REWARDS
Alex and Ryan Doyle, founders of CBD company Doyle’s Oils, have been researching and experimenting with everything CBD – from how the oil is extracted to immersing themselves in the manufacturing process to witnessing the benefits their customers are experiencing.
We spoke with the two who gave us the inside scoop on producing our favorite health supplement.
Founded in December 2017, the two operate their store online, getting in touch with doctors, veterinarians and other medicinal professionals local in Kentucky, where their products are sourced and sold.
Starting a Good Business By Word of Mouth
Getting into CBD through one of their friends who happens to be geneticist out in Colorado, the duo saw an opportunity to make people more aware of the therapeutic cannabinoid in their hometown of Lexington, KY, and seized it.
“It seemed like an opportunity to do something that’s helpful for people as well as something that’s good for our location and our state,” Alex told me.
After learning more about the benefits of CBD upon seeing how it the market exploded in Colorado, the two developed a new recipe to bring back to Kentucky, and now work with people who produce it here in the state, making a “Kentucky pride product,” as they referred to it as.
Both Ryan and Alex saw a personal change after giving CBD a try – working as a great means of focus for Alex and a pain reliever for Ryan. That said, looking at the medicinal side of CBD is what piqued their interest.
“Kentucky has a great history of being known for cannabis-type products because we have really good soil,” Alex stated. “Hemp used to be really big around here. So having a natural product right here made a lot of sense.”
All active ingredients are locally sourced in Kentucky, with the CBD itself coming from farms all over the state.
Working with a company out of a neighboring town, who Alex says “does all of the heavy lifting for Doyle’s Oils,” they use industrial-sourced Kentucky hemp, operating a CO2 extraction from the flower to create a crystalline isolate. And when they pick up the final product, the founders receive a certificate of authenticity showing exactly what’s in the CBD oil (which is 99.9 percent CBD, no THC at all, no pesticides and no chemicals).
“We try and keep everything natural,” Ryan commented.
Speaking of being THC free, which all of their products currently are, the two helped me better understand the difference between CBD and THC – you know, aside from the whole “one gets you high, one doesn’t,” fact.
“CBD is a lot like THC as far as how it acts in the body and your cannabinoid receptors,” Ryan said. “It binds to the fat. The higher the fat content, the better it will absorb into your body. Hemp oil is high in both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, which we have found this recipe to be very effective.”
Speaking on oils specifically, in contrast to the plethora of other CBD products like soaps, scrubs, capsules and vapes, they said oil is different because it gets in your system faster.
“It hits you a lot faster, we find it to be pretty effective and it’s healthier for you,” Ryan stated.
CBD Serves Many Different Purposes
Through conducting a lot of research, the two know for certain CBD does have multiple uses.
“We always have everything we produce tested,” Alex said. Using laboratories in Maryland and D.C., every time they produce a batch of products, the guys receive a certificate of authenticity so people know for certain there is no THC and nothing else has been added in during the transfer from manufacturing to shelves.
Both founders use CBD for different reasons. Alex uses it mostly for inflammation, and Ryan uses it for pain.
“I’m very type A,” Alex told me. “I’ve always found it difficult to kind of shut up upstairs and focus. CBD allows me a legal way to acquire that avenue. I’ll drop some of it in my coffee in the morning and I’ve found it to calm me down and help me focus more during the day. It evens out the anxiousness.”
Ryan, a manual labor worker all his life, has found the compound to work wonders on whatever muscle or body part he overworks.
“My knees, my shoulders, my back, everything is always hurting from working hard all the time,” Ryan said. “CBD is a really good way to help with that inflammation, and it also helps my anxiety.”
One of their customers’ sons has ADD, who has been taking CBD oil, (which Alex tells me isn’t the boy’s favorite taste in the world), but the mom reports back that it works, and seems to be better than other things they have tried.
“A lot of people think that you just immediately take it and every symptom is gone,” Ryan said. “You have to be somewhat knowledgeable on it and give it time to work its magic. Instead of noticing, ‘My body feels like jello and this is great,’ you take it, and a little bit later you’re like, ‘Oh my god, my knee stopped hurting. I can go for a walk.’”
Like many people with headaches accustomed to popping an advil when they feel the pounding coming on, many people are replacing the over-the-counter medicine with CBD. Alex says he rubs CBD oil on his temples and the back of his neck when he gets a headache.
“About 20 minutes later, I noticed whatever my issue was – headache or anxiousness – it’s subsided,” he added.
Alex has also experimented with giving CBD to his dogs, which Ryan claims, “that’s when you really see it working – A dog that’s limping a bit, and then he isn’t limping anymore. It’s actually pretty wild.”
Giving his dogs CBD, one who is “absolutely insane” to “take it down a level,” and the other pup has hip dysplasia, so he gets CBD for pain.
Ultimately, It’s About Helping People
They are utilizing Doyle’s Oils by approaching doctors and veterinarians in Lexington, asking them to let their patients try the CBD oil out for themselves in lieu of traditional medication.
“We like to tell people – whether they are potential customers or not – to look for companies that offer those test results right up front,” Ryan said of proof of production practices.
Alex mentions they have a heavy hitter doctor as a big client, who says CBD is a great medium for his patients to help with ailments, and it doesn’t get in the way of illegal use.
“He really latched on to the idea because his customers don’t want to use traditional pharmaceutical medicine,” Alex said. “But they still have jobs that require drug tests, so it doesn’t put their job at risk.”