Student Spotlight: Emma Getty - CBD Cookies
This week’s Student Spotlight features Emma Getty, who works full-time in the food industry and participates in the Evening MBA program at Ƶ. After working full-time in finance and accounting for most of her career, she shifted into the food industry when she arrived in Boulder.
She has always been passionate about all things health food related but never imagined she would be creating a consumer-packaged good, as she is today. Her venture, Elevated Eats, is named for her line of sustainable, vegan and grain-free CBD cookies that will “elevate” how you feel.
Things fall into place
Once she moved to Colorado, she started using CBD for stress. She didn’t love taking the oils because they didn't taste very good. She also tried gummies, but paused one day and asked herself,
“Why am I eating this when I normally don’t eat sugar and am really health-conscious?”
It didn't make sense to her that these were the only options for ingesting CBD. Being a baker, she spent over a year making various healthy CBD baked goods for herself and her friends. In 2018, when her friends started the local CBD oil company Colorado Better Days, which uses high frequency sound waves to extract the oil as opposed to solvents or high heat, she saw it as a great opportunity to partner up. This was a turning point for her, actually applying her idea for a different kind of CBD consumer-packaged goods into a business.
“This is something that aligns with my values and company.”
Her path towards CBD cookies was one that continued to shift over time.
Effects of COVID-19
Before COVID-19 surfaced, she had been reaching out to many local coffee shops, but has now shifted her focus to establishing her e-commerce platform. She has already begun at-home deliveries for those who live locally. She is selling something that reduces stress and is available online, which is very fitting for these times.
“I will only be selling in the state of Colorado, starting small and local to begin.”
Entrepreneurship at Ƶ
Last fall, she was working full-time and taking 3 classes, but this semester she can really focus her time on school and her new venture. In Jeff York’s New Venture Launch class, one of the best things for Emma has been making connections. Paired with Allen Lim, PhD alumnus at Ƶ and founder of Skratch Labs, she has appreciated and greatly benefited from having him as a resource. Another area of support has been with the New Venture Challenge. In class, they have pitch practice, funding opportunities and the moral support from other classmates. This semester has been more learning through experience than lecture style and she has enjoyed being part of the first cohort of this class.
Moving the Venture Forward
She was awarded second place in the Women’s Prize competition at NVC 12 this year and will continue to move her idea forward once everyone is able to get back to a more normal routine - so keep an eye out for Emma and her CBD cookies! (Or find her on instragram @elevatedeatsco)