The “Sunday scaries” are the feelings of anxiety, dread and stress people get when Sunday is coming to its end and the workweek looms on the horizon.
Having started a whole company with this name, we kind of expected Sunday Scaries co-founder Mike Sill to have a good strategy for dealing with these feelings, but we were greeted with the response of a downright master.
He told us, “To beat the Sunday Scaries I have a step-by-step process.
- I stay in bed for 15 minutes meditating to Deepak Chopra’s 21 Days of Abundance on Shopify.
- I take 2 gummies of our flagship CBD gummies.
- I write a full page in my journal with positive thoughts.
- I ‘sweat it out.’ I go for a workout or do hot yoga sculpt. If I can’t make a workout happen I’ll get outside and go for a walk and supplement the sweat release with the steam room.
- I’ll call 3 family members or friends and make them feel loved or make them laugh, this is a ‘pay it forward’ approach where in turn I feel good about myself.
- At night, I take one full dropper of CBN + CBD sleep oil and put on a movie or show on Netflix and ensure I don’t check emails or think about work.”
After being thoroughly schooled in the art of relaxation, we caught up with Mike about hemp THC, the challenge of building a trusted brand in a mistrusted industry, and the future of Sunday Scaries.
The Turf War Over THC: “They Need Special Licenses, We Don’t.”
Sunday Scaries sells hemp-derived THC gummies under the colorful name “Couch Potatoes.” But if you’ve been following the controversies surrounding hemp since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, you’ll know that many lawmakers and the marijuana industry often take issue with hemp THC.
People treat intoxicating hemp like “weed in disguise” even though it usually isn’t really “disguised.”
Ultimately, what the THC customers are looking for is the same, regardless of whether you extract it from federally legal hemp or federally illegal “marijuana” plants.
Mike emphasizes, “The THC you extract from either plant is chemically identical… It is exactly the same. So for all those marijuana purists out there who say THC from marijuana is better than THC from hemp, they are mistaken. It’s the same compound.”
He continues, “To be honest, ‘weed in disguise’ doesn’t make much sense. We clearly label our products as THC and put the necessary warnings on our packaging. I think there’s a big attack on delta-8 and delta-10, but these products just need to be studied more and regulated as they can still provide a ton of benefits.”
As always, much of the controversy comes down to the same prohibitionist attitudes that have been around for a long, long time, “Cannabis in general has just been bastardized since the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937,” Mike explains, “It’s mostly the alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies lobbying against us… like it’s always been. Marijuana brands also hate hemp brands because they need special licenses, and we don’t. At the end of the day, if you ask me, drinking vodka, smoking a cigarette or taking a prescription anti-anxiety pill are all much worse than eating a THC gummy.”
How Sunday Scaries Rises Above the Competition: “We Don’t Chemically Convert Anything”
The inconsistent and often minimal regulations on hemp unfortunately gives space to companies that care more about profit than the consumers, and this, in turn, sows distrust in the industry at large.
But Sunday Scaries has managed to navigate this expertly, building a strong reputation for reliable, high-quality products.
One of many issues for hemp consumers is how delta-8 and – according to our independent study – about half of hemp delta-9 products use THC that has been chemically converted from CBD.
This often leads to unintended byproducts with unknown toxicity, and this isn’t even mentioned in most lab results.
We asked Mike about the source of the THC in Sunday Scaries’ products, “We use an extraction method to isolate the THC from the hemp stalks (raw materials). We don’t chemically convert anything and this is all performed at a lab that is ISO 9001 certified, GMP certified and FDA registered.”
Mike also adds “Delta-8 just isn’t on our product road map right now because we believe delta-9 has less stigma than the other deltas and a ton of opportunity with regards to dosing levels and use cases. That being said, we have no bad feelings about delta-8 or delta-10.”
Sunday Scaries also tried to do business in one of the worst places to buy hemp, Amazon.com, and told us their story when we investigated the marketplace. There, Sunday Scaries products sat alongside some of the most deceptive hemp products out there, but they still managed to come through with their reputation intact. We asked Mike how they set themselves apart from these companies:
“We care about our product quality, and our customers experience that. This is where ‘Brand Reputation’ comes in. We’ve been in this industry since 2018 and we source our raw materials from family-owned farms in Colorado who follow organic farming methods.”
He also pointed to independent reviews and positive media mentions you’ll see if you Google Sunday Scaries, “These are not sponsored posts, these are features that editors write about us because we’re a trusted brand in our space.”
Conclusion – The Future of Sunday Scaries
Mike is also optimistic about the future. When we asked if he was worried about now-overdue changes to the Farm Bill, he answered with the level of chill you’d expect from a man with a six-step routine for enjoying his Sundays:
“We’re not worried, no. Our products are benefiting too many consumers and there’s a lot of money to be made (taxes) in our industry. What I think should happen is that there should be a 21+ age limit requirement and strict label compliance associated with the bill revision. It can be regulated the same way we regulate alcohol. Prohibition is only going to lead to black market activity and decrease the trustability of products.”
Whatever happens, we share Mike’s confidence that Sunday Scaries is here to stay.