Our CBD Podcast

with mPower Physical Therapy

We enjoyed our time with Stefani Wylie Crowley, MSPT of mPower Physical Therapy in Dallas, talking more about our women-owned companies and how CBD's effects mirror those seen with physical therapy.

Take a listen as we chat with Stefanie about why we started Thryv, why CBD is important for a balanced system, and the three responses you should expect to receive from CBD.

The transcript of the mPower's CBD podcast is below, or click here to listen to the podcast. Enjoy!

CBD Podcast Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the mPower Your Life podcast, where you can find some of the best health and life tips to keep you active and living life without having to go through surgeries, procedures, or medication. We want to give you hope that this is all possible, as the body has an amazing ability to heal if we give it the right environment. We also wanted to make sure that you stay tuned to the end of this podcast for a very special offer. If you live in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Without further ado, I bring to you this week's edition.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: I'm so excited to introduce to you guys Kristi and Staci with Thryv Organics. I think you guys are going to love, love their story. So let's get started. Tell us a little bit about why you started your business and what is.

 

Stacie Czech: So my mom has multiple sclerosis, and I've been taking care of her for 20 years. It's emotional. Over the years, we started going the way you go, you see neurologist after neurologist, It took forever for them to diagnose her. Once we finally got the diagnosis, we did the traditional DMD, and none of it worked and she's walking around with a shoebox full of medicine, and she's trying to do all the right things and nothing. Nothing. She was just getting worse. We did that for about ten years, and then in the last ten years, I started looking for alternative methods in different ways. I would take her to different functional medicine doctors and try different things, and she would see little bits of progress. But in the end, it was a mess. And unfortunately, we know more now. I don't want to present the story that, oh, you have a mess, and it's just going to go downhill because I honestly don't think that's the case. We know more now with food and all those kinds of things. I didn't even really know about CBD, but one of my mom's symptoms is right-sided, weakness or pain, intense pain like a 14 on a scale of 1 to 10. And the doctors tried to get it under control with five different medications.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Which are super powerful and not effective.

 

Stacie Czech: Not effective. They knocked her out, made her not care, and made her honestly just want to die because she couldn't hold a conversation. My sister Melissa said, "Have you ever tried CBD?" So because I'm open to different ways, I start looking into it. I started seeing progress. I found some CBD soft gels, and they are actually the CBD soft gels that we sell at Thryv, and her pain is completely under control. She takes two in the morning, two at night, and she's completely off all pharmaceuticals. And we were able to titrate her off safely, and she has her life back. I mean, she's still immobilized. She's still in a wheelchair, but she can laugh and talk and participate. My husband and I have other businesses. And I was like, this is a business that we should get into because even with my own research of CBD, there's the minutiae of different companies. You don't know what’s safe. You don't know what to do. And then Kristi and I had worked in the corporate world together for years and years. We've been friends and so she's been on the journey with me, with my mom the whole time. I would just break down and cry in the beginning because it was so devastating. And we both left the corporate world. She was an entrepreneur, too. We had talked about that we should do something together sometime. So it was just kind of natural to say, “Hey, what do you think about this?” And we created our company Thryv. And yeah, it's been that way ever since.

 

Kristi Kelley: And, you know, we carry pet products as well. My dad was already giving CBD to my dogs from a company in Colorado that I found that had good ratings and Stacie knew that. So she was like, you know, you have the passion for the animals, I have passion for the people. Not that I don't. But, you know, this was kind of our strength. She said, I think we could really help a lot of people and a lot of animals.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: So I love that story because what I think people don't really understand is there's so many different ways that we can help people. And when you go into such traditional medicine, it treats so many different symptoms. And that's what we find with clients that come into our office. They don't know a person there helping you navigate it. And you've learned so much that you're going to be able to help people navigate through the system to kind of help them. And that's key because just think of how lost you were but you had this passion to find that other answer. There's not a lot of people that will do that. It's like, well, this is just the way it is. This is the way it has to be. And that's what I found in our practice. And I'm the same way. I'm like, “No, there's got to be other interests. Got to be other answers.” And I've had stories of things where I've just been frustrated with the medical system and I'm like, I'm done. I'm going to figure something else out. But that's made me who I am. It's made my business the way it is. And it's the same for you guys.

 

Stacie Czech: Yeah, I think when we started, I just wanted to reach people like me. People that were frustrated. People that had tried every option and had given up. And then you pick yourself back up again. I just want to be that person out there saying there are other ways, whether it's our CBD, whether it's another company, just keep looking. You know, keep trying to be that cheerleader. Or just to listen to people's stories, because that's when you're caring for somebody who's in pain or somebody who has a chronic illness. It's tough. It's not an easy road. And then when we were trying to figure out our name, we did a lot of talking. We had some kitchen table conversations where we would just try to figure it out. And I think we both agreed like as women we kind of target mostly women. But the reason we did that is because we're the carers. We're the ones who are looking for alternatives for our husbands, our best friends, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, our pets. And so that’s why Thryv is significant because we know that as women, when our people are thriving, we Thryv. Because when somebody we love is going through something terrible, we feel terrible.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Yeah. Absolutely. I love that.

 

Kristi Kelley: We just wanted that name that kind of encompassed our mission. What it was we were trying to do.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Yeah. It's so funny because when I pulled out of my last practice, there was another PT and we'd been working together for like fifteen, sixteen years, and literally we're sitting down and we were trying to figure out what our name is and just going through it. I mean like looking and searching. And we even laughed because one of the stories was she had reached out and she's like, “Oh my God, have you seen this movie Divergent? Like, that's us. We should call our name Divergent.” And so I'm like, OK, let me go watch this movie. I'm like, oh, my God, we are so divergent. But no one's going to know about this except for us. But when I went and was really looking at hope and empower and those are the things that I encompass. I looked up empower and then there was the company that had it spelled like that in Tennessee with just an M and I love the play of that word. But it's funny how finding the one word that really defined you. And I love companies that do that because they're mission-minded.

 

Stacie Czech: Exactly.

 

Kristi Kelley: And it's a process that takes time to get there, but when you do you know it. It's just like the light goes on. It's like the angels sing.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: But yeah, I think it probably was a four-month process. When you find it is, it's like everything aligns and you're like "Oh my gosh.".

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Well there's so many stores out there and companies that it's kind of like you find them on every corner. What makes you guys different?

 

Kristi Kelley: So I think what makes us different is our passion for educating people on the product, because when we first started researching products to open our store, it was a long road and it was a long road of a lot of conversations, a lot of research. And what we were finding personally was confusion. And we were like, what? Oh my gosh, I don't know one thing from the other because there is no they're not apples to apples comparison from label to label, from company to company, from product to product. And what we were seeing was you can have the same product in two different stores that looked just so completely different. So we wanted transparency. We wanted simplicity. And then most of all, we wanted our ingredients to be super, super good and clean. Our products are organically grown, all in Colorado. Only in the US. It was a big thing for us too, because there are a lot of companies that are sourcing from overseas. That was one thing we were adamant that we weren't going to do. And we found a manufacturer that grows everything organically, processes and manufactures it in an organic process. All of our carrier oils and our essential oils that are in the product are organic. So that was kind of a big deal for us. And then back to the educational piece. When people come into our store we spend 40-45 minutes minimum with almost every person that would come in just educating them about all the things. People would come and go, "God, I cannot believe how calming it is to come into this store. And it's not overwhelming and there's not too many options." So, yeah, we are really adamant on spending time with our customers so that they know that they're taking it properly. That's another thing a lot of people will take and say, "I took it a long time ago. It didn't really work." Well, "How are you taking it?" "I don't know I just took it because that's the way it said to do it on the bottle." No one in most stores will spend the time telling you how to properly take it and what the right way to take this.

 

Stacie Czech: And what you should be looking for. So we do a lot of coaching. I will say you really need to look for three things. Once you introduce any kind of supplement to your body, you look for three things. One is zero effect. You don't feel better. You don't feel worse, just nothing. And that usually means you need to take more. Because what we do find is when people say this doesn't work for me, it's usually because they haven't taken enough. So if you have zero effect after 45 minutes to an hour, go ahead and take another half of the dose and negative effect. The negative effect is if you're taking it for anxiety and you feel more anxious. That would be a negative effect. But that just is it's no big deal. Just means you took a little too much for your body. Everybody's body is different. Everybody responds to it differently. Then positive effect. You're feeling the way you want to feel. You found your dose. That's where you need to be. So just even giving people those guidelines, because I remember I actually had a naturopath teach me that. And once he told me, I was like, wow, I never knew that I could be in touch with my body like that. For some people, it's hard to wrap your mind around because they're used to the bottle saying take two every two to three hours. I was telling somebody the other day you kind of have to build a relationship with your CBD and it sounds kind of kooky, but you're just starting to learn to listen to your body and answer what it needs.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: It's very similar to how I always describe that to a lot of people because we'll get into nutrition stuff up here, because I always can kind of tell, when this is not an orthopedic issue, that there's something else going on because you can just tell and you start getting into questions and they are like, "Oh my God, yes, I'm having some stomach issues." And you start noticing all these things. And we do the same when we introduce anything to them, whether it's food or physical therapy, I always describe it in a physical therapy way. You have to know how your body responds, and that's going to be how we can dose it. So that same thing when you go to another PT and are like it didn't work, well, maybe they're doing the wrong thing. Maybe they were doing too much. You really have to understand. Like, we just do one thing. We're going to see how your body responds, whether it gets better or worse or the same, because this information is what to do next. And it's not any different from this and so many people just don't know that. And I think that's great information for people to know that, you know, it's not one size fits all. You have to really understand the body and help navigate that.

 

Stacie Czech: You do. And so you kind of have to commit to your health and commit to the process, you know, and just learning about yourself and how you respond.

 

Kristi Kelley: And when you throw everything at a problem, we throw a bunch of different things. That's one thing. You don't know what it is or what it is that helped so you’ve got to hone in on it and until you've got it figured out. And we always tell people, just go start low and go slow. So just introduce it just a little bit at a time when you can pay attention to how your body's feeling. Really do it on a day where you're not out running errands, not doing all the things because it is a subtle thing. And it's not like a typical medication with a light switch. It's never going to go out.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: But it's a lifelong journey. Yeah. You know, you're doing things better gradually and understanding, knowing how to navigate your body. I mean, there's no magic pill for anything. There always has to be work that’s put into it. But just helping people know what it feels like and how to navigate that is huge.

 

Stacie Czech: I think one other thing we do differently than maybe some other companies is we are really available to our customers. You can reach us either on our website we have a chat feature and where the only two that are on it. We have one other person that sometimes answers that helps us, but the bulk of the time it's one of us. We also have CBD consultations where you can sign up online for a specific time and we'll call and you talk to you over the phone, or we can do it virtually via Zoom, or you can come into the store.

 

Kristi Kelley: And actually, before you purchase your product, or after you purchase it, or any questions along the way. You know, we're just very available.

 

Stacie Czech: So we always just want to be their partner in their health and be a resource. We offer a 30 day money back guarantee. If for any reason you just don't feel like it's working for you will give you your money back. You don't have to plead your case. We don't need the product back. We're not going to try to talk you into something else. And then we always say, don't give up on CBD. It could just be our formula that doesn't work for you. Try somebody else's formula. Or we think you're taking a little too much. Just try it. We're giving you your money back. But just try to take a little less if that helps. We’re just continually, even if they try our product and it doesn't work for them, we're still a resource. It's a long term relationship with the people that buy from us.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: And that's similar to kind of what we do. It's like, whether you come here or don't come here our goal is to help you make a better decision about your health. And that's exactly what you guys do. And the other thing I think people don't really realize is just the quality is so important. There are so many people and products in the supplement industry, the CBD industry, there's so many things that they put fillers and crappy things in there. And you're like, this doesn't work because of that. No, no, no, no, no. Do you know, there's just so much education that goes into knowing a product that there's no way that they're going to be able to navigate that, which is why it's so great that you guys do these kinds of things, because there's just so many fly by night places.

 

Kristi Kelley: And another thing to mention, too, is lab tests and third party lab reporting you hear about on the news. There's been news stories about CBD and stuff, and they take a random sample of CBD products from different companies and they send them off for testing and they don't come back with as much CBD as labeled. And so we not only have those tests done, but we go the further step, which a lot of companies don't, and I've looked at a lot of other companies, and even if they do have lab reports, most of them were not testing for microbials, pesticides, all the bad stuff, all those residual things that are in there and ours do. So you know, our lab reports are pages and pages long on each product. And it's each product it's not just a big bulk batch, it's every product labeled we have reports on. So it's nice. And we have a QR code on the back of all of our products that you can scan and it takes you right to the lab report. So you don't have to go on the website and see it. If you just had your product, you can.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT [00:18:07] That's awesome. I love that. So tell me a little bit more about who you typically help. I know you have your MS story and dogs, but, you know, who do you typically help?

 

Kristi Kelle: So I would say prior to Covid, about 70 to 80 percent of our customers were coming in with pain, chronic pain, migraines and things of that nature. And so that I would say that was probably 70 to 80 percent of our clients and then Covid hits and then I would say probably ninety five percent of our clients right now are anxiety and sleeplessness which go hand in hand.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Yes, they totally do. It makes sense.

 

Kristi Kelley: We probably do five or six consultations. Well, I would say probably two to three a day we have consultations set up, and every single person we talk to is like, I have extreme anxiety. I can not sleep. I can get to sleep, but I can't stay asleep. So right now that's the biggest thing. And then another thing that we had when we first started, I don't see as much. I still see a few cases. Our customers come in with ADD or their kids have ADHD and we have a handful of kids and epilepsy, too. We have a couple of them that are taking it for seizures. And the ADHD kids are finding really good results with it because it's like I said, it's not that light switch. It's not like a medication that's going to make them zombie like.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Which is what drugs do.

 

Kristi Kelley: When I was growing up, my nephew, he had ADD and they had him on Ritalin and he was a zombie. He wasn't even himself. And it was awful to see. And I know that if CBD were as prevalent then, then so many kids would have had to go through that process with those kinds of medications because it really just calms the nervous system down and it kind of stops that chatter in the brain, so it enables a better focus and you could still be productive. And then you can also take it for sleep, which is crazy because you think you could still manage during the day and be productive. How can you sleep? Because it's not a sleeping pill. It's going to again calm the nervous system and stop the chatter and allow you to get rest and be at peace.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: That's awesome.

 

Stacie Czech: When we first opened, the first week our store was open. This couple came in and they were talking to us about their daughter who has epilepsy, and they were at their wits end because there's the Epidiolex and it's a CBD product that the pharmacies have out. Their doctor would not give it to their daughter. He said she didn't need it and her seizures weren't bad enough for it. And he wanted to exhaust all the other things. And she was having, what, like two, three seizures a month or something, maybe two a month. But it wasn't the seizures. It was that she didn't want to leave the house because it was kind of all the other things that were happening to her as a 13 years old. She didn't want to leave the house because she was afraid she was going to have a seizure. She could feel the seizures coming on. They were so heartbroken for their little girl.

 

Kristi Kelley: And they also said she wasn't eating right. She couldn't eat. She was losing weight. She wasn’t playing soccer like she loved before.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: She just wasn't living.

 

Kristi Kelley: Not living at all. She wasn't herself.

 

Stacie Czech: So they were so sad that this doctor wasn't hearing them. And so I remember I was like, OK, this is a child we're talking about. This is a huge responsibility. We don't want to mislead you. We think it can help. But we pulled open our books and showed studies.

 

Kristi Kelley: She had been on a Facebook page, too. She joined a Facebook group, a moms group of kids that had epilepsy. And everybody was saying, you have to try this.

 

Stacie Czech: So we sent them home with some oil. A month later, they came back and brought her with them. And they're like she's a totally different kid.

 

Kristi Kelley:] Yeah. They said she was eating. She was playing soccer again, like, literally. And she came in and got to pick out a different flavor oil because we have a bar set up in our store where you can test the oil flavors just to see what you prefer. You know, I actually am thinking about it, I think she might have been 14 because they were starting to plan her quinceanera.

 

Stacie Czech: Oh yeah. That's right. So they were just a different family. They were so relieved.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: I just don't get our medical system sometimes because I sometimes wonder if they ever thought if they were in that same situation, would they give them the same recommendation they're doing? Because we see it all time. It's like people hurt and it's like we'll just go and take this pill and like, well, didn't work. And they just don't have the answers. And I'm like, where's the empathy for this or the understanding of what more these people are going through? I guarantee you, if they had a child that that was happening to, they would be fighting tooth and nail to figure out another way to make them get it back to living again. So it’s just so frustrating.

 

Stacie Czech: And as a parent, to be told this is the best we have when you know it's not. I mean, thank goodness for Facebook. Sometimes Facebook is such a curse. But also thank goodness.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: The Internet is it's a curse and a blessing at the same time. You can find a lot of crazy stuff out there, but then you also can find people that you can make a connection with. It's going to really change someone's life, which that's the really cool thing about Facebook. And you don't even know this. I had a patient that I've been following and he'd been treated and his back pain was getting a little bit better. And we were just trying different things. He came into your store, but I was just checking in and seeing how he was doing. And he raved about you guys as well on just the education piece of it. And so I think that's really just just a cool piece. So I know you guys had an offer that you want to give our listeners, so let's talk about it.

 

Kristi Kelley: Yeah. So the offer is anybody that comes to our store or shops online gets a 20 percent discount on the entire order by using your code. So we've set up a code for you. It's just mpower, the letter M and power. That's twenty percent off. And our website is thryvorganics.com. So it's not spelled traditionally. We have free shipping nationwide on orders over seventy five dollars and otherwise it's just a five dollars flat fee.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: That's awesome. Well before we end, is there anything else that you want to share?

 

Stacie Czech: No. Just thank you so much for having asked us and for this opportunity to keep spreading the word.

 

Host: Stefani Crowley, PT: Yeah, I know. I love hearing stories. I love your passion for why you started. And I love that you're a woman owned business, which is amazing. And I'm yeah. I'm just excited to get this information out to people.

 

Kristi Kelley: Thank you.

 

Stacie Czech: Thank you for having us.

 

Closing: Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it. In the description below, you'll find a link to a free one on one talk with one of our amazing PTs. It's an excellent opportunity for you to get the answers that you deserve in regards to what's next on your health journey. You'll also find a link to the Thryv CBD company that was featured in this episode. They're an amazing company, guys. I really strongly recommend that you reach out to them. They can help you in more ways than you can even imagine. And make sure to mention the mPower Your Life podcast for a very special discount. Now go and have an amazing week and make sure to empower all of those around you.