Pink Hair and Passion: Canndid with Juliana Whitney and Nick Bembenek

Inventing a Category: Canndid with Luke Anderson

Hi, everyone. I, for one, am not having a normal week. You see, my lovely wife caught some good ol' fashioned Covid in San Francisco over the weekend, but so far, myself and the boys are all virus-free - but we ARE quite stressed. So, my week is not great - but that's no reason that yours can't be extra special. Which is why I'm so very pleased to bring you this special episode of Canndid, where I had the pleasure of interviewing Luke Anderson, Co-Founder at Cann. Luke and I spoke for a condensed 30 minutes, but he managed to pack enough wisdom and fun in there to fill two hours. We were able to touch on his early days as a goodie-two-shoes, how he was raised by a single mother, and his first (and quite memorable) 2-day hangover when he turned 30. I asked him about inventing a category; we talked about the Swiss / German flavor experts; we touched on how some dispensary staff have trouble making sense of stock-out reports; we discussed the heritage of queer culture, and how Cann is playing a role in bridging the gap between the gay Zeitgeist and popular culture. Overall - what a gosh darn pleasure this was. Please enjoy.

The Candyman: Canndid with Joe Hodas

On this episode, I got to bother Joe Hodas, the CMO for Wana Brands. Wana is a well-known, international, expertly-branded gummies company, and Joe is a big part of its success. We got to discuss his life story (including some early guilt related to his cannabis consumption), his career (including his long tenure in cannabis and leadership in multiple product companies), parenting on cannabis (including his shyness at admitting consumption to his son), and more. Joe is a real OG in this space, and Wana is lucky to have him at the helm of their branding efforts. I also managed to meet Joe in person in New York last week, and he's just as lovely in the flesh as he is on this episode. Please enjoy!

Fearless: Canndid with Andreas Neumann

This week, I had the privilege of speaking with Andreas Neumann, Chief Creative Officer at Jushi. I met Dre back when Jushi had a few retail licenses, and I've had the honor of sitting on the sidelines and watching them grow into a monster retailer and a monster brand. Dre has played a massive role in Jushi's success during that time, curating the customer experience, the digital presence, the PR, and the overall brand. Dre's personal story informs all of this success. He has a unique perspective on his projects and the world at large; he is also fearless, which has led to some phenomenal opportunities and successes. He has worked as a photographer, an advertising executive, a record producer, and much, much more. Dre is inspiring, to say the least, and I'm lucky to know him. I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.

Unapologetic: Canndid with Kristina Lopez Adduci

On this episode, I had the privilege of sitting down with Kristina Lopez Adduci, the Founder and CEO of House of Puff. As an appetizer - and to give you a feel for the kind of drive and chutzpah that Kristina embodies as a Latina in the New York cannabis scene - I'll tell you that her mother, who had always worked in real estate, up and decided to become a doctor one day. While raising kids. And she succeeded. So, yeah. Kristina has some amazing role models, but she has also very much forged her own path. During her first cannabis experience - which came relatively late in life - she was stuck with a dirty old bong, and she began to wonder what life might be like if cannabis hardware catered more toward women. And House of Puff was born. Kristina  was such a pleasure and such a spark on the show, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Pink Hair and Passion: Canndid with Juliana Whitney and Nick Bembenek

On this episode, I had such a great time speaking with Juliana Whitney and Nick Bembenek, the Co-founders of Leafsheets. These two partners founded Leafsheets with the express purpose of "un-gating" the murky operations of the cannabis industry, with a particular focus on making winning a license easier. Juliana pulls from her experience as the President of Cann Strategy, where she has won several hard-to-win cannabis licenses on behalf of her consulting clients, and Nick pulls from his deep technological background and entrepreneurial spirit. The combo is an effective one, as you'll find. In addition to Leafsheets, we got to talk about being a woman in cannabis, having pink hair, the too-strong cannabis flower these days, and - of course - floating down a river with a CamelPak filled with mojito and a unicorn floaty in tow after having taken some Wyld gummies.  Please enjoy.