We reached out to Heylo’s Founder and CEO Lo Friesen for a quick Q&A! Here’s a little bit about Lo. (From heylocannabis.com) Consider us impressed.
Lo is an environmental chemist who received her B.A. in chemistry from Northwestern University. Her time spent working at the renowned gastroenterology department of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL helped inspire a pivot from a traditional career in medicine into cannabis. Lo worked for a cannabis extraction machine manufacturer and another processing company before founding Heylo.
Lo founded Heylo to create a cannabis company in the spirit of health and wellness. She founded the company with two principal values – education and transparency. In an industry with tremendous promise to help the world, these two characteristics were sorely lacking.
Heylo hit the shelves in Washington State in August 2017. The company has been awarded four first place awards by Terpestival, was recognized by Leafly as a one of the “People’s Favorite Concentrate Brands”, and received a 20/20 nod from the Northwest Leaf. In December 2018, Heylo was named “Best Overall Company” by Leafly.
Q: What sets Heylo apart from other cartridge / vape companies right now?
Lo: Heylo’s mission is to help anyone get more out of life with cannabis. We are extremely mission driven which is why we focus so much on education, transparency, and spotlighting all of the incredible cannabis experiences that you can find with Heylo. With so many unknowns, we go above and beyond state requirements to make sure the products that are on your shelves are safe to consume and meet our highest internal standards. This way you can focus on enjoying your product and not worrying about the other stuff.
Q: What is RawX?
Lo: RawX is our proprietary process to create an extract as close to the plant as possible. We are constantly working on our CO2 extraction and refinement steps to make sure we’re respecting the plant at every stage and able to maintain the overall chemical profile of the plant. We know that maintaining as much of the chemistry of the cannabis plant, like it’s terpenes and cannabinoids, is the secret to the best experience with a vape. So, you’ll find a variety of cannabinoids to compliment THC or CBD and lots of incredibly delicious flavors from the cannabis terpenes that we extract from the flower. The essence of cannabis flower in a vape.
Q: How do you hope to see terpene profiles being represented in the industry in the future?
Lo: Terpenes are an important part of understanding what type of experience you’ll be having with a particular cannabis product. We used to be able to smell our cannabis before we bought or consumed it and our nose knows what our body will and won’t like. We can’t do that here in Washington anymore, so we have to find new ways to communicate that smell or what will jive with your body. So, I see more and more companies using terpenes and aromas to help convey more information about the product. We can start by connecting the dots between terpenes, aroma, and effect. Some people can easily connect those dots by seeing percentages of each terpene, Heylo puts that information on the packaging for those that are curious. We also use a Cannastamp, which is a color wheel and represents the top eight terpenes in the product at their respective levels. I see the Cannastamp as a leader in cannabis and the language around terpenes.
Q: What is your personal favorite terpene?
Lo: My favorite terpene for its effects is valencene – citrusy sweet, energizing, but a focused and calm energy! My favorite terpene for its flavor is geraniol – it is a very sweet rose/floral aroma and found in rose oil and an undertone in geraniums.
Q: What are you most excited about for 2021 at Heylo?
Lo: Product development, expansion, and finally being able to host in-person events again!
