Exploring Life & Business with Melody Mohammadi of Sweet & Chill CBD

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melody Mohammadi.

Melody, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
From a young age, I’ve always had an entrepreneurial edge. I’ve admired how entrepreneurship has become the epicenter for innovators, creatives, and the business-savvy to create something revolutionary that can change the world. From setting up lemonade stands as a young girl to running bake sales in high school, I’ve always been interested in starting my own business someday. Growing up in Los Angeles, opportunity has always been around me and it’s truly the city where people come to chase their dreams. When I attended undergrad at the University of Southern California, I knew I wanted to combine my passions of entertainment and business and majored at the Marshall School of Business in Business Administration and minored at the world-renowned School of Cinematic Arts. My eyes were exposed to so much opportunity during my time there, simply because my peers and professors had so many different backgrounds, so many different passions, and so many different upbringings that really taught me more than my classes ever could. I had the opportunity to collaborate with my peers and network with unique individuals, which ultimately led me to meet the current manufacturer for my business. If you would have told me that I would be running my own CBD business five years ago, I would have looked at you like you were crazy.

At that time in my life, I thought I have nothing to lose, so I took every opportunity, every networking event, and every time I walked on campus as a new chance of making something great. One day in my last semester, I had the opportunity with my brother to tour a lab and at the time, I thought there was a huge gap in the market. As an avid lover of sweets and coffee, I realized that there was one product that was missing: CBD Sugar. It was then that I realized this was the opportunity I wanted to take up. During this time of research and development, I realized that law was truly at the root of every business, so I decided to take on the challenge of simultaneously attend law school at Loyola Law School. Throughout my studies, I have learned so much and it has completely altered my thinking to become a problem-solver. Though my path is not traditional compared to many of my peers, I have once again appreciated and embraced my differences to make the most of it. My newfound way of thinking, coupled with my business interests and the support of my family has lead me towards the path of one day becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
All roads lead to Rome, they say and Rome’s cobblestone streets have really shown me it has definitely not been a smooth road. Like everyone else who has tried to start a business, it is one of the most emotionally taxing experiences but also the most rewarding. At a moments notice, everything could go wrong or you could have your big break. For me, I experienced the former during the beginning of March 2020. I had planned all of my product development, marketing materials, and operations scheduled to launch March 20, 2020. Little did I know a global pandemic would rock my business to its core. While I was fortunate enough to be able to stay indoors and work from home, a lot of my planning had to be shifted and my launch plan was completely destroyed. Our release timeline was shifted to October 2020 as our production was completely brought to a halt as a result of COVID-19 in the spring. I originally felt very deterred and as if Sweet & Chill was not meant to be, but I had one goal that kept pushing me through: breaking the stigma behind CBD. It had been my self-proclaimed mission to get me through that time, and while I definitely could have tossed in the towel during the spring as I reflected on the time I had lost and the investment that I put in, my mission never went away.

Additionally, during that time I had received my first law school admission letter and that was exactly the glimmer of hope that I needed at that time. After that, I decided I was going to go to law school, I was going to go back to the drawing board, and I was going to recreate an entirely new launch plan for the fall. I took those spring months as extra time I was given to make Sweet & Chill better, to focus more on what the products should be like, what the packing would look like, and what the timeline for future products would look like. With all the terrible things going on in the world, Sweet & Chill was the one thing that kept me motivated. As we come up on the first anniversary of our launch, I could not be more grateful for that bumpy and cracked road I was on.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Sweet & Chill was created in the heart of Los Angeles to pair the finest quality of CBD with the freshest confectionary goods to create products our consumers will love. Sweet & Chill embodies the high-end products consumers deserve at a price they could afford. I created Sweet & Chill with one goal in mind: to break the stigma behind CBD. Up until a few years ago, I was so skeptical about CBD because of all the associations I had seen in the media, but I never realized just how many misconceptions there were until I did my own research. I realized that so many CBD products advertised false effects and printed misleading information about CBD that has contributed to the stigma and turned consumers away from even trying it. When I first tried CBD and researched all of its great health benefits, I realized that there was a gap between what an average consumer knew about CBD and the truth that strong advocates of CBD knew. That’s when I decided that I was going to make it my mission to fill this gap.

Sweet & Chill’s brand is centered around a product and image that everyone could enjoy and not feel ashamed about. At Sweet & Chill, we want everyone to smile as wide as our logo when they try one of our CBD products. So many people around the world use CBD to calm their nerves or if they have trouble sleeping, so why miss out on that because of misinformation? The success of our brand relies on having more people try Sweet & Chill CBD and realizing its great taste and benefits. Now, looking back, there were so many times that I could have calmed my nerves, reduced my inflammation, and eased my tension, but missed out because I was so afraid to be a part of that stigma. But together, one product at a time, the Sweet & Chill family can break it. Our motto is to love sweet…live chill, it’s simple and once you try a Sweet & Chill confectionary good for yourself, we hope you’ll feel the same.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I definitely could not have achieved any of my successes without my family, friends, or professors. I think throughout this trying time, there was no one that has supported me more than my family. Through encouraging me, being my guinea pigs, and being my second set of eyes on everything that I’ve developed through Sweet & Chill has been critical. My brother, Matin Sed, in particular, has been the biggest mentor as he has helped me and supported me throughout the whole process as an entrepreneur himself. He has been the shoulder I have leaned on for all things Sweet & Chill. From giving me advice to helping with funding, he is truly my rock on my path as a small-business owner. My family has always supported me, no-matter what, and they have always given me the strength to preserve even when times are tough. What is so special about business is that when you are open-minded and you do your own research on a product, you can explore a path you never even considered. That open-mindedness is what I learned from my professors at the Marshall School of Business. They always taught me to push forward and how to tackle a problem. Now, in law school, I’ve learned all about the nuances that come with opening your own business. I’ve also learned to be versatile to adapt to new situations and I could not have done that without all of my incredible professors. Finally, my friends have been such a strong support in Sweet & Chill. From sharing the product with their friends to trying it for themselves, it has meant the world. It has been incredible to see my friends support my business during these trying times and feel so proud to share the brand themselves. They have given me honest feedback throughout the process, and I am learning so much from them to help develop an even better product for our consumers. Success takes a village and I am so fortunate to have a village so wonderful.

Pricing:

• 500 mg/25 count – $19.99
• 1000 mg/50 count – $39.99
• 1500 mg/75 count – $49.99
• 2000 mg/100 count – $59.99
• 3000 mg/150 count – $89.99

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.sweetandchill.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetandchillcbd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/sweetandchillcbd/

Image Credits:
Hanaseth Media