Angela is a business owner, wife & mother. She is on a mission to educate people about marijuana and its possibilities, breaking the stigma of cannabis and to help people share their cannabis success stories.“Im here to help inspire others to open their hearts and minds and hear someone else story about cannabis.”
Before co-founding Confident Cannabis, Steve developed his career in New York with experience in startups, the finance industry and growth capital investing. He founded Left Lane Capital to invest in, incubate and co-found branded consumer-facing businesses. His investments include Health Warrior, one of the fastest growing superfood snack companies in the US. Steve then moved to California to study at Stanford Graduate School of Business where he met his co-founding team. Driven by the opportun...
Tiffany Devitt is responsible for overseeing CannaCraft's regulatory compliance and government relations. As such, she plays a valuable and vital role in shaping and executing the company's legislative strategies in Sacramento and DC. As a member of the National Cannabis Roundtable Board, she is working collaboratively with industry leaders from across the country to promulgate federal financial services reform and tax equity for the cannabis industry.
Ron Basak-Smith is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sana Packaging, a startup that designs and develops differentiated, sustainable, and compliant packaging solutions for the cannabis industry using 100% plant-based hemp plastic. Sana Packaging is proud to be a “Made in the U.S.A.” company that supports domestic agriculture and domestic manufacturing. Ron earned a B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College in 2011 and an M.B.A. in Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, and Finance from the University of Colorado...
Bryan is the Co-founder and CEO of Hunter + Esquire. His professional background before launching H+E was entirely in retained executive search for 18 years in MedTech/Pharma (15 yrs) and Food and Adult Beverage CPG (3 yrs). His deep knowledge of those highly regulated and nuanced industries has helped H+E significantly understand the needs and wants of their cannabis clients. Bryan’s deep and genuine networks within those industries helped them deliver that rare talent “unicorn” clients desire ...
Thinking Outside the Bud is a business podcast devoted to driving innovation in the cannabis space. During each episode, we speak with founders, investors, thought leaders, researchers, advocates, and policy makers who are finding new and exciting ways for cannabis to positively impact business, society, and culture. Have each episode delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: http://www.thinkingoutsidethebud.com/subscribe
Jennifer Whetzel is a marketing professional and founder of Ladyjane Branding. For over 25 years, Whetzel has been branding, advertising, marketing, strategizing and researching for Fortune 500 companies and B2B/B2C small businesses. After finding significant symptom relief in medical cannabis and emotional support from community members, she was inspired to use her professional expertise to help businesses in the cannabis industry develop smart, strategic and consistent brands that create deep ...
Danny Murr-Sloat inspires many as the famed owner of AlpinStash who credits consuming and growing cannabis with losing 70 pounds, transitioning off over 19 prescriptions including opiates for an array of medical issues, and eventually becoming one of the most revered micro-cultivation brands in Colorado. But, few know Danny as an emerging prolific breeder. Since 2014, he’s steadily built the AlpinStash brand through his meticulously bred in-house cultivars, several of which are cult favorites am...
Dale has been a practicing California attorney for more that 30 years and active in the California cannabis space for 20 years. In 1999, he and his (then) wife, Dr. Mollie Fry, opened one of the first 5 medical cannabis recommendation clinics. His persistent political action, on behalf of medical cannabis patients, led to a federal DEA raid, arrest and a 60 month prison sentence. However, the California State Bar found no moral turpitude and so he is a practicing attorney to this day. Since the ...
Gillian Levy, the Co-Founder & CEO at Humboldt Apothecary, a women-owned and run company in the heart of Humboldt County is passionate about crafting the highest quality cannabis-based tinctures and topicals, offering safe, effective solutions to target a wide variety of conditions and support general health and wellness. Together with her business partner Susan Cleverdon, she formulates unique botanical blends, combining cannabis and complementary herbs to create products with maximum thera...
Thinking Outside the Bud is a business podcast devoted to driving innovation in the cannabis space. During each episode, we speak with founders, investors, thought leaders, researchers, advocates, and policy makers who are finding new and exciting ways for cannabis to positively impact business, society, and culture. Have each episode delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: http://www.thinkingoutsidethebud.com/subscribe
As the founder, owner and CEO of QAcanna Jon brings 20 years of practical experience within the pharmaceutical, medical device, combination products and dietary supplement industries. His thorough comprehension of industry regulations and standards, along with an understanding of how to effectively apply those standards to various business models, has allowed him to successfully navigate and lead through various sectors of regulated industries. His current 2-year participation on the ASTM Intern...
Dan Nelson is best known for having launched the world’s first legal and medical marijuana dispensary price comparison website in January 2014. Wikileaf, dubbed by some media as “The Priceline of Pot”, has since grown into one of the industry’s largest consumer resources in North America. In 2016, Wikileafbecame a part of Nesta Holding Co., a private equity firm that creates wide ranging partnerships and brands within the cannabis industry.
Cayla Rosenblum is a co-founder of Very Good CBD, an artisanal hemp flower brand. As a graduate student studying healthcare informatics, Cayla blended her love for data with her interest in the medicinal cannabis industry. Her research allowed her to present at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Global Health Conference on the potential barriers and benefits of medicinal cannabis integration into our electronic health record. Cayla began her journey into the cannabis indus...
BeautyGrass is an all-natural, plant-based, CBD-infused skincare line founded by LA beauty guru, Jenny Evans, in partnership with IN GOOD CO. Inspired by the bounty of the Plant Kingdom and powerful ancient wisdoms, BeautyGrass launched in 2018 as a celebration of vibrant self love. Using the purest, most powerful ingredients our planet has to offer, BeautyGrass is a high-end yet approachable brand with spirit — immediately recognizable and pioneering within a fast-growing space.
Saul Kaye is the Founder and CEO of iCAN and a true leader in the Israeli Cannabis ecosystem, as well as an industry advisor to the Medical Cannabis caucus of the Knesset. Saul is a licensed pharmacist and entrepreneur with both retail and e-commerce experience. He has founded multiple companies panning six countries across the US, Europe, Israel and Australia.
With over 17 years of global brand event curation, Sasha is not your typical CEO. As the Creative Experience Officer and founder of Revolver Productions, Sasha started her company with the intention to produce experiences with purpose. Through her work she’s raised awareness around mental wellness, female empowerment, entrepreneurship, and cannabis as a lifestyle tool.
For more than 20 years, Lewis has been working in strategic communications career in politics, he served as a full-time campaign staffer on the Clinton/Gore 1996 re election campaign and worked for then US senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) as his deputy press secretary. Lewis brings a “campaign” mentality to all his client engagement. After moving to private practice, Lewis has amassed vast experience running cannabis-specific programs for companies across the entire supply chain of the industry....
Thinking Outside the Bud is a business podcast devoted to driving innovation in the cannabis space. During each episode, we speak with founders, investors, thought leaders, researchers, advocates, and policy makers who are finding new and exciting ways for cannabis to positively impact business, society, and culture. Have each episode delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: http://www.thinkingoutsidethebud.com/subscribe
A serial entrepreneur as far back as his days studying Psychology at West Virginia University, Russ founded Webbula, a data-centric technology company headquartered in California. In 2009, Cersosimo took an idea from concept to market, generating high-profile clientele including Google, Yahoo, T-Mobile, Neustar, and Epsilon. Webbula is now an international leader in the data industry.
Lisbeth began her career in cannabis as the Director of Communications for Mindful (Addison, IL) a medical cannabis dispensary in 2016. While navigating the industry she realized traditional marketing tactics would not work for a cannabis brand. She developed a system for marketing cannabis brands online and went on to launch Canna Marketing U: a marketing coaching and consulting business.
Dasheeda Dawson is The WeedHead™ - a global cannabis advocate, award-winning executive strategist and author. An industry thought leader featured across multiple outlets, including a historic Times Square billboard campaign, Entrepreneur.com, Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, and Essence Festival, Dasheeda is a corporate crossover pioneer spearheading the “rebranding” of cannabis as medicine for mainstream consumer market adoption. From Target to THC, she has over 15 years of business developme...
Our Green Solutions is a New York based consulting company focused on the global cannabis & hemp markets. Their team has over 20 years of industry experience working with companies of all sizes, from startups to publicly listed entities. Our Green Solutions specializes in all aspects of business, from marketing to finance, making sure that your company achieves its potential.
Alex Pasternack, the executive vice president of Binske, was born and raised in Miami, FL. After graduating Gulliver High School, Alex attended The University of Colorado in Boulder. Alex studied civil and environmental engineering, with an emphasis on project management. While there, Alex created Wear The Party, an interactive clothing line in the wearable tech space. After graduating, Alex worked in medical sales in Miami for several years. Alex joined Binske as Head of Sales in March of 2017....
Kymberly Byrnes aka "KymB" is an activist, patient advocate, influencer and cannabis powerhouse with her hands deep in the NYC cannabis scene, and has been setting growing and retail standards for cannabis since they were called nickel bags. Kym has been working adjacent to multiple principles of the cannabis industry and her early work helped set universal cultivation standards throughout the industry. Kym is a Co-founder and CMO of TribeTokes, where she drives all the brands social a...
Marion is a serial entrepreneur who has founded, invested, or advised over a dozen start-ups. He is the CEO and CO-founder of Simplifya, the leading cannabis regulatory and operational compliance company. Marion is also the Founder and Chairman of Ceylon Solutions, a software development company that he founded in 2005 which now primarily focuses on developing applications for the cannabis industry. He is a regular guest speaker at events such as Denver Startup Week, CU Denver's program on socia...
Mary Clifton, M.D., has been an Internal Medicine doctor for almost twenty years. She specializes in weight loss, osteoporosis and menopause, disease prevention, management, and reversal. She regularly speaks at health and inspirational seminars, medical and heath conferences, corporate wellness events, Universities, and for private groups. Mary is the author of the best-selling book, Waist Away, co-author of the book Get Waisted: 100 Addictively Delicious Plant-Based Entrees, and co-founder of ...
Mr. Yosvani Alfonso CEO of HempXtra, entered the industrial hemp world as a consumer: he sought a happier, healthier lifestyle, something he’d struggled to find as the head of a financial and legal firm. Eventually overcome by job-related stress, Yosvani, left his position and embarked on a journey that led to the birth of HEMPXTRA CBD Products Frustrated by the misinformation, questionable ingredients, and unsatisfactory quality of CBD oil products in the market, Yosvani became determined to cr...
Susanna is a dynamic executive who has experience in a range of industries. Her facility for learning, keen analytical skills, charismatic personality, and integrity serve her and her clients well.She’s currently a Policy Advocate in The New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association, a nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing the legalization of cannabis.Their mission is to promote sensible policy, responsible growth and development of New Jersey’s cannabis industry. The NJCIA is the indust...
Cullen Raichart, Founder and CEO of GreenBroz, Inc. has more than 12 years of experience as an entrepreneur and inventor. A Veteran of the United States Armed Forces, Cullen is driven to create American-made products that offer solutions to the growing agriculture industry. Prior to founding GreenBroz, Inc., Cullen worked in the corporate world for a Fortune 500 company until realizing his passion for creating innovative products. His goal became the streamlining of the harvesting processes and,...
