Exploring the Intersection of Heart and Profitability in the Cannabis Industry Jana Stolins, the founder of Pure Heart LLC and Canna Source Pro LLC, joins Kyra Reed to discuss the importance of leading with an open heart in the cannabis industry. She emphasizes the need for collaboration and responsible business practices while sharing her experiences with funding, including the challenges faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry. Produced By PodConx Kyra Reed - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrareed/ Women Leading in Cannabis - https://podconx.com/podcasts/women-leading-in-cannabis Jana Stolins - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-stolins-664658196/ Canna Source Pro - http://www.cannasourcepro.com/ Women in Cannabis Mentoring Program - https://hopin.com/events/roadmaptofunding/registration
Exploring the Intersection of Heart and Profitability in the Cannabis Industry
Jana Stolins, the founder of Pure Heart LLC and Canna Source Pro LLC, joins Kyra Reed to discuss the importance of leading with an open heart in the cannabis industry. She emphasizes the need for collaboration and responsible business practices while sharing her experiences with funding, including the challenges faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry.
Kyra Reed - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrareed/
Women Leading in Cannabis - https://podconx.com/podcasts/women-leading-in-cannabis
Jana Stolins - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-stolins-664658196/
Canna Source Pro - http://www.cannasourcepro.com/
Women in Cannabis Mentoring Program - https://hopin.com/events/roadmaptofunding/registration
[00:00:00] Okay. Thank you.
Can a cannabis company be all heart? Our guest today is the founder of Pure Heart L L C, and she'll tell us how to maintain your business heart and get that money. Turns out they aren't mutually exclusive. Welcome back to Women Leading In Cannabis, where we get real about what it takes for women to raise money in cannabis. You can find us on the Pod Connects network on iTunes, Spotify, and Pandora. I'm your host, Kira Reed, and if you like what you hear, subscribe to Women leading in Cannabis. Leave us a good review. We'd surely appreciate it. Also, good news to share today, the Roadmap to Funding Mentor Program has been released and seats are available.
And I have a very exciting announcement today about several scholarships that have just become available. [00:01:00] Stay tuned until the end for more details. Welcome to the show, Janna.
Hi, Kira. I'm so delighted to be with you on your show, and thank you for having me. It's a real pleasure.
a pleasure to have you. I'm looking forward to our conversation. Janice Stalins is the founder of Pure Heart L L C and Canna Source Pro L L C, a cannabis consulting company that helps clients improve applied industry knowledge to execute positive results across all of the cannabis silo business silos, such as farming, distribution, wholesale, retail, branding, marketing and sales.
Her industry experience spans 15 years in three regulated states. Her passion to help others and drive business efficiencies to maximize market potential have come together in the cannabis industry to create a rewarding and profitable business experience, and she [00:02:00] absolutely loves driving the business supply chain from seed to sale. All right. So Janna, you have always shown up in a full expression of your open heart. And I say this in a very complimentary way because you were really able to bring light and positivity to any situation, and I, I've seen you do it several times. So where does this come from and how are you using it in your business to help other entrepreneurs in cannabis?
Wow. That is such a lovely thing to say about me. Thank you. I have to take a, a deep breath there. Goodness. Um, I can absolutely say it comes from my mom.
Wonderful.
Yes. And. You know, that, that focus to, um, you know, maybe you can [00:03:00] hear my heart beating right now. Um, to really connect with people. It comes from, from my mom for sure.
What a sweet.
Strong women leader leaders, you know, and she, this is definitely helping me throughout. My business and, and forgive me because you threw me off with this super awesome compliment.
It just makes me wanna,
Out quite. So I think you definitely.
it's so sweet. Um, it's really important I think to, you know, lead from the heart. Speak from the heart. Um, we were talking, uh, you know, just a moment to go about jumping into this conversation together and I was just reminding myself to just speak from the heart. You know, [00:04:00] it's, I always, you know, you always wanna say the right thing or, you know, be in the right place and, and do the right thing, but just that intention counts so.
Um, in business, I believe it's really important because there's a lot to consider outside of one's self, and I've never been an entrepreneur before the, um, cannabis space. Um, I, I have had, um, small little businesses but have never needed to. Support my family or think of, uh, the time I'm spending as like my actual career time and, um, you know, leaving the impact of what I hope is in important in the world.
Um, so there's a lot to consider. And in cannabis, I feel like it's doubly true, um, because we are such advocates and [00:05:00] educators along the way. Ourselves, but also we are learning so much along the way that we really have to be open in that heart space. I don't know all the answers and when I think I do, I still might come against any and many situations where I don't.
So I wanna keep that real. So in our cannabis space, I think that we of course wanna be thoughtful of, you know, in business you need to have a return on your investments. Whether, you know, whatever investments they are, those resources, time and money is the typical ones that we're talking about, right? Um, but we also have to hold this responsibility for the industry space to be great collaborators, um, instead of, you know, competitive.
Um, and that kind of muddies the water [00:06:00] for the most important trickle down effect of those consumers.
Yeah.
Uh, whether they be patients in a medical state or, you know, so-called, uh, recreational, may we say adult use. Um, it's really important that that industry space is collaborative, so the best comes out of this product for them, and that patients also get that most awesome information about how to use plant medicine just for their basic wellness and beyond.
There's some amazing. Opportunities for cannabis to really change people's lives,
Yeah, for sure. Well, we are here to talk about money today,
mm-hmm.
money in the cannabis industry. So what has been your experience both in and out of the industry, and specifically, can you talk about being. A woman and how that has impacted positively and negatively the outcome of looking for money or helping your clients [00:07:00] look for money.
Mm-hmm.
Um, do you think you could repeat that question for me again because there were so many things that came to mind while you were speaking.
No problem. So here to talk about raising money. What has been your experience? Both in and out of the industry. And then specifically, can you talk about being a woman and how that has impacted positively and negatively the outcome of that experience?
Yes. Um, before being in the cannabis industry, um, I was in the engineering space. So, um, I was used to, uh, working in, uh, male dominated, uh, environments. Um, even though now as an older person, I look back on my youngest years of hustling [00:08:00] and waitressing and doing that kind of, and seeing how very also male dominant that is.
You see the women on the front lines. The women are doing the work, the women are managing the women, you know, um, as to where in this environment, in engineering, it was more like I was just the only girl there. So, um, that experience from my mother, like we were speaking about first helped me tremendously understand, know thyself, you're a woman. There's some cards stacked against you right now in this culture,
For sure.
and my mom was really clear about what those were. You really wanna have people speak to you nicely and you really wanna know your worth. And you know, traveling into, [00:09:00] you know, the journey of cannabis was, Like freeing from that initially, completely freeing from that and feeling like, oh, I am, you know, Running this company myself, this cannabis company.
You know, we, we own this. We are in charge of this. We are able to treat and work with people how we wanna work with people. And that's true. And it was true in our microcosm of our cannabis space. Until then, you start really competing in the cannabis spaces. It starts opening in the market. Um, and I am not what I would consider a legacy person.
I'm only 15 years into this, but what I will say is I had this exclusively delightful experience to learn from some legacy people in Northern [00:10:00] California and. One thing that was made sure to transpire in that education of me. In this new setting was that there is some stigma and it has a lot to do with men and women and how we work together and what's gonna happen in that space.
And then fast forwarding then into some larger, um, market, uh, share, uh, more production, uh, adding a little bit more of the vertical experience. In the industry, you really start opening yourself up to all the different people in the industry. And yes, I've really found that it was, uh, hard for females, especially in the sense that what we're dealing with, maybe earlier, I would check myself on saying this for now, is that.[00:11:00]
There was a lot of legacy mindset where these people don't have checks and balances for anything. They'd have these women running these amazing trim crews and then they would straight up not pay them.
Heard that one too many times.
You know, they, yeah. That's a really good example of, yeah, and you know, this can, of course transpire to the attitude throughout, so, um, I think I'll stop there. I'm not sure if I answered your question fully.
I wanna know a little more about your funding experience now. What has it been like for you, whether for company or representing other companies? Did you do it before you got into cannabis selling?
Right.
tell me about that? Those experiences.
Mm-hmm. Yes. I did not raise any funds before cannabis, and I for sure didn't know. At all what I was doing to get funds. When I realized I needed [00:12:00] to get funds, the first funding experience I had was through a friend, and each one builds really significant learning on the other, in the cannabis space, the first big production setting we had was with a long friend of 20 years, and he was funding.
That production and what we didn't realize being told and being treated like absolute partners a hundred percent through and through, um, right down to the pinky promise, up to the steak dinners with the lawyer, um, was that we didn't have leverage in the lawyer's contract. That's how green. I was, I say we, I'm referencing my husband and I, we've been working together in [00:13:00] the industry.
So we had lawyer, we had. All kinds of contracts and representation, but we actually, as partners didn't have sufficient representation inside of the contracting, so when it came to dissolve that relationship, we got nothing out of it. So comes the next funding experience. Cara, I felt like this next experience was interesting because here I am with my husband.
And so, of course the next person I work with was, um, someone who wanted to really just speak to my husband
Oh, of
and not speak to me. And as a matter of fact, and the, and this is a relationship that lasted for, uh, a good three and a half years. I am still dear friends with these people. Love them. But on the onset, he literally pulled my [00:14:00] husband aside and said, your wife, she is got a really strong personality. And my husband's response was, yeah. Yeah, she really does. It's like the exact kind of personality you wanna have run in the cannabis business that you're about to build.
mm-hmm. We always have to have a man
the problem in this.
validating us. Right.
Yes, yes. So a lot of the, yeah, that everything inside of that relationship had to be validated from my husband. I understood because I really felt like there was a cultural barrier there, and I really felt like these people were truly of a good heart. And of course this person, uh, was [00:15:00] never mean to me or rude to me or you know, but I will say that the experience for funding comes in here where we are investing our time and our ip.
And our experience to match the dollar funding that's coming in to build this organization with this partner, and yet we aren't able to. Secure what is like a production timeline, because I was not able to understand that. That's part of that funding, um, journey is knowing that you have an investor in your pocket and you have to push the investor.[00:16:00]
You have to set the timelines. You absolutely need to map your market knowledge and the potential that you are working so hard because you wanna return investment. I mean, I'm in this to absolutely make a a great go of it. Bring something great, a win win. Out there, but I felt like truly my experience lacked in being able to understand that that's where I needed to push that investor. I actually ended up leaving that investment relationship. Like I was saying, it was on good terms, but it was cuz my husband and I literally got bored.
Really.
We knew what was going on in the marketplace. We wanted to run fast and hard. We want to get the market share. We want to [00:17:00] drive the supply chain. We weren't able to do it with this person because we didn't understand that in that investment funding partner way, you really need to lay down what your expectations are for them to fulfill for
It isn't just.
because the fact of the matter is, Yeah, somebody has money and they wanna multiply their money.
That's why smart people build businesses together. You know, you have different resources. So I really felt like with that experience where I wasn't being validated as the leader or the, um, I can drive your business for you, sir. With your confidence. I felt like that was also making it hard to, um, understand that [00:18:00] that's where I was to go.
Um, and again, mind you, Kira, I'm doing this all from like not knowing any experience and even at this point, I don't even know, I don't even know about business coaches at this point. You know, like I should have my own team of advisors helping me, you know, that type of thing. I was just too naive.
Hmm.
But we did come up against another wonderful, um, opportunity to learn where that exact scenario can be applied to the timeline of funding and not production.
But here we were in all, um, fast forward a little bit to Oklahoma and I wasted eight precious months. With an investor who I didn't give proper boundaries to around when I want that money.
Oh.
And that's in the relationship building phase even. So that other example is in [00:19:00] that one where we're in the pocket with the funder and the idea that this woman is running his company doesn't, it doesn't. Entice him enough to believe that I understand what I'm talking about in driving the supply chain for you in this scenario to grow your business as to where this very similar experience on timelines is around. Um, You know, we want you to invest in our company. It was a $500,000 investment to build out, and this person had a lot of feet dragging and a lot of really great excuses were valid. And you know, sometimes in life, life gets in the way. Yes, [00:20:00] it does. And then you might be in that. I found myself in that funny position where, uh, you know, am I just going to tell this person I've had enough and. You know, this is your third excuse or,
I mean, this is really.
and then start all over again. Or am I gonna ride this out for a month with you?
So it was really important to understand that in the funding sense that, man, I, I need to, to have serious contractual timelines presented by my lawyer to this potential funding partner saying, This is when I expect this investment, and these are the reasons why. And if you can't fulfill it, it's the end of our contract together.
Well, I, I love what you're saying because I think so often, especially, you know, women who haven't done this before, they go into the situation [00:21:00] and they feel like, you know, they've gotta give it all away, and that they really don't have the ability to set boundaries because they're hoping to get the money.
So they, they're the ones who have to make themselves appealing. It's not really the other way around. And yet that is what gets us into so many bad situations. And you are here to say, no. Put those boundaries down. Create your timeline. It's a 50 50 partnership because yes, you need their money, but you are going to make them money.
So it is a two-way partnership. You're muted.
I was saying yes, that's what they need. And I mean, in all fairness of, you know, great business, that's what's needed. You know, dollars need to multiply. And it doesn't happen by itself. It happens with a great team of people [00:22:00] and some knowledge, right? So more female leadership out there is what we are giving examples of.
And I'm really glad to be sharing this information with you because I feel like I didn't know, and these were five really serious lessons. So let me just tell you about two quick other ones cuz I don't know if we have all afternoon to spend together, but I'm cherishing each moment. Kira. So there's the other situation which broke down over operational control
Hmm.
and this was a really nice contract.
We. I had put together an 8.9 million contract. Three people
Wow.
The funding partner decided that he was gonna throw his right hand man in front of our operational control that we spoke about, [00:23:00] that we had detailed that the other third party that was. If I could explain quickly, this dude was the funding partner, were the brains, the IP and the know-how, and then there was a nice supply chain operator going to supply all the seed in, take the biomass and make products out.
250 acres of hemp in Oregon. It was the second largest license that year. It was an awesome. Project, unfortunately they messed it up. The actual funding partner because he threw his right hand man in front of the operational control. They were supposed to be the big ag guys. Well, let me tell you what big ag guys don't like some smart chick saying new or some, you know, or some, you know, somebody stepping from the outside happened to be, you know, a chicken or husband.
But, [00:24:00] um, You know, saying, you know, this is at the actual process that's gonna work for this. And I mean, just like, I mean, straight logic, Kira and him going against it almost in a spiteful way. Like, we don't want you to tell us what to do. And we even invited mediation. We invited all kinds of very creative communication workarounds and solutions.
But they didn't wanna do it right, and they literally messed it up. I don't wanna detail the mess-ups, but from the simplest things of, Hey, let's get soil tests and water tests, which is actually what took 'em down in the end to two, we need. Lunch for 40 people and there being a fight in my female [00:25:00] face about how that's gonna be provided and the confusion thinking that I'm somehow providing that meal.
I, it was just so bizarre how I find sometimes when females it to me, this is how I feel. When I speak up in business, I'll use myself. I find that with men, it's typical to come up against their emotions and typical responses triggers to females and they get put on me.
Hmm.
It's to a varying degree. If I'm in a close business setting with a male, what will happen is that I can get easily treated like.
Maybe the mom, they want my help, that kind of thing. Can't do it themselves. But in this kind of situation where he doesn't have that leverage or that intimacy, to me it was like he was so angry that he could not [00:26:00] tell me what to do.
Wow. Wow.
Yes. And it was a, you know, a sad crash and burn one where we literally involved the third partner from the onset of all red flags had to turn. I actually turned into like a, like I was like a little police officer. I had to document every single bit, every word, every confrontation, all of that to keep it clear.
And I was told things like, why do you have that smug on your face?
Oh.
When I'm literally just answer, answering a regular question, but doing it with, you know, a slight smile. Because I'm not looking for more confrontation. So no matter how hard I would try, it would get turned around as I'm being that female thing.
Label it, bitch [00:27:00] nag. You know what
I do, I do.
So, and that was sad. And the, and the real, the real problem there in that whole situation, bringing it back to business, back to funding, was that contract didn't say, I have 100% operational control. That way I could have honored the third party, I could have kicked them out, I could have kicked them straight out because of that, or at least made sure that they got what they needed for court.
I gave, of course, all the documentation through to that third party to do what they needed with. But the last thing I wanted to share with you was that I didn't feel like I did everything right, Kira. I spent six months, this just happened to me. It was, um, in September through May, no, through March of this year.
Um, I felt really, really good about the situation. I felt really good about the funding partner. I did a lot of vetting, I did background checks. I did. Uh, personal vetting. [00:28:00] I did professional vetting. Um, I did a lot of time with this person, A lot of lunches, a lot of meetings, not just one-on-one with other industry people in other industry settings to see how he does behave.
Um, I did, um, everything I thought I could, and I'm really glad that I didn't get married the contract.
it's the form of dating.
I. Yep. We had a good dating session, but man, it came to a quick crash and burn. When we got into a talk about the pitch deck, the final pitch deck that was being, uh, given for, um, the, it was a 10 million contract.
And so there were tons and tons of amazing documentation pieces. Um, [00:29:00] there was a detail in this pitch that he didn't like one that's actually was actually none of his business. It was a hundred percent my part. Um, but he didn't like it, which is fine
Hmm.
because truly I'm also feeling like. a lot of good communication skills here.
We can work out anything except when somebody wants to throw you on the under the bus and keep you there until they get their
Hmm.
That is not communication skills. That is not, you're having a bad day and you said the wrong thing because I gave that inch and said, gee, maybe you're having a bad day.
I've said dumb things. Absolutely, I've put my foot in my mouth. So I gave the graces of that. But no, they wanted to just hold that thumb position and I said, [00:30:00] whoa, that's it. It blew his mind. Him and his partner. It blew their minds that I walked away. The comments were, oh, I thought she was more grounded than that.
wow. Wow. So I, uh, we need to
You know?
ahead. Go ahead.
Yeah. So that was it. Just really knowing thyself and understanding that in this funding, wow, it's emotional. You might get all the way to the freaking altar, right? And turn around and walk away. And then of course there's a lot of emotional charge with that. Did I do the wrong thing? Did I say the wrong thing?
How did I get myself here? Did I really not have a good plan? Were these guys blowing smoke? And I didn't realize was I didn't, I felt like I didn't have my own. Um, senses, but it wasn't true. I needed time [00:31:00] to look back on it. I reached out to other professionals who I absolutely looked at the situation critically with.
I do see where I could have maybe put a little bit more strength in one angle or another, but friends, I just wanna say that there's no need to hound yourself and pound yourself. You just really need to, like you're saying, with that Panther program, really just get all these ducks in a row and really understand what those ducks are, and understand that there's boundaries and we just need to learn together
is,
and you can get the job done.
You just need the support.
that is fantastic advice. Janet, thank you. I think that's a great way to, to wrap up and move on to our next segment. Thank you. Uh, okay. So are you ready to hear about some amazing women who have honored the four Ps of pay, promote, partner, and protect other women in their sphere? Janet, you [00:32:00] ready? Yeah, this is really my favorite part of the show.
Um, so first off, we have a submission from Lauren Stone. She wants to give a shout out to Christie Essex from Seven Staffing and Employment Solutions. Lauren says, Christie is always willing to coach other women on how to enter the cannabis industry and to help them find the perfect cannabis career of their dreams.
She is super supportive to other women in the industry and as a whole. I am fortunate. I get to hear her time and again supporting women and minorities. Well, thank you, Christie, for your incredible support of women and minorities and their careers. We are so grateful for your work, and thank you, Lauren, for letting us know about Christie.
Next step, we have a submission from Michelle Tru. She wants to celebrate Dr. Lakisha Jenkins. She tells us, I have known Dr. Lakisha for over 20 years. Her daughter and [00:33:00] my son went to school together. Her daughter developed brain cancer and unfortunately passed away. Since then, she has dedicated her life to medicine and alternative therapies, including cannabis.
I was at a low point after a health crisis of my own, and she reached out to me. Short story is she put me in touch with Kimberly car. She thought enough of me to welcome me to the industry and connect me with the right people so that I may have a chance at a more fulfilling career to last me until retirement.
I was in my early fifties at the time and worried that at my age I may not have it in me to take on a new career. Uh, there are a lot of us that can definitely, uh, sympathize with you on that, Michelle, for sure. Uh, maybe an old dog can't learn new tricks. Well, I think that you can. Well, now this old dog is opening a retail storefront with a group of wonderful team members from a therapeutic, alternative family.
[00:34:00] Thank you, Dr. Lakeisha. Okay. That is just such a great s Kim Kimberly car and a therapeutic alternative are an incredible group of women supporting women. And Kimberly is also one of our heroes for everything she has done and continues to do for women in cannabis. Thank you so much for your vulnerability and for sharing your submission with us.
Michelle, it was really great to hear about the wonderful work that Dr. Lakeisha Jenkins is doing. So thank you for that. And thank you, Janna, for your time and for sharing your wisdom with us today. It was such a treat to have you on as our guest. Ladies, thank you for tuning in. If you haven't yet downloaded the roadmap to funding the Essential Guide for Starting your Funding Journey for Success, go to the Panther group.co/roadmap to funding, and I promised in the intro to have more details for you on the mentoring program.
Scholarships. I am [00:35:00] so thrilled to share with you that Shannon Feto, C e O of Evergreen Market, Has made a most generous donation to the program and we now have 10 scholarships available. You do need to apply and based on need and preparedness, we'll be selecting them over the next few days. So get your application in now.
Just go to the Panther group.co. Click on our about and follow the links to the mentor program. There you'll see a button to apply for the scholarship. All right, ladies, I wanna thank, uh, all of you for joining us, and I look forward to another funding conversation with you in the future on women leading in cannabis. All right.