Experience

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  Kavalytics

  • United States

  • Chief Executive Officer

    • Jan 2017 - Present
    • United States

    KavaLytics™ provides clients with a fast, affordable, accurate and validated quality assessment method for Kava using a state of the art handheld Near Infrared spectrometer, paired with a powerful, cloud-based artificial intelligence machine-learning platform that is intended to implement quality controls and traceability throughout the Kava value chain. Simply point the scanner at a bag of Kava powder and get instant lab quality results on any blue tooth enabled IOS device. Print, save, or email the analysis results on the spot, or create a label to apply to the product, complete with a QR code for quality control, traceability compliance and added value at each step of the value chain.

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  Kali Kava

  • United States

  • Chief Executive Officer

    • Mar 2016 - Present
    • United States

    We are innovators of the world’s first Kava varieties that have been adapted to grow in America’s unique microclimates. Though acclimation, adaptation and an accelerated natural selection process, we’ve created unique varieties that express specialized genetics that make them well-suited for growing in America’s 9B-11A USDA zones that are found in states such as California and Florida. Our goal is to produce the finest Kava varieties on Earth and establish American states and territories as the next specialty Kava growing regions. We have 20 suitable varieties in tissue culture development and are currently taking orders for 1,000 plant minimums to qualified farmers.

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  American Kava Association

  • Founding Board Member

    • May 2014 - Present

    The AKA is comprised of Kava growers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers who advocate for the safe and responsible distribution of kava in the United States.The 3,000 year old traditional Polynesian medicinal root, Kava, has experienced a tremendous resurgence in the United States in the past 10 years. With this resurgence, the need for a Kava community-based regulating body has arisen to oversee the responsible cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of Kava and ultimately ensure its long-term availability in the US market, free from the threat of bans or legislation which would devastate the Kava Market both domestically and abroad.We are particularly concerned with the manner in which Kava is being marketed in Kava Bars and smoke shops. If we can encourage these existing establishments and all future establishments to adhere to a minimum set of standards, we can present Kava in a very positive light and preserve its regulatory-free distribution status. An industry that polices itself is far less likely to suffer regulatory consequences over one that is like the wild west when it comes to standards. It is the purpose of this Kava community association to intervene early, while there are only a limited number of Kava serving establishments and manufacturers in the United States, and set high and ethical standards to keep Kava around for everyone to enjoy for years to come.

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  Alpha 206 Tactical

  • Sacramento, California Area

  • Co-Founder

    • Feb 2016 - Present
    • Sacramento, California Area

    We teach a realty based urban combat system developed around various styles of empty hand to hand combat, as well as knife forms Our focus is strength and conditioning first, and applying time tested principals rather than fancy techniques to teach the public a real quick and dirty combat style.

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  Botanical Science Labs LLC

  • CEO

    • Sep 2013 - Present

    Botanical Science Labs LLC is a consulting firm to a select number of clients in the Ethnobotanical / Ethnomedicinal industry.Minimum consulting fee $50,000 - Minimum project budget $500,000. Consulting services include corporate restructuring, supply chain logistics, research and development, raw material sourcing, analytical testing, importation, extraction/isolation, test marketing, FDA and GMP compliance, legal consulting, offshore operations, manufacturing, labeling, marketing, and distribution. Our clients succeed.

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  Root of Happiness

  • Northern California

  • Co-Founder

    • Mar 2013 - Present
    • Northern California

    Root of Happiness is the premier Kava Bar franchise in the US. Root of Happiness Kava root powders, extracts, tinctures, and isolates are unmatched in terms of quality and value. Root of Happiness was the first Kava company to issue the complete certificates of analysis to their customers on every Kava product as a standard practice.

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  Botanical Legal Defense

  • Member Board of Directors

    • Oct 2013 - Mar 2017

    The Botanical Legal Defense is dedicated to fighting over-reaching government criminalization of nature’s most significant gifts. Chief among these is Mitragyna speciosa (aka Kratom), a natural analgesic, muscle relaxer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant. This herbal supplement from southeast Asia has been widely misrepresented as dangerous and without medical value, when the truth is that is has already been under the scrutiny of the scientific community and has been found to be not only benign, but highly therapeutic.Our mission is simply this: To protect the rights of rights of adults to have access to the safe and effective herbal products, especially those currently being mis-categorized or lumped into the same category as “synthetics”, “research chemicals” and “designer drugs”. And, our goal two-fold: We first want to educate the consumer, our lawmakers, and those tasked with enforcing the law, in order to effect policy change that accurately represents the plants we are working to protect.Current peer reviewed studies on Kratom and its 30+ constituents have shown that Kratom has tremendous medical potential. Kratom exhibits no acute toxicityi, displays powerful antioxidant and antibacterial propertiesii, assists with drug and alcohol withdrawal symptoms(3), contains several oxindole alkaloids which have exhibited potent immunomodulation properties, and even contains constituents that have exhibited anti-cancer properties!iv A brief search in any scholarly database will present hundreds of peer reviewed studies and clinical trials that can attest to the medical potential of this plant.Once access to the specific, natural, safe and effective herbal products is ensured, we then endeavor to ensure the proper policies are in place that protect the consumer from mislabeled, confusing, or adulterated herbal products.

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  KT Botanicals LLC

  • CEO

    • Jul 2005 - Sep 2013

    One of the largest ethnobotanical distribution and R&D firms in North America with over 7,500 cataloged raw botanical samples, extracts, and isolates. KT Botanicals LLC processed over 120,000 orders of rare and otherwise commercially unobtainable botanicals during its 8 years in business. I stepped down from CEO and retired the company in Sept of 2009 to pursue other ventures in the botanical industry.