
Today’s cannabis marketers are facing the same challenges faced by the alcohol industry when Prohibition was reversed. Join alcohol beverage marketing experts and founders of Soho Experiential, Rick Kiley and Jeff Boedges, as they interview various experts tracking the path to a “Green Repeal,” gaining insight into the question: how do you successfully market a product and navigate a “sin-dustry” that is on the verge of becoming legalized on a federal level?
Episode 025: Crafting the Highest Quality Cannabis with Gillian Levy
In the early days of legal cannabis edibles, it was hard to find anything that seemed “healthy.” Most products were full of sugar, dyed with synthetic colors, and prone to leaving their consumers completely incapacitated. This is why Gillian Levy, the President of Humboldt Apothecary, set out to change things. She holds a degree in…
Episode 024: Creating a Premium Psychedelic Cannabis Brand with Libby Cooper
In one sense, the cannabis industry is like any other: when you identify a gap in the market, there’s an opportunity to achieve success by filling it. Space Coyote’s high quality pre-rolls, available all over California, do just that. Today’s guest, co-founder Libby Cooper, has helped to create a truly unique brand that marries the…
Episode 023: Advocating for Change in the Cannabis Industry with Chris Ball
In America, a criminal record can make it much harder not just to get a job, but to launch a business. Social equity programs are working to change this, and have helped former felons and victims of Reagan-era drug policy to start innovative companies – sometimes in formerly criminalized industries. Chris Ball is the founder…
Episode 022: How the Cannabis Industry Affects Entrepreneurs of Color with Ashley Stallworth
The legal cannabis industry is astoundingly white and astoundingly male – and the barriers to entry for everyone else are astoundingly high. Entrepreneurs of color struggle to raise funds, shake social stigmas, and become part of an industry that hasn’t fully reckoned with its history. Entrepreneurs like Ashley Stallworth don’t just know this firsthand –…
Episode 021: Fighting Stereotypes and Advocating for Minorities in Cannabis with Ophelia Chong
The stereotypes around “stoner culture” – Bob Marley posters, ridiculous looking photos of bongs, and the associations with criminals, addicts, and drug dealers – have been around for decades. As the perception of cannabis, both in medicine and adult use, changes, people are finally pushing back against this imagery. Serial entrepreneur Ophelia Chong is a…
Episode 020: Breaking Stigmas and Cultivating Inclusivity in the Cannabis Industry with Laganja Estranja
There’s no one-size-fits-all career, especially in the world of cannabis. However, there’s one thing we’ve learned in our conversations with industry insiders and talented people building incredible companies: there’s a long way to go before the stigmas around stoner culture, slacking off, and being lazy are gone for good. Jay Jackson, aka Laganja Estranja, is…
Episode 019: Inside the World of Cannabis Accessory Subscriptions with Liz Whiting
Direct to consumer subscription services have filled a wide variety of niches and become massively popular over the last several years. For reasons both obvious and not so obvious, the cannabis industry is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this business model, but also faces extremely specific challenges that other subscription goods services do not….
Episode 018: Rethinking Cannabis Education with Charlie McElroy
The nascent culture surrounding adult-use cannabis is still finding its tone of voice, and brands are still struggling to fully define themselves. Many companies that produce materials for the industry are either cold and clinical and make you feel like you’re looking at something from a pharmacy. Others fully embrace all of the stereotypes of…
Episode 017: Uniting the Cannabis Industry and Criminal Justice Reform with Andrew Deangelo
Huge amounts of wealth have been created for entrepreneurs and businesses seeing success in the cannabis industry today. However, there are still many people all over the country incarcerated for cannabis-related offenses, and there is so much work to be done as we reckon with the legacy of cannabis prohibition. Andrew Deangelo has spent decades…
Episode 016: The Data Science Powering Cannabis Businesses with Liz Connors
The cannabis industry faces many unique challenges, and making sense of the data it produces requires specialized tools. To name just a few, there’s an astounding amount of product out there, tons of variables at play at every stage of manufacturing and distribution, and the nuances of legality across states. To turn this information into…
Episode 015: How Lantern Created a Cannabis Delivery Business with Meredith Mahoney
With the onset of the COVID-19, lifestyles all over the world have changed in major ways. More than ever before, people are relying on delivery services to get their groceries, meals from their favorite restaurants, alcoholic beverages, and a whole lot of other things. However, for many reasons, some of which might be obvious, cannabis…
Episode 014: Inside Missouri’s Cannabis Industry with Dr. Mimi Vo
In November of 2018, Missouri voted to legalize medical use of cannabis, making them the 33rd state to do so. As the state builds momentum toward adult use, a number of interesting things are happening that prove how different just every path to legalization is. Today’s guest is Internist Mimi Vo. Mimi graduated from medical…
Episode 013: How the Coronavirus Crisis is Affecting the Cannabis Industry with Ken Wolski
The COVID-19 pandemic and surrounding crises have impacted virtually every industry all over the world, and cannabis is no exception. Though cannabis businesses, much like liquor, have been deemed essential, there are myriad issues facing producers and users at this time – and they may ultimately impact the long journey to full legalization. As 2020…
Episode 012: Inside the World of Cannabis Funding with Ian Lindemann
When cannabis businesses need funding, they can’t simply get traditional loans. A number of legal and regulatory hurdles stand in the way for many operators, and the rules surrounding lending vary greatly from state to state. For investors who do lend to cannabis businesses, finding great partnerships isn’t easy – and differs in a number…
Episode 011: Inside the World of Cannabis-Infused Beverages with Keith Villa
The cannabis beverage space is a fascinating one. Much like the craft beer movement, which grew from the work of a few hobbyists in the 1980s and 1990s into a multibillion dollar industry today, we’re seeing pioneers invent new product categories, take big chances, and create new consumer experiences. In Colorado, Keith Villa is doing…
Episode 010: The Future of Cannabis Supply Chains with Rick Kimball
Even as both medical and adult use cannabis legalization has continued across the United States, growers and resalers have faced a number of challenges, like how to standardize and regulate a product that isn’t always easy to measure. In the CBD space in particular, it’s easy to end up with “hot” product where THC levels…
Episode 009: An Insider’s View of the Medical Cannabis Industry with Jennie Leuzarder
Though adult use cannabis is rapidly maturing in many parts of the United States, the medical cannabis industry is still developing as well. It faces a different set of operational hurdles and challenges, is continuing to shift and develop, and remains the sole source of legal cannabis in a number of states, including New York….
Episode 008: How Cannabis Companies Can Embrace Inclusivity with Mary Pryor
Drug laws at the city, state, and federal levels have been used for almost a century to disproportionately punish people of color. Despite making up only 31.5% of the United States’ population, 46.9% of people arrested for violating drug laws are Black or Latino, and it’s never hard to find news stories of white offenders…
Episode 007: How Maine is Preparing for Adult-Use Legalization – A Talk with Evergreen Cannabis C
Maine legalized medical use cannabis in 1999, long before many other states. However, after adult-use cannabis was legalized by a vote in 2016, it effectively stayed inaccessible for another two years, with licenses finally going live and prohibition being lifted on December 5 of this year and retail sales not starting until March of 2020….
Episode 006: The Social and Political History of Prohibition with William Rorabaugh
If you dive deep into the history of federally forbidden substances, you start to see clear parallels in the history of alcohol and cannabis when it comes to how prohibitions occur (and why they fall apart). Dr. William Rorabaugh is here to talk all about it. Dr. William Rorabaugh is a Professor of History at…
Episode 005: The Economics of Prohibition with Mark Thornton
Throughout human history, economics has played a major part in setting policy and inspiring actions of all kinds, including prohibitions – and few have a deeper understanding of prohibitions than Dr. Mark Thornton. Dr. Thornton is a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute and an economist who’s written and spoken extensively on the topic of…
Episode 004: The Recent History of Cannabis in America, 1970s-Present, with Emily Dufton
In the last episode of our podcast, we talked all about how cannabis was widely prescribed in the 19th century, fell out of favor, and was ultimately outlawed at the federal level. Today, we continue this guided tour throughout cannabis history as it ping pongs from being celebrated to vilified (and back again), and there’s…
Episode 003: The Early History of Cannabis in America (19th Century – 1970s) with Adam Rathge
Cannabis usage in America didn’t start a few years or even a few decades ago. In fact, cannabis has a long, storied history including a period of extensive medical use before the prohibition that is just now coming to an end. Few know more about this history than Adam Rathge. Adam Rathge holds a Ph.D….
Episode 002: The Cannabis Law Landscape with Dan McKillop
The vast majority of American states now have medical cannabis programs, and 11 states plus Washington D.C. have adult (or recreational) use programs as well. However, cannabis is still federally illegal, and the rules and regulations vary greatly depending on what side of the industry you’re in and where you’re doing business. Few people understand…
Episode 001: A 30,000-foot View Of The Cannabis Industry With Sean Everett
Welcome to the very first episode of The Green Repeal: the story of legal cannabis through the lens of marketers who know the unique challenges of working in highly regulated industries. Today, our guest is Sean Everett. Sean is an operating advisor to high growth companies in the consumer product space. He has 20 years of…