History Of Discover CBD
Discover CBD grew from a small family run company in Colorado Springs to the largest hemp retailer in Colorado. Discovercbd.com started as an eCommerce site in 2015. Now, Discover CBD has store locations across the country. Over the years, Discover CBD continued to be an industry leader in product safety and cutting edge product development. The passion and dedication of the Discover CBD team is what sets them apart from all the rest. We interviewed Melinda Bloch, the Chief Operations Officer at Discover CBD to find out their secret to success.
Tell me a little about yourself.
“My name is Melinda Bloch and I am the Chief Operations Officer for Discover Health LLC. I was one of the first employees hired in 2017. I was hired on as a customer service representative. At that time, my job was to answer online chats and talk to customers over the phone. This was before we had any retail locations. We had a tiny office that barely fit two computers but had a great view of the mountains. I absolutely loved coming to work each day and speaking with customers across the country who had limited access to cannabidiol and connecting them with research and knowledge to help them live a more active and fulfilling lifestyle. I spent a great deal of time researching cannabidiol and writing educational blogs for this website. As Discover CBD grew, I grew with it. I was the manager at our first Colorado Springs location on North Academy. I then became our HR director and was promoted to COO in 2019.”
What does a COO do?
“I like to say that everyone at Discover CBD wears many hats. My main job is to ensure that all of our departments are running smoothly and help to solve all the day-to-day problems. I assist with the research and development of new products, hire new employees for our company, innovate our current processes and find programs to enrich our employees. I help out wherever I am needed. If we are short staffed in manufacturing or in our retail stores, I am there. I have the unique ability to help in any department since I have done every position at Discover CBD at one time or another.”
Why did you get into the Hemp/CBD industry?
“Prior to working at Discover CBD, I was a manager for a medical marijuana company. I truly believe in the power of plant based medicine and have always been an advocate for cannabis. While working in the medical marijuana field, I saw first hand the positive impact of cannabis for a wide variety of ailments. A lot of medical patients were looking for products that had higher ratios of CBD or low THC products. At the time, cannabidiol was hard to access and finding CBD without THC was almost impossible. A sales representative working for Discover CBD came by my store and left info about their locally made THC-free CBD products. This was my first introduction to the Active CBD oil line. Many marijuana businesses are highly focused on generating large profits and oftentimes the needs of the medical patients that we are serving are not taken into consideration. I decided to leave my high paying cannabis job in search of a company whose values truly aligned with my own. When I saw the ad looking for a customer service representative at Discover CBD, I instantly applied. After speaking with the owner of Discover CBD, I knew I had found the right fit for me.”
What was your favorite position at Discover CBD?
“This is a hard one. I love the position that I have now because it gives me the opportunity to work alongside every department. There are times in my job now that I miss speaking to our customers and assisting them on their wellness journey first hand. I relish every opportunity to get out into our community and share my knowledge. Thankfully, I still get the opportunity by assisting at events, hosting CBD 101 classes and occasionally helping to cover the store.”
What has been the biggest challenge you've faced at Discover CBD?
“Challenges are just opportunities for creative innovation. We have faced a lot of challenges over the years. We have a huge disadvantage in the marketing world due to numerous restrictions because we are a CBD company. Of course COVID impacted all businesses in one way or another, but it wasn’t the largest challenge we have faced. In 2017, we lost our main manufacturer on Black Friday with lots of orders to fill. The owner, a few employees and I would work at the retail stores during the day and would manufacture products at night. We had a few exhausting weeks of burning the candle at both ends, but it was incredibly rewarding because I got first hand experience in the manufacturing and production of all of our products. Because CBD is not officially regulated, there is a challenge between what you “should do” and what you can get away with. A company can make their CBD in a basement if they wished, but quality and consistency are values that we will not compromise on. We pushed ourselves to the next level by building an ISO-7 clean room in our facility. This was a huge undertaking and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but in the end it was worth it to know, without a doubt, that we are providing the absolute best for our customers.”
What is the future of Discover CBD?
“We were the first company to produce water soluble CBD products and first to produce water soluble CBN and CBG tinctures. The future of Discover CBD is innovation. We will never stop pushing forward to provide the most cutting edge products available in the market. Recently, we launched our Strain Snobs brand to give customers access to Delta 8 THC products and other rare cannabinoids. I would like to see Discover CBD become a more holistic brand and begin offering products beyond cannabis that can positively impact health and wellness. With the strong team that we have here, the future is limitless.”
What is your favorite product?
“My all time favorite product is the Active CBD oil Gold - 25%. This is one of our classic products that we have been carrying since 2015. The gold oil is a highly concentrated syringe of raw activated broad spectrum cbd oil with all the lipids and terpenes of the original plant. Raw CBD oil was super popular when cannabidiol first hit the market, but has since been replaced by more popular methods of consumption like tinctures and gummies. To use this oil, you dispense a small pea sized drop of the highly concentrated oil onto your finger or a spoon and then place it under your tongue. It has a strong hemp taste so personally I mix mine in with a little bit of honey. Customers with the most severe of issues found the most success with using this product. While it is far from the most glamorous way to consume CBD, I have found it to be the most effective.”
Essential Blogs
Here are blogs that Melinda personally wrote that thinks are essential education for anyone's CBD wellness journey.
- Cannabinoids and Their Effects
- How to Use CBD Isolate: Adding CBD to a Larger Base
- Cannabinoids and Your Body
- What is CBG?
Melinda's Favorite Products:
"What I love about the Gold Oil is the strength and the purity. This product is much stronger than most tinctures and since its raw oil - its one of the purest forms of CBD that you can get while still preserving the potential benefits of the whole plant."
Active CBD oil Gold - 25% - $44.99
"My beauty routine is pretty minimalist. I use this salve everyday. It helps lock in moisture on my face for those days of harsh Colorado wind and isn't greasy enough to cause any acne flare ups. Believe it or not - I also use this salve as a deodorant!"
Active CBD oil Salve - 1100mg - $59.99
"My cat is super picky when it comes to food and treats. She won't touch most CBD pet treats or tinctures. The Active CBD oil Broad Spectrum Chicken tincture is by far her favorite. She will circle my legs until she gets her CBD!"
Active CBD oil pet tincture - Chicken - $29.99
"The Active CBD oil Water soluble tinctures are one of the most versitle tinctures on the hemp market. My favorite flavor is cinnamon. I put 1 full dropper in my coffee in the morning. I like to use the Berry flavor on the weekends in my coconut milk workout shake."
Active CBD oil Water Soluble Tincture - $44.99
