ALL THAT CAME SO THIS COULD BE

When we think about a brand we know and love, we almost never think about the people behind the products. Even I get tunnel vison when working on the day-to-day needs of a multifaceted business like Simply Sol, looking to keep the energy up and the systems running, but in reality, Simply Sol is a culmination of choices. Each choice weaves together to form the tapestry of a story that had to occur for this brand to exist. Travis and I often reminisce about the many twists and turns that brought us here, but you as our community almost never get to pull those threads and learn about the lengthy process that is the founding of Simply Sol. I feel that recollection is not only for looking back at the good times, but a humanizing effort to acknowledge all that something truly is, which is often much more than what we see on the surface. So, as the blog is a new element, I figured we should start from the beginning as a way to better stop and smell the flowers that make up the whole diverse bouquet of the Simply Sol journey.

Like any great idea, the spark is lit long before the fire catches and Simply Sol is no exception. Both Travis and I cultivated a love of plants years before our actual connection. Travis was surrounded by natural healers and alternative medicines as a child being raised by artists in Ashland, Oregon. Born to create, he found a love for cooking, going on to learn the art of food via a culinary degree. I was raised in both the beautiful Bay Area and the mountain ranges of Bend, Oregon by my fiercely independent, tenacious mother. My surroundings being so naturally beautiful led to my strong interest in preserving and utilizing the resources that mother nature gave. At this point, neither one of us would have believed we were on a path to land stewardship and farming, but as I look back, it does seem like that was where we were headed all along.  While studying for my environmental studies degree, I landed an internship learning under a local herbalist, assisting in making herbal medicines from her garden and surrounding areas. This might have been my first flash of inspiration for the future to come. The “what if” moment we’ve all had that says, “It’d be nice to have the space to do this at my place.” For me, it went a bit further, realizing that plants are power, whether their herbs, vegetables, weeds, etc. Every plant has a purpose. Travis followed his passion to being a chef, using the freshest ingredients to create dishes that were not only delicious but whole in terms of nutrition and beneficial value. As life was taking us on individual paths with similar values, our paths did eventually cross and intertwined.

One cool late summer evening, Travis and I met. That was its own series of choices that would make this story a bit too long to enjoy, but let’s just say, it was one split second decision that unfolded into what looks like the rest of our lives together. From the moment of our connection, we were both very much invested in living the most interesting lives we could muster together. Our first step in this now joint mission was to move onto our friend’s farm, trading rent in a beautiful, hand painted Mongolian Yurt for help around the property. We quickly recognized in one another a true pursuit of knowledge, a wanting to fully comprehend all the contributing factors as opposed to just going through the motions. Combine this thirst for knowledge with both of our strong work ethics and we quickly realized our own potential. It didn’t take long before we rose from general tasks, to managing responsibilities. Throughout the first farm to the second, we grew, not only plants, but as people, recognizing when we needed a bit more creative freedom and stability. A bit of an up potting if you will. The second property was a truly valuable opportunity to not only learn via experience but take a shot at full operational responsibilities for a small farm and business while facilitating a transition to more sustainable growing practices. Of course, this process was not without growing pains with some lessons being harder to learn than others, but overall, it gave us the confidence to dream significantly larger and commit to a fully sustainable growing style we knew was possible.

We decided about one year before we bought land to start really saving. With our move date still over a year away, I couldn’t help myself. I looked at properties with our criteria in the Portland area, which is when I first laid eyes on the future Simply Sol. I didn’t know at the moment that I had just found the spot, but I knew I felt strongly about it and couldn’t get it out of my mind. The choice to go from 5 acres to 25 acres was one we thought through, but not all the way. We loved the whimsical energy of the land and size of the future field, but we didn’t have a real idea of what it would take to turn a field that was previously logged into functional farmland. We did what anyone would do and started looking for help to wrap our minds around the project. That’s when we met our “consultant”. While most of our experience was in cannabis, our consultant convinced us that hemp seed would be marginally easier and yield significantly better results for both our land and our pockets. More than just ease of success, we were strongly attracted to the partnership offered to us, wherein we would be growing the seed necessary for several native tribes around Oregon to get into the Hemp market growing biomass, all paid for by the innovative medicinal juice product our consultant was developing. We did our best to vet the situation by meeting partners, going over research and touring our consultant’s own property. With the confidence of having back up and the dream of providing real medicines to support those that need it the most, we went full speed ahead and made an offer on what is now our house and farm. At this point, several things happened all at once that changed our lives.

The COVID 19 pandemic began in late March, creating a unique sense of urgency when it came to buying the farm and our plans to leave our current situation. At the same time, our consultant went AWOL, never to be seen or heard from again. Fate works in mysterious ways, but I choose to believe that if we hadn’t had to come up with our own operational groundwork from the beginning, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are today. All we knew at this point was that we came here with a vision to actually do some lasting good with this business and create something that was truly beneficial for our community and beyond. So, we intended to get creative to do just that. We hit the ground running, clearing logging debris from our main field and using the wood to build hugels, a regenerative bed building technique. Our first crop wasn’t bad for the circumstances. The seed crop we grew ultimately became biomass due to our seeds mostly being suited for this one project and not the wider hemp market. Almost simultaneously, research on cannabinoids during the pandemic had increased and the antiviral effects of CBGa became known in the cannabis industry. Finally feeling like we caught our wave to an innovative option, we extracted that first crop for CBGa crude. Just like that, Rainbow Road CBGa Tincure was born, our flagship product, bestseller, and most effective medicinal ally by far. From there our product line grew into the broad, tried and true offerings we have today. This decision to make delicious, thirst-quenching lemonade from a moldy batch of lemons took us back to our creative roots, solving problems in the way we knew best, by growing flower. Today, our flower is a top competitor for some of the best outdoor grown CBD and CBG flower in the state while creating truly effective medicinal products.

Its never a good story or a true story if there are no challenges. However, it’s these challenges and choices that have brought us all the way to the beautiful land we live and work on, the incredible community we call ours and the truly beneficial brand we poured everything we have into. While our mission has always been medicine, I don’t think either Travis or I had the slightest understanding of just how medicinal this entire journey would be for our own personal growth. We’ve stretched our creativity to the furthest reaches, asked for help thousands of times from those that knew more, and learned just how resourceful we can be when we just trust. Still, all that effort gets reflected back to us daily, when one of our customers leaves us a glowing review or shares with us the way our medicines have helped them in incredible ways. While some of these choices I might not make again, I know I speak for both of us when I say that we would choose Simply Sol again and again for that reason alone.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for being an integral part of this brand and our story. We are forever grateful to those that have believed in us along the way, and, if you’re reading this right now, includes you. Thank you so much for helping us add more threads to this beautiful tapestry of a brand.

With all the love in the world, thanks again and happy healing.