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Sarah MaHannah of Pure Dharma: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Becoming an advocate for self care and the planet is met with such resistance in a world that promotes the glorification of ‘busy’. It’s often challenging to maintain balance between “wellness” and “founder” even with all the tools — the days I’m feeling great as a mom are not usually the ones I’m kicking butt at work and vice versa, but persevering and staying consistent with effort in all areas leads to results that I can feel good about when I take a moment to put my life in perspective. It’s really easy to get sucked into the business or stress of work, but when I take time to see myself from the outside I really am creating the life of my dreams.

As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah MaHannah.

Founded by Sarah and her husband Sean MaHannah, Pure Dharma was created with the mission to optimize personal and planetary well-being through ritualized beauty and wellness practices. By inspiring a conscious lifestyle through intentional practices and sustainable choices, the duo hopes to give others the tools to live a healthier, more joy-filled life. As someone who has long been passionate about beauty and wellness, the evolution of Pure Dharma came naturally to Sarah after years of working in the spa industry and seeing the need for high-end, luxury skincare that blends botanicals with cutting-edge ingredients in a beautiful, clean and non-toxic way.

Sarah was always fascinated with face masks, salt baths and anything pertaining to skincare. In 2006, she began work as an esthetician, and it was at that time she began a deep dive into learning about ingredients. Having sensitive skin herself, she knew first-hand how irritating and harmful ingredients could cause skin to be reactive on a surface and superficial level, but as she did more research, she began to learn more about the effects on a person’s overall health and body. Sarah discovered the lack of safety regulations in personal care products in the US compared to other parts of the world. She delved into continuing education which then led her to open her own skincare studio with a focus on organic and non-toxic treatments in 2019.

A few years later, Sarah had children of her own and became a mother, prompting her to expand her standards of using non-toxic, clean ingredients for household and lifestyle goods as well. Sarah’s background in yoga (both as a student and a teacher), her journey as a clean beauty practitioner, as well as a passion for plant medicine all stem from a personal desire for health and wellness. For her, these aren’t just products to sell, this is the lifestyle she lives and embodies day in and day out.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story about what brought you to this specific career path?

As an esthetician and yoga teacher, self care rituals have become a way of life for me over the years and I know how important it is to take care of myself to bring the best version of myself into the world every day. I am passionate about non-toxic ingredients and have an affinity for luxury skincare products and routines. The idea for Pure Dharma was born when I noticed the emergence of CBD and THC topicals coming to market early at various cannabis shows I attended with my husband Sean, a cannabis industry veteran. I saw the unique opportunity to marry my love of modern and cutting edge skincare with my passion for the healing power of

botanicals, but do it in a beautiful and sustainable way.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The most interesting story is that the pandemic happened and the world completely shifted after we decided to launch Pure Dharma. It was something I didn’t anticipate but it also highlighted the need for self-care and wellness rituals even more. In our personal lives and as a society, we are all being asked to show up in new ways and it can be challenging to move through life with ease and grace. Recognizing the importance of building a brand that can be supportive, one that can give people the tools they need to feel good as they navigate life’s challenges — is more essential than ever.

This is a lesson in trusting in divine timing and not to second-guess my gut instincts. There is always room for excellence and there can only be one you! We are completely self funded and do everything in-house ourselves so it has taken several years to get from inception of the idea to product on shelves. Seeing a surge in CBD products on the market during that time has led to many disheartening moments of second-guessing myself and the vision for the brand. While it’s true there are many CBD companies out there today, there are very few that are doing it to the level of quality and caliber we offer. What makes us unique (in addition to doing everything in-house where we only have high vibrations and high intentions) is using Nano CBD for a greater effectiveness so the absorption of our topicals penetrates deeper, truly setting us apart. Our products undergo third party testing to ensure the CBD isn’t contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides, demonstrating that we hold ourselves to the highest standard and also being transparent about it. We also strive to be as sustainable as we can not only when it comes to ingredients and sourcing but also packaging.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Maybe not funny as in ha ha, but the funniest mistake is probably the level of naïveté I had about what it takes to manufacture your own skincare line and do it all in house — now I understand why the majority of companies use white-label formulations and have co-packers, it’s really hard work! Being an independent brand with conscious values is often at odds with our mom-and-pop budget but I am proud of what we have done so far and the concessions that we didn’t make to save costs at the expense of the environment. Our integrity and values are clearly on display and I also see how the ability to have complete oversight lends itself to a certain level of quality that is unmatched. We have nothing but high vibrations and high intentions in our space, I will even play kundalini mantras to keep the frequency elevated in the warehouse!

To recognize personal strengths and weaknesses early on and not try to do it all! Leaning more into the importance of community and having a good one around you. We all see how society suffers when we are alone and isolated, so doing my best to surround myself with people that elevate and enhance my life experience more, I try to do the same for them, so we can in turn all get more out of this life experience together. When I think back to the early days of planning I see that it would have benefitted Pure Dharma to get help in certain areas sooner because once the right people with the right energy and skills were in place, things just started to click. I am a wife (running a business with my husband which in itself is no easy task, who also has another business he runs!), mom to two small kids, I’m also a daughter, sister, and a friend — I can’t do it all and am still only one person. So even though I want to do so much, trying to prioritize what I am good at AND what I enjoy while getting help with the rest as much as possible proves most beneficial. That’s why more than just products, I want Pure Dharma to become a brand that’s able to serve the community with tools that uplift and elevate the collective as a whole.

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are currently working on several formulations to round out our offerings into a more complete skin and body line. We are also looking to expand possibly into gummies because we understand that wellness starts within, so to be able to offer some high-vibe, healthy and unique CBD formulations as an ingestible would be another fun way to serve the collective as a lifestyle brand.

There is still a large population out there that hasn’t been educated on the effectiveness of CBD and why it works so well with our bodies and the ability to enhance overall wellness/ wellbeing, so we are hosting retreats both online and in-person, going to pop-up events, and curating wellness experiences to continue to grow awareness and to promote destigmatization of the cannabis plant as a focus in 2022. Our products are experiential so having that in person opportunity to connect with the community and grow our brand is key.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I wouldn’t be here or have any of this without my husband, Sean. He has been a constant support of me and my dreams over the past 24 years and being able to co-create with him has been the supreme blessing and also teacher. Having the love and support of those closest to you in life is crucial for creating the life of your dreams. I also receive tremendous support-both emotional and physical — from my parents that live nearby who help out often with the kids. That is priceless support — for real! It really does take a village.

This industry is young, dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

We are still in the early stages of our brand and wouldn’t consider offering advice at this stage of our tenure to legacy brands.…but what I will say as a young, dynamic, and creative brand is we are trying all of the things! Our team is very small but also diverse in age and demographic so learning as we go with traditional approaches in marketing as well as new ones out of my comfort zone (hello TikTok). It’s challenging to know what the next best move is and what will be the best strategy to optimize reach and be able resonate with your particular community so staying open and fluid is what we are doing.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Cannabis industry? Can you share 3 things that most concern you?

1) On a personal level what excites me the most is an opportunity I have in an industry I love and to do something fun that can truly serve the people.

2) I’m also excited about the availability and accessibility of a plant that can uplift and elevate humanity with so many potential health benefits — when I discovered the plant (I just turned 45), I very much had to do it in secret with only trusted friends! There is a positive groundswell happening in regards to cannabis and CBD that has come with legalization and education and that has been great to see over the years.

3) The industry has been a boom for employment and job-creation, in fact cannabis was deemed essential (as it should be!) during the pandemic so was able to remain less affected during the shutdowns. I would have never predicted this years ago!

1) The inability of the federal government to decriminalize cannabis federally as well as seek expungements for people with prior cannabis convictions as was promised during the campaign by the Biden administration. The fact that people remain imprisoned over a medicinal plant while others profit over it is just wrong.

2) The excessive taxation of the cannabis industry results in the continued proliferation of the black market and greater hardships being placed on small mom-and-pop businesses trying to operate and succeed.

3) The massive influx of purely financial predatory motives and operations in the industry since legalization has brought a whole new, negative energy — the ones who love cannabis for plant medicine and who are true stewards of the plant and the planet are far and few between.

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

1) How the pandemic would affect everything — sourcing ingredients, packaging from overseas, labor for construction, and the state of the world. Things have taken more time and more money to launch than we could have guessed given the current climate.

2) Banking would still be an issue in 2022. Traditional banking and financial services are still not within reach for cannabis business, stemming from the fact that cannabis is still considered illegal on the federal level. This proves costly and inefficient.

3) The cannabis industry moves faster than any other industry I have worked in with new trends emerging constantly. We are unable to reach consumers with traditional advertising and with so many brands emerging it’s difficult to stand out. Having unique points of differentiation in a saturated market is key- it’s not enough to have a great product!!

4) There is still a real need to educate consumers on the healing potential of cannabis as an alternative to conventional healthcare. While I would love to spend all my time being creative and coming up with new formulations, unfortunately we are still dealing with the negative effects of old stigmas and so many people have misconceptions and are misinformed. Even in a culture that glamorizes and embraces alcohol (and so many other substances) to be used as self care and part of bonding and rituals, there is still a resistance to plants from societal conditioning.

5) Becoming an advocate for self care and the planet is met with such resistance in a world that promotes the glorification of ‘busy’. It’s often challenging to maintain balance between “wellness” and “founder” even with all the tools — the days I’m feeling great as a mom are not usually the ones I’m kicking butt at work and vice versa, but persevering and staying consistent with effort in all areas leads to results that I can feel good about when I take a moment to put my life in perspective. It’s really easy to get sucked into the business or stress of work, but when I take time to see myself from the outside I really am creating the life of my dreams.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

As a yoga teacher (and mom), the advice or guidance I give all humans no matter their occupation to help them thrive is to connect with yourself, and develop a life of excellence. Become a lighthouse so that your presence and your frequency is one that lights you up from the inside and elevates and inspires everyone you come in contact with. Be the light for yourself and those around you! When we work on ourselves, we

have the choice and opportunity to become brighter, shine brighter and show up as our best selves — truly living our dharma. Being of service in a way that feels good and connects us with humanity at large helps us in all areas of life — not just work.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’m a kundalini yoga teacher and if I could inspire a movement it would be to have everyone connect with themselves via their breath and have a personal meditation practice. Our world needs supportive, nourishing practices more than ever so for everyone to tap into their best self. It would help us all live in a way feeling vital and connected. Breathwork is the bridge to wellness and it’s something we all have access to, and it’s free!

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Instagram : @puredharmaofficial

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Sarah MaHannah of Pure Dharma: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.