8000Kicks is Breaking Ground: Inside The Making of Waterproof Hemp Shoes with Bernardo

Marge (00:00:04) - Welcome friends to another episode. This week we are doing Faces of Cannabis interview with a very special guest. Welcome, Bernardo. Of 8000 kicks. Welcome to the Faces of Cannabis interview series, where we take a break from talking about edibles and focus on the people behind the plant. Whether it's fellow podcasters, Bud tenders, Ganjier advocates, cultivators, cannabis lovers all have their stories to share and I want to share them with you. Greetings, friends. Welcome back to another fantastic episode of Bite Me and another Faces of Cannabis interview, because I like to interview people who don't necessarily fall into the narrow category of edibles, and this gives me the creative freedom to do just that, because it's my show and I get to do what I want. If you're just tuning in for the first time, I'm glad you found me, and I would love to hear how you discovered the show. If you've been around for a while, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to you because it is not easy creating a show from scratch, and I wouldn't be able to do it without you out there listening week after week.

Marge (00:01:16) - So thank you. Now this episode is a fantastic look into the world of hemp. I had the opportunity to sit down with Bernardo, CEO and founder of 8000 kicks, a waterproof hemp shoe company. They don't just make sneakers, they also make boots and backpacks from hemp, which is a sustainable and durable and organic. I discovered the brand by accident, and if you've been listening to the show for a while, you know that I was doing a segment called Things You Can Make with Hemp, which is why I felt compelled to reach out to Bernardo, and he generously agreed to lend me some of his time to talk about the company. That hemp is a versatile fiber to work with is an understatement, and it always surprises me that it's not used more widely in various industries. But I think, as you'll learn this episode, there are unique challenges to working with hemp as a raw fiber. We also talk about his grandmother's influence, the cannabis landscape in Portugal, which is where the company is based, the stigma that still exists around cannabis, and the crazy stunt that Bernardo pulled off in Berlin in 2023.

Marge (00:02:28) - With that in mind, please enjoy this conversation with Bernardo. Of 8000 kicks. All right, everyone, I am really pleased to be joined today by Bernardo, CEO and founder of 8000 kicks, and I was hoping you could take a minute to get us started. Bernardo, by introducing yourself to the listeners of Bite Me.

Bernardo (00:02:54) - Hello my super, super happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. yeah. So 8000 kicks. it started, it. Well, first, let me tell you what it is. Right. Let's tell the listeners it's basically a company that sells cannabis shoes, hemp shoes and hemp backpacks and everything made from hemp. And people must be wondering, so why kind of issues? basically, hemp is a very durable material. It's, antibacterial, antimicrobial. It's very sustainable. That's why it's called the weed. Not because it's for smoking, but because it grows pretty much organically. It grows in the forest, and it used to grow everywhere. and that's why it's called with.

Bernardo (00:03:44) - It's not just weed in English, it's also weed in Portuguese within every other language. So it's a funny fact. but hemp doesn't require water to grow. It doesn't require pesticides. It just once again grows almost organically. And that makes it a very sustainable fiber, very sustainable plant. And also it's, like I said, very durable, antibacterial. And it makes it a great material for making shoes and backpacks. And that's where the idea came from. But when I started the company, I didn't know about this. It was all a bit of a joke. And it was 2018. We were all like a bit drunk and, it was five in the morning and someone came up with the idea of making a cannabis shoe because they thought it was funny. I love.

Marge (00:04:35) - That.

Bernardo (00:04:35) - Yeah, it was totally not a business idea. It was like, just a stupid idea until I realized that him and a lot of potential. And this is when I actually order some him because I've seen, cannabis backpacks and cannabis wallets.

Bernardo (00:04:53) - So why can I make a shoe? So I call my grandmother and ask her for some help, and we ordered some hemp fabric. And this is when we actually realized that fabric was very interesting because my grandmother has over 50 years experience in textiles. And when we look when she looked at the fiber, she was like, okay, this is very interesting. This material is very strong. And. A quick, a couple of, Google searches afterwards. And I was like, okay, this this can be a game changer. So we went from, from getting drunk at five in the morning with stupidest idea ever, until we realize that we have a game changing idea on our hands. And I.

Marge (00:05:36) - Love that. So there's a lot that, like, there's a lot that I want to talk about that you just touched on right there. No, that's totally fine. One of the reasons I wanted to have you on is because I used to do a segment on my show called Things You Can Make With Hemp, and it's incredible the things you can make with hemp.

Marge (00:05:51) - But I don't see a lot of companies out there utilizing this amazing material that, like you said, has all these unique properties to it. And also it is environmentally friendly to grow. And so of course, when I came across your company, I was like, wow, I got a I gotta have this fellow on my show to talk about it. But before we get into more of that, maybe we can talk a bit more about your own relationship with cannabis if you're comfortable talking about that. Because it I think it you talk about on your website where and you just mentioned a minute ago that all you were up late with your friends having some drinks and smoking some joints. Do you still use cannabis as part of your daily routine?

Bernardo (00:06:32) - not.

Bernardo (00:06:32) - Daily, but once socially, mostly. Or when I needed to for medical reasons. but only then. I'm not the avid smoker, actually, which is kind of funny, and I like all the weed I want, which is, yeah, even more funny.

Bernardo (00:06:49) - But, as you know, it's not completely legal in Europe. Germany is moving legal in the Netherlands is semi it's it's a gray zone. In Portugal it's decriminalized. But it's not like there's it's not like California, Colorado or Canada. Right.

Bernardo (00:07:05) - Right.

Marge (00:07:06) - So what's it like to buy or consume cannabis in Portugal? Because as I understand it, you're based out of Portugal.

Bernardo (00:07:12) - Yeah.

Bernardo (00:07:13) - I'm based on Portugal, but I spend a lot of time in the US. okay. We were just recently in Atlanta for the shoe show and in California for another shoe show, and I was visiting the some of our costumers. And we have operations there too. So, but what's the situation here? It's pretty much like in the US, before it got legalized, it's like, people go on the black market or they call their dealers. And this is how it works in Portugal. But you can actually buy CBD. CBD now isn't. But yeah.

Bernardo (00:07:45) - Yeah.

Marge (00:07:46) - Okay. So you can buy CBD kind of legally or quasi legally.

Bernardo (00:07:50) - It's, in Portugal. It's funny, but they sell CBD as decoration. Same thing in most European countries. It's sell. It's sold as a. like, ornamental thing is, is something to put you on your house to keep up. Keep out the bad smells.

Bernardo (00:08:12) - Right? Oh.

Bernardo (00:08:13) - No one uses it for that reason. But it's just funny that this is such.

Marge (00:08:18) - Okay. And is there a lot of stigma around cannabis use?

Bernardo (00:08:21) - Yeah.

Bernardo (00:08:23) - the US is way more advanced in terms of cannibalization of society. in Portugal and Europe as a whole, we feel that we are not so advanced. But it's still pretty big.

Marge (00:08:36) - There's still a lot of stigma. Yeah, I still find there's still stigma, even in Canada where I am. So it's slowly changing. Of course, legalization certainly helps, but, you know, there's still a lot of people that will. The lazy stoner stereotype is a really tough stereotype to to die. And, yeah, so it's still out there, but now you're talking about how you're up really late one night with your friends and you were talking about creating a shoe company or just making something with hemp.

Marge (00:09:07) - Most people don't come out of those nights and actually put this stuff into action. So that's pretty, pretty unique that you actually went ahead and said, hey, there's something to this. What prepared you for running a hemp based shoe company? Like, did you have any past career experience or family inspiration hobbies? What was it that you felt prepared you to to take this on?

Bernardo (00:09:29) - I honestly had nothing. I'm going to be honest, I had nothing. All I had was an immense will to create something and drive positive impact to the world. And that's it. I mean, I've tried this was actually my first business that actually took off, but I had many other businesses that didn't, was selling virtual reality headsets and solutions. It didn't catch up. it didn't cut up and it didn't, work. We had I was selling yoga mats at some point. I was I was selling all sorts of, of things and, well, this one took off and, back. This was back when I, I left London, I came back, I moved to Portugal.

Bernardo (00:10:16) - I was looking for something to do, something to launch. And this is when I came up with this idea. I had other ideas running on the side because I wanted to launch something. I had a free time. I was testing, but, this was the one that got off. And this is the one that I that I'm putting all my money in.

Marge (00:10:36) - Awesome. So basically, hard work and determination is sort of what got you started. I love that both times. And just well, we all learn from our failures, right? Like just because something doesn't take off, there's always lessons to be learned from that. And I think not enough people talk about the failures often because we see these, you know, magazine articles or podcast episodes or whatever the case is of.

Bernardo (00:10:58) - People who have succeeded.

Bernardo (00:11:00) - And stuff.

Bernardo (00:11:00) - And yeah.

Bernardo (00:11:02) - It's become that there's years and years and years of work and now we actually better than ever. But honestly, it was not always like that. We bankrupt a couple times, especially during Covid was really tough for us.

Bernardo (00:11:13) - We didn't have production. Factories were not manufacturing. We had no sales, no income, no nothing. then we had production problems where a lot of our products came with defects. Well, we survived and we're here.

Bernardo (00:11:26) - Right?

Marge (00:11:27) - So why hemp shoes versus any other hemp product or clothing article? Because I feel like it's a super competitive market.

Bernardo (00:11:37) - It is, it is. But, we feel that our differentiation is pretty clear. And, and that brings that puts us in a whole new category. And, the sustainability is a big factor, right? The people that care really about sustainability, they look at us in a different way. They look at. shoes that use, vegan leather or basically then leather. Right. Or, cotton. Right. They know that hemp as a whole set of properties. That makes it much more sustainable, much more, much more readable. And this, this sets apart the shoe immediately. Then people. We have to educate people a lot for this. But the durability, is, is a big factor to, what else? But the fact that he's antibacterial is pretty cool.

Bernardo (00:12:31) - I mean, I take off my shoes every day. Doesn't smell. It's amazing.

Bernardo (00:12:35) - Wow.

Marge (00:12:35) - So the antibacterial properties of the shoe prevent foot odor, or at least from your shoes. From smelling.

Bernardo (00:12:42) - Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's not 100%, right. If people have bad socks or if they sweat a lot, there's always going to be smell. But the difference between other shoes is immense.

Marge (00:12:55) - Right. So how do you ensure the durability and longevity of a hemp shoe, especially in challenging weather conditions? Because I understand your shoes are also waterproof.

Bernardo (00:13:04) - Yeah, it's it's a basic waterproof, but it's more than enough for 99% of the customers. we would not recommend this shoe to be, like, go in the mountains, go crazy. Right? Take a pair of, of trekking boots. And so. Right. But, what we what we normally say is, These shoes. Are casual. Outdoorsy but not heavy outdoorsy. And they are made to last. But it's a shoe, right? You cannot expect them to last forever.

Bernardo (00:13:39) - It's a $100 shoe, not a $400 shoe. And it's it's made to I mean, that what we see right now is even though that takes I mean even even though the hand lasts a long time, the soles deteriorate, the glue deteriorates, I mean. Right.

Bernardo (00:13:58) - Oh, yeah.

Marge (00:13:59) - Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. I've owned expensive pairs of Nikes that have started to fall apart faster than I'd like to admit. And I think I'm done with Nike's personally. But yeah, they they don't last forever, that's for sure.

Bernardo (00:14:13) - Yeah.

Marge (00:14:14) - Especially shoes. I feel like people are really hard on their footwear.

Bernardo (00:14:18) - I mean, look, there's the harder people that we've seen is like Fedex, UPS workers, the UPS, USPS, like all these major people. They go crazy on shoes. They they need shoes every 4 or 5 months at least. They go because they walk every day, like, I don't know, 20 miles or something.

Bernardo (00:14:38) - Right?

Marge (00:14:39) - Yeah, well, that's a lot of walking.

Marge (00:14:41) - And yeah, I can see how you need to keep up with your shoe, your footwear, if you're doing that much walking now. In what ways does 8000 kicks contribute to environmental sustainability? Because I will mention that when I first discovered your company, I think it was on the website, your eco stylist, which sometimes when I'm looking for things, I check there first because I like to support companies that are doing different things in their various product categories. So what do you do as a company to contribute to environmental sustainability?

Bernardo (00:15:12) - Sure.

Bernardo (00:15:13) - So we do a lot of things. And the first is the fact that we use him, but that we already covered in the last, in the last, things we've talked about. But then we also plant trees. We're very transparent and we even share, a list of all the trees we've planted around the world. it's on our website and on the about section. We I mean, this is not sustainability, but, we try to reuse or donate a lot of pairs that are not in perfect condition, but they still can be used.

Bernardo (00:15:46) - Every Christmas. We've been donating from 10 to 50 pairs to 100 pairs, something like this. Every year we we go to people in need and we share with them whatever needs to be shared. We also promote Second Life, right? You are a user. You no longer want to appear. You can, we can take it back, and we can try to fix it and sell it as an outdoor item. but this comes in very special cases. We don't. It's tough to do this in a massive scale because, the costs of shipping a product, let's say, for instance, from New York to Washington or from California to Virginia, where we have our new warehouse, it takes a huge impact on the environment more than actually fixing the shoes. So it's like it's complicated to do this. We tend to do this more locally, but this is something else we do. then we also promote with our factories the use of renewable resources, which we, which we transparently share on our About Us page.

Bernardo (00:16:53) - We about 50% of our factories in Portugal, of 50% of the energy of our factories in Portugal come from renewable sources. So this is also a pretty big thing for us. We also share the salaries, but that's not really sustainable. It's more like fair paying of our workers. yeah. But that's that's pretty much it. We also everything. Oh. In the dying we also try to promote. This is really tough for us. Really really tough. We've we've tried to use dyes as natural as possible, but it's really hard to use 100% natural dies because the the fastness, the color. I mean, basically, the shoes will lose color faster if we don't use some chemical components on top of the natural dies. And this is something that unfortunately we are trying to fix. But it's really hard because otherwise we have customers complaining after a few weeks or months. Right. So we have to be really careful on this. For instance, if they leave the black pair of shoes outside for a full day, it's, it's it's I mean it's going to deteriorate the shoes faster, right.

Marge (00:18:02) - Yeah, yeah. No, that makes sense. And so you do what you can, where you can. And when you finished off by saying what you were doing, you're saying, I think that's pretty much it. But I would venture to suggest that that's a lot, especially compared to what most companies are doing. And I would also like to say that I really like that you put on the website, like what factors you're using and the wages that the workers are getting, because to me, I think paying workers a living wage is important, especially for things like fashion, footwear and other things that we're buying.

Bernardo (00:18:34) - So yeah.

Marge (00:18:35) - You're doing quite a bit.

Bernardo (00:18:36) - Yeah, yeah we try and now we are onboarding a new a new carrier that we're going to use green fuel as well. But it's like all these small things, it's it's it's nice to have someone to tell you because most customers don't really care.

Bernardo (00:18:49) - Yeah.

Marge (00:18:50) - Well it's all these little small things add up. And you know, from a customer perspective, I feel like when I try and support companies and buy their products, they're doing these things.

Marge (00:18:59) - For me, it's it's the little things that add up as well. And if more and more people do the little things, then those small things turn into big things. And that's how you make big change in the world.

Bernardo (00:19:09) - So now.

Marge (00:19:11) - Yeah, exactly. Now what challenges have you had to overcome in the face of introducing a hemp based footwear in the market, and how did you overcome them?

Bernardo (00:19:21) - the first big challenge was sourcing. This is really tough, as you probably imagine. It's not like cotton. You can just go to every supplier in the world and say, oh, give me a meter of hemp. Oh, I want, sorry, give me a meter of cotton, give me a meter of, blue pink striped cotton. Easy. When you try to source him. Good luck. It's like it all comes raw. Mostly it's, it comes in very limited colors, and it probably sucks. The durability is not good. And we've seen this firsthand in it. We have to.

Bernardo (00:19:57) - We had to go to the suppliers and manufacture our own hemp. Yeah. I'm not kidding. We. Okay. For the last four years. Yeah, we we done our first production with a hemp resource from another factory. From another supplier. We said no more. We have to do our own thing and we do our own name. We go to suppliers, we tell them exactly what they have to do. They make the the hemp according to our specifications, the diet according to our specifications. We sometimes even suggest the the dyes and we suggest the yarns and we go, we we suggest okay, you pick the yarn and the fiber from this supplier. We go almost this deep? No, we go this deep sometimes, but we literally go this deep to make sure that hemp is really good. And this is the challenges that we face. The biggest challenge is to have the most amazing hemp fiber in the world.

Marge (00:20:56) - And. Right. That does sound like a significant challenge.

Bernardo (00:20:59) - Hey, you can see that on the Trustpilot reviews and the reviews on our website.

Bernardo (00:21:03) - And, and we know because we've tested other people's shoes, we've tested, we've tested other people's fabrics, and we have the best hemp in the world because we have data and we have the results to back it up. And it took us four years to do it.

Marge (00:21:18) - Right. So that that leads me to my next question then. And you touched on this earlier, that your grandmother was instrumental in helping you, I guess, get the company going because she had all this experience in the textiles business. Is she still working with the company and what would her current role be?

Bernardo (00:21:36) - No, she she she doesn't work actively. Right. So she is more like, advisor. Right. They speak English. She she's retired. She's 80 years old. Right, right. But what she does is once a week, twice a week, or sometimes I just go have lunch with her regularly. I show her the new products. She gives her advice. I mean, now we sometimes we still do iterations with him.

Bernardo (00:22:02) - We now we are in our fifth iteration with him where we change the specs. I show the results from the lab. She asks a few questions. You say, okay, this might be because of that. The days need to be like this. What dyes are you using? So this kind of feedback. But she doesn't actively work in the business like visiting suppliers, right. But the experience that she has is, is, is what brought us here, right? I don't know anything about shoes. I mean, obviously now I know, but.

Bernardo (00:22:30) - But she's the one.

Bernardo (00:22:31) - That. Yeah.

Marge (00:22:32) - The one that really helped you catapult your success. Is there any insight that she brings in particular that you'd be lost without.

Bernardo (00:22:40) - Yeah, completely. The the way that the fibers are woven, the way that, the way that that we use the colors. I mean, for instance, the first manufacture that we did did a lousy job, but for me, it was I couldn't I couldn't explain the guy why the shoes totally suck, but but, she came to the factory and she explained what needed to be done, and I don't know what she said, but it looked.

Bernardo (00:23:08) - It worked. She said, reduce the foam. This this seams have to go inside or outside. This has to be like this. This has to be like that. The shape of the shoe doesn't make sense. the last is wrong and the laces are wrong. So she. She didn't say. Oh, I don't know what you did, but the shoe looks good. Now.

Marge (00:23:29) - That's amazing. I love how you're like, I'm. These don't feel right. You knew intuitively that they didn't. But she came along with her 50 plus years of experience and was able to articulate it. Exactly. And who you are today. Yeah, 100%. I can see how her advice, her mentorship is probably invaluable.

Bernardo (00:23:47) - Yeah.

Bernardo (00:23:48) - And what the as well she said this is not going to work because this seems overlap. And then there is going to be a hole. You have to do the seams in a specific stitching way, and then you have to seal them with a specific, sealing, band. And this is the way it's going to look, waterproof and blah, blah, blah.

Bernardo (00:24:06) - And with all these details, I don't know. Right?

Bernardo (00:24:08) - Right.

Marge (00:24:09) - That's amazing, I love that. Now, do you see how do you see the future of hemp based products in the fashion industry moving forward in the future?

Bernardo (00:24:19) - It's funny that now hemp is starting to come up a little bit like, oh, we make him stuff. We make him stuff, which is great, to be honest. Every time people talk about him, we get brought along in the conversation. Right? And but not so many hemp shoes out there. And the main reason is because it's tough. And we see that whenever Nike, Adidas when they try to launch a shoe. We look at the we look at the fiber and the and the fabric and we like these guys are going to have problems in four months.

Marge (00:24:51) - Right?

Bernardo (00:24:52) - And they're like, I'm never.

Bernardo (00:24:53) - Gonna use hemp again. And we were like, yeah, maybe we understand why you just went to the closest supplier like we did back in five years ago.

Bernardo (00:25:03) - And you, you get problems with customers four months after.

Marge (00:25:08) - Right. So do you see, like more? I mean, maybe not shoes because it sounds like footwear offers some particularly unique challenges, but do you see more seeing more hemp in fashion, generally speaking.

Bernardo (00:25:20) - Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. we've been doing a lot of awareness, communication. Hemp is starting to come up as a cool thing.

Bernardo (00:25:29) - Right.

Bernardo (00:25:30) - So this this brings along the hemp conversation. And brands want to be in the conversation. And they want to use him because they want to be sustainable. Right. So. We see more and more brands using hemp in the future. Some brands have even contacted us to to get some feedback, and I always recommend a couple suppliers if they want. but it's like we always promote because the more him gets talked about, the more everyone wins. And we are in a super small hemp product market that we help each other, to, to grow. Because if someone uses hemp shoes, they're gonna want to wear hemp socks and hemp shirts and hemp trousers and hemp pants and hemp hats and so.

Bernardo (00:26:15) - Right. So. It's good that we help each other and we see more brands coming up with him stuff, and it's very good and I see that coming up. But you have to understand that most brands also care about the margin. And also cotton is way cheaper than than hemp. I can tell you that he is buying him now, right, for new production for $2,020 per square meter, while cotton costs like five.

Marge (00:26:44) - Wow. That is a significant difference.

Bernardo (00:26:46) - Yeah.

Bernardo (00:26:46) - So there is a big thing when deciding what materials to use.

Marge (00:26:53) - Yeah, and I guess that also depends on the values that you have as a company, which direction you're going to go. So obviously you have different values. And using hemp is important and I love that. And I love that you were talking about supporting other businesses that are looking to explore hemp as a sustainable option. Yeah. Now, I was also looking around on your website and this is switching gears a little bit, but there's a question that appears in your FAQs, which means that a lot of people have asked this question enough to warrant it.

Marge (00:27:23) - But the question is, can I smoke the shoes?

Bernardo (00:27:27) - Too many are too many.

Marge (00:27:30) - So, I mean, I suspect if I had to guess, I'd say you can't. But can you talk about that question and how it gets asked and.

Bernardo (00:27:39) - In the answer.

Bernardo (00:27:40) - Something every way. Everywhere. Like every time. so these are not for smoking. So can you smoke this after they're used? right. You can wear them and spoke at the same time. Like, every way, everywhere. Every email, every not every email, but a lot of emails. A lot of messages. I mean, we were like, really? People are asking this. We really have to address this question to put it in order for Q right, working out, what else can we do?

Bernardo (00:28:12) - Right.

Marge (00:28:13) - I find that really funny. But do you get a lot of support from the cannabis community?

Bernardo (00:28:17) - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We get I mean, some people that put more effort than others. There are people that are more.

Bernardo (00:28:23) - There are some people that are more willing to share than others. But a lot of people ask these questions because, the stigma. Right? Not just the stigma, but we have to understand that we're looking. We are working with a fiber that was banned for 50 years. Right? So people that are not exactly where it comes from, people think that our hemp. As CBD or substances on it because they still don't understand that, it's not collected from the trunk of the tree, from the stalk. It's collected from the at different plant at. All. Right. They think it's this plant that we use also as flowers. And Wright doesn't understand where the CBD and the THC comes from. Right. So there is a lot of misinformation about this. And everyone knows what is wheat. But not everyone knows what is industrial hemp.

Marge (00:29:16) - Right. And it looks very different than the stuff that you picture when you grow it in your backyard or whatever. It looks very different. And I'm going to suggest to the listeners out there, if you buy a pair, do not smoke the shoes, you will be disappointed.

Marge (00:29:29) - Yes. And you should just continue with whatever source you're using because the shoes aren't going to be yet. But I'm sure you would just get a probably pretty terrible headache if you tried that. But now also, I learned that in July of 2023, you were arrested in Germany, and that was because you were spreading 500 industrial cannabis plants in Berlin. Can you talk about why you took on this project? What happened and why? Berlin.

Bernardo (00:29:58) - Yeah.

Bernardo (00:29:59) - sure. So, this was last year. The main topic everyone was talking about in Germany was legalization, legalization, legalization, legalization. Everyone was talking about this. And we were like, let's do something crazy. We need to shake, shake, shake things up, right? Let's let's punch the table and break a little bit, break some eggs. And we didn't know what. And then, we were talking as a team and we were like, guys, why don't we spread a lot of plants and, do we know anyone making hemp? And then actually, we didn't, but, we knew a couple people that, knew a couple of people that knew a couple people that might knew where to make where.

Bernardo (00:30:43) - Eventually we found a Berlin guy that had a farm one hour and a half from the city. We visited him a couple of months before we said, okay, bro, we're going to buy half of your farm.

Bernardo (00:30:57) - Keep us.

Bernardo (00:30:58) - Keep us in, keep us in, keep, keep us in your head. we bought a lot of vases. We rented some trucks. Six months later or a couple months later, we came with a lot of vases, some, six trucks, and we just. Shove them all into vases. We put them all into the tracks, and one day at night we shove them all into Berlin everywhere. I mean, you can see them everywhere, right? We just shoved a lot of plants all over the city. It was crazy people. People were, like, very impressed. This was actually. It was filmed with plastic plants because it was really tough to do it with real plants, but we actually spread a lot of plants. I'm not sure if it was 500, maybe a little bit less, maybe a little bit more.

Bernardo (00:31:45) - It was a lot of trucks. We had to do the a couple times the, the back and forth between the farm just to put everything into the truck. But while we were going crazy, we were like more and more and more and more and more. And then the smell is intense inside the house. And then, you know, Germans. Germans are like. If they see that you're doing something wrong, they're going to call the police. They're not going to tell you. They're going to call the police. And this is just the way it goes in America. If they see something wrong, they're going to confront you right away. You cannot do this in Germany. They're like looking on the window. They don't tell anyone. They call you. Someone called you. They don't know who. Suddenly police knock on our door and they were like, we got to several, not one, but we got several complaints that you guys are dealing with and trafficking, and we cannot allow this, and you cannot come here and do these things.

Bernardo (00:32:42) - And we were like just some foreigners spreading weed all over Berlin. So it's a bit intense. We had to well, there was a couple of police officers. It was like more intervention police. I still have an older picture of this. It was intense. I was, very nervous. But then they took us to the police station. We were there. They took a couple of plants that we still have in the house. This was towards the last day, so it was very few plants there. But, it took me to the police station. They asked me a couple questions. It was a little bit of a nervous, morning. Then things kind of chilled out. They explained me there were people complaining. They saw my videos. They understand it was industrial hemp and they understand what I was trying to do. But they had a lot of calls and they had to intervene. Very tense situation. But eventually I got I went to the judge to some kind of audience and they said, we understand what you're doing, but you cannot come and do this.

Bernardo (00:33:49) - You have to clean up after your mess and you have to collect the plants. The funny thing was that when we arrive on the street on day four or day five, I get precise. Most people already collected the plants and took them out.

Marge (00:34:02) - They did the work for you. That's beautiful. Yeah. Those weren't the one calling the police then, obviously.

Bernardo (00:34:09) - Yeah, yeah, but.

Bernardo (00:34:10) - Unfortunately, a lot of people call the police. It's just the way it goes. They they see that you're doing something that it's not supposed to. They call the police, and they they they start denouncing these activities.

Marge (00:34:23) - Right now, it's interesting that you were doing that in Berlin like last year, because at the time of this recording, Germany is going to be legalizing in a couple of weeks. Yeah, which is very exciting. So where do you see the the legal cannabis industry in the next five years in Europe with Germany about to legalize?

Bernardo (00:34:44) - I honestly, Germany in Europe, if everything works like this, if Germany does it, most people can do it because Germany did it right.

Marge (00:34:52) - Okay.

Bernardo (00:34:52) - So that could be like, yeah, the domino effect.

Marge (00:34:55) - Once Germany legalizes, we'll see a lot of other countries in Europe legalizing to for sure.

Bernardo (00:35:00) - And it's it's just planning some more conservative countries. And I'm probably going to take a little bit longer, but it's just the way it goes because, left wing countries are going to start first because normally a lot of these movements are going to start with more socialist countries, I would say Scandinavian and and there's already some countries that are talking about this, it's just going to happen because if Germany did it. If if for some reason, if for some reason it fails, people are going to say, oh, but Germany did it too. And we also failed. They also failed. So we we have the bonus of Germany failing. That gives us some like leeway on, on on failing because Germany also failed. Right. Germans.

Bernardo (00:35:47) - Right.

Marge (00:35:48) - Yeah. Well I don't I hope they don't fail because I think there's a lot of areas of the world that are watching what happens in the next few weeks in Germany.

Marge (00:35:56) - And I mean, when Canada legalized, there was a lot of people who are probably, oh, the sky is going to fall, it'll be terrible. And nothing happened.

Bernardo (00:36:04) - Yeah.

Marge (00:36:05) - Nothing bad happened, really. Kids aren't smoking more weed or anything. It's actually way harder to get weed if you're underage than it.

Bernardo (00:36:13) - Used to be. Like. So this is something.

Bernardo (00:36:17) - Big and I'm actually pro legalizing a lot of drugs. because. And it's way more secure. You're buying from a licensed shop, even if it's owned by the government. You can control what everyone gets. You can control what everyone is is consuming and that is very safe. Instead of you just buying from someone on the street, that puts some weird stuff on it that is not going to be good for you. Yeah.

Marge (00:36:43) - Yeah, exactly. Because you just don't always know what you get. But hopefully Germany will also. I don't know, I can't remember what what I've seen so far if they're going to allow for home grown or not.

Marge (00:36:54) - Because as someone myself who likes to grow and make my own edibles, I also like to know what I'm putting in, the stuff that I'm making. So, you know, the best way to have control over that is to do it yourself. But of course, legal dispensaries are your next best thing.

Bernardo (00:37:09) - Exactly. But now, I think one way or the other.

Bernardo (00:37:13) - It's progress. And that's what we should cheer for.

Marge (00:37:17) - Now, if Germany legalizes Portugal has been decriminalized for so long, would Portugal consider legalizing cannabis?

Bernardo (00:37:27) - There's a lot of conversation about it. there's already a legal CBD selling in pharmacies. But it's still going to take a while because legalization is a full step, right?

Bernardo (00:37:40) - Right.

Bernardo (00:37:41) - It's easier to take incremental steps towards it. I was very surprised that Germany is the talks are full legalization. I thought first they're going to do medicinal, which I think it's already medicinal already. At first I think it was going to be medicinal. Right. It's already, I think. And then, and then I thought it was going to be clubs.

Bernardo (00:38:03) - And then I thought maybe recreational if it works. But I feel that, oh, these guys want to go full on recreational. Okay. Well, progress is progress, even if it's exactly.

Marge (00:38:15) - I wish more places would, would go that route and just dive in and see what happens, because I think they would find that, like I said, nothing bad.

Bernardo (00:38:24) - Happens.

Marge (00:38:24) - Really.

Bernardo (00:38:25) - It's just a lot of queuing in the first week and then the fight is over.

Marge (00:38:31) - Yeah, exactly. So in your own personal life, how do you break the stigma around cannabis use and like your personal life and in your work life?

Bernardo (00:38:41) - so as I told you before, I'm not an avid smoker. I, but I do encourage people if they have problems, they should consider CBD and hemp as part of the solution. Not as a solution, but as part of it. They should, because a lot of people don't consider it just because it's cannabis. And for instance, I had a meeting with a couple doctors friends and they don't use, CBD.

Bernardo (00:39:10) - And I was telling them, you should consider it because it's a hot topic and you guys have to be on top of everything that is being used. and you should consider at least. And I just read about it. I was giving the same feedback, but I also like to talk about it openly. And a lot of a lot of you have to understand that a lot of the people that we work with are really we don't tell people that I'm smoking hemp or, or, oh, I only smoke cannabis, I only smoke tobacco. Please don't tell anyone. And I'm like, I think you should be open about it. but the thing is, if they are open about this, people think people know I smoke, right? But, it's like a lot of these people think I'm a pothead, and I don't look like a pot that I barely smoke. But, you know, no one wants to be a pothead, right?

Bernardo (00:40:07) - the.

Bernardo (00:40:07) - Stigma working once again. Even if you like smoking, if it's important for you.

Bernardo (00:40:12) - You are going to have suffered from stigma just because you say you spoke.

Marge (00:40:18) - But I do think that the more you talk about it, like you said, the better. And if there's one thing I've learned from doing this show is that cannabis consumption comes in many forms and many styles from people of all walks of life. And some people smoke a ton of weed and other people smoke a little bit, and they're all benefiting from it just the same. So just talking about it, I think, like you said, is important because it shows that you're a responsible business owner running a really cool company that's succeeding. And you are also sometimes consuming cannabis. And you're not the lazy stoner stereotype because there's no way you would accomplish what you're doing if you were a lazy stoner. So just even by talking about it and being an example is breaking stigma in my opinion.

Bernardo (00:41:04) - So yeah, I appreciate it.

Marge (00:41:06) - Yeah, yeah. Now, what would surprise people about you?

Bernardo (00:41:13) - And personally, I don't know. I'm a very, I've done a lot of things in life.

Bernardo (00:41:20) - I've, surprised things. I've. I've gone around the world, each hiking.

Bernardo (00:41:27) - Oh, cool. Really?

Bernardo (00:41:29) - I, I'm an avid surfer, and recently I've been surfing big waves. Advisory, which is something people wouldn't expect. But have you heard about Nasri?

Marge (00:41:40) - No I haven't.

Bernardo (00:41:41) - Have you heard about the Mavericks?

Marge (00:41:43) - The Mavericks? Yes, I think so.

Bernardo (00:41:46) - Basically, it's big wave surfing, like widgets and stuff. I've been doing that for a while now.

Bernardo (00:41:52) - Oh, wow.

Marge (00:41:52) - That's pretty. I've done a little bit of surfing. I did some surfing in Barbados once. Okay. and it was just like a learn to surf. But I went with a friend for ten days. It was incredible. But the little baby waves we were on were probably laughable. The the ocean is so powerful, so big wave surfing would probably be kind of scary and also thrilling at the same time. So it's.

Bernardo (00:42:16) - Very thrilling. It's very scary at the same time. If you fall, you get hurt.

Bernardo (00:42:21) - Right. Yeah. No pressure.

Marge (00:42:23) - Yeah, that's very cool. I'm sure it's something though. That sort of helps to relieve work related stress very effectively.

Bernardo (00:42:30) - Yeah.

Bernardo (00:42:30) - When you're there, you can you can think of something else. It's just like, yeah, I need to get through this wave.

Marge (00:42:37) - Right. Yeah. I'm sure it's a very Zen like experience.

Bernardo (00:42:40) - Yeah.

Marge (00:42:41) - Yeah. Now, last but not least, before I let you go today. Looking ahead, do you have any exciting developments or projects with 8000 kicks that you are excited about or that you want to talk about?

Bernardo (00:42:54) - Yeah, we're very excited about this new Kickstarter we just launched. Actually, I'm not sure if you saw it. It's the world's first hemp running shoes that has been growing and growing and growing, and we are getting a lot of people interested in them. And that's very cool, because it's not every day that you have a plant based running shoe. And for us, it's very cool. in the end, that's the biggest launch we have.

Bernardo (00:43:20) - It's just it's totally new, like 2 or 3 weeks old.

Marge (00:43:23) - Oh wow. I have seen it on your Instagram, the the Kickstarter. I didn't realize that you would just launched it pretty much. Yeah.

Bernardo (00:43:31) - Just two, three months. Three, two three weeks.

Bernardo (00:43:33) - Yeah, right.

Marge (00:43:34) - That's awesome. And where can people find you?

Bernardo (00:43:37) - 8000 wkyc.com. 8000 kicks. That's it.

Bernardo (00:43:43) - So I, I.

Marge (00:43:44) - Will be sure to link to your website, your Instagram, your Kickstarter, all that stuff in the show notes so that people can find you and hopefully buy some shoes as well. And I just want to take a minute, Bernardo, and thank you so much for sharing your time with me today. And I think you're doing some amazing things in the world.

Bernardo (00:44:02) - Thank you man. Appreciate it. Doing my best. Step by step.

Marge (00:44:12) - Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed that episode with Bernardo and I encourage you to check out his website 8000 Wkyc.com. You can find him on the socials and I'm personally on a mission myself to find his sneakers in Berlin because I brought some footwear with me, but I really did actually come with the intention of buying some new footwear.

Marge (00:44:34) - And I thought, you know what? This is a great opportunity to try and find 8000 kicks out in the wild. So if I manage to pull that off, I'll be sure to share it on the episode web page, where you'll find links to things that we talked about in this episode. Now, as always, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone else that might be interested in some of the things that you can make with hemp. You can talk to me via email, the podcast hotline, or DM me over on Instagram. Stay up to date with news, events, giveaways, and the like with The Edibles Enthusiast email newsletter. It helps keep the episodes timeless and consider using the products and services on the Marge Recommends page. It really does help to support the show. I'm your host, Marj and until next time my friends stay high.