Green Queen: Why Women in Weed Have the Power to Change Everything
Puff, puff, pass this article to a friend.
Let’s be blunt.
Jazmin Victoria Hupp co-founded Women Grow, the largest professional network in the cannabis industry. Since its launch in 2014, Women Grow has connected over 25,000 entrepreneurs at events in 45 cities across the US & Canada. The organization hit $1 million in revenue in 2015, with no outside funding.
Its focus is to connect and empower diverse people to launch national cannabis businesses and to serve diverse customers. Hupp herself is a self-described feminist who once told Edibles Mag, “I love the real meaning of feminism and I am angry the word has been f***d with by people who don’t believe that women and men should be equal.”
Again. Blunt.
She told us, “Women are better than anyone at working within a system that wasn’t created for their benefit.” Can’t say we disagree. And it’s why she’s a Green Queen, through and through.
Find out more from the founder below.
There’s a lot of water cooler talk about how legal marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry not dominated by men. How does Women Grow factor into this? So, Women Grow is dedicated to “creating and cultivating”—women to be leaders of the cannabis industry. Why was it important for you to focus solely on women?
Women will purchase the majority of marijuana products after full legalization and the end of marijuana stigma. Marijuana is known for being a medicinal product, a wellness product, and a recreational product. On the medicinal side, women make the vast majority of medical decisions for their families and purchase 92% of over the counter medicines. On the wellness side, women are the prodimineent buyers of wellness services like yoga and acupuncture. On the recreational side women purchase the majority of wine & liquor that will be consumed at home. Women are desperate for a sugar-free and low calorie alternative to alcohol. As the stigma around marijuana ends, you’ll see women switch from a bottle of wine to a vaporizer at night. So since women will be the dominate purchasers of marijuana, it turns out that other women are best equipped to create the marijuana products and buying experiences that women want. Additionally operating a marijuana business today requires navigating a complex system not created for your success and it turns out women are better than anyone at working within a system that wasn’t created for their benefit.
I focus on women because they are the greatest untapped resource on this earth. They are already installed everywhere but working at half their capacity. When you upgrade the women, you upgrade the lives of everyone around them.
"I focus on women because they are the greatest untapped resource on this earth."
2015 you held your first summit. What was that like? What did you see that was inspiring?
Women Grow’s first summit was for just 125 women in the mountains of Colorado (the event has since grown to over 1,000). The black market of cannabis required business owners to be secretive and isolated from their peers. They had few people to ask questions or get support. We heard some stories from women in emotionally and physically abusive work relationships that had no one to turn to when what they were doing was illegal.
After legalization, women in weed were able to come out of hiding. By placing these women in community they were able to share knowledge and support for the first time. And we were able to take everyone through hours of business education to fundraise for their company. Now I get to attend office openings and anniversary parties of many of the companies founded after that first event. It’s an amazing feeling to see the staff of six women hired by one woman who sat in the front row of the event.
How has your business changed the last three years?
I ran Women Grow as CEO for the first two years and wow did I ever have a hero complex. I hated to see people struggle so I would give people the answers instead of mentoring them through the learning curve. So Women Grow expanded quickly to 66 cities and 3 countries but that growth wasn’t sustainable. I had built an large system that was dependent on me instead of creating independent leaders. This is one of the core reasons that we contracted when I left my role as CEO. I’m excited to see how Women Grow will blossom under Dr. Chandra Marcias, Gia Moron, and Kristina Garcia.
I also didn’t anticipate that many women had more experience fighting against each other than helping each other succeed. In my experience, women have a culture of destructive gossip that cycles negativity between each other. Instead of bringing feedback to the person who we’d like to challenge, we bitch to our friends about it.
Why do you think it’s important to decriminalize weed?
Cannabis (aka weed, pot, marijuana) is one of the safest and most effective plants we were gifted on earth. Our body naturally produces cannabinoids (the elements within cannabis) to regulate our body. When your body’s regulation is off, cannabis can supplement.
Cannabis is also one of the most flexible medicines, specializing in many of the symptoms women suffer from most. I use cannabis to fall asleep at night, to reduce inflammation in my body after yoga, and to balance my stomach when I eat the Standard American Diet.
Women Grow had no outside funding. What did you know about launching a business?
I caught the entrepreneurial bug as a kid and started launching websites at age 11. I started running theatre productions shortly after that and theatre teaches you a lot about running a business. You’ve got to pick your strategy (the play), hire your team (casting), get everyone to work together (rehearsals), sell tickets (marketing & sales), and deliver your product (opening night). Most companies never get to delivering their product so theatre was a great container to practice that cycle with lower stakes.
While I was in college for theatre, my computer broke and so I took a job at Apple for the employee discount. At age 20, I transferred to an independent Apple store called Tekserve in New York City and got a deep dive on every shade of a sales, repair, and consulting business. As an internal entrepreneur at Tekserve I got to create new offerings within the container of an already operating business. I got great at the creation, marketing, and launch of new things but was never responsible for operating what I created for more than a year. During that time I was also a director at Women 2.0, helping women become VC-backed founders with events in dozens of cities. Through Women 2.0 I was immersed in equity funding and Lean Startup methods.
"When your body’s regulation is off, cannabis can supplement."
In the Spring of 2014, my grandmother died and I took a few days off to reexamined my life purpose and what I was contributing to the world. Cannabis had just been fully legalized in Colorado and Washington so I decided to visit Denver for the first legal 4/20 celebration. I went to a huge event with a hundred different cannabis businesses and only met one female business owner. I realized that in this new blue ocean, women could have an unfair advantage in what would become a care-based industry. With that in mind, I met Jane West, who had already started to organize female business owners in Denver and we launched Women Grow in August of 2014.
For new entrepreneurs, what is your advice for starting?
We launched Women Grow with about $26,000 in founding memberships. Instead of going to investors for our startup capital, we went directly to our customers, female entrepreneurs, and built the business to about a $1M in revenue. The challenge with going to investors early is you have to immediately start serving two masters, what your customers want and what your investors want. By building the initial business on just customer revenue, you are more likely to create a business aligned with what your customers want before confusing it with investor advisors. You’ll also be able to get much better terms for those investments when you have a proven model versus them funding an idea on paper.
Starting your company based solely on revenue ensures that you scale your expenses with your revenue. If you use your outside funding for operating costs, you often end up in a situation with a high burn rate (money spent exceeding your revenues) and a ticking clock that forces you to raise even more money before you’ve proven your product works. Instead prove you can deliver something your customers want at a low cost and then raise funds to market the fuck out of it. Most companies raise money before getting that product fit correct and burn through it.
So many women are struggling at work. They’re burning out. You create happiness through a practice of yoga, meditation, cannabis consumption, and self-love. Can you chat about how these practices have improved your quality of life?
First I had to realize that my inner reality was creating my outer reality. By that I mean if I felt scarce, I would experience scarcity in my business. If I felt in flow, I would experience flow in my business. I stopped taking a salary from my company for the last two years to focus on self-work to work on myself and clear out the inner debris.
We all know that working out your physical body improves how your body functions. What I found is that I also had an emotional (a.k.a. energetic body) that needed just as much care. I tried dozens of practices and my current favorites are: meditation, Kundalini Yoga, Emotional Freedom Technique, ecstatic dance, sanskrit chant, and cannabis-infused baths.
This summer I’m launching a new company based on this self-work, called Rage Palace. Rage Palace is an event for women to release anger and workout their emotional bodies. We’re bringing together dozens of local practitioners to lead women through activities from sledgehammering a car to dance to crying on a grandmother’s shoulder. We’ll launch in San Francisco this summer and then tour the event as we perfect the formula.
What’s an exciting product you’ve seen hit the market?
I’m loving Treatwell’s Wellness & Balance tinctures. These are non-psychoactive, meaning they don’t get you “high” but give you all the benefits of cannabis for your body. It’s like taking the vitamin you didn’t know your body was missing.
You were named a genius entrepreneur. What’s it like to be called a Green Queen?
Honestly I don’t get called a Green Queen by anyone but reporters, they love puns. [editor's note: it's true, weed do.]
What’s your proudest accomplishment to date?
Losing 60 pounds by changing everything in my life that made me want to overeat instead of following some silly diet. I realized that food was my go-to comfort substance. It kept me awake and made me feel better in the short term. In the long term it was masking how I was abusing my body to make money. We hired a new CEO for Women Grow and I spent a year pulling apart all my bad habits. Losing weight wasn’t even a goal, it just naturally came off as I stopped compromising myself.
What do you hope to see from women in weed?
Everything. Women in weed have the power to change our workplace cultures, our medical outcomes, our wellness practices, and even how we party on Friday night. I’m excited to see how replacing alcohol with more thoughtful substances might lead to a decrease in sexual assault. I’m excited to see how commercial hemp can replace fossil fuels in every instance where we’re using non-renewables. I’m excited to see how living in alignment with nature could be.
What would you consider your superpower?
I can tell what you need before you even know you need it. Basically, I can read people and anticipate their needs. It’s what makes coming up with new businesses so much fun because I can make stuff that you hadn’t thought of, but once you see it you know you need it.
Want more from the cannabis culture? Check back on our Green Queens series in partnership with MISSBISH. We'll be featuring a woman in weed per week!
Want even more? Register to participate in the Slack Session co-hosted with MISSBISH. Green Queens in the Cannabis Industry is going down April 25th at 6:30 PST, mark your calendars and sign up here.
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Green Queens: Flower Shop Is Creating New Lewks For Cannabis Brands
Green dreams roll thru.
Suzanne Shpall, the Creative Director over at Flower Shop taught us a new word: potpreneur.
It’s exactly what it sounds like, someone who is paving the way in the marijuana industry. Which, is exactly what Shpall and Lorna Donohoe, Flower Shop’s Head of Marketing are doing. Shpall works on designing new looks for cannabis brands, where Donohoe focusing on mainstreaming said brands. The company itself is a branding, marketing and PR agency comprised of entertainment, advertising, social media and cannabis experts. One of their clients is Mr. 4/20 himself: Snoop Dogg.
Donohoe is the former SVP of Global Marketing for Playboy, so controversial topics don’t fall far from her apple tree, but the duo are putting forth amazing creative work for their clients. In many respects, it’s a dream job. A fluffy white cloud of weed smoke where they imagine and execute branding for many of the cannabis brands making their way to market. “Our clients have the dopest product out there,” Shpall says, with, possible pun intended. “With my expertise in compliant packaging and sourcing, FS is able to work with clients to develop innovative packaging options so each of our brands can have product on-shelf that is totally unique to them, and completely compliant.”
Color us green with envy about the job these two Green Queens are doing.
Read on to find out more and why Donohoe calls being named a Green Queen a double-honor.
How did you get involved with Flower Shop?
Suzanne Shpall: About 2 years ago I launched my own edibles brand, called Highland Pantry, and was looking for help with PR / Marketing when I was introduced to Flower Shop. Once I met the team there, I knew I wanted to be involved. Having run my own cannabis brand, I have gleaned a unique understanding of what it takes to build a business in cannabis. Before joining the wacky world of weed, I worked in fashion as a designer, product developer and buyer for a handful of high-end Los Angeles based brands, then moved on to the food industry where I successfully ran my own gourmet, gluten-free cookie business.
Lorna Donohoe: I was running my own consultancy, dipping my toe in the water on a few cannabis projects. I felt like this industry was on the precipice of exploding and this cultural and defining moment only comes along every few decades. I also really believe in the power of this plant from a medicinal and health and wellness perspective, so I basically decided to sell my wine bar and wind down my agency and focus only on cannabis. There weren’t a lot of agencies dedicated to cannabis branding and marketing and it is something the industry really needs. I thought Flower Shop was one of the few that was doing sophisticated work and had a seasoned team so I basically stalked them until they hired me.
What in your background prepared you to work in this industry?
SS: All of my experiences and past careers, from working as a designer to product development and running my own business, have helped me get to this point. On top of all the skills I have from past work, I’ve gleaned the ability to be insanely organized (Im a bit anal when it comes to workflow) and agile when the project takes unexpected turns.
LD: I was the former SVP of Global Marketing for Playboy (who have gaming interests-- casinos and online-- as well as a huge array of consumer products in the market). I also worked with a lot of liquor and beer brands so became very good at working in highly regulated environments as well as helping to mainstream sensitive or adult brands. Additionally, I work in the wine business (just sold my organic wine bar) and feel wine has a lot of parallels with cannabis - agriculture, terroir, tasting notes, clones, appellations, - so I have a perspective and understanding of marketing and branding that is perfect for the cannabis industry.
Was there ever any pushback from people in your life?
SS: The opposite, only constant requests for “samples.”
LD: I think my mom is a little cautious. It took her years to get used to Playboy and understand it was a legitimate and real business. Now I'm like,”Hey mom, I've left booze and now I’m in cannabis.”
”Hey mom, I've left booze and now I’m in cannabis.”
What are some of the exciting projects you’re working on?
SS: Most of my current projects are still forthcoming, so can’t say much. But I definitely have a current fave. I’ve been working with one of the largest distribution companies to develop a brand for them and I can’t wait to see it in market - think ‘90s house parties, DJ battles, and street art.
LD: Honestly, this sounds like such a cliché, but everything I work on is exciting. The whole industry is emerging and it’s chaotic and challenging and thrilling, all at the same time.
One of our clients Heally (getheally.com) is a tele-health company, (founded by women) that gives you on-demand personalized medical visits with a doctor from your phone/ home. It’s a game- changer in the way people see a doctor, but they’re also doing a lot of advocacy work with ex-athletes who have become addicted to opioids and lobbying for research programs as well as efficacy studies. That’s exciting that you can go see a cannabis doctor, the same way you see your GP- for headaches, pain, or whatever ails you.
And some of the brands that we work with like Dr. Robb Farms and Island Cannabis Company are really doing big and innovative work with clean cannabis.
What are the biggest concerns for clients?
SS: Our clients have the dopest product out there. With recreation there is so much opportunity but also so many additional requirements specifically around compliant packaging, which can feel totally daunting. And the stock options out there are super basic. With my expertise in compliant packaging and sourcing, FS is able to work with clients to develop innovative packaging options so each of our brands can have product on-shelf that is totally unique to them, and completely compliant. Banking of course is also an issue, due to cannabis still being federally illegal, so everyone has that cash money on the mind!
LD: It varies - some are concerned with getting socials shut down and the inability to effectively market their brand. Some, with their bank accounts getting closed and others about the cost of becoming legal and compliant, which means they have less money to spend on marketing and product development. Taxes are a big concern.
What are you most excited to see from the cannabis industry in 2018?
SS: Impeccably designed products and rad consumption spaces.
LD: Education and de-stigmatization of cannabis - more women learning about this powerful plant, more females executives and founders - I think the industry is a really great place for women and the future looks great. I also think we will start to see more wellness and medicinal applications of cannabis for seniors, those fighting addictions, chronic pain, and more, which will help with de-stigmatizing cannabis.
Is it cool to see social acceptance? You both live LA and there are shops and billboards about weed delivery programs. It’s a brand new day.
SS: Totally. It’s awesome to be part of an industry’s growth and maturity, to be building brands that will dictate the next generation of the industry. I think with this also comes acceptance of those industry and community members who have been doing this since before it was cool. Growers who have been harvesting since the ‘70s, dispensaries who have been running their businesses in ‘the grey area’ to service their patients for years, paving the way for the mainstream, and advocates who have been pushing for research and acknowledgment of the magic of this lady-plant.
LD: Yes, it’s great but as an industry, there is a responsibility that comes with that - education, inclusion and social justice. There are a lot of people that fought this fight to legitimize cannabis that have not been acknowledged or that have been shut out. There are whole communities that have been destroyed because of the war on drugs. So, we still have a lot of work to do.
“There are whole communities that have been destroyed because of the war on drugs. So, we still have a lot of work to do.”
What are some of the challenges you face as women in the weed biz?
SS: Overall, this industry is a rad place for women to innovate and occupy leadership roles. As this industry grows into itself, I am excited to see women at the forefront.
That’s not to say it’s perfect. I still find myself the only woman in the room at some meetings, and some stereotypical dynamics do still play out. I have been fortunate enough though to surround myself with people who are amazingly creative, supportive and respectful of one another, regardless of sex or race. My boss particularly, Evan Eneman the founder of Flower Shop, is so supportive and allows my team so much room for experimentation.
LD: Often, I'm the only woman in the room at a meeting, but I am used to that from working in my previous roles. I do think this industry is much more open and female-friendly than most though.
Who are some women in the biz that you admire?
SS: This is the toughest question! There are so many..but a quick list:
Ariel Clark - a kickass lawyer making serious moves and advocating for this industry as well as her clients
MissGrass - go read / shop it alllll
Anja Charbonneau - LOVE everything about Broccoli
April Pride - an epic lady-potrepreneur with a super fun brand
My mom, Sherry - the inspiration behind my brand, Highland Pantry, and perfect example of the next generation of this industry / community
LD: There are so many women in this business I admire. I have heard the cannabis industry has one of the highest percentage of female executives and founders. I really admire Ariel Clark and Nicole Neubert of Clark Neubert Law Firm. They’re not only kickass attorneys but they do some amazing pro-bono work.
And Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who is co-sponsoring The Marijuana Justice Act.
What does it mean to you to be named a Green Queen?
SS: My green-dreams come true.
LD: What an honor - and I'm from Ireland so that's a double honor.
Want more from the cannabis culture? Check back on our Green Queens series in partnership with MISSBISH. We'll be featuring a woman in weed per week!
Want even more? Register to participate in the Slack Session co-hosted with MISSBISH. Green Queens in the Cannabis Industry is going down April 25th at 6:30 PST, mark your calendars and sign up here.
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Green Queens: How Anja Charbonneau Is Changing Cannabis Culture
Just what does it mean to be a Green Queen?
Photography by Shola Lawson: www.shotbyshola.com
For Anja Charbonneau cannabis is still uncharted territory. And her crowning achievement, the print mag Broccoli, is at once a sensory experience and a fresh look at cannabis through the lens of art, culture, and fashion. Anja and her team are reinventing the stoner image. The pothead image. The smoker.
Toss what you know about weed out the window and consider this a full paradigm shift. Shipped free with a Broccoli subscription the first issue trained its eye on features such as weed ikebana arrangements, hand-blown produce pipes from Humble Pride, and Yacht singer Claire Evans.
The second, fresh off the stacks, newly released issue, features grower-turned creative Mennlay, artist Aleia Murawski, the lawyer Lauren Rudick, and the activist and filmmaker Donisha Prendergast. To name a few.
It also happens to be a magazine created and run entirely by a team of women and non-binary people. “Broccoli’s focus on women is two-fold. Behind-the-scenes, we’re a woman-owned business with an all-female team, and our contributors are all women or non-binary people,” Anja says.
Read more from the Green Queen below.
Tell us about how Broccoli magazine came to life…
Prior to starting Broccoli I was the creative director at Kinfolk, making books and magazines for the brand. I fell in love with publishing, and as the legal cannabis market was growing around me I noticed there was a gap for a beautiful, forward-thinking magazine in the space. After three years at Kinfolk I was ready for a new project, and I wanted to run my own business, so Broccoli is now my full-time gig. We’ve had an overwhelming response to launching the first two issues-- it’s incredibly motivating to suddenly be part of a massive community of women around the world who are interested in weed.
Today more than ever, legalizing marijuana seems to be at the top of the list in most political debates. Why do you feel weed should be legalized?
Cannabis isn’t as divisive as one might expect, in terms of political viewpoints in America. In fall 2017 a new poll was released that shows a majority of Republicans are actually in favor of legalization. Legal cannabis creates a lot of jobs, generates a lot of tax revenue, and there’s more and more proof that cannabis can be a very effective tool for reducing opioid use and provides new treatment options for many different medical conditions. The real work has to happen after legalization, when states are creating laws around who can get into the business. Cannabis prohibition has majorly harmed communities of color for decades, jailing people over the most minor offenses, and then in many cases these people are prevented from getting into the legal industry because of having a criminal record or not having access to the same financial resources that an investment group might have. Every step in legalization is a change to make up for this, to do better as we move forward. We believe in legal weed because it’s just a plant, and it’s one that helps a lot of people. Everyone deserves the right to have safe access to cannabis, without being judged.
Anja says,"
It’s incredibly motivating to suddenly be part of a massive community of women around the world who are interested in weed.
The magazine is directed specifically towards women, why did you choose women as your target audience?
Broccoli’s focus on women is two-fold. Behind-the-scenes, we’re a woman-owned business with an all-female team, and our contributors are all women or non-binary people. This is really rare in media, and we’re proud of it. Through our content, we are highlighting women and their relationships to cannabis, featuring women who work in the cannabis industry and those who don’t. We want to see women taking up as much space as possible in the cannabis space, so that we can grow the industry and culture in a positive way.
“We want to see women taking up as much space as possible in the cannabis space, so that we can grow the industry and culture in a positive way.”
Broccoli is free and will be distributed only three times a year, how were you able to make this available for no charge? Can you explain your business model?
We believe strongly that cannabis should be accessible, and this belief carries over to media as well. By offering a free magazine we’re encouraging more people to interact with Broccoli, which in turn will spark more conversations about cannabis. The magazine is funded entirely by brand partnerships, so we’re aligning with companies (both within and beyond the cannabis space) who share our vision to normalize cannabis. There’s a lot of creativity and innovation coming from cannabis entrepreneurs as the industry blossoms, and we’re excited to provide a platform for sharing their stories.
You chose to showcase the art and culture of cannabis, how does this differ from other weed-friendly publications?
Most existing cannabis magazines focus on the industry and feel very male-dominated, which can be alienating to a more casual user, or someone who’s just curious about weed. Broccoli celebrates cannabis while also acknowledging that it’s just part of our reader’s life, and it fits in to a whole constellation of creative interests. By connecting cannabis to art, fashion, science, food, wellness, design (or a myriad of other topics), we’re reframing weed overall, and showing that it’s already connected to many beautiful and necessary parts of life.
“Cannabis prohibition has majorly harmed communities of color for decades, jailing people over the most minor offenses.”
Who is a woman in your life you admire?
Lately I have been thinking a lot about Bjork. She is a creative powerhouse, and while she’s primarily a musician her magic transforms across mediums so easily. I have a lot of respect for how outspoken she is about her experience as a woman in the creative industry, and for how open she is to experimentation and weirdness. She also has an amazing, bizarre sense of humor and it comes through in everything she creates. I love that! She’s a genius but also hilarious.
Want more from the cannabis culture? Check back on our Green Queens series in partnership with MISSBISH. We'll be featuring a woman in weed per week!