Calibrate Wellness Offers Radical Relief With Cannabis Edibles

Chef-crafted Delta-8 bites (Photos courtesy of Calibrate Wellness)

What happens when two business-savvy, wellness-minded Austinites join forces to launch a cannabusiness? "Chef-crafted bites of self-love," as Calibrate Wellness puts it. More specifically, these are gourmet (legal) Delta-8 bites, each containing fewer than 100 calories, and unlike many edibles in the cannabis wild west, they're accurately dosed, vegan, gluten-free, and delicious.

Calibrate is co-founded by Janice Omadeke, former CEO of the Mentor Method, and chef Nic Yanes (Juniper, Uncle Nicky's, and Verbena). The partners' mutual respect is charming and palpable.

"Calibrate Wellness would not be where it is without Nic. He is a culinary genius," said Omadeke. "I would still just be making these out of my apartment, and they would not be this beautiful elevated expression of food and art and cannabis in one." The work balance, they agree, ebbs and flows pretty evenly, but Yanes insists that the origin story starts with Omadeke and her "big smart brain."

Originally from Washington, D.C., Omadeke left her (top-secret security clearance!) defense contracting career, and in 2018, she moved to Austin for the MassChallenge accelerator. As local stories often pan out, five years later, she's happy to still be here. During that time, Omadeke lost her mom to pancreatic cancer, and when she sought medical providers' help, all she was offered were pharmaceuticals – some for sleep, some for anxiety, none to alleviate the root cause – to address her heartache and grief. When her security clearance expired around the same time the world shut down for COVID, she seized the opportunity to shift gears. "Everyone was experimenting with sourdough and banana bread," Omadeke said. "I was learning how to make cannabis oils." She also worked on making healthier versions of her mom's recipes.

"I really fell in love with [cannabis], and I found so much relief and healing from it."

(l-r) Co-founders Nic Yanes and Janice Omadeke

Omadeke cites cannabis as her salve, and what allowed her to get through several tough years, to process emotions and data and details, and to safely relax at the end of the day. She began making cannabis treats for friends when her business was acquired last fall. "It opened up space for me to actually pour my appreciation for cannabis, this plant-based healer, into something that can help other people." Omadeke reached out to a friend about her idea to collaborate with a chef, and the first name she received was Yanes'. The seasoned entrepreneurs bonded over shared cannabis-as-healing experiences.

"I'm a big believer [in cannabis]," emphasized Yanes, who also has a loved one fighting cancer. Like Omadeke, he carefully considers ingredients and tries to balance natural healing options with more traditional (pharmaceutical) treatments. After a significant R&D phase, they settled on a few to roll out. Each square bite is 20 milligrams of Delta-8, and the shape is intentional – you can easily determine how much you're consuming: half, a quarter, or the whole, depending on your body, circumstances, and preferences.

So how did the name Calibrate happen? After enjoying a sample, Omadeke's friend, a busy mom of teens, reported feeling like "she could just recalibrate and feel like herself for a moment."

It's essential, the co-founders agree, to pay attention to feedback – they're "obsessed" with understanding customers' impetuses for cannabis relief and knowing how the experience goes. "It's the cornerstone of Calibrate Wellness. We talk about radical self-love and that's really our core value, making sure people feel the care that we're putting in. We're trying to make sure they have something beautiful, well-dosed; and we're taking on that responsibility to take care of them."

So far, customers seem to want something chill – not something to wipe out the day – and inconspicuous. "Maybe because they have two kids, or a pitch deck to build, or they have to go to a cookout in an hour, or they're introverted and they just want something to take the edge off," explained Omadeke. "They don't want to be laid up on the couch watching whatever, up in a bag of cheese."

Cannabis user demographics are expanding, in part due to changing legalization statuses and improved consumer education, but preconceived ideas are still a big obstacle. Delta-8, for example, is legal in Texas, but not everyone knows this. Calibrate's sleek packaging is purposeful, so customers can comfortably enjoy cannabis in plain sight. Orders, placed through the online storefront, even include a business-card-sized "Notice to Law Enforcement," with language explaining that although it "might look like marijuana" it is "actually legal industrial hemp flower." It's a box you could, theoretically, have sitting on your counter; a Calibrate bite could tumble from your purse without incident. There's no weedy cloud puff or pot leaf insignia.

Peanut butter caramel shortbread bites

Omadeke expanded, "37% of women use cannabis at least once a month – but they're still hiding it. We get customers who are pastors, elected officials, multimillionaires, busy moms with kids, people approaching menopause – and [they all] just want some relief."

"It's a cannabis business, but it's not like the smoke shop on the corner," added Yanes. "We specialize in really handmade handcrafted bites, where everything is organic, everything is natural. And there's not a lot of cooking that goes in these – most of these things are barely even touched."

Calibrate utilizes hybrid flower, and the edibles are designed to taste good with or without the weed – they have virgin samples available. Current flavors include Lemon Macadamia and Key Lime Coconut – both "naked" versions similar in texture to Lärabars; the dessert-ish options, the more "indulgent" flavors with a light icing, are peanut butter caramel with shortbread and cherry cheesecake moon bites. Four pieces cost about $20.

When you're sourcing from high-caliber purveyors, "it doesn't have to be the scary thing," said Yanes. "You don't have to eat an edible to just get loaded and be weird."

"We leaned on edibles because Austin's a very healthy city," added Omadeke. "People are hiking, and just outdoors a lot; they're working out. I think about my longevity when it comes to lung capacity and bone density and things like that. Smoking was just never something I would do. Once I learned to actually cook with cannabis, it was so much easier to just eat it – and it also hits the body differently [that way]."

The duo hopes to expand the healing circle to the canna-curious and offer tasty, safe alternatives to many pharmaceuticals and other self-medicating go-tos. They're also trying to subvert the stigma that cannabis users are unprofessional people. "So many people we look up to as respected business people are either investors or involved in cannabis. Using a tool like cannabis doesn't mean that you're unprofessional," said Omadeke. "It doesn't mean that you're not ambitious. It doesn't mean that you're not intentional with the caretaking of your body."

Although it's certainly important to reiterate that doing individual research and seeking professional health care guidance are simply smart moves, cannabis edibles – when used responsibly – can offer a path to wellness for many. (Please be sure to safely store all cannabis products out of the reach of children, especially treats as pretty as these.) Cannabis users (this writer included) report improved rest, better focus, more information retention, and reduced anxiety – all of which can contribute positively to workflow and key executive function.

In other words, happier people have higher productivity, pun intended.