Wondering who is behind Your Product Hub? 

Meet Carolyn Kates and find out what she really does:

Carolyn's journey in the health and wellness field has always been unique. After 25 years as a Hospice RN (MSN NP), she retired and shifted her focus from end-of-life care to a more holistic approach. Her new path was about helping people live and nurturing the planet through healthy eating, farming, and spiritual care.

Carolyn's adaptability has been one of the hallmarks of her professional journey. She began her new focus on living in the kitchen of Whole Foods Market Hillcrest, where she spent two years learning the basics about healthy cooking, eating, and how to function within a commercial kitchen. Her ten-year career with Whole Foods Market would include eight years of marketing, where she focused on local vendors and farmers. In that role, she assisted over 120 local farms and businesses in gaining access to and thriving at WFM Hillcrest. She also worked with Joel Fuhrman (Eat Right America) and became a healthy eating specialist, rolling out Whole Foods Market's Health Starts Here program and conducting five 28-day Health Eating challenges.

Carolyn's thirst for knowledge and her passion for health and wellness led her to work with various organizations. She has collaborated with Suzie's Farm, Olivewood Gardens, Wild Willow Farms, Be Wise Ranch, Cyclops Farms, Coral Tree Farms, BatBread & Cie, San Diego Weekly Markets, Eco-Life Conservation, KidsEcoClub, Edible San Diego, Art Walk San Diego, The Friends of Balboa Park, Eclipse Chocolate, Café Gratitude, and Wild Thyme Catering, among others. Her work has extended to over 350 community events in the past ten years, including health seminars, cooking classes, fundraisers, and farm-to-table dinners throughout San Diego County, such as the Berry Good Night Dinner 2014 and 2015.

Additionally, she wrote a grant through the Autism Tree Project Foundation and received funding from Kaiser Permanente for her Food, Farming, and Nutrition Program at Wild Willow Farm. To date, that program has provided services to over 300 families.

Currently, Carolyn has taken another road less traveled into the medical and recreational cannabis industry. Her dedication to this new venture is palpable as she combines her knowledge of Western medicine with the newly found power of plant medicine. Towards that effort, she has helped several California-licensed dispensaries open their doors and thrive within the emerging Southern California cannabis industry.

The road less traveled continues to bring Carolyn new opportunities to apply her extensive knowledge and experience to physical and spiritual healing. In addition to her work in medical cannabis, she now volunteers for Healthy Day Partners and Horseplay, further demonstrating her need to help others and her dedication to their well-being.