Off the Shelf is an intimate conversation series hosted by the Startups Forum to showcase the Founders in our community. We are kicking off the Startups Forum featuring two female founders - Shaydda Torabi, Co-Founder of Restart CBD​ and Minal Bhakta, founder of Pirq​. Join us for candid storytelling, conversation, and connection at this month's event!

This event will be moderated by our Women in CPG community leads, Alyssa Padron, and Stef Shapira, co-founder of The Rind.

About Shayda:

Shayda Torabi is the Co-Founder and CEO of RESTART CBD, Texas' premier cannabis brand. Born and raised in Austin, Shayda founded RESTART in 2018 alongside her two younger sisters after using CBD for years to personally help manage her pain after an auto pedestrian accident she was in in 2015. Since launching, Shayda and her sisters have earned the name #CBDsisters, becoming one of the leading educators and retailers of cannabis in the industry. In fact, Shayda was recently named Best Hemp Educator, Advocate, and Influencer by the Texas Hemp Awards, and is the host of a cannabis and marketing podcast called, To Be Blunt. Shayda is passionate about helping build great consumer brands in the cannabis industry, and leverages her background in technology and marketing to apply to helping navigate the cannabis industry to connect the consumer to high quality cannabis products and education.

About Minal:

Minal Bhakta is the founder and president of Pirq, a beverage company on a mission to make plant-based nutrition convenient, delicious, and accessible for everyone. Minal's inspiration for the product came from her mom's love of turmeric and its health benefits. After three years of development, she launched Pirq and it has become one of the best-selling protein drinks on Amazon, followed by a strong and growing retail distribution, with the most recent launch being Walmart.