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Our Mission:
Serving patrons in Wellington County , Ontario; more so Guelph, Fergus, Elora and surrounding areas; A Weed Bit Natural is a friendly and affordable starting point for consumers interested in educated and ecological choices in regards to the environment and their overall health, as well as making a positive change in their lifestyles. We strive to operate by the following Five Emerging Consumer Values: · Essences - returning to the basics · Hearth - the growing importance of family and home · Earth - environmental issues · Whole being - health means not only looking good but also a balance of body, mind and soul · Ethics - purchasing from a socially responsible company Strategy:Our unique selling feature is a strong specialty product. Fifty per cent of our inventory is manufactured wholly or in part of hemp and all our products are earth-friendly and made with natural components. Why hemp? Unlike cotton, hemp flourishes in a Canadian climate and can be grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Hemp clothing is durable and breathable making it the perfect choice for the outdoor enthusiast, gardener and traveler. As a food, hemp seed and oil contains the highest rate of complete plant protein. We design and manufacture the highest quality hemp macramé jewelry and strung bead jewelry, as well as hair wraps. Repairs and custom orders are also done on-site. We go to great lengths to stock and promote as many Canadian products as possible. We possess a distinct competence through efficient service, creative design, customer service excellence and an ability to identify and satisfy customer needs. If we can not meet a customer’s needs or desires, we will provide referrals to someone who can. We are not only very knowledgeable about our products but we use them personally on a day to day basis. In this manner, we can truthfully relay information on our product’s performance and quality. We are constantly on the look-out for ideas and trends that will make life more enjoyable and meaningful for our customers while having the least impact on the environment. We will go the extra mile to provide excellent service. Going out of our way to make a special order or delivery, and opening after regular business hours to accommodate a customer’s busy schedule are just two examples of our customer dedication.
The Woman Behind "Weed Bit"
She holds a diploma in print-journalism from Algonquin College of Applied Arts & Technology in Nepean, Ontario, graduating in 1997. Winner of the Editor’s Choice Award 1998 by the National Library of Poetry and receiving other honourable mentions for research and writing, Jodi is also a well-versed public speaker and dramatic arts major. She has worked for various media companies in television, magazines and community newspapers. She worked with several charitable and government organizations in Ottawa, Ontario and published The Voice, a newspaper benefiting street youth and the homeless. In 1996 she teamed with similar organizations in Canada and the United States to form the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA), speaking at their second annual convention in Seattle, WA. She has also fulfilled contracts as a public affairs assistant and Internet web designer with the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (CCPA), where she was introduced to the effects of mankind on the planet, the human endocrine system and the safe and responsible use and disposal of chemicals which are a part of everyday life. Jodi Pallagi has a background in retail management, project supervision and office management. Since 1994 she took her hobby of “hairwrapping” and handcrafted hemp jewelry to outdoor markets and festivals. Though only a part time and seasonal venture, it proved to be a profitable business that supported her through college – an idea that she is now pursuing on a greater scale. She opened a women’s leisure clothing store in Elora in 2001 but closed the business in January 2004 due to lack of business and financial capacity. In that short period, she learned by trial and error what is required to run a successful small business and is taking that experience to further her desire to own and operate a retail store with an environmental theme. Over time, it became apparent that her true love for the environment and experience with natural products could be transformed into a viable business. Jodi’s interest in hemp was encouraged in 1994 when industrial hemp agriculture was reintroduced in Canada. Hungarian/Romanian hemp farming dates back to her Great-great Aunt Elizabeth Kiss who grew and cultivated hemp for textile purposes. Jodi’s Nogypapa (grandfather) Imre Pallagi recalls helping his aunt to cut, bind, cure and break the stalks, removing the bast fibres which in turn were spun into twine on a foot-propelled spinning wheel and hand-woven into summer cloth. The cloth was used mainly for grain sacks and other farm-related needs. A Weed Bit Natural was born out of this ancestral history and a strong desire to dispel the negative stigma often associated with hemp. The recent boom in the organic industry has only deepened the necessity to move forward with this business venture and more so, to become a pioneering leader in the Canadian industrial hemp industry.
How it all beganIt all began on a street corner of the Byward Market in Ottawa, Ontario, Summer 1993. Weed Bit's Jodi Pallagi, had recently moved to the city after graduating from highschool in Cornwall, Ontario. "I got my first hair wrap from a young woman named Christine, a.k.a. Skye, working on donation on the street corner in the Byward Market," says Jodi. Always skilled and creative, Jodi found herself offering the same service of hair wrapping the following summer. It is there she met Lisa Wilson, a fellow artisan. They became fast friends and worked together, with a variety of other hair wrappers who came and went over the years. Jodi was raised a "hippie girl" on a trapline near McBride, British Columbia. So being the free spirit she was, she toured with the Grateful Dead in 1994 and 1995. After Jerry Garcia passed away in August '95, she and her friends then toured with Vermont sensation Phish, selling the service of hair wrapping accompanied by unique handcrafted hemp and beaded jewelry. "It was what I called a paid vacation," she says. She became an advocate for hemp and natural products, healthy lifestyles and vegetarianism. "I wanted to turn my lifestyle into a profitable business." And after 10 years since it all began with a five dollar hair wrap, A Weed Bit Natural was born. |
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The owner and
operator of A Weed Bit Natural is Jodi Pallagi. She was raised in the
Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, living with her trapper and hunter parents
in the summer and boarding on a dairy farm to attend Mennonite private school in
the winter. It was this upbringing that taught her to appreciate and respect the
Mother Earth.