Tell us more about Lure and the inspiration behind it?
Kara Kelly: Lure is luxury, plant-based, joy-producing CBD created for women like us but made for everyone. Our name is inspired by the Jean Houston quote, “the soul is the essence of who and what we are, it is the Lure of our becoming.” For us the soul represents the best in all of us and like many Gen X women we have many roles including being mothers, wives, daughters, caregivers and professionals, which means self-care often falls down the list of priorities. We noticed a lack of CBD brands on the market catering to our demographic despite the fact that we actually spend more on average than millennials. At the end of 2018 when CBD was made federally legal, we set out to fill that void. We wanted to create effortless, hard working, multitasking essentials, a stark contrast to the product overload seen in women’s vanities today. For us Lure is an opportunity to let people know that we see you and we understand what you are going through because we are going through it too.
What made each of you decide to go into the CBD industry?
Monica Reese: Our shared source of inspiration came from our personal experiences using CBD. For me it started with my father. He was a big hilarious country guy who loved helping people, but he had another side to him. He was in the Vietnam war and when he returned home he was an alcoholic and had PTSD. This caused me to have a very chaotic childhood that manifested into a sense of nervousness as an adult. A friend of mine introduced me to CBD and the fact that it was a natural remedy I could use was really important to me. After a few days, I noticed the nervousness started to calm and I felt a sense of peace as I moved through my day. I immediately introduced it to Summer.
Summer Rice: At the time Monica introduced me to CBD I was experiencing a lot of pain in my knees and shoulders from so many years playing volleyball. After using it I noticed a huge improvement in the inflammation and achiness of my joints. I’ve never really thought of myself as someone who has high anxiety, but at that time I was coming off of 10 years of infertility which was all consuming and a tough portion of my life. To have this opportunity to start my own business with two of my best friends felt like a dream come true.
Kara Kelly: Early on in my career I struggled with a grueling travel schedule while trying to balance my husband and family in between. I wasn’t sleeping well and it started to really wear me down. Similar to Monica, because CBD is such a natural plant based remedy it really appealed to me and improved the quality of my sleep. I am also very committed to participating and thriving in CBD products. Being a Black woman in this industry that has held so much shame for our community, and being able to produce a high quality product that I’m proud of, really appealed to that social justice side of me. I come from a family of educators, lawyers and doctors who have always been very concerned with social justice, so the importance of those values were instilled in me at a very young age. I’ve always strived to make decisions they would be proud of and to speak up to modernize the narrative about who should exist and thrive in which spaces.
What was it like building a business from the ground up with your best friends?
Monica Reese: It’s been amazing and although it is hard work and so fun and rewarding. We all bring something different to the table and are able to combine our strengths to create something beautiful that can help other women.
Summer Rice: It’s been a dream come true to work with friends who are really more like sisters. We are able to collaborate in a very productive way while always being honest, what we like to call, “radical candor.”
Kara Kelly: There is so much trust and respect between us. We each bring something unique to our three legged stool. Monica infuses her design expertise, Summer brings the marketing and branding and I enable the strategy and growth. Together we differentiate Lure.
What does the “Lure Life” mean to each of you?
Summer Rice: The Lure Life is a manifestation of how I’ve always wanted to live my life. I strive to find joy and gratitude in the small moments. I love being surrounded by other strong and caring women, and that’s the community we are nurturing.
Monica Reese: The Lure Life is about calming the chaos, worry and discomfort in order to be able to truly appreciate and live a more beautiful life filled with family, friends and lots of special experiences. It’s about living a more joyful life.
Kara Kelly: The Lure Life is truth, it is passion, it is exploration. We see women over 40, women like us, just reaching an interesting second half of their lives. Often the kids are leaving the house and relationships are changing, so it is time to smile, laugh and experience the piece of knowing who we are, what we want, and then going for it to achieve maximum pleasure.
The packaging of your products is so chic! Tell us more about why that was important for you?
Monica Reese: With our collective backgrounds in design, luxury brand building and organic ingredient sourcing, we came together to develop products that are uncomplicated but also luxurious and stimulating to the senses in both design, touch and scent. There’s still very much a stigma around CBD and we know that a lot of our customers might be trying CBD for the first time, so it’s important for us to establish trust within our community. When I first started using CBD it came in this plain brown bottle and tasted terrible. We wanted the quality and look on the outside of our bottle to reflect the quality of ingredients on the inside so that people would feel proud displaying it on their nightstand.
Tell us more about the products you offer?
Summer Rice: Our products are powerful multitaskers that are designed to be integrated into your daily routine based on your individual needs. We use full spectrum CBD oil which provides all of the benefits of the ancient healing Hemp Plant without the intoxication effects. We don’t put anything into our bottles that we wouldn’t want inside our bodies, that’s why our rigorous formation process is designed for your body to use all of the ingredients in their most natural form, so you can experience the organic rewards without the intoxication of anything extra.
Check out Lure’s full product line and make sure to use our code WOMEN10 for 10% off your order today!