meters down the road. I was put in an induced coma for 11 days and spent three months in the hospital. I suffered four broken vertebrae, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, arms, toes and thumbs, bruises to the heart and diaphragm, broken knees, legs, ankles and toes. My left leg had the flesh ripped to the bone, so they pulled two muscles out of my back and rebuilt my leg.
Fast forward eighteen months, I was left with chronic back pain and arthritis and was diagnosed with PTSD. I took four different painkillers (including morphine) each day, but I still had pain 24 hours a day.
A friend gave me a bottle of CBD oil and suggested I try it. In half an hour I experienced better pain relief than what I got with the painkiller cocktail, without any of the side effects. He slept better and was less anxious.
Almost overnight I decided to give up painkillers. I knew they weren’t helping me mentally – I was lethargic, demotivated, and slowly my body and mind were rotting. I got rid of morphine in a couple of weeks and never looked back.
I experimented with many different brands of CBD and found large variations in inefficiency. There are many companies that sell lower CBD and different types of CBD, such as CBD isolate, which is cheap and not as effective as a full spectrum product.
I felt that people needed a reliable and ethical company that they could trust to get consistently high quality products. I was always disappointed when my CBD appeared in plastic containers, with polystyrene chips, and I felt that the vast majority of CBD consumers were, like me, environmentally conscious and deserved better.
I joined forces with childhood friend Nick de Haan and Mindful Extracts was born. From the first moment, we are committed to being 100% recyclable, zero plastic (almost!), And we plant a tree on every order. We also donate 5% of our profits to charity.
Our goal is to produce products of the highest quality, with all-natural ingredients, of organic origin (and certified whenever possible). When it comes to CBD, we believe in using the entire hemp plant to encapsulate nature’s maximum goodness (all cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids). We process it minimally to preserve this goodness and test everything in the laboratory with the best independent laboratory in Europe, so we can guarantee the potency of each bottle.
How has the company evolved during the pandemic?
We launched in September 2020, so we caught a wave of interest in CBD products as the public sought natural relief from the anxiety we all share about the COVID pandemic. It was a great test bed for our first batch of CBD oil and we were getting amazing feedback from people who hadn’t been able to sleep for days or had increased anxiety, so we knew our extract was correct and our tests prior to launch. he was right. Less than a year after launch we won an award for “Best CBD Brand for Anxiety,” which was a moment of pride for us and justified eighteen months of work developing a superior product.
The pandemic has made many people look for new ways to relax and de-stress, and there is a growing movement towards natural solutions, so this is always at the forefront when we are launching and developing new products.
What can we expect to see from Mindful Extracts in the future?
We have just launched a number of supplements, including functional mushrooms, which we believe will be the next big welfare trend in the UK to follow the CBD. We worked with a leading mycologist for many months to ensure that the extracts were as effective as possible.
We are currently developing more natural body care products to expand the range of CBD and are constantly researching new ingredients that can help customers and hear what they want. But we will not launch a product in which we do not believe in ourselves: we have a large community of testers who help us pilot and improve our products. The vast majority of our customers suffer from anxiety, sleep disorders and chronic pain, so this will continue to be the focus for future product development.
