Erin Babcock wants you, your mother, and all of the people you care about in your life to feel less pain and more vitality, and believes that CBD products — especially this Mother’s Day — are the perfect solution to many problems.
The 23-year-old passionate entrepreneur owns and operates Primo Gardens in Columbus Ohio in the sought-after Short North arts district through her website and offers a range of products to help with pain, stress, mood, and everything in between.
Babcock is an ambitious entrepreneur, public speaker, and model, with a vision to elevate the health and harmony of humanity.
She grew up playing elite soccer and played collegiately at the University of Akron, where she also earned a degree in Exercise Science.
In 2021, Babcock and her business partner, Angela, opened the doors of Primo Gardens Inc, a CBD retail and manufacturing lab in Columbus, that provides health and wellness products to regain balance through the creation of customized, targeted blends for individuals and also by helping other people or businesses start their own unique CBD line.
Taking after her mother, Kelly Babcock, who has been in the Hemp business since 2019, she completed her Master’s in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics from the University of Maryland and is graduating this May (2023).
Erin Babcock is a passionate educator and speaker about cannabis and the endocannabinoid system, along with other areas that contribute to holistic harmony, including movement, and mindset transformation. She is a partner in an educational initiative called Cannabis Business Practicum to help start-ups and small businesses thrive in the cannabis industry.
Babcock is also in the process of developing her personal brand, EEErinergy, which will include aspects of entrepreneurship, modeling, public speaking, and in the areas of harmony, health, and expansion.
Read on for Erin’s take on her successful business and how CBD products can help us reduce the stress in our lives, which is especially important for frazzled mothers.
How are your products different and unique? What makes them stand out? It can be confusing.
A lot of CBD products came on the market since it was legalized in 2018, but not all of them are FDA regulated. At Primo, we manufacture all of our products. We use raw ingredients for every product that we have extracted ourselves or partner and every batch gets tested – so nothing gross in it that’s not supposed to be in it and also to make sure the label matches what’s in the product.
We ensure consistency and safety with all our products manufactured in-house. We use natural ingredients for all of our products when we add extracts to complement the CBD. Custom-blended products to tackle certain imbalances. We make a product with oils that help with relaxation or calming the clutter in their head to help with relaxation and lead to a restful night, and a wonderful night of sleep.
Why are these great Mother’s Day gifts for all of the women in our lives?
Women and mothers in general – and parents overall– undergo increased amounts of worry, stress, and pressure exhaustion being responsible for caregiving, with CBD it is all about helping with balance. The use of CBD reduces stress, helps sustain regular moods and hormones, and helps reduce discomfort from chronic aches and pains.
Parents and mothers have added stress being responsible for another life can help them balance out for a normal life and become better parents. In a grocery store with a cranky toddler and stressed-out trying to multi-task it can turn into guilt and raising your voice or lashing out in another way. CBD helps to not let the external stress trigger and allows you to handle situations with more compassion and love rather than reacting to them.
What are the myths surrounding CBD products that you can try to clarify?
A lot of people come into our store and assume that CBD is going to get them high and give this euphoric effect, but in reality, it is not going to do that. The three main words involved are balancing, calming, and relaxing.
It reacts with the body and is working in harmony with the body to provide a balancing effect that works with the mechanisms in our body that help elevate endocannabinoids, which are naturally produced by the body and interact with cannabinoid receptors all throughout our body. All of this is interconnected to our nervous system, our endocrine system, and all of our other systems. This is pretty much related to every function in our body – appetite, mood, memory, sleep, temperature, and pain. CBD indirectly activates and elevates our natural endocannabinoid system, which brings us homeostasis, or balance of the body and mind.
What are some of your best-selling products?
Gummies are super convenient. You can carry them around in your purse like a daily supplement. CBD tincture is an oil-based product with a dropper in it. Put the oil dropper under your tongue and the oil is absorbed by salivary glands and speeds up the effects rather than a gummy or capsule that has to go through the digestive system. Improved sleep or improve energy and focus. Bring relief to the whole body. A topical slave that’s a cream-based salve put it on whatever area is bothering you. help brings circulation and blood flow to relieve aches and pain in that area.
How do you see the future of your shop? Talk about the importance of educating people about the many benefits of CBD products.
I see myself using my voice to educate a lot more about CBD and the endocannabinoid system and as more people have access to this education, the use of CBD by people will increase a lot. It’s an investment in your health but serves more as a preventative, proactive approach rather than medical expenses after you are not feeling so good. CBD is one thing that we can use daily to resist those imbalances.
This system is central to health and harmony, the more we promote this the better quality of life we are able to live – through exercise, diet, meditation, yoga, social interaction, and CBD. These habits and components have powerful, beneficial effects. I see the stigma being reduced, it has come a long way, but I see it reducing as more science and research are done the more it will be accepted.
What is the history of your company?
Primo Gardens Inc. began in Colorado and stemmed from a family looking to make natural alternative products for health and wellness. Mike and Ashley Alvarado started with hemp cultivation in 2018, adding extraction in 2019, and expanding to processing and retail in 2020.
Primo Gardens then teamed up with Erin Babcock and Ang Boyce to expand to Ohio and open a retail store and infusion lab for CBD and hemp products in the summer of 2021. Primo Gardens offers a range of CBD products for retail and wholesale, as well as custom blends for specific imbalances, and white-label options for others who want their own branded products.
What do you love about it?
I love that Primo Gardens creates products that bring balance and harmony to people’s lives and that there is an option to completely customize some products to target specific imbalances that someone has. I also love that we help other people or businesses bring their own product lines to life so that they can positively impact their own customers and clients.
What do positive customer comments mean to you?
Positive customer comments and experiences mean the world to me, I love seeing and hearing about how these products are benefiting someone’s quality of life. That is why I do what I do, which is to help others elevate their selves & their health!
How have the products and company changed your life?
My life and health have significantly improved since I started using CBD. It has brought balance to my holistic health, allowing me to flow more with life rather than react, as well as reduce the pain and discomfort associated with being a lifelong athlete.
What gets you bounding out of bed each morning?
Knowing that I have specific education and knowledge that can aid in elevating the health, wellness, and quality of life for people! The Endocannabinoid System and cannabis science are not well understood by the general public, but I am happy to use my voice to give value and educate when I can!
What is the best business advice you can offer based on your experiences?
After two years as an entrepreneur, my best business advice would be to set a clear vision of what you want your business to accomplish. Make sure that vision is big and benefits other people, and try not to get discouraged when the strategy doesn’t accomplish the vision right away.
As business owners, we must be able to adapt and pivot our strategy as we strive toward our vision. Don’t lessen the vision because a strategy isn’t working, instead, adjust the strategy and try again! It is important to be passionate and love what you are doing so that you can persevere through the hard times and “failed” strategies, and keep pushing towards the greater vision!!
How do you enjoy spending your free time?
I like spending my free time with friends and family, people I love. I like being outdoors. Going on a nature hike or taking my dogs for a walk or run, brings me joy. I have one dog and five in the family that are part of our pack. I like to travel. I travel for speaking, modeling, and trade show events. I always enjoy experiencing new things!
What are your social media and website links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eeerinergy/?hl=en
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-babcock-4634a3210/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eeerinergy
Primo website: https://primogardensinc.com
Cannabis Business Practicum Newsletter https://allayconsulting.com/cannabis-business-practicum/