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Sober From Alcohol, Still Part of the Party | Moni Monk | What Hemp Beverages Mean To Me · Ready To Drink Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Moni Monk, and I am a proud Central Texas resident.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I am ready to tell my story of what hemp beverages mean to me.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, Moni, tell me a little bit about yourself.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, Central Texas, you call home.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any other geographical areas?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then what does a typical week look like for you?
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I am originally from Canada.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I met my husband uh 34 years ago and have been living in Texas for 32 years.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I am a stay-at-home wife now.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was a paralegal for eight years, and before that, a stay-at-home mommy.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: My kids are all grown, and um my husband's actually in a band.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: So we do spend a lot of time going to different venues that he plays at.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my children usually come along.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: We've got three kids.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: They're 29, 28, and almost 26.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of family time.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and give him a give his band a little plug there.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: We can get him an audience.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's in two bands, his own, which is called just Jim Monk, and then the other one is called The Boot Rock Boys.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome, awesome.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I started this business 18 years ago booking bands in the Mid-Alantic region.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a soft spot for live music and uh musician artists and everything.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So cool.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: When you're uh when you guys are winding down at the end of the day or socializing on the weekends, what does that look like for you before you found hemp beverages?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before I found the hemp beverages, we were either drinking wine or we do like the uh the gummies, the Delta 8 gummies, but those are, I believe, not available anymore in Texas.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you guys have some uh some interesting laws that are going hot and cold on the daily now.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I haven't even looked to see what's available anymore.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I like these beverages a lot.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: I have a client down in Lubbock, and every every other day he's like, What am I supposed to do?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's hot, it's cold, uh, it's off and on.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, I don't want to get arrested, but I gotta keep going.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you do you remember the first time you tried a hemp beverage?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we were going to the Country Fest in St.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Pete last um November, and we saw that they had the Delta beverages on their menu.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so we actually stopped at a little liquor store in uh St.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Pete Beach, and we wanted to try it because we had never tried the beverages and just kind of wanted to make sure like it wasn't gonna be a weird feeling at a country fest.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: What uh what do you remember exactly what made you so curious to try it for the first time?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then were there any apprehensions and uh and results that you obviously were happy with?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're still still consuming them.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I had stopped drinking alcohol uh I think it was around Mother's Day last year.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: It like 100% just stopped.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just thought it would be kind of cool to still be able to have a beverage and not be like, oh, I'm not drinking.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we tried those and we loved them.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think surprised you the most compared to what you expected?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, number one, what was really nice about them, the only other experience I had ever had was with the gummies, and the gummy pie lasts so long and it comes in waves.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: But with the with the beverage, it was like it came on quicker and it just kind of almost felt like you know, like a couple of glasses of wine.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't too terribly strong.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: How did you find Delta and then what kind of keeps you coming back and supporting Delta so much?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm part of their garden club.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, or gardening club, I think.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, gardening club, see.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, which is I I love it.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a good deal.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Talk a little bit about that.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I'm not familiar with that uh offhand right now.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, go ahead.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so they have uh a membership where you pay$99 and then you get discounts on the on the product.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so we were we were spending about I think it was around seven dollars for a 20 milligram can here at some of the shops.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I think online if you do the membership, it's like four dollars a can.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh nice.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's it's really worth it.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And they have like giveaways, they give away hats and the uh the Yeti cooler.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been fun.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: The uh how do these drinks kind of fit into your life outside of events and everything like that?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Are they a part of your daily life or just kind of uh as needed in the fridge kind of deal?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So they they're not a part of my daily life.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um I like to actually I'm more I was more of a social drinker with alcohol, anyways.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I'm with my girlfriends, we will take a can and split a 20 between two of us.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I just love it because all of my friends are going through really hard things in their life, and it's just it it sets it sets everybody up to just have fun and we just giggle and we're just silly, like we always say, we're we're kind of like toddlers or preschoolers.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: We just laugh about silly things.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's so fun.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Talk a little bit about, you know, dive a little deeper into what you just said there, because I think that's the most important thing, obviously, for myself as well, like in sobriety, is not just the recovery and the lack of hangover, but maybe talk a little bit about like the presence you have with your friends and your family, as opposed to maybe, you know, overindulging and having fun at a party.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: You might be checking out a little bit as far as the presence of being around everybody, remembering conversations, etc.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what's so fun about it because we we can, you know, we'll laugh a lot, but then we're also like we just become like super brilliant.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: We just have like great ideas and thoughts.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we I feel like sometimes we solve the world's problems when we drink when we when we drink these.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been it's a lot, it really is a lot of fun.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And all of us are kind of the same.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, every now and then I'll have one in the evening, but I like to save it for like more of a social atmosphere.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And and not to make any health claims, but just kind of telling your personal story and things like that.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: Have you noticed anything about sleep afterwards or patience and kind of those types, any of those types of things you've noticed have changed in the last year since you've been consuming Delta?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's definitely uh I'm I'm pretty much a calm person, anyways, but it just really does chill you out.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: You don't, you know, you don't stress about things.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I've never been one to drink and drive, so I definitely wouldn't do that with these either we're Ubering or we're at somebody's house for the weekend.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And like you just you don't have a hangover.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: You feel clear headed and it's it doesn't last for very long.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's a couple of hours like drinking a couple of glasses of wine.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And for me personally, I am a cancer survivor.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the all the bad things about alcohol is just something I'm trying to avoid.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: My um my mother, I grew up in, and my mother was anti-marijuana and all this stuff growing up, but uh she she also is a cancer survivor, and now it's at a she's at a place where the gummies are actually helping her and she's taking less pills and things like that.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's uh more than just the recreational thing, is a lot of the passion that I have for this industry.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate you sharing that.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: What um what's kind of some of the reactions?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you have a group of friends, you and the girls are out there and everything like that.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: And what are some of the reactions to other people when you're introducing new people to this industry and these products and things like that?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Is it is it a little bit of education or is everybody kind of on board and understands it a little bit?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: For the most part, I would say most of my friends have had some sort of experience with whether it be gummies or previous, you know, in high school or whatever.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I haven't, there's really nobody that's against it.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I don't push anything on them, but if they're interested, I'll I'll let them, you know, try it.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And most of the girls love it.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: The um, so in December 11th, we have the uh federal ban extended to December 11th.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: We still don't have a plan, or uh not a plan, but uh anything approved or moving forward and voting.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, obviously you live in Texas, which is just a roller coaster of uh off and on laws and things like that.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: If the federal ban does go into effect on December 11th, we're gonna probably end up seeing states rec uh kind of retroactively go backwards and and honor the federal law as opposed to state law.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: How what does that feel like to you with that kind of rescinding something that has been readily available to you and legal for so many years?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would say it it's typical.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: If it's something that works, it's not gonna be approved, sadly.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I mean, alcohol sales must be dropping.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the part that makes me sad because it seems like it's more about money than it is about health.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what's really sad about it.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: If these things become banned uh and they do disappear federally or at the state level in Texas or whatever, what what do you think you'll be able to what do you think you'll do instead at these events and in these gatherings with your friends if if this isn't available on the shelf?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or or via shipping?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't I don't know.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: I guess like probably I don't know.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: I honestly don't know.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it, you know, it's not that I always have to have something at an event, but the fact that they would try to take something away that really is safer.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: People people drink and drive.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Most people that are using hemp products don't even want to go anywhere.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So once they've had some.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, it's it's very sad.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Talk a little bit about what you think uh lawmakers misunderstand about this category and the industry as a whole.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm sure they think about it as that it's a drug when it's not.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's really just something that I'm sure it probably reduces inflammation.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: You've got people that are they're not drinking alcohol, which we know is so bad for people, for their health, for their mind.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's just it it's such a wonderful healthy option.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now imagine you're sitting across the table from a lawmaker who wants this ban.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say to them?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: I would ask them who's giving them money.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: What um how about somebody that how about somebody that's sitting across across the table that does not consume these products but is in support of a ban as well and is just a regular everyday citizen like yourself?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think they just don't know.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think they they just don't get it.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's an education on on the product.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just really, really happy that I did find Delta.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: I I tried other ones, but I always go back to Delta to the point now where I don't even try any other ones.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Get out there and contact your lawmakers.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let's save these hemp beverages.