Building a Successful Cannabisa Beverage Brand and Challenges for Women in Cannabis Funding" Lisa Hurwitz, the President and Co-founder of Happi THC Seltzer, joins Kyra Reed to discuss her journey from traditional industries to the cannabis sector and the challenges she faced as a woman in the industry. She highlights the importance of women supporting women and the need for more opportunities for women in executive roles. Hurwitz also talks about her funding journey for Happi and the recent trend of cannabis beverage companies pivoting to hemp-derived products, which has opened doors to new investors in the CPG and beverage sectors. Produced By PodConx Kyra Reed - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrareed/ Women Leading in Cannabis - https://podconx.com/podcasts/women-leading-in-cannabis Lisa Hurwitz - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-hurwitz-3318571/ Happi THC Seltzer - https://happihourdrink.com/ Women in Cannabis Mentoring Program - https://hopin.com/events/roadmaptofunding/registration
Building a Successful Cannabisa Beverage Brand and Challenges for Women in Cannabis Funding"
Lisa Hurwitz, the President and Co-founder of Happi THC Seltzer, joins Kyra Reed to discuss her journey from traditional industries to the cannabis sector and the challenges she faced as a woman in the industry. She highlights the importance of women supporting women and the need for more opportunities for women in executive roles. Hurwitz also talks about her funding journey for Happi and the recent trend of cannabis beverage companies pivoting to hemp-derived products, which has opened doors to new investors in the CPG and beverage sectors.
Kyra Reed - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrareed/
Women Leading in Cannabis - https://podconx.com/podcasts/women-leading-in-cannabis
Lisa Hurwitz - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-hurwitz-3318571/
Happi THC Seltzer - https://happihourdrink.com/
Women in Cannabis Mentoring Program - https://hopin.com/events/roadmaptofunding/registration
[00:00:00] Great. Herwitz. Herwitz. Yep. All right. Uh, 3, 2, 1. Today we're gonna hear what it takes to make a cannabis beverage brand succeed. We're talking with the c e O of Cannabis Seltzer. Happy 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 Reid. If you like what you hear, subscribe to women leading in cannabis and leave us a good review. We would surely appreciate it. I wanna give a shout out to our patrons, the Panther Group, for their ongoing support of women in cannabis and their mission to close the funding gap women face when it comes to raising capital.
Thank you for supporting this podcast and women employed in cannabis. All right. Welcome to [00:01:00] the show, Lisa Herwitz. Lisa is the president and thanks Kira. I'm thrilled to be here. I'm thrilled to have you. I'm really looking forward to our conversation today. Lisa is the president and co-founder of Happy T H C Seltzer.
She is a transformational brand builder and multichannel marketing leader. With 20 plus years of success working across C P G and the cannabis industries, she built the grassroots marketing team and innovation pipeline from the ground up through the 830 million sale to Curle. She ran 30 plus portfolio brands for Proctor and Gamble on agency side.
Drove Kimberly Clark's global brand strategies, creative content and brand experiences. Lisa thrives on, I'm sorry, I skipped that. I'm gonna go back. Drove Kimberly Clark's global strategies, [00:02:00] creative content and design work globally across all brands and regions. On the client side, Lisa thrives on designing brand experiences, understanding human insights and leading high performance teams to develop breakthrough ideas and drive profitable growth.
She excels at modernizing and reinventing brands, driving innovative strategies, building capabilities, and solving complex problems. She believes in always having a point of view, validating with data, and that big ideas executed flawlessly, can change a business. Wow, that is one. Interesting bio. I am really looking forward to digging into this conversation with you.
So you have obviously a tremendous amount of history and experience in traditional industries. So let's start with your backstory. How did you go from those industries to cannabis, and what has that been like for [00:03:00] you as a woman moving into this industry and out of the traditional world? I love that question, Kira, and again, thank you for having me.
So I was probably born a marketer. I grew up in the, it just came naturally to me as a, almost as a kid, and I grew up in the agency world. Um, I was lucky enough to have. Proctor and Gamble as a client for the better part of 10 years across a massive portfolio of brands. As a woman, it was amazing cuz I worked on beauty, I worked on feminine care and actually some of those categories really set me up for cannabis.
Um, especially when I got to Kimberly Clark, I even worked in adult incontinence, right? And these are taboo stigma categories. So in 2018, I was ready to leave Kimberly Clark and. Looked around and I had had a personal experience with cannabis, so I have been a terrible sleeper for pretty much my whole life.[00:04:00]
In my thirties, I had two young kids, global job, traveling all the time, and I slept terribly. And cannabis actually was the one thing that really began to work for me. Um, when I kind of got into my early forties and decided ambient pharmaceuticals like that was no longer. For me and I, it got a medical card in Illinois.
Actually, I was living in Chicago at the time, went into a dispensary, had no idea what I was doing, and actually got an R S O A heavy indica, R S O, which is a Rick Simpson Oil for your listeners, which is an incredibly strong product, especially for someone who had never really tried cannabis before. And went home, tried it, couldn't basically get up for two days and said to myself, well, this product definitely makes me sleep and I'm really interested in the world of cannabis, but wow, is there an opportunity for education, for marketing, and for people like me who were women and canna curious [00:05:00] and we're really looking at the cannabis category for wellness and for for other needs.
So I jumped in with both feet in 2018 as the Chief marketing officer of Grassroots helped build that entire organization through the sale to Cure Leaf in 2020, as you mentioned in the intro, and really the experience of both being a cannabis consumer, a woman in this industry. And just being super passionate about new formats like beverage and microdose is really what led me to found happy.
But I will tell you one thing you asked about being a woman in this industry. It was fascinating. I expected coming off of big consumer packaged goods that there would just be unbelievable. Opportunities, more equality for women. Um, I, I found myself in your, you know, I can see you, but you're smiling a little bit.
Um, and I'm smiling inside too. I found myself kind of lonely at the top right. I was the chief marketing officer. I was surrounded by almost entirely men, um, at the C-Suite level, even at Grassroots, which was a, you know, a startup M MSO at the time. [00:06:00] And, um, you know, when I left Grassroots in 2020, the first thing I did, and I'm incredibly.
Grateful for the support network now is I founded a women's executive group in cannabis. It's called Wink. Um, many of the members or the other women that are part of it are, um, you know, C-suite executives and, and well known in the industry. And it became kind of a forum for me. To have support from other C-suite women in the cannabis industry.
So understanding all the challenges and regulatory stuff and everything that we were going through, but it was just a safe space, Kira for me as a senior woman, and I knew I needed that to carry into my next venture, which was happy. Uh, that is very interesting. I, yeah, I've been bobbing my head over here.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, it is. Um, that is one area that I have identified as well is that the executives in the industry are, Um, they're underserved actually. [00:07:00] Uh, especially the women. There are not a lot of opportunities for them to network and come together with their peers because your experiences and challenges as an executive are very different than a manager and someone at entry level.
So, yeah, I, I hear you and I would love to get to know more about the organization and see how W E I C can support them. Thank you for sharing that. Yes, we would love, you know, we'll, we'll talk about it afterwards, but I, I think your insight is correct. I think it's really the senior women in the industry, esp, you know, especially when it comes to things that you're focused on, for example, like raising money.
It is very different to be a woman in this industry and an entrepreneur and try to raise money than it is. To be a man and I think women supporting women and you know, women backing women is just incredibly important, especially at this juncture with the state of where the industry is now. Well, I like to take every single opportunity that I can to insert the information here that.[00:08:00]
Uh, women received only 1.9% of all funding nationally. Last year, 1.9% of 230 something billion that was handed out went to women led, or, uh, founded startups, and yet women, women produce a better, faster return on investment. Lower employee turnover, 30% higher revenues. I mean, on and on. Every statistic.
Women beat their male counterparts in the metrics that really matter, especially to an investor. So what is the disconnect? Do you have any insight on that? Yeah. My sense of the disconnect is I, I think women are just not able to get to the table. I, I don't even think it's like, I think when we get to the table, and I'll give you a personal experience I had a couple weeks ago, you'll find fascinating.
I think when we get to the table. We, we win. I think the problem is the conversations are not [00:09:00] happening at a table where women are invited to them right now. Um, they're happening through networks, through back channel conversations. I, you know, I hate to stereotype, but if they're happening on the golf course, right, they're happening over a beer.
And I think it's challenging for women to even. Get into the arena to be able to pitch their ideas and compete. I recently, you know, we're, we're raising money for happy. I feel like most cannabis startups are kind of always raising money. And I was at an event a few weeks ago where there was sort of a shark tanklike pitch.
And this was not cannabis companies necessarily, it was c P G companies. So I'm even talking more broadly, and there were 10 presenters at the Shark Tank, myself included. And of the ten two were women. And of the companies that the investors wanted to follow up with, guess, guess which two They picked the two led by women.
And I found that to be fascinating. Now, of course, none of the male organizers of the event really noticed that I, I pointed it out and it [00:10:00] was fascinating to me. So I think a lot of it, Kira, in my opinion, is they're just not getting to the table where they can actually pitch their businesses and they can actually show how capable.
We are as leaders and entrepreneurs and, and, you know, um, I think that's the challenge. Well, let's talk about your funding journey with Happy. I I wanna do two things here. I wanna talk about your funding journey, but I also really wanna find out what's going on in the beverage category because I am endlessly fascinated by it.
And I know I have a lot of listeners. Plant touching. You know, it may not be necessarily a beverage, but it is in that category of plant touching products. So I wanna come back to that, but for now, let's really dig into what has your funding journey been like? Did you raise money outside of cannabis? If you did, what is the difference?
Um, is it harder? Is it easier? What were some of the challenges that you didn't expect and what are have been some of the wins you [00:11:00] haven't expected either? Great questions. I would say. So we found it happy about two years ago, a little over two years ago, right? 2021. It was much easier to raise money. This is not gonna be a surprise to you or any of your listeners.
You know, you have a beverage before we even launched checks rolling in friends and family. Um, I have a business partner and he and I have raised. Uh, a little over 4 million entirely, almost right now from friends and family, which has been exciting and great. Um, it's been a challenge. We massively, and I'll talk about happy and where we've gone with the beverage business because there's something happening in beverage right now that isn't talked about very much, and that's the hemp derived space.
Um, pretty much every beverage company. That started in cannabis in the US has pivoted into hemp derived in the past six months, and it's been happy included. It's been fascinating and so I, it became harder in 2022, especially end of last year, beginning of this year when Safe [00:12:00] failed to raise money. Uh, the well was more than dry from cannabis investors.
Who had either over-invested in MSOs had, you know, the public markets were messy. And, um, I will say the hemp derived pivot has really opened doors to a whole new investor base. Um, for us it's C P G investors, it's beverage investors. People that are looking at this and saying, I don't, it's not as regulated as the adult use market.
I can understand how to be helpful in expansion of channels, like, you know, traditional retail channels, liquor store channels, things like that. And there's a whole crop of investors who I would say, even in the past three months, so the beginning of this year was more challenging. The past three months have jumped on board and we're getting more phone calls than we ever have in the past.
Um, That being said, I think one of the big wins, and I wanna talk about this later in your show, um, in your last segment, is we got an opportunity to [00:13:00] pitch at a Roth Capital conference about 18 months ago. Um, Wendy Berger, who sits on the board of G T I and i, I, I would like to talk about her a little bit more later on.
Um, noticed that. There were so few women on cap tables of these companies, a as if and, and so few women, even investors in this whole industry. And she pitched Roth on an idea of a. Shark Tank, like 25, I think 25 companies presented something like that. All women, you had 15 minutes. They had all their qualified investors.
It was a Zoom call. It was back in, this would've been back in late 2021, early 2022. And it, it was amazing because it was the first time there was really qualified investors, a platform for women only women. And it was led by Roth, which is obviously, you know, very well known and respected in the industry.
And I would say that really put happy on sort of the national investor radar, um, in a [00:14:00] way and helped us kind of, it certainly helped us short term with investments, but it also helped us longer term just stay in the conversation around infused beverages, women founded and run companies. And, um, you know, in the conversation as the category grew,
Okay. That is really interesting. Um, and, and you started off by talking about hemp beverages and I feel like it, this is a good kind of place for you to bring that in because, I mean, beverages are still a really tricky category and there's a ton of promise, but there's not a lot of product. So can you tell us about what the landscape looks like now, what you expect in the future from this category, and then what your funding strategy based on that is going to be going forward?
Yeah, great. Great questions. [00:15:00] So I would say the first two years we, 18 months, we spent a lot of time perfecting the formulation, developing all the processes and operating procedures around how to manufacture a beverage. A big aha moment was, and we began in Michigan, so a bit different than some of these other hemp, you know, some of these other infused beverages that started in California and some of these other more developed states.
We started in Michigan, which has incredibly strict beverage laws. Um, for cannabis beverages. They require six months of shelf stability testing, which can be condensed. To three months, but you still have to go through the whole protocol. So we really put happy through the test in Michigan before we launched.
Um, one of the things that we noticed after we had been on the Michigan market for a short period of time was that cannabis manufacturers, Are not beverage manufacturers and they were failing at it. Um, we had a cannabis [00:16:00] manufacturer, our first partner in Michigan, essentially shut down their beverage operation.
Others wanted to get into beverage but didn't know how to build a canning line. Didn't have anybody to operate a canning line, didn't know how to mix tanks and infuse bedroom. I mean, these, this is stuff. Breweries and beverage companies, Anheuser-Busch and Constellation and even Coke and Pepsi do all day long.
Cannabis companies grow flour really well. They, you know, I worked at Grassroots for many years. They do vape pens really well. They can even do edibles. Well, they are not beverage companies. And so last year when Minnesota passed their hemp legislation, which is essentially legalized hemp, but. You know what they call kind of hot hemp or, or it, it actually has a psychoactive effect, right?
So t h C infused, as long as the origin was from hemp, they passed that last spring and allowed beverages to be sold in grocery stores, in sea stores, in bars and restaurants. And [00:17:00] suddenly all the brewers in Minnesota said, wait a minute. When I have downline time, I'm gonna start producing T HC beverages.
Well, then around August September, brands like Happy at the national level went and said, wait a minute. Why are we struggling in these adult use markets where we have to manufacture and sell in the same market? We're forced into dispensary channels, which are very limited when we can actually produce in a state like Minnesota and be sold in a restaurant next to beer.
Too good to be true. Right. Well, we spent most of the fall investigating, struck up a, a partnership and a manufacturing deal with a local brewery called Fair State. Their, uh, THC side is called Chill State, and by February of this year, we had almost entirely pivoted happy to being hep derived thc. Now, the benefits will blow your mind of what.
It's T hc. It's, it's essentially the exact same molecule. It's just derived from the hemp plant [00:18:00] instead of from the cannabis plant. And therefore, it can be legally sold in bars, restaurants, liquor stores. In most states it can be sold online. So if you go to happy hour drink.com, and that's happy with an I, we sell in 38 states now, soon to be 40 states online.
And we are, as of July, going to be in liquor stores in the state of Texas with a partnership we have down there. So what's happened, Kira, over the past six to nine months is. Essentially, most of the infused beverage companies have walked away or have substantially downsized their dispensary presence, their adult use presence, and said, I'm gonna find a few manufacturers and, and Minnesota's the hot state right now.
But Texas is another big one and, and several others. Where I'm gonna find breweries that I could partner with and distributors. That's the other fascinating thing is alcohol and beverage distributors are now getting [00:19:00] into this space. One of the dynamics that I think catalyzed the Hep Drive beverage market is, um, bud Light had a very big misfire on a PR issue back in uh, April, and their sales are down.
Massively something like 27, 30%. And as a result, all the beer distributors are saying, I need to replace that revenue. The next big thing is hemp derived. So I wanna carry hemp derived beverages. And what's exciting for them is consumers feel an effect from a hemp derived beverage cuz it's got thc. It's different than a CBD beverage, which doesn't have any sort of psychoactive effect.
It truly feels, you feel a high, you feel a buzz from it. So there's a lot of stars aligning right now in this. Space that is allowing hemp to leapfrog in the beverage category, adult use. And I think a year from now, I, I, I don't even think this is a bold prediction anymore. A few months ago it was a bold prediction.
Now I think it's just going to happen. Um, there may not be beverages and dispensaries beyond [00:20:00] the next year or so. They will live in more traditional channels and in the hemp drive space. So is that 0.3% t h c, what is the, what is the legal limit on that? Yeah, it's a great question. So the farm bill is very gray on it.
Um, the farm bill is also up for a new reissue this year. And what we've been hearing, we get asked this question a lot. What we've been hearing is largely gonna be left up to the states, so it's 0.3%. Um, yes, it will not be regulated highly at the federal level. It'll be very similar to the way adult use is regulated.
And it'll be left to the states to sort of, Look at regulating their own laws. The difference with hemp being that there is also interstate commerce, as you know, you can ship it across state lines and, and, and all of that. Um, so it's 0.3% dry weight. Um, that is, you know, there's a whole clause around finished goods.
What that translates to is, uh, In most states, it is comfortable to [00:21:00] have five milligrams or less of THC per can per serving, like per beverage. Um, that is the cap in Minnesota. There's some other states that are coming out or looking at this and playing with different beverage caps, whether it be 2.5 milligrams, but safely.
Right now it's, it's generally seen as a lower dose product. Um, five milligrams and under. Okay. Wow. I look forward to getting my hands on a happy. I will grab your address after this call. It will make you very happy to have some happy. Excellent. Thank you. Okay, so now with this in mind. What is your funding strategy going forward?
Where, where are you looking next? Are you looking for an m and a? Are you looking for an exit? Are you looking for another round? Great questions. Um, so we launched a crowdfunding raise partially because I wanted to be more equitable in terms of the cap table. I think we talked about this earlier. I think.
Women in particular minorities [00:22:00] do not have a chance to invest in, in cannabis companies are often locked out of the investing side. So we do have an ongoing raise on Wefunder, if you look up happy again with an eye. Uh, we will continue to let that run probably through, uh, July, maybe through the summer.
And so that's just sort of in the backdrop, that is to be equitable again, to have a much more diverse cap table. Um, and you know, we, we like being part of the community right at large. Um, right now we are currently raising, um, one final round on. Safe notes, which we've been doing now for the past, uh, several years.
We are talking to a wide variety of investors. I would say the can, the conversation has definitely shifted from the traditional cannabis investor or even some family offices who have cannabis funds. To, um, we're, you know, we're looking for investors that can bring us beverage experience, that can bring us distribution experience, that can really bring us into the next phase of where we think happy is gonna go [00:23:00] and where the hemp derived space is gonna go.
Um, right now with our projections, um, we are looking to be cash flow positive by early fall. Uh, so we are hopeful that this round will be kind of the last that we need to raise, but, There's never a last in cannabis with fundraising, so I, I hesitate to say that. Um, but you know, we're hopeful that, you know, we will between our direct to consumer business and some of these distribution deals, um, we we're seeing amazing excitement around the product.
Our repeat purchase rate is, Almost at 50% at this point in time, which is extremely high. People love the product. Um, when they come back, on average, their cart size is, uh, 30 to 40% higher than it was on their first purchase. So we know we have a great product. We know the momentum is there. Um, I think that, you know, the opportunity for us is just to get more happy in hands, whether that be through.
Greater marketing and opening up the funnel to get more people to buy happy online. [00:24:00] And then the, the other place is just more distribution and we're seeing exciting early traction in the liquor store channel in particular. So Minnesota legalized cannabis last week, which was exciting. What they did, which is fascinating, is they are allowing, Legal adult use, you know, dispensary driven cannabis, but they also allowed their hemp laws to stay in place so that beverage could continue to be sold bars, restaurants, and they opened up the liquor store channel.
As part of their adult use bill. So all the liquor store distributors in Minnesota have jumped on board and are super excited to be carrying hemp derived. And that just began June 1st. So that began, um, about a week ago. And we're already seeing, um, really strong sales in the liquor store channel in in particular, which is, which makes sense if you think about beverage and you think about.
Wanting to take the edge off or get a buzz or party with friends or have a great dinner party or whatever the occasion may be that you buy alcohol and you [00:25:00] don't want alcohol, you want an alternative. It makes sense that you would buy a. A beverage like this in a liquor store. And so I think we're gonna see beverages like happy and others in the category really that hockey stick, that that hasn't come in the adult use space, because dispensaries are a challenging retail environment for beverage.
We're gonna see that growth happen with liquor stores in more traditional channels. So it, I find it very fascinating that, you know, the issue of combining alcohol and T H C. Which in California you cannot have an event technically that even has tobacco and cannabis together. So I find it really interesting that states like Minnesota are being so bold and innovative to allow these products to be sold under the same roof.
That's what an exciting category. Yeah. And so it's amazing too. Um, just one other tidbit. [00:26:00] It's funny when people go to Minnesota and they go into these stores and they see cannabis beverages side by side with beer brands that we've all seen, or wine brands or liquor brands, they, everybody comes back and says, the future is here.
That is the future of cannabis, right? Certainly the future of cannabis beverage, but that is the future of cannabis and I, I'm hopeful that beverage can be the catalyst for the whole category. That is awesome. You know, it's kind of, it's trailing in the big picture in cannabis, but actually leading the way in pioneering cannabis.
I, I just think that's so fascinating. I knew that beverage. Held something very different than other consumables and it's, I'm just fascinated to hear all of this. So tell me how Wefunder is working for you. Is that something that you would recommend to other women who are looking for funding as a good place to start or supplement your funding?
I think it's a great supplement. [00:27:00] Um, I will say, My, my experience is you get in what you, you get out of it, what you put into it. Um, what it has done is, is it's actually generated more conversations around, and I've heard this from other founders and other women-led companies who have tried crowdfunding.
They tend to get checks on the side. Because people don't always want to go into the crowdfunding platform, but they'll wanna write checks off platform, which I find to be fascinating and I'm, I don't know the dynamics there. So I would say, you know, we have not necessarily done the best job of marketing our we funder.
Platform. Um, if you are gonna go all in and that's gonna be your main source of funding and you feel like you have a very easy to understand great product, I think it could be great. You have to know that you're gonna need to put some money into it. From a marketing standpoint, you're gonna need. To put resources and time and energy updating, you know, every few days, sending out emails, pinging, you know, the network.
I think [00:28:00] one of the challenges is there is a certain amount you have to raise on your own before the marketing and the sort of Wefunder network kicks in. And I think these different crowdfunding platforms work differently. So I'm only speaking from our experience on Wefunder. But it is, it's not something which is a set it and forget it.
Um, it is something that takes a lot of active time and energy and you, you and dollars against the marketing side of it as well. Yeah. Well, it costs money to make money, doesn't it? It does. Yeah. I tell women often that the time to start your fundraising strategy is long before you actually need the money.
Because once you need the money, you are, you are done. Oh, here we go again. No, please don't do it. Don't do it. Can you still hear me?
I can hear you. [00:29:00] Okay. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully I'm coming back and it's not gonna shut me down this time. Oh, why does it change this? I'm so sorry, Lisa.
Okay. Am I back? You are. You're fully, I could hear you the whole time. Okay. Okay. Okay. Whew. All right. I seriously, I think I need a new laptop. This is just killing me. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, okay, so Wefunder, that is, um, do you know of other crowdfunding platforms that are taking cannabis brands right now?
Um, I th I'm pretty sure main vest is taking cannabis brands right now, is another one. Um, I'd have to look, uh, an interesting resource that I know does some stuff with the crowdfunding space is, uh, in cannabis is Ben Zynga. They would be a good one to talk to about it. Mm-hmm. Um, [00:30:00] but yeah, it's, uh, you know, it's, again, I think you need to have a sort of a consumer product, something that people.
Understand, that's easy for investors to understand and you just have to be willing to put the work in. Um, and it could be a, it could be a good channel because the, the, at the end of the day, it also depends. I would get, I would say too on how much you're trying to raise. We funders great for very small checks.
That's the purpose of the platform. You'll see $500 checks, a thousand dollars checks come through. I think if you have. You know, if you're really trying to raise millions of dollars, it's probably not the best vehicle for you. But if you're only looking for some sort of bridge round or you're looking for, um, you know, we really wanted diversification on our cap table and allowing smaller investors to come in, I think it can be really powerful.
So what advice do you have for any women who are listening who are either trying to raise money or considering raising money for a cannabis beverage? [00:31:00] Gosh, that's a, that's a hard question. I would say get over any sort of, you know, misconceptions you have, any sort of insecurities, vulnerabilities, all of that.
And just ask. If you don't ask, you will not receive. And I would say I, um, You know, and not someone who like, I'm very uncomfortable asking for money. This is my first true entrepreneurial experience. I've worked in, you know, grassroots was a startup when I first got there, but I wasn't going around at, I wasn't doing the money raising.
And, um, I think a lot of women are uncomfortable asking for help. I think they're uncomfortable asking for money, and I, I would say you, you've gotta get past that. And you've got to go to friends and family first. You've got to go to your networks. I mean, of course you have to have an amazing idea and you've gotta feel really confident and passionate behind what you're raising money for.
But if you do. You've gotta just break through any vulnerability or [00:32:00] insecurity you have around being uncomfortable with the money conversation and go for it because you'll be surprised who would be, who will be willing to back you. You'll be surprised people introduce you to other people. If they're not willing to invest.
They'll say, I've got. Five more people who might, so if you hear no, which you will a lot, you hear no a ton when you're raising money. I've heard no more times in the past two years than I probably have in my whole career. Say what can get you to a yes, okay. If you're, if this investment's not right for you, do you have a couple friends you could introduce me to that it might be the right type of opportunity for them?
And so I think, I think women have to get comfortable with the money conversation and with asking for help. You know, I think that last bit of what you said is so important. If you don't know, if you can't help me, do you know someone who can? And yes, women have a very hard time asking for money. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally grueling on us.
[00:33:00] To ask for money. If you are a woman who has the ability to ask without any of that other stuff attached to it, God bless you. Uh, but for most of us, including myself, it is really, really, really tough. So it is definitely something we need to address and get through. Um, so I appreciate the advice. Thank you very much, Lisa.
All right. Of course. We are ready to move on to our final segment. She had my back and in a minute, Lisa, I'm going to ask you for a woman you would like to give a shout out to who's had your back in the cannabis industry. Um, but first we are going to start with a submission from one of the women, from our women employed in cannabis community.
And I am going to actually read one today from a woman who has had three people have submitted her as a woman to honor, and now she or she is turning around and [00:34:00] honoring another woman. So Kimberly Carle today has submitted Deanna Garcia as a woman to honor. She says she has been there for me through thick and thin.
Always down for an adventure and ready to speak up when I need defending. That is a great kind of ride or die person to have. Kimberly and, uh, I know the two of them well, and I will, again, I'm gonna give Kimberly a shout out again because she is one of the women in this industry that I admire most because if you do not know her, She is from the Sacramento area.
She has, she started a, uh, dispensary many, many years ago called a Therapeutic Alternative. And in her dispensary she created an incubator. So Deanna was one of the women who used to work for her, and she elevates women who worked for her to help them find their own licenses, helps them through the process and open their business.
So I think she's got 10 or 12. [00:35:00] Licenses under her umbrella now, all run by incredible women. So thank you, Kimberly. Thank you Deanna, for supporting Kimberly so that Kimberly can support the rest of us. All right, Lisa, I am very anxious to hear who your woman who's had your back is
Kira. Um, I teased this earlier in the segment, but, uh, Wendy Berger, who is a board member at Green Thumb Industry, she's been involved in the cannabis industry for about 10 years, is the woman that has had my back. Um, as I mentioned earlier, she actually convinced Roth to run. A shark tank like day just to let women entrepreneurs in this space present and try to get funding the name of her L L C that she actually invests with.
So she puts her money where her mouth is, is called Women backing women. Yes. If that's not the most amazing name, yes. Yes. For an llc, it, it is [00:36:00] exactly what she does. She takes every phone call, she makes calls on your be behalf. She supports you to through and through. She even served happy at her wedding in March because she wants, and she, and she also provided gummies from another brand she invested in because she doesn't just put passive money into brands.
She actively. Puts your brands and your businesses out there and pitches. She will take any phone call if you, you know, I have put her in touch with dozens of women in this space and said, you know, Wendy, could you just help? Could you listen? Could you talk, could you throw out ideas? She is, in my mind, um, just an absolute leader in this space.
And, you know, her llc, women Backing Women, does exactly what it says. She backs women and she. She puts it all out there for the women she supports. And, um, I'm incredibly grateful for her and our relationship and, uh, [00:37:00] she's my That's awesome. I do know Wendy and I absolutely concur. Every in interaction I've had with her has just been, she's so supportive.
She's very, very committed. You know, I hear a lot of lip service, you know, a lot of people like to help 'em and don't really know, and then they kind of drop it, but. Wendy really, you know, she, you're right. Like you said about her company, she kind of puts her money where her mouth is, so to speak, and we need more women like Wendy in the industry.
So thank you very much for giving her a shout out that she deserves today for having your back. All right. Thank you so much, Lisa, for your time and sharing your wisdom with us today. It's been a real pleasure talking with you. Ladies, thank you for tuning in. If you have not yet downloaded the roadmap to funding the Essential Guide for starting your Funding Journey for success, go to paint the Panther group.co/roadmap to funding and tune in again next week for another episode, WIN in Leading [00:38:00] in Campus.
All right. Wow.