Home Moda & Beauty Beauty Meet Xula, the Latina and Black-Owned Hemp Brand Born in Mexico City

Meet Xula, the Latina and Black-Owned Hemp Brand Born in Mexico City

Xula BELatina Latinx
Photo courtesy of BELatina/Xula.

We will never get tired of talking about the importance of representation in front of and behind products and marketing campaigns.

Especially when we’re talking about products aimed at our community, nothing is more important than knowing our needs firsthand.

That’s why we are so fascinated with the products and story of Xula, the Latina and Black-owned hemp brand born in Mexico City.

Through the fusion of ancestral herbal knowledge and modern scientific advances, Xula aims to dignify, amplify and revive menopausal bodies, trans bodies, differently-abled bodies, non-binary bodies, and all bodies left out of our society’s gaze.

BELatina had the pleasure of speaking with its founders, and this is what they told us.

What inspired the creation of Xula?

Xula was founded out of our respect and understanding of how plants can help us heal and connect with our bodies. As women who split our time in the U.S. and Mexico, we recognized

that both spaces lack products specifically targeted to nurture our bodies—bodies with wombs. The grave lack of representation of Latina and Black people like us in the cannabis and wellness industry more broadly galvanized us to build something not just for us but also for our communities. As such, our brand doubles as a platform to celebrate and amplify our cultures and our communities. It all just seemed like the perfect intersections.

Talk to us about the story behind the name

It conveys a way of being that we want to promote; feeling good and confident in your body. In playing with the word “chula,” a term of endearment in Mexican Spanish, we use the following definition for xula: “chill, intelligent, cute, balanced – to feel good in one’s own skin.”

How does the day-to-day look at Xula?

The day-to-day for Xula, like most small independent brands, is multitasking, putting out fires (often associated with the legalities surrounding legal cannabis), and tinkering with our workflow structure in ways that are not only efficient but healthy for us and all members of our team.

What have been some of the challenges both of you (independently or collectively) have experienced in the quest of opening up Xula?

In this tragic storm of the pandemic, against the backdrop of the November 2020 elections, we gave birth to our baby hemp brand.

According to the last comprehensive survey on women and other marginalized groups in weed, only 4.3% of executives are Black, 5.7% are Latinx, and 2.4% are Asian. As of now, there isn’t enough data to show how many Indigenous executives exist—a gut-wrenching fact when you consider that most of the ganja grown in the U.S. is on land stolen from them.

All this to say that it’s almost a miracle that Xula exists. Between the challenges of the green tax, payment processing issues, and rigidly unjust cannabis regulations, we exist in an industry already set up for us to fail. In part mostly so that the pharmaceutical industry and its lobbyists can dominate and take over the cannabis industry once the legislation has passed.

Why did you choose to focus on the power of herbs?

Herbalism is the oldest form of medicine known to humankind. Botanical remains have been

found in caves dating back to 60,000 years ago. So for us, using hemp/cannabis and other herbs to support our bodies isn’t new—it’s ancestral. Sadly, when it comes to womb care, most medicines we have today are pharmaceutical in nature, even though herbal remedies offer real solutions as well. We are focusing on the power of herbs to help bridge that gap and provide viable alternatives.

How do you explain to very conservative Latines and people the benefits of hemp and CBD while removing the stigma around cannabis?

We focus on the science and the real therapeutic and medicinal effects that cannabis and hemp have. There is so much research on them that it is just a question of demystifying and communicating. I would say that we also move away from talking about the more psychoactive side of things, as this is the part that intimidates them the most. For those most skeptical about or scared, we always suggest starting with our balm.

How did you test out your products before putting them out on the market?

Our products are independently triple-tested in labs for safety and purity, ensuring the highest quality in each drop. This allows us to make sure that every product is consistent in quality and content. This testing is reflected in the Certificates of Analysis, or COAs, that we provide for every product. This indicates the quantity of cannabinoids found, like CBD. In addition to cannabinoids, the test also shows that every product is free of heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, and fungal content. We do this to keep the customer safe and informed and emphasize quality.

In addition to our COA, we constructed three separate runs with more than 100 people to test for each product’s effectiveness and efficacy and ensure that the flavor profile is both palatable while maintaining the integrity of the cannabinoids and herbs present.

What is something you both hope to accomplish in the next coming years?

We hope to become a standard/go in natural womb care. Our products are highly effective at supporting people with wombs, and we aim to be seen as a real alternative to more pharmaceutical options.

Any new projects with Xula coming up?

We have a few things in the works that we are very excited about, and you’ll get to experience them soon enough ;).

Do you have any advice or anything else you’d like to share with the BELatina News audience? 

Our main advice to anyone reading this is to remember that you are ancestrally connected to herbal care and healing. It is not only in our DNA, but the herbs and plants on this earth are here for us to be in harmony with. We believe this is a great metaphor for life as well.

There will be a having few in-person events in California and New York within the next couple of months, so be sure to follow and subscribe to the Xulita club to find out where we’ll be and what products we’ll be offering for people with wombs.

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