10 February 2021|Business Growth, Latest Posts, Launching a business, Meet the Successful Founder
Amy Burgess is an adventurer in healthy living and sustainable businesses. She launched Life Spark CBD two years ago with her business partner Joanna Szala from her Zero Carbon home/office in East Sussex. Life Spark CBD products are 100% organic, THC free and all come in fully sustainable, eco-friendly packaging. Prior to Life Spark CBD, Amy worked with Fortune 500 companies providing mentoring services in the US. However, ill health led her to shun corporate life, and her home in Colorado to move to the UK, building her own home ‘Skyhouse’ overlooking the town of Lewes and the South Downs National Park. Here she pursues her passion to deliver the health benefits of premium quality CBD, based on her own experiences using the product. We caught up with this wonderfully inspirational lady for our popular Meet the Successful Founder Series.
“The world has changed and it has become an urgent priority for many people and businesses to become more sustainable. I jumped on the eco band wagon years ago. At the time, I was leading Green2Green Exchange, a mentoring technology for Fortune 500 companies but on a more practical level, my first eco step was draft-busting a traditional home which provided both financial and feel-good benefits.
When the good fortune to build a home and office from scratch, health and eco practices were at the forefront of all decisions. I had been challenged with two blood diseases for 12 years. Living a compromised life on low-dose daily chemo for way too long, made health become an uncompromising standard. This led me to discover Biologically Healthy Building practices of Baufritz and Alternative Treatment CBD Supplements for my health. Both would change my life forever.
I had absolutely no eco-building experience and it would have been much easier to build traditionally. But in the face of a climate crisis, I said to myself, “If not now, when?”. It was then, I committed to building a biologically healthy and Zero Carbon home/office combo. It was a steep learning curve. To successfully hit Zero Carbon means the building makes more energy than it uses…not an easy target to hit.
A few of the green technologies involved to reach Zero Carbon are:
· powered by 32 solar panels for electricity
· biomass boiler generates heat and hot water
· mechanical heat recovery ventilation system keeps the air fresh & healthy
· woodchip insulation combined with triple glazed windows keeps warm air in
· rain water is harvested for laundry, bathrooms and outdoor taps
· all-natural materials make it a biologically healthy building
The project was completed in 2015. Enthused by hitting Zero Carbon, I joined others wherever I could in the green eco conversation. I then opened the UK’s first Zero Carbon luxury B&B; Skyhouse Eco Chic B&B. ‘Sumptuous and Sustainable’ was the motto. Many guests’ experiences turned into inspiration to green their own projects, large and small. Within two years, the B&B business won the Sussex Life Green Company of the Year award.
Naturally, I enjoyed chatting with the guests and never ceased to be amazed by the stories of their first night’s sleep. It is commonly known that the first night in an unknown property seldom brings with it a deep, restful sleep. But at Skyhouse, it was the opposite. Exploring this phenomenon, I came to understand that a biologically healthy home supports all aspects of one’s health. When one is not bombarded by off gassing from toxic building materials and furnishings that last the life of the building, how does one feel? Refreshed, at ease and comfortable. It is a healing environment.
Now to how I built my inner health. CBD is being heralded as a miracle elixir and for good reason. All across the globe, people are experiencing health benefits that revive their lives. CBD is allowing people everywhere to be pain-free, calm when they used to have anxiety, and even re-regulate their sleep patterns to feel rested once again.
I was diagnosed with a blood cancer 17 years ago and put onto low dose daily chemo. I lived a very compromised life and was not told about the damage that also comes with long term chemo. I decided to investigate medicinal cannabis and travelled to a country where medical marijuana was legal. In just 7 weeks, my bloods were completely normal for the first time in 12 years. The cannabis was 50% THC, the part that gets one high and the part that is transformative with cancer, and 50% CBD.
Unfortunately the chemo had already damaged my body. After a bone marrow biopsy, I received a new diagnosis of a second type of a blood cancer, myelofibrosisii, grade 4. After being off all drugs, I was reluctant to start on the only drug there is for this diagnosis, Ruxolitinib. The drug is relatively new, 9 years old and sadly, many people are finding it stops working after 3 years. This is where high dose CBD comes in. I took 300mg of CBD each day along with the Ruxolitinib. Today, 6 years later, I feel great…energy, engagement, enjoying friends and family. I even took up Street Funk dancing.
Twice, due to traveling and the uncertainty of other countries restrictions on CBD, I stopped taking the CBD. Both times, in short order, my health deteriorated – as soon as I got back onto the CBD, my health got better again. With my diagnosis, it is common that people experience some level of pain or bone pain…with CBD, I have had none. My haematologist believes, due to the long-term success I am having with Ruxolitinib, that the CBD might be working synergistically with the drug.
Proper research needs to be done with medicinal cannabis and CBD but due to the illegality of cannabis and the association with the completely legal CBD, vital research is on hold until restrictions are lifted.
CBD has lifted up all aspects of my health so I feel alive and very well today…again, a life gift that I revel in each and every day. I started Life Spark CBD with my partner, Joanna, because we feel so compelled to bring natural healing to people who struggle with their health.
Joanna was told at 23 that with the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis she would be in a wheelchair by 30. With Life Spark CBD, she is off all her prescriptions and her quality of life is superb, walking, dancing and jumping when inspired.
After miraculous turn-arounds, we were both convinced about the benefits of CBD. However, by exploring CBD as a viable treatment, we were shocked to find only 2 out of 6 CBD products we tried actually worked and that CBD is an unregulated industry. This became my inspiration and motivation to start Life Spark CBD, offering the very finest quality of CBD so other people have a fair shot at reclaiming their health too.
Life Spark CBD is a brand born out of real-life experiences.
We took the plunge and started Life Spark CBD in 2019, determined to grow a sustainable business. From Day One to build Life Spark CBD’s green credentials.
Some of the details when establishing Life Spark CBD product range as a sustainable CBD company in the UK were:
- Life Spark CBD’s Organic CBD – Pure, natural and highest quality from seed to oil.
- Life Spark’s Organic Coconut MCT carrier oil is grown cruelty free and sustainably sourced.
- Life Spark Soft Gels and Body Salve are offered in recyclable aluminum containers as an alternative to plastic bottles and lids.
- Shipping Materials – All plastic free!
- Corrugated cardboard is used in place of plastic bubble wrap or bags.
- Jiffy Green recycled paper envelopes replace bubble wrap envelopes
- Paper tape is used in place of plastic tape
- Dare we say, even the toilet paper, tissues and kitchen towels are made from bamboo from ‘Who Gives a Crap’!
Life Spark CBD will continue to set high environmental and sustainable practice standards at all levels of its business. As we continue to learn and develop, our practices and products will follow suit.
We can all make a difference. It only takes one new eco action and you’re on your way!”
