It feels weird to me, at times, to shine a spotlight on my own womanhood, and yet I think International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to reflect on how that has defined my journey in the cannabis industry, and to celebrate the contributions that women have made to our shared community. I’ve never felt that because I am a woman, anything was harder for me than it would have been a man. Like many men and women I’ve known in this emerging industry, I was not handed anything. I built my businesses from the ground up out of sheer determination and genuine interest – the very definition of grassroots.
I remember being nine months pregnant, running Maine Clone Company alongside my oldest supporter and friend, Siobhann (aka Dirty Bird’s Doc Skunch). I was working on the cement floor in piles of dirt potting clones, running up and down stairs with trays of plants, bending over taking cuts, and making the occasional stop at the trash can to throw up (because that was the kind of pregnancy I had). And equally vividly, I remember starting North Atlantic Seed Co from the spare bedroom in my house with that same 6 month old baby crawling around under my feet. And I suppose that’s where I really see a differentiation coming into play for women.
There is a whole lot to be celebrated about how a woman runs a business. The number of times I’ve been criticized for how trusting I am, or how much flexibility I give my team, is staggering. I don’t do it like others do it, and that’s okay, because it has worked for us. It means the world to me to be able to run a business with true integrity: to offer a workspace where people feel seen and understood; where we give each other the benefit of the doubt; where we laugh a lot and love each other too much for some people’s taste. We are tight and we are loyal and we care – not just for each other, but for all of the customers that we serve. We have a lot of heart.
Yes, I am in an industry in which women are significantly outnumbered, and oftentimes, taken less seriously or underestimated. But perhaps that’s been a silver lining as well, because we bring something different to the table.
I am proud of the strides women are taking in the cannabis industry, and I’m even more proud of the direction they take us when they do get involved. I want to see more of it. I want to lift each other up. I see more female growers than I have ever seen before. There were times when I was growing and selling clones out of my basement that I genuinely didn’t have a single female client. It makes sense that more women are growing now, as it becomes more and more mainstream to do so; we are caretakers by nature and we grow damn good weed. But what I still don’t see enough of is women running their own businesses, and I am here to encourage you to go for it.
This International Women’s Day, I come to you from a very lucky and very grateful place. I work with the most amazing, and most loyal team of people. They are honest and kind. We run our businesses this way, and we treat each other and our customers with this in mind, always. We don’t follow the unspoken norms of “business,” putting profit over people, or stoicism over vulnerability, productivity over innovation, or control over courage. We trust each other, we work together, and we remember that we are all always uniquely human. While that certainly makes us, as a business, different, I think that it is actually what connects us to each of you, and to this industry, the very most. I think we all crave a little more kindness, trust and compassion in our lives. That is a very human thing.
I propose a heartfelt CHEERS to all of the humans in this industry that are daring to be different, while also recognizing just how very alike we all are. This is what connects us, and these are the roots upon which this industry was built.
Happy International Women’s Day!
