BESO Wellness Taps Tradition to Offer Modern Cannabis Formulations

Megan Blackwell is a celebrity massage therapist, former minister, and citizen of the world whose homemade cannabis topicals have been addressing pain in pro athletes in the NBA, NFL, UFC, and Olympics. Clients include NBA great John Salley and Olympic long jumper Michael Johnson. Entertainers from Janet Jackson to 2Chainz and Miguel were so enamored with her therapeutic weed and wine massage whip, body lotion and hair/beard elixir, they encouraged her to take it commercial. 

Recently, Blackwell’s line of THC/CBD and CBD-infused topicals have launched at www.BESOWellness.com and a hemp-only version can be found at www.BESOHemp.com. After living in the Middle East, Asia, and in various areas of the U.S., she formulated the line from an exotic and efficacious selection of ingredients that are globally sourced and spiritually inspired. At the forefront of the BESO topicals are a plethora of anti-inflammatory ingredients such as turmeric, mustard, black seed, and tea tree oils, even frankincense and myrrh. The line is dubbed weed and wine because the main emollient is grapeseed oil, and the central actives are cannabinoids. As a woman of color, Blackwell is part of a marginalized entrepreneurial population, especially when it comes to the cannabis industry.

The 420 Area Code (420AC): How did you get started in the CBD world and forming BESO?
Blackwell: As a massage therapist, I work mostly on professional athletes, people who are on stage, and high-stakes business people. I was looking for natural topical products to relieve pain and inflammation for these people who live with chronic pain. After much research, I did not find what I was looking for and decided to take matters into my own hands. It was a combination of my relationships and professional experiences that evolved into a product line called BESO Wellness.

I looked to cannabis as an active ingredient because of its rich history of healing in so many cultures. The first product I created was called Flower Conspiracy. The name came from the history of cannabis, which has been used to heal since Egyptian times, yet modern society has suppressed the use of it since then—some could call it a conspiracy.

I always wondered why cannabis was characterized as something evil when so many civilizations used it for good. It feels so wonderful to be able to create something that is so helpful, especially for pain. Thank goodness it’s starting to become accepted again, so we are on positive trajectory for the future. I tried my concoction on clients to test efficacy and went through many versions before its current iteration. I decided to change the name to something as positive as possible and decided on BESO, which in Spanish means kiss. The way I see it, the cannabis plant is a kiss from the earth—and the name along with wellness had a broader appeal.

420AC: It appears you have a unique line of products. Based on your background, did you do all the formulation?
Blackwell: Yes, they are quite unique in that the glossary of ingredients were all globally sourced and spiritually inspired. In my former life as the wife of an NBA player, we traveled the world during which time I was exposed to and experimented with many local healing ingredients in Northern Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. I was always looking for natural remedies for pain relief.

For part of our lives, we both delved deeply into a spiritual journey during which time I studied many old texts of various spiritual traditions. I started to notice ingredients from mustard and black seed oils to frankincense and myrrh mentioned consistently from the Bible to Bhagavata Gita, the Quran and books about Ayurveda.

Eventually, I chose ingredients that had common histories and healing properties. The black seed oil we use was inspired by a description I read from Muhammad in the Quran describing it as something that would “kill everything but death.” This particular ingredient has a wider symbology, as it is the crescent-shaped black seed next to the star on the flag of Islam. Mustard was something used in Biblical times and in many pagan traditions as a powerful anti-inflammatory. It, of course, became synonymous with the great potential inside something so tiny. Turmeric is something used heavily in Ayurveda as a topical and ingestible anti-inflammatory, as well as a super food ingredient. Turmeric is back in fashion and enjoying a current resurgence.

Cannabis is talked about in Vedic traditions. In Sanskrit cannabis is “Shabdkosh”—literally means cannabis, the cure for all sickness. Many of us remember the Bible story about the precious gifts the three kings brought to the baby Jesus that were frankincense and myrrh. These two ingredients are also used in Chinese medicine. Wildly enough, these two ancient ingredients were studied by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) very recently and found that when used together they are cancer fighters. All pharmaceuticals come from these original ingredients, so I put them together in their original forms to make something 100% natural.

It all started in my kitchen with lots of trial and error. Since starting this in 2017, we have been through at least 10 versions. Not being a chemist, the key thing I struggled with was getting all the ingredients to properly emulsify. If the process was not right, they would not bond. My kitchen eventually evolved into a factory where professional formulators have exacted what was once me throwing in a little of this and a bit of that.

They also had to stabilize the formula so that it has a shelf life and became something we could commercially sell. One thing we learned is that not all cannabis is created equal, which brought us to the farming community. There are many strains of cannabis, some with higher or lower levels of various cannabinoids. We experimented with Blue Dream and Gorilla Glue and worked very closely with cannabis farmers.

Another part of this was the fragrance journey. We tried so many, with the biggest challenge to find something that would mask the strong scent of cannabis. We landed on a tea tree and lavender-forward fragrance note with a few other delicious smelling things. The fragrance reminds me of vacation. Along the way, we continued to perfect the formula with heavy feedback from my clients, the farmers, and formulators. We relied very heavily on the trust factor I shared with my clients. They all knew my story and that I was creating something that was natural and with the best of intent. It was quite a journey. My goal was to use the best of the best natural anti-inflammatories for the best therapeutic effect. All my clients were averse to using synthetic pharmaceuticals.

420AC: Has being the wife of a former NBA player helped with the success of BESO?
Blackwell: I am a big personality and have always been my own woman, but it would be impossible to say that my immersion in the world of the NBA did not influence my success today. It’s an honor to still have pro athlete clients who trust me to help alleviate the pain they live with every day. My husband was Cory Blackwell who played for the former team in Seattle, the Supersonics, as well as the Golden State Warriors.

Having such credible and high-profile people on my massage table is, of course, very helpful in spreading the word. But, if the product was not helping them, it would not matter who they were! So, I give credit to the healing properties of this product, that just happens to be used by people whose reputation helps others understand the incredible efficacy. I am motivated by helping others physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This is my purpose in life, and I am blessed to be able to do this. I have had Olympic track and fielders say, “wow, my muscles feel so great,” and NBA players melt onto the table complaining they “barely got through a hard game,” and an hour later exclaim “now I feel like I can get back into the game.”  

My clients have been players in the NBA, NFL, UFC, singers, rappers, top five influencers, and Fortune 500 CEOs. When they say things like this, especially on social media, it makes others want to try it. People wonder how professional athletes can use these cannabis products and it is this: topicals do not go into bloodstream.

420AC: Do you provide CBD insight and products to a wide range of professional athletes?
Blackwell: Yes. To pro athletes in the NBA, NFL, and UFC. Some of them include Olympian Michael Johnson and Lakers John Salley and Byron Scott. Top-of-mind entertainers like 2Chainz and Aisha Morris (Stevie Wonder’s daughter), and even royalty are also clients.

420AC: Where do great product development and brand marketing ideas come from in your organization?
Blackwell: My product development starts with my clients. Their feedback allows me to shape and cater my products to meet their needs, which is addressing their pain. Our marketing ideas are a collaboration of input from my team and spiritual inspirations. It’s a little bit of everyone and it also includes listening to our manufacturers, farmers, formulators—but really, it is about the customers. If something is working, we do that. If it is not, we change it. A business is only a business with customers who love it.

420AC: As president of the company are you accessible to your customers?
Blackwell: Yes, and I still also do bodywork.

420AC: What motivates you?
Blackwell: The results I get from my clients. After I apply BESO, their testimonials of relief drive me to grow and continue my efforts. And I am not just the owner of BESO; I use it too. I love being at events and watching how people are so blown away that they ask for a case to send to their family. Oh, and this: When a person from another CBD company who says I want to buy some. That is how I know if I am in the right game.

420AC: Are CBD manufacturers trying to make an effort at transparency?
Blackwell: You will see in the news recently that many of the drugs that were classified as Schedule I in the 1960s are coming back for their original use—therapeutically. Cannabis is being legalized, the FDA is looking at various aspects of cannabis, psilocybin and even LSD are being reported about in the mainstream like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. It is an amazing time in history. It has been a long road.

Transparency is necessary to show what CBD is and how it works so that the market flourishes. Cannabis being painted as an evil gateway drug is finally beginning to fade from the societal mindset. It is great to see the FDA taking it seriously and looking at it as they are looking at other natural products. Manufacturers are feverishly keeping up with the laws as they change. But everyone is looking to the great natural benefits and getting away from the synthetic stuff.

420AC: Researchers are trying to unravel the potential benefits of niche cannabinoids such as CBG and CBN. Is this the next big advancement?
Blackwell: Yes. New organic drugs for the naturalist community will be derived from these advancements and we are looking forward to the medicines of tomorrow. Some cannabis constituents come from the roots, the stems, the flowers—there are so many different uses. There are so many elements of the plant that are not being looked at. Right now, we are extracting certain elements, but like nature intended, they all work together. When you pull out one element of a whole plant (in this case cannabis) and concentrate it, that is the medicine of today. Like PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Therapy) that separates blood and then injects just the plasma to create more healing, various aspects of cannabis are being fractioned apart, concentrated, and reintroduced to create more healing.

420AC: How do you see the overall CBD industry evolving in 2022? Anything new and interesting on the horizon?
Blackwell: I believe professional sports will be adopting new sports medicines from cannabis, and it will definitely change for non-professional athletes as well. Sports medicine never used to pay attention to cannabis, but just as it is a standard operating procedure now to reduce swelling, inflammation, or trauma with an ice pack, I believe that will include CBD topicals as a one-two punch.

I see CBD topicals as a common thing in every medicine cabinet, just like NSAID’s like Tylenol (acetaminophen) and Advil (Ibuprofen) and steroids (Benadryl and Epinephrin) are today. I see Workman’s Comp, the accident industry, and insurance systems moving in the direction of natural pain solutions. We all must do our part to lessen the grip of pain-killing opioids and addiction to pharmaceuticals.

420AC: Talk about product price points and availability.
Blackwell: Our CBD products can be purchased online at www.BESOWellness.com. Our hemp products are available at www.BESOHemp.com. Our THC products can be found in various dispensaries currently in the State of California. Anyone with a community of spa pros or massage therapists can become an affiliate through ShareASale. 

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Sheldon Baker is CEO of the Baker Dillon Group LLC and has created numerous nutraceutical brand marketing communications and public relations campaigns for many well-known supplement and food industry companies. For interview consideration or brand marketing consulting, contact him at Contact@The420AreaCode.com.