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When Anea Bogue, co-founder of the newly launched hemp-derived cannabis/CBD product line CLEA Midlife, was nearing 50, she was hit with various menopausal symptoms that made her life challenging. Though hormone replacement therapy helped, it didn’t relieve all her symptoms, which included insomnia, brain fog and aching joints.
Fortunately, her husband Guy Rocourt, co-founder and chief product officer of Papa & Barkley, a California-based cannabis wellness brand, was able to step in to provide assistance.
“As a scientist and product formulator in the cannabis industry, he dug into some of the research I was doing on the use of cannabinoids to treat symptoms of menopause,” explained Bogue, a multihyphenate who has worked as an educator, counselor, and consultant. “What we found was that this magical plant has been used by women for many generations to treat various reproductive symptoms, including those associated with the menopause journey.”
Rocourt began formulating products to help Bogue deal with the symptoms the HRT had not addressed. Much to her surprise and delight, these products worked. This revelation led her and Rocourt to team up to create CLEA Midlife, which is aimed at women navigating midlife and the journey of menopause.
Recently, Bogue took a break from her schedule to answer several questions via email about CLEA Midlife, which include the challenges involved in the launch and her goals for the product line.
This Q&A has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
Iris Dorbian: Congratulations on the launch. Are you bootstrapping CLEA Midlife or do you have investors?
Anea Bogue: My husband and I are funding CLEA Midlife with our own money, so yes, we are bootstrapping it. We have been very fortunate to have folks in our inner circle, who have been generously offering their time and talent at significantly discounted rates to make our money go a little further.
Dorbian: Have there been challenges in the launch? If so, what are they and how are you trying to resolve them?
Bogue: One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced has been navigating the obstacles associated with selling products that are connected to hemp or cannabis. While our products are infused with hemp-derived cannabinoids and meet all the legal criteria of the 2018 Farm Bill, the plant’s lack of full federal legalization creates complications. Dealing with merchant processors and platforms that won’t allow the sale of products containing cannabinoids can be both frustrating and time-consuming.
Dorbian: What are your goals for CLEA Midlife?
Bogue: Our goals are directly tied to our two-part mission. First, we are deeply committed to getting these products into the hands of as many midlife women as possible to support their menopause journey and enable them to continue living life to the fullest.
Second, we aim to provide abundant educational content and reframe the long-standing negative narrative around midlife and menopause. It’s time to free women from the burdensome belief that this phase diminishes our value or potential. Instead, we want to help midlife women embrace this extraordinary, transformative time as an opportunity to come home to themselves and step into a fuller, more authentic version of who they are.
Dorbian: What did you do before CLEA Midlife?
Bogue: My life’s work has always been rooted in supporting the empowerment of girls and women. Upon finishing graduate school in 2011, I created an empowerment program for girls called REALgirl. Over the years, I’ve also developed consent education presentations and curricula, and I’ve maintained a coaching practice dedicated to supporting girls and women for well over a decade.
Dorbian: How does CLEA Midlife differ from other cannabis/CBD products that may also be targeting menopausal women?
Bogue: There are actually very few cannabis/CBD products that are targeting menopausal women. This is unfortunate because there is enormous potential for women to be supported by products like ours through their menopause transition.
[Also], the majority of CBD/cannabis products on the market in general, are derived from isolated compounds, which fail to truly honor the essence and access the full efficacy of plant medicine…Our products are all formulated with whole plant, hemp-derived extracts. They are clean from start to finish—no chemicals and no preservatives. We are a wellness company, first and foremost, offering potentially life-changing products to women on the ‘meno-journey,’ which are made efficacious by the hemp-derived cannabinoids they contain.
Currently, CLEA Midlife’s products are being sold on the firm’s site. Examples of the product line are the EASE capsules, which provide relief from anxiety and aches and retails at $59.99; and the SLEEP capsules, a natural sleep aid that also retails at $59.99. According to Bogue, the soft launch took place on December 2, 2024, with CLEA Midlife’s official launch following on January 1, 2025.
“}]] After suffering the effects of menopause, CLEA Midlife co-founder Anea Bogue sought to formulate a plant-based product line that would ease her symptom. Read More
