Being a creative person, I’m naturally interested in the work of other creatives. When I was introduced to the originative world of Pilgrim Soul, I felt a certain kinship. After all, I had in my past life worked with high-level individuals within a creative part of a private bank for nearly twenty years. This capability of furthering the thought process stimulated my need in later years to become a six-time published author. The intellect needed to write books is in many ways similar to starting a corporation or leading someone else’s company. You face many challenges in publishing as you do in the corporate world. Politics and silos abound, watch your step and tread lightly? Usually or not a chance… But the world has changed since I did my part to further myself in the corporate world. It would have been nice to have been able to support the efforts of someone like Shawn Gold, the Founder, and CEO of Pilgrim Soul. He’s a really intriguing man, with ideas that mimic my own ethos. I’m fortunate to have been able to interview his efforts for Skunk Magazine. I hope you find inspiration in his broad-reaching ethos for organic change. It’s not too far-fetched nor solely California Centric. There are global implications for his metrics and challenges. I hope you click through to learn more about his efforts.
Thank you, WB.
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me about yourself? Why did you start working in cannabis? Do you prefer indoor or outdoor-grown cannabis, and why?
Shawn Gold: My career has consisted of CMO roles at tech-driven start-ups and imagining business models that did not exist. From social networking at MySpace, blogging with Engadget, social storytelling with Wattpad, and working with brands like Fabletic and SavageXFenty, it’s always been about thriving in the ambiguity of a new idea. Throughout my career, I have used cannabis to generate ideas, empathize with my customers, see things symphonically and make non-linear connections. So, when the legal cannabis industry started to emerge, I decided I wanted to help people benefit from my experience with cannabis.
As far as indoor or outdoor, I am a huge fan of consuming things as nature intended while being kind to the planet, so my default would be sun-grown California cannabis. You can make a delicious and potent product under natural conditions; I don’t necessarily need to have super high potency indoor cannabis to have a great experience. That said, if you have some amazing indoor cannabis, I’d love to see it and learn more about it.
You could say the creative interactions that I experienced through Pilgrim Soul opened my third eye. Thank you. WB
WB: Please tell me about Pilgrim Soul? What makes this brand different? Do you have a favorite [vape pen]?
SG: Pilgrim Soul’s mission is to help people unlock their innate creativity to help them gain a competitive edge in life and work. We do this with exclusive cannabis blends, creative curriculum, community-driven creativity programs, and expert content via PilgrimSoul.com.
It is best to think of Pilgrim Soul as a creativity company, where cannabis is just one of the products. The brand is designed to allow any creativity-enhancing product – we may even accommodate psilocybin when that becomes legal.
As far as our cannabis products go, we worked with the scientists at AbstraxLabs to create live resin blends of the top creative strains for different types of creative thinking – Creative Focus, Creative Reflection, Creative Imagination, and Creative Awareness. We analyze hundreds of cannabis strains that index high for creativity and other states of mind, according to survey data. After identifying each strain’s cannabinoid and terpene profiles, we built a matrix of strains that are then blended and mapped back to specific types of creative impact. This ongoing research is supported by focus groups and feedback from iconic creative leaders across varied industries.
WB: What are your six and twelve-month goals [for Pilgrim Soul]?
SG: Pilgrim Soul is looking to be the category leader in cannabis for creativity. We launched our cannabis line in July, and it is already a best-selling live resin oil blend in MedMen, Sweet Flower, The High Note, and The Cannabist.
Additionally, we are expanding our creative curriculum in the form of our Creative Thinking Journals meant to be used while you are high. These journals are filled with fun and shareable, creative challenges meant to spark the imagination and help people rethink the way they see the world. In November, we will debut a new journal in partnership with a well-known comedian.
The success metrics for all these efforts, other than money, are helping people enhance their lives with creative thinking – to help them uncover new possibilities and ideas.
WB: What is your favorite food when smoking cannabis? Do you have a food memory from childhood that involves cannabis?
SG: That is an interesting question because I don’t have a lot of cannabis-specific experiences. I use cannabis as a way to enhance experiences in general. I find smoking and going to a restaurant can make the food better because I’m more focused and present. I become more conscious of the flavors, the textures, the ritual, and the people I am dining with.
WB: What is your passion?
Humor and laughter. I love people (well, most people), and my favorite thing is to laugh and riff on ideas with friends and new
acquaintances. I find laughter to be the shortest distance between two people. When two people are laughing at the same thing, they are basically saying, ‘I share your perspective, your values, and I certainly share what you think is amusing.’ Cannabis is an aid in this process. It helps with divergent out-of-the-box thinking by getting the neurons in the frontal lobe firing in a more uninhibited way. It also represses the area of the brain called the dorsolateral cortex, which is about judgment. I guess you could say I use cannabis to make everything slightly more interesting.
https://www.skunkmagazine.com/pilgrim-soul-opening-the-third-eye-five-questions-with-shawn-gold/