For the month of March, we have highlighted women entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry who are continuing to inspire, educate and make a stance for cannabis.
In a world heavily skewed to favor males, it can sometimes be hard for women to believe in themselves, or to truly appreciate the female strengths that make them amazing.
However, throughout history, the world has witnessed many great women of strength who managed to tap into their everyday power to leave an indelible mark on society. And right now, the same thing is happening again, when you take a look around you, right now, each of us is apart of history, by each providing, building and doing our part to the development of this new emerging industry.
So, as we release our final series for the #togetherwemakehistory campaign, we want to remind you, that you have the ability to make a change, you have the ability to follow your dreams like so many of these women have done. You have the ability to build your voice and you can make a difference.
Together We’ll Make History
In part four, DCN will be highlighting 6 women entrepreneurs for the #togetherwellmakehistory spotlight.
To kick off part four, we are honored to introduce you to….
Frances Gonzalez
Frances González is recognized as one of the leaders in the Latinas Cannabis Entrepreneurs movement. With more than 10 years of experience in telecommunications, corporate operations and international relations, in 2015 she decides to start her entrepreneurial journey in Puerto Rico as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Millennia Solutions. Millennia Solutions is a premier bilingual provider of digital communication solutions for businesses. Months later, medical cannabis is legalized on the island and she decides to further her education on the subject. Throughout her educational journey, Frances develops Latinas Cannapreneurs (Latinas Cannabis Entrepreneurs), an organization with a mission to inspire, educate and elevate the Latino community on the culture and industry of Cannabis through education and activism. Through her travels to international cannabis conventions, she had the opportunity to learn and collaborate with industry legends. She is also a contributor to several digital publications in California and Canada where she exalts Puerto Rico and its cannabis industry to the world. Frances is influencing and paving the way for the next generation of Latinas Cannabis Entrepreneurs
Why is this plant important for you on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
“The plant has allowed me to believe and achieve what I once thought impossible. From wellness, clarity, focus on being a part of a community, it has allowed me to learn and grow in all aspects of my life. I only wished I knew about it sooner.”
Stay tuned for the next women entrepreneur spotlight.
www.latinascannapreneurs.com, www.millennia.solutions
Sharon Letts
Writer and Producer Sharon Letts began her life’s work at the age of 24 as a flower gardener in Southern California. Gardening turned to media when she was asked to produce and host a visiting gardening show, In and Out of the Garden, for local television. She then went on to executive produce, Off the Beaten Path, a travelogue in California for PBS. After working as a field and segment producer for documentary and magazine shows for television in Los Angeles, Sharon was brought up to Humboldt County to produce a news show.
In 2012, While working in media in the cannabis capitol of the world, Sharon presented with Lobular Carcinoma (breast cancer, and was given cannabis oil by longtime Humboldt farmer and Apothecary, Pearl Moon of the Bud Sisters. The oil successfully put the cancer into remission, while simultaneously doing away with numerous prescription medications and supplements. Since then, Sharon has covered six states and three countries on cannabis as a remedy, writing for many publications around the world in several languages. Her focus is on patient profiles, including celebrities, Tommy Chong, Willie Nelson, and Melissa Etheridge; with upcoming profiles on Jim Belushi and Oliva Newton-John.
Sharon has also published two works of fiction based on fact, and has just finished a screenplay from her eBooks, Cannaopolis and Humboldt Stories (winner 2016 Tokey Awards); inspired by the plight of small cannabis farmers in Humboldt County facing the pratfalls of legalization. She’s also currently developing and pitching intelligent magazine, reality, and documentary shows for television on the subject.
Why is this plant important for you on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
“My story isn’t the same as the average Entrepreneur, as I was compelled to write of this subject after being helped myself with the plant. It’s a calling, not a choice, as I was respected in mainstream media and made a living wage.
In the cannabis space, I’m in a green bubble preaching to the choir until the Government fesses up and takes cannabis off of Schedule 1. Being a woman makes it that much harder, as there’s an additional layer of disbelief to what I say due to the stigma and the cultural climate of women not being taken seriously. I’ve learned to put my blinders on, not engage in negativity, and do good work in spite of the pratfalls.”
www.sharonletts.com
Tanganyika (Tangy)
Tanganyika is the CEO of Jayn Green, and specializes in International Cannabis with a focus on Tourism. Primarily she educates about the medical, physical, financial, and future benefits of the cannabis plant. Tangy is an Amazon Best Selling author, International public speaker, and United States Marine Corps veteran.
Why is this plant important for you on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
“I use cannabis to relieve the daily symptoms of PTSD, chronic pain, and the stress from being an entrepreneur.”
www.jayn.green
Lelehnia DuBois
Lelehnia Dubois, grew up in two worlds. Her father lived on the Southern California beaches, while her mother had her homesteading in the Northern California mountains. She has witnessed raids, family homelessness, abuse, all results of the drug war. In 1999, she sustained a spinal cord injury and began to implement the alternative healing tools her mother taught her after seeing western medicines were not working. Cannabis was one of those tools. Lelehnia, now believes the plant is a large part of her ability to thrive and sees it as a vehicle to help create positive change in the world.
In 2005, she started growing her own medicine and became a provider for a local dispensary. In Dec of 2014, she became the first board Chair and President of a political organization California Cannabis Voice Humboldt (CCVH). In this role, Lelehnia played a key role in bringing local cannabis farmers, business owners, and politicians to the same table, while establishing local cannabis regulations. At the same time, she co-founded the CCVH-Women’s Alliance, bringing the first 65 women cultivators together speaking openly on their way of life.
By 2015, Lelehnia had created her own company Humboldt Grace, which sponsored a cannabis education spot that launched on Bravo, The History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and aired on a CBS affiliate in the USVI during Super Bowl 2019. She has developed a 7-permit project in Humboldt County that is in its last stages of approval, as well as a skin care line that is projected to be launched in 2020. As the Publisher and license holder of Sensi Magazine in the Emerald Triangle, Lelehnia has become the #1 salesperson in the company and was recently made an owner in Sensi Media, LLC. She continues to help her community transition by educating on the culture behind cannabis, working as a strategic consultant in the cannabis industry, chairing the county Human Trafficking Committee, and acting as a Commissioner of the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission.
She just recently authored a Human Trafficking Fund that created a unique partnership between the Humboldt Area Foundation and The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. In 2019 Lelehnia became the Industry advisor for the CROP Project. A statewide coalition that is removing threats to public lands and environmentally remediating them. She has been written about in national articles since 2009 and this year she was the keynote speaker at the Sensi Media Leadership Conference in Las Vegas.
Why is this plant important for you on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
“This plant has been a part of my whole life. It is a deep part of my trauma as well as my healing. It has taught me to live in my power as women and has given me the strength to rise back up, over and over again.”
www.humboldtgrace.org
Julie Chiariello
As a woman in business for the last two decades, I have enjoyed bringing green, cutting edge products successfully to market and empowering others to succeed. I am a medical user, an herbalist and believe in the use and protection of herbal medicines in all their forms. I am a champion of new style business that upholds the tenets of sustainability, empowered consumerism, philanthropy and more intelligent use of our collective resources. I have successfully built and led the sales teams of various companies within the yoga, health and wellness industries and entered the Cannabis market in the vaporizer manufacturing segment 15 years ago, where I was blessed to cultivate a global network of friends and activists. In my travels, I have heard stories that have touched and enraged me and have moved me to action in my work as Co-owner at SKUNK Magazine in empowering small businesses to succeed and giving a voice to the unseen and unheard that continue to suffer and be torn apart by this heinous public crime. I am devoted to a green renaissance, not a green/greed rush and I am just one in the midst of millions who are banding together globally to tear the ugly plague of prohibition down and be living bridges into the future creating healing for the people and the planet.
Why is this plant important for you on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
“From my perspective, the earth is propagating consciousness through her plants, especially with cannabis which I consider as an herbalist to be the mother plant of all plants. The plant cannabinoids present in cannabis mimic human cannabinoids, to assist us in creating healing in the body. Cannabinoids are present in mothers breastmilk, they are an important part of the building blocks of life that assist us in creating homeostasis in the body.
As an entrepreneur, it is incredibly important to me to practice new style business, not just business as usual with money making as the sole focus, but to go deeper with our businesses to help create greater levels of education, empowerment, health,, and well-being within our communities and across the planet. My focus is to help create healing through commerce, to help enrich our world for the better and I believe that this is the deeper message of what cannabis is encouraging us to all do. To heal ourselves first, then to remember who we are as stewards and protectors of the earth, and lastly to help usher in a renaissance in business and how we live in our earth.”
www.skunkmagazine.com
Alexa Wall
Alexa Wall, originally from Austin Texas, came to California with her husband in 2012 for graduate school. In 2015, Alexa moved to Sonoma County to pursue a cannabis permit with her cultivation company, Luma California. Alexa is Chair of the Board for the Sonoma County Growers Alliance and serving a two-year term selected by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors as a Cannabis Advisory Group Member. In 2018 Alexa, along with her three partners, was awarded one of five delivery service permits in San Rafael and just launched Moonflower Delivery servicing Marin and Sonoma County. Alexa manages compliance and business operations for her cannabis companies and was featured in Marijuana Venture Magazine’s ‘40 under 40 Rising Stars of Cannabis’ for 2018.
Why is this plant important for you on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
“Cannabis has been a daily part of my life for a decade now and I’ve watched as this plant has brought the life back to countless people. There’s nothing I love more than introducing cannabis to someone who could benefit from its healing powers and what better way than through our new delivery service!”
www.moonflowerdelivery.com
Did you miss part one, two or three? We highlighted a total of 24 out of 30 inspiring, hardworking, women entrepreneurs. Want to learn more about these women?
