Elliot Lewis is the founder Catalyst Cannabis Co.; he currently owns and operates 5 retail storefronts in Southern California including – Long Beach, Bellflower, and Santa Ana which have recently gone through a rebrand of all existing stores as they continue to build the Catalyst name up and down the coast. As a manager of numerous cannabis businesses, Lewis has established himself as one of the top commercial marijuana operators in California as he continues to expand with dreams to bring cannabis to every city state-wide. He’s blazing new paths into places unheard of just ten years ago. Ambition drives Elliot and I’m proud to introduce him to the world. Thank you, WB.
Derek Du Chesne touring the Candera processing facility CANDERA
As a rule in my journalistic career, I’m pulling away from CBD, but Derek’s story made perfect sense to me and I felt that world deserved learning about his scene. I wanted to do this primarily because of his understanding of the pharmacological benefits of the plant. Not just another snake oil product. This is accurate for me because what Derek doesn’t do is CBD infused pain lotion, nor another CBD infused toothpick, but a philosophy that is grounded in deep healing. And after writing the book named Apothecary Cocktails, this path that he is taking is very familiar to me. It fulfills the desire to do well by others through healing. Thank you.
Most entrepreneurs are not at all like Christian Schenk. They just don’t possess his work ethic. He is very clearly driven by a greater internal power than most.
I got that immediately because I feel that I was cut from the same cloth as Christian. Being born to non-stop workaholics and also having an overachieving father and grandparents made that happen for me. After reading through his interview, I discovered that his work ethic was ingrained into him by birth. It was his father who influenced him so deeply, so succinctly. I got that loud and clear.
Frances González is recognized as one of the leaders in the women’s entrepreneurs movement in Cannabis. With more than 15 years of experience in corporate telecommunications, operations and international relations in 2015 she decided to launch her own business in Puerto Rico as founder and executive director of Millennia Solutions, a provider of digital communication tools and solutions for business. Months later medical cannabis is legalized on the island and she pursues further education with subject matter experts. Through her educational journey, Frances launched Latinas Cannapreneurs, a non profit organization based in Puerto Rico with a mission to inspire, educate and elevate the latino community about the culture and industry of cannabis through education, activism and entrepreneurship. Through our network of partners and collaborators we provide educational tools and support to break down stigmas while promoting inclusiveness in the growing green age. Frances was also invited to speak on Cannabis entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico in May 2019 for Canna Ciencia 2019 in Bogota, Colombia, which is the largest cannabis conference in Latin America. She also took the stage to speak last September in CanEX 2019 in Jamaica where she shared the stage yet again with personalities like Steve DeAngelo and Vicente Fox. She attended and presented in Cannabis Salud 2019 in Mexico, and in December she was a featured speaker at the National Women of Cannabis conference in Las Vegas. Her companies are sponsors for all these conferences and also sponsored the Women in Cannabis Study. Frances is also a member and Chair of the Caribbean Policy research of the Minority Cannabis Business Association whose mission is to support equality and diversity in the cannabis industry through policy, empowerment, and connection.
Historically speaking, smoking pure CBD flowers are not to my taste. But when Dave DiCosola reached out to me with some new information on his line of (very cannabis-like) CBD flowers, I thought I should at least hear him out. Because hemp is legal in all fifty states, I can now receive CBD legally at my home. So I got the opportunity to taste through his line.
Who would have thought that Maryland, the historic and in my vision, a deeply conservative state located only a few hundred miles south of New Jersey. Would they allow cannabis? Well it’s true, Maryland does allow medical cannabis and companies like Curio Wellness are setting the bar extremely high for this nascent industry. Wellness is the name of their craft and their goal in healing ills.
Jenny-Beth Dills RAW PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO DON HALES
Cannabis brings amazing personalities to the my column. The way that they find themselves to me is sometimes creative. Take Jenny-Beth Dills, the founder of Kind Cannabis Consulting. She found me on the interweb, Instagram to be exact.
I love the opportunity to meet, socially distanced of course- some of the true luminaries of the cannabis business. It’s amazing to me to see what these talented entrepreneurs have built out of nothing. Michael Tanzer is one of these individuals who have created their own path from virtually a blank slate. I love the line (below) where Michael came to the realization that adults were lying to “us kids” and he started to question everything. Cannabis tends to do that. It opens the mind and teaches humility and creativity. I know it does that for me. This circumstance is clearly not my own experience alone. Others open their minds in similar ways. Michael’s path mirrors my own, but I’m sure he applied himself more than I did.
I had the opportunity to share some time over email with Roger Brown, the founder of ACS Laboratory. Roger is an affable gentlemen who exudes the desire to change the landscape of cannabis testing procedures and metrics. Although I am new to the testing world, what Roger’s company does is essential to the very meaning of safe cannabis. His details about testing for Vitamin E, enlightened me. I’m glad that someone tests for this detrimental ingredient that cheapens the entire experience of healing with cannabis. Roger is forthright and crisp in his assessment of the way cannabis is perceived. I’m honored to have the chance to learn something new and unexpected. Thank you. Warren Bobrow
