KB Pure Essentials

Katie Moodie and Brooke Brun started KB Pure Essentials as an all-natural wellness brand in 2013, but their business took off when they started incorporating CBD into their products, selling out their entire inventory at the first farmer’s market they attended with hemp-based topicals.

“We knew we were on to something,” Brun says. “That had never happened before.”

The business has continued its upward trajectory as the women, led by Moodie on the formulation side, have continued to refine and improve their product offerings over the past four years.

“We have very focused roles,” Moodie says. “I do more of the production, formulation and business development. Brooke is focused on the creative, sales and running the online store. We both split up to do events and interact with the community.”

“We work really well together,” Brun adds, “and we try to be careful not to step on each other’s territory too often.”

KB Pure Essentials products are sold through a variety of brick-and-mortar retailers and wellness offices, farmer’s markets and the company’s e-commerce platform. The company sources its CBD from certified organic hemp farms in Europe and includes cannabinoids in their raw (CBDA) and decarboxylated (CBD) forms. In addition to its own retail-ready brand, the company also offers boutique manufacturing services to other CBD companies, allowing them to white-label KB products or use their own custom formula. In a way, the manufacturing angle turns would-be competitors into customers and provides CBD startups with a path to market that doesn’t require a massive capital investment.

And while all companies tout their customer service, KB Pure Essentials takes it to another level with the two founders taking an active role in being transparent and solving any problems that may occur.

“Katie and I try to be the face of our customer service, so when clients call in with issues, they talk to us,” Brun says. “They don’t talk to someone who has to get answers from someone else.”