Our Story
Suicidal Thoughts:
A Founder's Story
I was born and raised in St. James, Jamaica, in 1985. I was always a happy child, at least that's what my mother used to say. Everywhere I went, I smiled because I was happy. I had not a worry in the world. After leaving the island and moving to the cold, tough streets of Brooklyn, New York at age 9. I quickly learned that not all people are nice. Indeed, some will do you deadly harm without a second thought. This made me understand I was no longer in the land of "One Love and Peace". I joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 19. At that time my life took a deep dive into depression and despair; I was no longer happy. I went years without seeing my family. During that time some had gone to the next life, and I was unable to go because I was on navy time. The turning point in my life was after eight years of Honorable service, I was diagnosed with PTSD and discharged. The meds provided made me more depressed with suicidal thoughts.
After struggling for years, I found "hemp" helped with all of my symptoms! I felt happy again.
The only problem being I could not roll to save my life. I tried everything and failed horribly at it. I tried different pre-rolls which were often too thin and burned horribly. After one year of frustration, my life partner and I found an Indian company that made natural pre-rolled leaves. I thought it's natural, it's already pre rolled, it's a no brainer! I've never had a rolling issue since.
How was Good Vibes Leaf Founded
In January 2017, the founder was at his home relaxing with his life partner, now business partner, Ashley. They had a huge problem. He struggled from depression and PTSD brought on by prior military service: two deployments with 8 years of honorable service. She suffered from anxiety and depression from the loss of both her parents at a young age. These feelings never go away, and sometimes it can get them both down. At times, these feelings were amplified. They both knew that hemp was great with almost zero side effects and oh! You cannot overdose and die. This was a fear for both of them, taking lots of meds and being numb. Eventually the meds would lose effectiveness leading to a moment of being close to death because of the meds. They both, unfortunately, could not roll, and as luck would have it, the only thing available in the local Virginia area was rolling papers. Nope! No cones here. They searched the internet looking for a solution to their problem to no avail. Finally after months of searching, they found an Indian distribution company that sold cone-shaped leaves that were extremely popular in India and reminded Rajiv of Jamaica. After samples were sent, Rajiv and Ashley were completely happy. They thought, "Why not share this with the world? These things are amazing!" We are both lovers and love to say, good vibes! It's what we love: good people and good vibrations. BAM! The name came to them. Good Vibes Leaf! Yes! The rest is still being written for the history books.