When Katrina Thompkins launched her business, the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to take hold in China. Now that it has spread globally, both her life and business have been changed.
Prior to launch, Thompkins worked as a cardiovascular ICU nurse. Always focused on the health and wellness of her patients, she became interested in CBD as a treatment for chronic pain, after learning about some of her patients using it. After doing some research, the ideas behind her Dallas-based CBD startup brand, K’dara, began to take hold.
K’dara offers an organic, full-spectrum lineup of CBD products, developed in part with a pharmacist, for both humans and dogs.
“I think what gives me a lot of fulfilment and a sense of joy in life is caring for people, which is why I got into nursing to begin with so this is just another aspect that I can use to care for people,” Thompkins told NTX Inno. “It might not be in that bedside nursing where you’re dealing with trauma every day, but you’re still looking out for health and wellness of people and it’s something that I truly value. It’s been crazy. It’s been hard. But it’s been a passion of mine, I love doing it.”
Despite being a young company, K’dara has ties to the history of Thompkins' family. In addition to considering her family as part of the team due to their support, part of the inspiration behind the company stems from Thompkins’ Grandma Clover. Her grandmother was known in her own community for her herbal home remedies. Thompkins describers her as a sort of “home nurse” to her community.
Of course, building a new business is difficult. Thompkins said in the year before launching K’dara’s website about a month and a half ago, there was a lot of research, networking and setting up of supply chains to be done. Earlier this year, it seemed as if pathways were opening up as Texas eased restrictions on the production of hemp and sale of CBD products. However, Thompkins said that in December they began seeing how COVID-19 was affecting one of the manufacturers where K’dara get some of its packaging from. The rest of their product is sourced from the U.S. Then, a pandemic was declared.
“You could see the trends early on, how things were closing up, how it hits trading and businesses early on, so it was just something that once it hit the U.S., I knew that this would happen,” Thompkins said. “Not to this extent of course, but it was easy to see once you looked at how China first initially took care of the issue with closing down businesses and everything, it was definitely inevitable.”
"We all help each other out because we’re all drowning, we're all swamped with patient loads and the gravity of it."
Thompkins said that certain laws that would make branding more effective have been put on hold and it has been more difficult to find secure bankers to work with.
Overall, the entire cannabis industry has been affected. Last month, Co-Founder and CEO of Dallas-based Kanna, Farhaj Mayan, told NTX Inno that there has been an increased demand for CBD and marijuana products, likely due to people concerned about supply and about wellness. However, he said that due to the nature of cannabis and hemp production, getting workers to meet the demand has been difficult, as the work typically requires close contact and many cannabis-related products like vapes are produced in China.
However, one of the largest impacts the virus has had on K’dara is in Thompkins own personal life. Seeing the need in the nation’s pandemic hotspot of New York City, she has gone from nurse to business owner to both. Thompkins recently moved herself, since her business is currently online only, to Manhattan to help to work as an intensive care nurse, combatting the virus in some of the worst affected ICUs.
“Basically, it's kind of a go-with-the-flow mentality, because you've just got to go with it. We all help each other out because we’re all drowning, we're all swamped with patient loads and the gravity of it. Our patients are so sick,” Thompkins said. “It’s hard because these families are by themselves, these patients are literally alone, their families are not allowed in the hospital so there’s a lot of high anxiety in the air. It’s definitely been a shock and an eyeopener to how we do patient care and it give you perspective on your health just in general.”
Thompkins said the stress of treating patients on the frontlines can be draining on 12 to 13 hour shifts surrounded by tragedy, especially when PPE can be in short supply at times. However amid the rush or the ICU and the sirens echoing down nearly empty streets, Thompkins said she has made it a priority to focus on exercise, eating right and personal health during her time off. She has also scheduled her nursing work to give her time to focus on her business.
Despite changes in the operation of business, in her personal life and normal life at-large, Thompkins said she sees a path through for K’dara. She said that being online only has helped her balance both entrepreneurship and nursing. It has also allowed K’dara to continue selling its products, and Thompkins hopes that with more people spending time online these days that it will help to drive brand awareness. So far, the company is self-funded.
“I just really want to add some value and hope that people, especially hard working people, start to take the time out of their day to really value themselves and invest in their own health and wellness,” Thompkins said. “It’s something I truly love to do, it’s not for everyone but when you have a passion for something, as cliché as it might sound, it’s really not work, it’s something that you love to do. You look forward to it every day. It’s not all bad, it gives you time to focus and regroup and really hone-in on your brand. Hopefully, when everything opens up, we can just hit the ground running.”
