Brian Baum works across all areas of Cannovia on corporate strategy and development. He leads the business of Cannovia, manages business relationships and partnerships, and coordinates the team efforts to capitalize on the CBD opportunity. Baum brings a background in healthcare, most recently the founder and CEO of vitaTrackr. In prior work as the president of Stayhealthy, president of U.S. Preventive Medicine, founder and CEO of the Health Record Network in collaboration with Duke University and Medical Center and chief marketing officer of Ernst & Young’s Health practice, Baum has always enjoyed working with people to create value.

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Area Code 420 (AC 420): What’s it like to be a start-up in the CBD category?
 
Baum: I’ve been involved in various startup organizations and with many startups during my consulting career at Ernst & Young. By comparison, life was simple in a tech startup. Build a stable product, take it to market, and compete. In CBD, banks don’t want to do business with you, social media won’t allow advertising, individual states are sorting out their strategies, Amazon allows non-CBD products to be sold as CBD, but won’t allow CBD sales, regulations lag, and half the population is still confused on the difference between THC and CBD. Every day is a new adventure.
 
AC 420: Briefly review the family of brands Cannovia is developing.
 
Baum: Our belief at Cannovia is that the mainstream consumer market lacks adequate information on CBD, what it is, what it can do, and how to identify quality products. Cannovia is our brand umbrella under which we’ll dedicate resources to educating the market. Our first wave of products includes Cannovia Therapy, a serious application of CBD that provides both topicals and ingestibles; Dazey Hemp Skincare, bringing CBD to skin care through the lens of Tonya Watts, a country music singer and songwriter and entrepreneur, described as a true rebel child of the South. Watts developed Dazey Hemp, which has a loyal customer base and brings personality to skin care. And Mynd gum, which takes CBD in another direction with a mix of flavors ranging from recovery, calm, focus, and energy.
 
AC 420: CBD infused-gum products appear to be on the rise? Your thoughts.
 
Baum: Gum has a great future in CBD. First, it is convenient. Widely accepted and almost universally understood. There is nothing uncommon about chewing gum. Second, it is a great delivery platform. CBD delivery through gum enjoys a high bioavailability and fast absorption as it is absorbed quickly through the buccal mucosa, (the membrane lining of the inner surface of the cheeks) and is absorbed prior to passing through the filtering of the GI tract. Finally, by infusing CBD and various terpenes, an almost limitless range of effects can be blended.
 
AC 420: What excites you most about your company?
 
Baum: The ability to bring benefits to people. While clinical research on CBD remains very limited, and thus no specific clinical claims can be made, the evidence of therapeutic benefits can be traced back for more than 3,000 years. Beyond that, the anecdotal feedback from customers and users, indicates that many people experience benefits. Cannovia encourages clinical research and plans to participate in specific research studies. Our commitment to advancing a professional CBD industry, delivering quality products, and educating the market is a source of great pride that we can help people in pursuit of wellness.
 
AC 420: Where are the great product development ideas coming from in your organization?
 
Baum: There are two main areas of focus: delivery and formulation. With delivery, we’re constantly looking at the most effective and convenient forms of CBD. We want our customers to be comfortable in their use of our products. For formulation, as an industry, we are at the absolute infancy of what’s possible with CBD. The potential to formulate CBD into more precise and unique applications is one of the most exciting aspects of the industry. Cannovia is especially interested in CBD designer spectrums, the idea of extracting CBD as well as specific levels of other cannabinoids and terpenes to create a custom CBD spectrum designed for a specific purpose. We are always focused on consumer trends and attitudes to guide us in bringing new and innovative solutions to market.
 
AC 420: What one thing do you want to accomplish for Cannovia within the next 12-18 months?
 
Baum: The successful launch of our initial three product lines.
 
AC 420: Is there something about you people would find surprising?
 
Baum: I am 114 years old, thanks to CBD. Disclosure: that is not a medical claim, but in this business you have to have a sense of humor.


Sheldon Baker is CEO of the Baker Dillon Group LLC and has created numerous nutraceutical brand marketing communications and public relations campaigns for many well-known supplement and food industry companies. For interview consideration or brand marketing consulting, contact him at Contact@The420AreaCode.com.