Let me start by asking you, our readers, a question. When you think of hemp, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Marijuana? Drug use? Unemployed, trouble making miscreants? If your answer to this question is yes, then I implore you to put those preconceived notions and misconceptions of the hemp plant aside and instead to take the time to read through this interview and learn about the many benefits of hemp and the positive effects it could have on our lives, our society and our planet.

Q: When did you first discover the many uses of hemp seeds?

A: I had my Hemp Epiphany (Hempiphany) in 1990 when a friend of mine gave me his copy of Jack Herer's phenomenal book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes.

Up until then, I had no idea that the cannabis plant could be even groovier than I thought it was. Jack's book taught me so many things about the history and benefits of hemp that I made it my goal to find out as much as possible about the hemp plant.

I'd never actually tasted hemp seeds until I was on tour with Nelly Furtado in Canada (I'm a former live sound engineer). I was sick and exhausted from the long hours and bad food so common in the entertainment industry. I was hungry and stopped at a convenience store that happened to carry hemp seeds. I bought some, loved the nutty, crunchy taste, and started to eat a handful a day. It wasn't long before I was feeling more energized and less-stressed with a heightened sense of well-­being.

Since hemp seeds were too good to keep to myself, I brought home a small stock to my wife, a thyroid patient, who also found that the hemp seeds made her feel better and increased her energy and sense of well-being. She passed them along to her friends. Soon, many people were clamoring for my hemp seeds. I couldn't keep up with the demand and decided to start buying hemp seeds by the case but ran into a problem - it was hard to find U.S. companies who carried hemp seeds and finding quality hemp seeds was next to impossible. "There should be a company that makes a wide variety of premier hemp seed products in America!" That was my "light bulb" moment. Three years ago I created Hippie Butter, LLC and launched www.hippiebutter.com.

Q: Oftentimes, just because of the name, hemp seed products are immediately associated with marijuana in people's minds and automatically given a bad reputation. Being in this business, how do you overcome those predisposed opinions?

A: Education! Education! Education! The number one driving force of our company is to educate people about the mind-blowing goodness of the hemp seed. We designed our online presence to do just that. Our secure, multiple-platform website, www.hippiebutter.com and social media feature a wide variety of "superfood" hemp seed products and supply full-time customer service. Our e-commerce site showcases hemp education, hemp history and nutritional information about hemp seeds, as well as easy, step-by-step "Cooking with Hemp" videos that demonstrate methods to incorporate the healthy, nutty goodness of hemp seeds into your favorite family recipes.

80% of our customers have never tasted hemp seeds so we created a way to offer free hemp seed food samples so consumers can "try before they buy" at, www.freehempseedsamples.com.

We recently added a new legal CBD product line on our sister website, www.hipCBD.com.

Our hemp seed products are good for people, good for the economy and good for the planet.

Q: Do you believe that if we all started utilizing more hemp products, we could eliminate some of the problems facing our world today? If yes, how so?

A: Yes! The sustainable, versatile hemp plant has more than 25,000 uses- food, fiber, fuel and medicine. Anything that can be made from petroleum-based plastics can be made from sustainable, recyclable, renewable hemp. If humans would just harness the energy of hemp we could end our dependence on oil, reverse global warming, feed the world, bring about peace and heal planet earth. Hemp Hooray!

Q: I don't mean to post spoilers, but I am very curious, what new hemp seed inspired endeavors are currently in the works at Hippie Butter?

A: Spoiler alert! Our hemp seed inspired dreams are to create a Hempire with our friends and followers. We're "All in for Hemp!"

Q: Lastly, what are your hopes for the future of the hemp industry?

A: May hemp products become as mainstream as ketchup!

To find out even more about Hippie Butter products and hemp products be sure to check out the Hippie Butter website and find them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and YouTube!