Mark Gillilan | Founder & CEO, Kyoto Botanicals

Hi — I’m Mark, founder of Kyoto Botanicals, an independent Colorado-based wellness brand. A lot of my writing starts in the foothills on early-morning walks, when things feel quiet enough to actually think.

CPG & Hemp Industry Background

I have worked 20 years in CPG brand and product management, first at Nestlé USA, then Atkins Nutritionals, then as Brand Director at Charlotte's Web during hemp's early regulatory buildout in 2017-2018, and now as the founder and CEO of Kyoto Botanicals.

Regulatory & Product Experience

At Charlotte's Web, I worked directly with outside counsel and our design team to make sure every claim, every supplement facts panel, and every piece of packaging cleared FTC and FDA rules before it went to print, writing claims and packaging copy myself. I also managed new product development end to end, including our topicals and gummies launches, coordinating product development, legal, and creative to get formulas designed, tested, and shipped to work for both customers and regulators.

With a degree and background in conservation biology, including fieldwork on endangered species research for the USGS, it was important to me to see the full product process. I made a point of visiting hemp farms directly to understand growing, drying, and biomass processing, and spent regular time inside the extraction and bottling facility learning formulation and production firsthand. To truly own a product and understand what is important for customers, I believe you must know everything about it.

Building Kyoto Botanicals

When I built Kyoto Botanicals, I applied all of my experience directly. I designed, built, and operated our first FDA and Colorado Department of Health registered production facility myself. I created the bottling line with an equipment manufacturer, setting up a small-batch kitchen for formula mixing, writing every SOP, sourcing every ingredient, and managing every registration.

I identified our testing lab and personally review every Certificate of Analysis before a product goes live. Every claim we make is a structure/function claim, evaluated against FTC guidance and nearly two decades of competitive claims experience. Absolutely nothing I do at Kyoto Botanicals is guesswork.

I care about making wellness feel less confusing and more honest, grounded in real routines, real constraints, and what actually fits into a busy life. I work tirelessly to bridge the gap between rigorous plant science and everyday wellness routines.

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