We had the good fortune of connecting with Carrie Mapes and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Carrie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I have always been a worker. My first job was as an elementary student helping an local artist sell her wares at art fairs. I worked through high school and college. I had a career in teaching before stopping to have my kids. As a stay at home parent, I kept very busy working every volunteer position I could at their schools and in our community. I also made quilts, sew clothes, and learned to paint. In short, I have always kept my hands busy, my mind busy and tried to find platforms upon which to grow and improve.
This makes work/life balance a murky issue. I don’t tend to compartmentalize activities as work or play/rest. I focus instead on balancing those things I have to do vs those things I choose to do. As long as I balance the “musts” with the “chosen”, I feel happy and healthy. A warning signal for me is feeling like a pinball getting ricocheted from one task to the next. That is when I know it is time to put aside the must-dos for a spell.
What should our readers know about your business?
When Patty and I went to our first dispensary, we were in our early 50s and each tolerating our own menopause. We weren’t looking for a solution there; we were just curious about dispensaries and the newly legal adult use in California. When we learned that cannabis can access the body’s own cannabinoid receptors to bring balance to biological systems gone amuck, we knew that there was real potential for cannabis to address our menopause symptoms. Hello Again was born out of this premise.
Hello Again is the first cannabis brand created specifically for menopause and targeted to women in midlife. First and foremost, I am proud of the product efficacy and the range of women it is helping. Women with endometriosis pain, early menopause due to cancer treatment, pms and a host of other conditions are using our menopause product to great success. There is nothing better than finding a satisfied customer in our email inboxes and that has become a regular occurrence. I am grateful to the product not only because I feel good, but also because of the turn my life has taken as a start-up entrepreneur.
Building a niche women’s brand within the ever-evolving cannabis has not been easy. Patty and I approach challenges with both diligence and patience. We launched our brand right before Covid hit California and although Covid kept us from accessing and servicing our dispensary partners, it provided time and space for Patty and me to learn every part of our business first hand. We were a two-woman show for longer than we would have otherwise been and it benefited us as businesswomen. We earned the right to trust our guts and not let other people’s confidence get in the way of our own expertise. This has been very valuable.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Let’s go!
Let’s start downtown at the Arts District for a quick stroll and a slice of pie from The Pie Hole for breakfast. The Broad museum is a favorite. It’s hard to know whether to have lunch at nearby Otium or Redbird. The weather would be the deciding factor with sunshine tipping us to Redbird’s outdoor patio. I love walking around Little Tokyo. Next up, a flaming margarita at El Compadre before the mile-uphill walk to Dodger Stadium aka the best seat in Los Angeles.
On the westside, I love a morning hike in Rustic Canyon’s Murphy Ranch where graffiti and gorgeous mountains somehow live together harmoniously. I also love to walk the UCLA campus. If it is a weekday, Alice Water’s new restaurant, Lulu, in the Hammer Museum serves simply perfect farm to table lunches. Violet Cafe in Westwood is perfect (warm atmosphere, comforting food, creative cocktails) for dinner. Let’s play paddle tennis at the Venice Courts and go to the Saturday morning Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. Cobi’s on Main Street Santa Monica is warm, inviting, and serves delicious Asian dishes with natural wines.
My favorite spot in Los Angeles is my art studio with my dogs at my feet and my husband watching football (and bringing me a glass of wine) while I paint. Sorry, no room for visitors!
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my friend and Co Founder, Patty Pappas! My initial motivation to commit to this project was to roll up my sleeves alongside Patty. We immediately recognized complimentary talents in one another and a common sense of humor. Patty is resourceful, hard working, a true problem-solver and has a wicked wit. From the very beginning, we knew we didn’t want to take on this project unless we did it together. Every day since has been gratifying and full of growth.
Shoutout to Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx! Very early in our product development and launch, Patty and I watched Sara’s series on Masterclass multiple times. We saw so many of our challenges play out in her story and her dogged determinism and creative problem solving legitimized our efforts in our own minds. This was really huge for us; we were first time entrepreneurs with no previous business experience and it was easy for us to feel like we didn’t know enough. Sara built her business in the same way our guts were telling us to build ours. Her success negated our self-doubt.
Website: helloagainproducts.com
Instagram: @helloagainproducts
Linkedin: @Carrie Mapes, @Hello Again Products
Facebook: @helloagianproducts
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9XiTyVeiJfMNCutSLBIIWQ
Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@helloagainproducts