Our personal challenges can drive us to seek a life we never dreamed possible, and to explore answers to the tougher questions. Inesa Ponomariovaite knows this all too well. A holistic health practitioner, Inesa has dedicated her life and career to showing people a healthier path.
The road to starting her business — Nesa’s Hemp — was not smooth, and she had to grapple with some very personal pain along the way. Ponomariovaite took a private battle and brought her solution to the masses, with astoundingly successful results.
The power of nature
Ponomariovaite is described on her website as having a “head in the clouds,” but with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Her passion for her family and for nature combined when she discovered that her mother, who lived in Ponomariovaite’s home country of Lithuania, had cancer. Devastated, Ponomariovaite set out to find a natural solution to the problem at hand and hit the ground running with research.
Leveraging a work ethic and dedicated personality honed during a hard childhood growing up in Lithuania, Ponomariovaite was determined to bring healing and natural wellness options to her mother — and to others. Having used natural remedies to work her own way back to wellness after a series of illnesses and injuries, Ponomariovaite took the diagnosis of her mother’s cancer as an opportunity to dive further into wellness research.
What she discovered was the healing properties of cannabis. The CBD industry was growing rapidly, and Ponomariovaite could not ignore the scientific research surrounding the benefits of CBD for cancer patients. While CBD is not a cure, up to 75% of respondents in a recent survey by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre said they have used CBD to quell nausea, pain, or loss of appetite. Others reported using CBD in various forms for symptoms of stress and anxiety or to improve sleep.
The cannabis plant has been used for thousands of years in several cultures for its natural health benefits. Recently, its popularity has skyrocketed, with a recent study showing that 21% of respondents use CBD at least once a day, while 84% of respondents have at least heard about CBD and its various uses. In 2021, the global CBD market stood at just over $5 billion and is rising year by year.
Study and innovation
Following her mother’s cancer diagnosis, Ponomariovaite dedicated two years to studying the benefits of CBD. Spurred on by not only her mother’s health needs but her own dedication to finding an answer, she analyzed market data, scientific studies, and different CBD offerings.
What Ponomariovaite found in her years of study was a lot of products that were irresponsibly sourced and quickly brought to the market, missing the mark for high-quality CBD. “Profiteers’ attraction to the high-growth CBD product market isn’t shocking, especially given the rise in consumers seeking holistic health maintenance alternatives,” she recently wrote in California Business Journal.
Ponomariovaite knew she could do better, so with her mother in mind and her desire to bring a quality product to the market, she set out to create an “elite” product — one that was 100% organic and extracted from seed to bottle without chemicals, solvents, or the heavy metals so often found in less quality CBD products. What resulted was Nesa’s Hemp and a quality CBDa product that is disrupting the industry. “I needed the best at the time. When that wasn’t available, I went out and made it,” she explains.
CBDa is a compound that, while closely related to CBD, is more effective and extracted in a way that preserves the potency often killed off in standard extraction processes. “CBDa is part of the plant’s natural intelligence,” says Ponomariovaite.
Through her research and her internal goal to help her mother, Ponomariovaite succeeded in bringing the first full-spectrum CBDa Hemp Oil to the market. Ready to become a big player in the global CBD market with her quality-focused mindset, Ponomariovaite set up shop in Chicago and hit the ground running with a “holistic revolution” in mind.
A growth mindset: body & spirit
Ponomariovaite has not rested now that she has landed on a way to help her mother. Now, her vision is to help the entire world with her holistic solutions. “I want millions to discover the healing power of nature,” she says. After years of burning the candle at both ends as she built her empire, Ponomariovaite has returned to her self-care foundation. “You have to practice what you preach. You don’t want to be out of alignment with your mission.”