DAYTON, Ohio — Small Business Saturday was a national effort to support local economies and one Dayton-area business used the day to educate customers on CBD.

Anikka Ford-Masey is the co-founder of New Season Wellness, a new CBD wellness store in Dayton. Ford Masey’s personal experience with CBD products and helping her mother heal from health issues inspired her to start the business.

“It started to make me feel better when I saw that she wasn’t getting well, I started giving it to her and saw a change with her within a short period of time; like three days,” she said. 

"Sleep" is one of her best-selling products. She says the CBD in it helps give people a calm and restorative sleep. Many of her products have CBD, a compound of the hemp plant.

“A lot of studies show it can help calm, bring balance in the body, to help with stress and anxiety, pain, and reduce inflammation,” she said. 

One of her main goals is educating the minority community about CBD products. She says many times people think hemp is the same as marijuana, and that’s not the case. She wants people to not only understand the benefits, but also know that it’s legal.

“We want our community to know, especially minorities, that it’s a safe product that they can utilize as an alternative to taking a pain pill or multiple pain pills throughout the day,” she said. 

The National Retail Federation estimated that close to 54 million shoppers would support local businesses on Small Business Saturday. 

Ford-Masey partnered up with other entrepreneurs to further the support. She says she’s grateful for Small Business Saturday because it helps bring them more exposure. 

“We actually have to team up with local businesses in our community and families to actually push our business forward, to get the exposure that we need so we can grow,” she said.