How Hope Wiseman Became a Pioneer in The Business of Cannabis

show notes

november 21, 2023

This week, Morgan DeBaun is joined by cannabis business pioneer Hope Wiseman as they dive into the intriguing world of cannabis entrepreneurship. In this candid conversation, Hope recounts her unexpected journey into the cannabis industry after recognizing the industry's potential during the legalization wave and seizing the chance to make a mark early on.

Hope then delves into the science behind cannabis, shedding light on the endocannabinoid system naturally present in our bodies and how the genetic makeup of different strains interact with each of us differently. She also explains the complexity of medicinal marijuana use, as doctors can recommend marijuana but will not prescribe particular doses or strains due to their federal licensing.

Hope and Morgan discuss the hurdles of the cannabis industry, uncovering the red tape and restrictions that Hope has faced in the years since opening her retail store, Mary and Main.

Together, Morgan and Hope reflect on their individual paths to entrepreneurship as young Black women. Hope shares her desire to create more accessible paths for young entrepreneurs to scale their ventures.

Tune in to hear how Hope has navigated the cannabis industry, and how she continues to innovate within the space and normalize marijuana in the mainstream!

Don't forget to make sure you are subscribed to the show and leave a rating and review to let us know how much you love these conversations week after week!

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transcript

00:00

I was in college and I think I was a junior. Also, can I get in trouble saying this out loud? Hey everyone, I'm Morgan DeBaun, a passionate entrepreneur and life advisor. With the Journey podcast, you'll discover that success isn't about the destination, it's about the journey. I'm sharing stories of amazing people who've taken control of their lives. Join me on my own journey to discover the secret sauce behind reaching success with permission from no one else.

00:31

Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to the Journey Podcast. I'm here with my good friend, Hope Wiseman. Hi, everybody. We are going to talk all things marijuana. Legal. Legalize. Weed. Legal. Hope is a good friend. I'm super excited. We have lots to talk about today. But before we get into it, I wanted to just remind you all to go to morgandebaun.com and sign up for my newsletter. If you haven't.

01:00

join the newsletter, I send recaps of every episode. I also send out free advice, information, discount codes when I have them from different partners that I'm working on. So it's just a good way to keep in touch with what's going on in life. And then also while I'm on maternity leave, I'll have a little bit more time to write you all longer emails about all the things that are on my mind, because I'm sure I'm gonna be so bored, but so happy, but sitting there like a cow. So expect lots of random emails from me.

01:30

Hope, how are you today? I am good. Really happy, excited. It's a pretty day here in Maryland. Beautiful. Hope came with a full face beat. I came with a full maternity beat. So if you're watching this on YouTube or on video, you know, give me some grace. Look at my upper lip sweat. It's so bad right now. I can't. You know what? While I'm gonna look at other interviews, I look like a little boy, a castle town. So, yeah. Okay, so Hope.

02:00

You have a variety of accolades. One is that you are the youngest woman owner of a legal dispensary in the country. Is that right? Yeah. Which is, I mean, honestly, probably in the world, which is odd to say, just because there are not that many countries that have legal cannabis yet. Wow. And not just, you guys know me, not just black, just woman. Yeah.

02:30

which is really critical, because I feel like sometimes we're like, we're the youngest black, dah, dah, dah. I'm like, okay, but also, also gender. If you think they are, like really critical. There's a lot of different intersections in this industry that I'm hitting, to be honest. You know, like I'm a woman, I'm young, I'm black. I come from a black, you know, a disproportionately.

02:55

impacted area in so many different ways. So yeah, I mean, I have a lot of things, I guess you could say against me. Yeah, we define the odds every day B, that's what we do. Right. So, okay, so talk to me about your experience before you started your business. What were you doing before you opened your company? So I was in college. I started my company super young, straight out of school.

03:23

But I went through school, I was an econ major, minored in organization and business. And I went through all my summers interning at different banks on Wall Street. And I was pursuing a career in investment banking. And I just knew that's what I was going to do, go back to B-school, go work for the BICES. I'd like, yeah, that's what I thought I was going to be doing. Didn't we all? Right. And then, so you graduated from college,

03:52

It's a no for me. I do not want to be in the financial services industry. And then what happened? So I actually figured that out even before I graduated. So I remember I had a full-time offer from J.P. Morgan, and I turned it down because I just, I was like, I don't want to move to New York. I don't want to move out. I was going to school in Atlanta, graduated from Spelman College. I was cheering for the Falcons at the time, too, right? So I like let them go. Hey, come on cheerleader.

04:18

I was doing all these different things. And I was like, no, I don't want to leave Atlanta. I like it here. My money goes longer. I ended up getting a full-time offer from in Atlanta that's no longer in existence. It was SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. And it was awesome. I got to stay in Atlanta and make the same salary as my peers who were at, up in New York and trying to make it off of, I mean, starting salary for an investment banker out of school is probably like 75.

4:47

$50,000, which is great, you know, straight out of school, but not in New York. No. So yeah. No, no, no. Okay. So Atlanta is an interesting place. Weed is not legal in Atlanta. Right. In Georgia, especially not at that time. So have you always been a smoker? So that people ask me that all the time. They're like, TV, police, smuggling. Yes. I knew.

05:14

And yes, I have been for a long time. So, you know, probably way too young. Not what I would recommend now, now that I actually understand the science behind cannabis. Which I didn't at first. And now that I do and I understand we all have an endocannabinoid system that, you know, we receive the different chemical compounds in cannabis naturally.

05:36

actually make them naturally in our bodies already. Now I get that, you know, for me, it just kind of balanced me out and put me in homeostasis. So that's why I was able to still be a high performer and use cannabis from an early age, which it helped me be more open-minded and astigmatized when I started to see the industry developing. I knew, you know, like this was gonna be big and I wasn't afraid of it. All right, we're back. I'm in a new location.

06:05

because my Wi-Fi went out. So we are in my bedroom now. Anyways, OK, so you were saying that when you were in Atlanta, you? You know, I was, I had been exposed to cannabis growing up early. Right. So even though I was in Atlanta, cannabis was not legal there. Kind of got interested in the industry, like from a business perspective, because I was working in finance.

06:35

Of course, you're tracking emerging industries. You're watching CNBC, Fast Money. You're watching all this stuff all the time. I mean, they have it on the screen at work. And you're watching it at home. And around that time, so this is like 2014, you're starting to see legal cannabis pop up everywhere on the East Coast. Because a lot of the East Coast states were just now contemplating medical laws and all of that. So it's like on the cover of Time magazine. They're doing documentaries on CNN.

07:05

And I think I just realized like, okay, you know, I understand economics and this is, although it's an emerging industry, it's an industry that the demand is already there. You know, they're projecting all of this demand, but I understand because I've already been in this world, like in the real world, in real life, I see how many people use cannabis. All the people, everybody that, from white, black, old, young, everybody, everyone, you know, in different ways. And...

07:35

some people recreationally and some people truly medicinally and it always was. So I think for me, I just realized this industry was probably the demand was even higher than people were projecting and predicting. I also knew that this would be an industry that would end up, you know, having a few power players eventually, and, you know, just kind of other people feeding off of that ecosystem. And I realized that my best chance would be early.

08:04

Yeah, to get in early. You're level. I knew I was going to get priced out. I'm not independently wealthy. I don't have a lot of these connections and a lot of the things that I knew you needed to be in an industry of this level. So I knew my best bet was going to be ground floor level. And I did not know that the industry was going to prioritize social equity and Black ownership the way that has or is starting to. I didn't know that it was going to be. It's attempting to. Yeah, it's attempting.

08:33

That's fair. Yeah, my first experience with cannabis was I was in high school. I went to an all girls high school at Catholic, so I wasn't really around drugs. They were more of drinkers. And that was already scandalous to me, like drinking in high school. I was like, oh, you're wild. Look it out. But my brother went to an all boys school.

09:03

you know, kind of like a peer school that was down the street. And they were cannabis users. And I was like, first of all, this stinks. Like, what is this that y'all are doing? And I never tried it. I didn't try cannabis until I was in college and I think I was a junior. Also, can I get in trouble saying this out loud? It's a mad anymore. Okay. It's like, wait a minute.

09:34

It's over now, you know? Just like... Yeah, I was, maybe I was a sophomore or a junior, and the guy that I was dating at the time smoked, but not around me, like it was just with his boys. And I was at the apartment that they all lived in, and one of his friends was like on this contraption. It was like a bong, probably. A bong, yeah, it was a bong. But at the time I was like, what is this contraption you're like smoking out of? And he was like...

10:04

do you want to take a hit? And I was like, no. First of all, I have things to do. Like I have class later. I had a pitch competition for our startup that we had founded at the time. And eventually they talked me into it. I was high for two days. I believe it. I pitched and won a pitch competition. Hi. I mean, that just goes to show even someone with like.

10:33

No tolerance. I was going to say low tolerance. No tolerance. You know, you still, you did what you had to do. It's not like you was like, pacitated. No, but I also remember just like laying in my little twin cot that they gave you, the, what is it, like the extra long twin cot, and being like, I'm having an out-of-body experience. I am like watching myself float and like looking down on myself and being like, why did you do this?

10:58

Why are we still here? Why are you still high? Please go to bed. At most younger women, you know, and that was the same experience, like, with my friends. I remember, like, being a 16-year-old, like, trying cannabis. We were called it at the time. Yeah. Me for the first time, and, like, none of my girlfriends. Like, they're all like, oh, I'm so paranoid, or, like, freaking out. And I'm like, I mean, I'm definitely high, but, like, I'm cool. You know, and they're looking at me. They're like, you don't look high. I'm like, I mean.

11:27

I am, but I don't, you know, and like I said, now I realize like we literally all have an endocannabinoid system and we just, what will balance you out and what will balance me out is different. So I think, you know, that's just what was happening to us even at a young age. And really, you know, we're still growing and developing and stuff. Like we shouldn't be using psychoactive medicine.

11:55

At least if we're not treating an actual medicinal need, you know, we say cannabis work really well for children that have seizures, but like this is a specific dose, you know, it's a dose that's much higher in CBD, which is a non-psychoactive, well, it's psychoactive, but a non-intoxicating part of cannabis. And then the intoxicating part, there's only a little bit in there, you know? These are the things that we don't understand. As a young person at 16, I was completely abusing cannabis.

12:25

Yeah. Okay. You keep saying this thing. Indochromat. Indochinabinoid. So explain. Well, navinoids are the different chemical compounds found within like the actual flower. So the bud, if I had one right now, I wish I should have next time. So the actual bud that you see has like a different genetic makeup. Every strain, that's what you hear.

12:50

different genetic makeup of different cannabinoids. So CBD and THC are definitely the two most popular cannabinoids, but there are like over a hundred different cannabinoids found within the plant. There are also something that we call terpenes, and terpenes can also be found in like plants and fruits and all different things that naturally occur and that are also found in cannabis.

13:14

And then the effect of, you know, a specific strain will have a specific cannabinoid and terpene profile and that kind of entourage effect of all of these different chemical compounds are what gives you the feeling to relieve whatever ailment you're experiencing. As we already have, like I said, an endocannabinoid system that receive, we have CB1 and CB2 receptors that are naturally inside our bodies. They receive these cannabinoids.

13:43

And that's why you and I can both take the same product and have a completely different experience. Our body just naturally receives them differently. So that's why, you know, cannabis really is something of trial and error. There's no specific dose that will work for all. This is why a lot of people, you have to journal your cannabis use, especially if you're using it medicinally, so that you can figure out like.

14:11

Okay, what terpenes work well for me in whatever situation? If I'm trying to be uplifted, if I'm trying to relax, if I am trying to, you know, increase my appetite, if I'm trying to suppress my appetite, how does this actually work for me and my body? Then also, satin factor intolerance, like it's all types of stuff. Interesting. Okay, so today, if I was a resident of Maryland, I could go into your...

14:40

retail location and I could just have at it. So today, if you are over the age of 21 and you have a government issued ID from anywhere in the world, you could shop at my store today. Oh, fascinating. So are you a tourist destination? We technically, yeah. And you know, it's funny, there are cannabis companies that, you know, that's their thing. Really? Yeah.

15:05

You ever heard about Planet 13 in Vegas? You know, they're full facilities, like 200,000 square feet. I mean, it's like Disney World in there. And that's their ploy. You know, they're a tourist destination and that's their thing versus like a store like mine. I'm close to DC. I'm close to Six Flags. I'm close to the Commanders. I hate saying the Commanders, but the Commanders, the stadium, you know, so yeah. You know, we're right off a highway.

15:33

about 20 minutes from DC. Do you have signage yet? Do we need a billboard? We can't do billboards. You can't do a billboard? OK, wait. Maryland. What? Not in Maryland. That's the other fun part about cannabis. We haven't got to the highly regulated part, but that's my fun thing. I can't do the normal thing that a business normally could. I have to work around all this red tape to make it successful. Wow.

15:59

Okay, so first things first, so anyone who has a government ID that's 21 is the age. 21 in Maryland. Mostly it's 21. Okay. Under the age, they'll let you get a medical card, but it's like typically much harder to get a medical card. Right. So I'm 21, I am going to your shop, I'm in Maryland, and I have my government ID, but does that mean that people who are like, you can be like an ex-con? Yeah. Everything. Okay.

16:28

So then I walk in and I'm like, what are we doing? Like, what is that experience like for someone who's coming in to your shop? So, you know, at Marion Maine, we really pride ourselves on being like the perfect place for first time users because we're big on education. Also, it's just like a really warm family vibe in there, you know, so like.

16:55

Even if you're like slightly embarrassed or like you feel like, oh, you know, I shouldn't be here. You know, we still have people that are like nervous, you know, and all of that. My staff is like really great at making people feel super comfortable. What happens is you walk in, we're going to take your ID, make sure it's valid and all that good stuff. We're going to check you in.

17:15

So that's in like our lobby area. And then we have an actual dispensary area. So only people who are checked in over 21 can actually go into the dispensary area. Maryland doesn't allow for any product, any live product to be on the floor. It has to be all behind the cash register. And I can't show you, so I can't open products and show you, you can't touch it. Smell it. Nothing, you can't smell it beforehand. So that throws off a lot of people as well.

17:43

We compensate by, you know, really taking time to teach people about terpene and cannabinoid profiles, like I just explained to you, so that we can kind of say, like, look, I know you're used to being able to judge your cannabis and the quality of it based off of how it looks and how it smells. But really, you can look at the cannabinoid profile and the terpene profile and be able to get a pretty good gauge. Granted, you're not going to be able to see the curing and, you know, if it's dry.

18:11

and all the little fancy stuff that the connoisseurs know. But you start to pick up on what brands do what and all that good stuff. And the laws will change in Maryland eventually, and it'll get more like a normal shopping experience. But yeah, that's pretty much how it goes. It's not a situation where you're gonna go to your doctor, even in a medical program. Even in a medical program, they call it a recommendation, right? It's not a prescription. You're not going to the doctor, and they're not saying like, you need to get Blue Dream and take...

18:41

you know, roll it and smoke it in a paper and hit it twice, and then you'll feel better. And for hours, like that's not happening. Yeah. In fact, because doctors have, you know, their DEA license, a federal license, they can't actually give prescriptions. They are recommending that cannabis could be helpful for whatever ailment you're experiencing.

19:07

The budtender, that's what the industry calls it, I call them experience agents in my store, but the budtender is the one who actually walks you through products and what would work well for you. These are not doctors or nurses either. These are retail employees. So a lot of it is on the company to train. Right. And it's a hard battle, it's something that in the industry,

19:35

I think companies have to really prioritize right now because we know that we have this unique responsibility where there's responsible use and that people are like really finding relief, you know? Cause a lot of people smoke and they don't even know that they're like, it's truly, they're treating a medicinal ailment. Oh, interesting. Yeah, I mean, I think I have so many questions but I got to take off this belly band cause I can't breathe, hold on. Yeah. What do you, this, we're on free. Freedom.

20:06

Okay, so.

20:09

Your business, you know, obviously I'm a CEO and I think about like business models and I'm like, you must be sitting on so much cash. What kind of like protections do you have in place? And not don't tell everybody too much where they can break in or anything like that. But you know, walk us through like the things that you have to do since it's not federally approved and like everything from banking to security to like.

20:38

What are the constraints and things? Because you mentioned earlier that you can't even put up a billboard, which is kind of like a sex shop. I'm like, this is not the same. It's not the same. But I feel like this industry is like a combination of so many different industries, which just makes it, in my opinion, it might be one of the most sophisticated industries and complicated right now. Because it's like a vice industry, but it's also highly regulated, like a pharmaceutical industry. It's a lot of different stuff. And then it's like,

21:07

you know, 21 plus. But pretty much because it's federally illegal still, it's the Schedule I control substance on top of that. It's not even like, you know, we're talking about rescheduling the Schedule III, which could mean like a whole different thing too. We'll talk about that later. It's not quite as bad like in 2014 when I was watching these documentaries, I remember watching these two young couple that had opened up a dispensary in Colorado and they were like, they had like a stash house for their money.

21:37

and they were like counting out money for money orders to like pay people, you know? It's not that bad nowadays. So there are state chartered banks and like credit unions that will work with cannabis companies. So we do have banking access. We just pay higher fees because essentially they are doing like SARS, a suspicious activity report, just like where to go into the bank and deposit, you know, $20,000 cash.

22:04

They're essentially doing those types of reports for all of our banking activity to just ensure that it's right. On top of that, we're state licensed, so everything is tracked by the state seed to sale is what they call it, seed to sale tracking. From the cultivator, from the time it's a seed to the point that it gets to you in a finished product, track that whole process and they know where it was, how much, and all of that good stuff. The bank.

22:34

is auditing your sales to make sure the money that comes in the bank is matching up with your sales, all of this different stuff. So banking is hard. Yes, there's a lot of cash. However, we do have typical banking assets. But I mean, with the fees and because the industry is just so difficult and with all of the red tape around it, you're spending a lot of money. There are heavy cash intensive business. Overhead is high. Overhead is super high. So

23:00

You might do stuff where you might need to be doing, if you don't have any card processing, which is a luxury in cannabis, not very many people can process cards. You're sitting on a lot of cash a week and you might only be able to afford to do one drop a week. You might have $100,000 in your bank. We got vaults in the bank. You got vaults, you got drop safes.

23:27

You got, yeah. You're like a whole movie. I'm watching Marcos right now. I, so full disclosure, y'all, I tried to pitch a show for Hope, because I'm like, this is a TV show. Like, especially because it went from, you know, medical use to now recreational use in Maryland. Nobody wanted to pick it up because it's not brand safe with the advertisers. Yeah. And it pissed me off, because I'm like, this is so interesting. You're a freaking icon. Like,

23:56

If someone writes like a history book of cannabis in the United States, like you're gonna have to be in it. Which is crazy to me, but yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, but you know, I'm okay with it. Cause like when you're a pioneer, people throw that word out there, right? Like that they're pioneering something. And I remember the first time someone called me that, I was like, no, I'm just, you know, doing my thing. But then when I realized how much I had to do in the dark, I literally know.

24:24

I had no guidance, you know? What I have done too is made a pathway for other people. I'm like, oh, I really am a pioneer. Yeah. So that means that as a pioneer, I'm not going to get to enjoy all the fruits of my efforts. Facts. Other people. But you have first mover advantage and people are gonna be like, damn, how did she do it? And the answer will be, well, she did it. She worked hard, she took a huge leap of faith and she had first mover advantage.

24:54

Right? Like no one could duplicate Oprah because that was an era and that was a first move advantage. No one could duplicate Issa. You know, Issa crushed YouTube and had all of us watching random YouTube web series. Literally the first person I ever did that with. Yeah. And I never really did it again, but it started other people. Now everybody does that. People don't even have TV like cable anymore. They just watch YouTube videos. Yeah, the next generation, they watch YouTube every night. Mm-hmm.

25:23

Fascinating. So yeah, I mean, I'm here for the book when it's coming and I would like the rights to your life. So, I think, maybe. You know, I'm super thankful for all of the different lessons I've been able to learn and all the things I've been able to teach other people. I like had a little stage where I was like mad that like now social equity is a thing in cannabis. And it's like.

25:50

you know, everyone is on it. And every state is prioritizing it in upcoming application processes. And they're trying to make sure that these licenses are going to black and brown communities because at the end of the day, you know, we all know that half of the black men that are in jail, even to this day, is because of petty, low level cannabis charges. So, you know, I'm really proud of it, but at the same time, I'm just like...

26:19

I wish I had social equity stuff. You know, I wish I had all of that. I didn't have any of that. Yeah. When I see people raising money, like Black founders complaining about, oh, it's so hard to raise money. I'm like, we all have like 50 funds that are funds for women or funds for Black people. Funds are underrepresented minorities. We had zero. None. We had On-Car and On Point.

26:47

And as for me, I didn't get any funding in the beginning. We started this so for those that don't know, I founded this business with my mother. And we work side by side every day. We live together now. We live together, work together. Best friend, talking to her all day, all night. We have to remind ourselves, turn off the work switch. But my mom and then we have a third co-founder who's a longtime family friend. We bootstrapped.

27:17

and they were pulling out of their retirement to do this because nobody would help us. And no bank loans, you know, it's federally illegal. No SBA. Wow. That's intense. It was. Okay, so what's the vision? What is your vision for yourself? What is your vision for your business? You know, and I've been thinking about this so much lately because I find that when people talk to me, their first...

27:46

Of course, people put me in just the cannabis box. But when I decided to go into this industry, some people ask me, oh, is this what you always want to do? I'm like, no. First off, I didn't know it wasn't a thing. And so I had graduated from college for me. So I'm like, absolutely not. This is not what I thought I'd be doing forever, but I love it. And what I've uncovered is I'm just a great leader.

28:13

and I probably like could do anything. So like when I think of my long-term vision, I look at cannabis as a like, it's my springboard. It'll probably be like my grounding industry that I was always known for, I will always give back to. But you know, I really see myself getting into like BC world, like me being a BC in the future. I wanna help make the path easier for women like me.

28:40

And just people like me in general, I'm not as focused on like it being like black women only or anything like that. Just like people like me in general, especially younger people that are really attempting to build businesses and compete with the best of the best. Some of us really have the capacity to do it. You just need some resources and tools and most of the time it's just money. If you're smart enough, all you need is the money. Yeah.

29:06

So that's what I want to be able to provide people and create networks and communities that empower young people to build big, big businesses. I don't want us to start small and grow, you know, do that. Most of us can really do this. Cause I look at myself, I'm like, wow, I'm really competitive with some of these big boys. And it's like, there are billion dollar cannabis companies that started their businesses the same year as me. And I'm like, wow, if I had the same resources that that man had, Liza.

29:37

You know, so that's where I see me in the future as far as like, you know, more near term Maryland, like you mentioned, just went adult use and they're licensing more companies. So I'm doing a lot of consulting right now, as well as trying to go as deep as I can in Maryland. I'm also working to build a national supply chain network because there's no interstate commerce. However, as you build brands, people want to be in multiple states, right?

30:06

for national distribution whenever interstate commerce is allowed, which we all know it's coming. We just don't know when. So I'm working on doing that through partnerships and actually acquiring equity in different businesses across the country strategically so that when the time comes on, I'm making this up because it's definitely not going to be the name of the brand, but like Hope Weed can be in every state. All of a sudden you're going to just wake up one day and be like, damn, it's everywhere.

30:36

You know, as I've been spending the past five years building this supply chain network so that when I turn on the switch, I can. Yeah. So yeah, I'm doing a lot of stuff kind of silently in the background right now. And it will all make a lot of sense in the next few years. Yeah. That's what people I think underestimate about, um, really successful business owners and businesses is like how much the world that people are seeing of you today is work that you put in three, four years ago, you know, and, um, I feel that way too, when people are like,

31:06

Oh, like, Afro Tech came out of nowhere. I'm like, girl, that's what, not out of nowhere? What are you talking about? But you know, this is pretty sexy. You told me about your first Afro Tech, like, at a mall, right? Yeah, I was at a mall. Yeah, and I'm like, people think you have to, like, just start out and be like, you know, like, not always. And most, because us, young, black women, we didn't have the funds. You didn't have, I don't know how much a budget for Afro Tech is, but. Year one, Afro Tech was like 300,000.

31:35

Which is like, which is so funny. Right, it's like, Briana Thousand is one activation. Briana Thousand is one boo. That's nothing now. But you know, we have to do what we got to do to build up. Even me, I remember our store when we first got it. I was like, oh, I want all this extra stuff. My mom looked at me, she said, look, we're gonna be lean and mean. Because we're not like them and we gotta survive.

32:03

And us being lean is why we're still here. A lot of my peers that were independent, they're not here anymore. They had to sell to bigger groups. Yeah, do you think that this generation and the folks coming after us are gonna be as willing to be as uncomfortable for so long? No, and it's because we're putting our lives out way earlier now too, right?

32:26

I mean, I'm not really a big one on it. So everybody that follows me and everything, I definitely, you know, I'm sharing stuff and all that, but I'm not gonna give you a play by play of every single thing I'm doing every single time and all that. I think because, I mean, that's just not natural to me, but these newer kids, it is, and it's like giving them a sense of self-worth. They don't think that they're doing enough unless they're posting it and unless they're actually doing it. And then everything has to look perfect.

32:56

You know, the house has to look nice. They don't want to show their house unless they got, you know, the newest kitchen appliances and stuff. It's like, look, we all are making it, like none of it, when that creator moves her camera around, it looks fancy. You know, she's probably sitting in the closet filming this and make it look like she's in the Bahamas. Who knows, you know? Right. I think that like, yeah, people don't want to be uncomfortable because they feel like they have to show everything and they don't want to show that part, you know, like, yeah.

33:24

to see that. When someone posts themselves crying, everyone's like, why would you film yourself crying? It's like, I mean, I kind of agree with him. Like, just cry. Does that have to be on camera? I just don't think to pick up the camera when I'm crying, cause I'm sad. I'm not crying that long. So I'm not crying long enough to go get the camera, come back and feel it. Probably by the time I got the camera, the tears have stopped. Yeah. I'm like, get it together, girl. Yeah. If you're good enough to film, you could stop crying. Yeah. Interesting.

33:52

What are other misconceptions that people have? What are the frequently asked questions that, if somebody is seeing you at a conference and they're like, oh my gosh, so interesting, I wanna be just like you, what are their questions? Main thing is people just really don't understand the regulatory landscape, right? So it's just mainly stuff like, oh, well, I had this idea to open up this weed store on wheels. And I'm gonna go to all the colleges and do all the stuff I'm like.

34:22

Depending on your state, I'm gonna say like 99% of all the states don't allow for that model. Like I said, it's mainly the regulatory landscape that I get the most like, eh, that's not quite how it works. I think the other side of it too is I realized that I kinda live in this weird bubble where...

34:44

Everybody is like in the industry or industry adjacent. So they understand things. So even when I'm talking about like how I was talking about the endocannabinoid system and you're like the end of the end of the way, you know, I'm like, oh, let me go back. And people don't even know what CBD really is. Yeah. Or THC. And these are things that you definitely hear all the time, you know, right. You know, they're like, oh, I'm buying CBD from the gas station. I don't feel anything. And I'm like,

35:14

Well, I feel my CBD bath bombs. And you feel that? I feel like I just feel more zen. Like, do you ever, do you use magnesium? Yeah. So I feel like after I have magnesium, I'm like, okay, I can tell the nights that I drink magnesium before I go to bed and the nights I don't. And I can tell I have magnesium spray right now for all my little aches and pains. If I put magnesium spray, oil spray on my aches and pains, I'm okay. CBD is essentially like that too.

35:43

It's not intoxicating. Like you're not going to that when people are like, I'm drunk, you're like drunk high, but like, you're going to be like, oh, that's why I said when I I pause when I said it's not psychoactive. I'm like, CBD is psychoactive because it can make you feel more relaxed. And is it regulated in that? Like, can anyone just put out a CBD product basically at this point and just say CBD, even if it's like the smallest just possible? Yep.

36:13

It is grown by hemp. And I'm saying hemp because at the end of the day, we drew a line in the sand with the cannabis plant and called cannabis that has less than 0.03% THC in it. And then the other cannabis, cannabis, I'm like, it's the same plant. It's the same plant. It's the same exact thing. When people are walking around morally high talking about some, oh, you know, I only use CBD. We're like, that's cannabis. It's cannabis. It's the same plant.

36:43

same exact plant. It just has technically if it comes from the hemp plant it has less than 0.03% THC and it shouldn't be psychoactive in any way. Although they have gotten around what the intention of the farm bill, which is the bill that allowed for this, and you know they've manipulated the plant and figured out different ways that you can grow it to give psychoactive components as well that are not delta 9 THC, which is the regulated

37:12

industry, the diamond. So that's why you've heard of like Delta 8 stuff or like THCV or something like that and they're selling it and it actually is getting people high but those are like manufactured. Think of it as like a chemical version. Yeah, absolutely from that. So is there organic THC and like organic CBD? There's organic weed. It's a plant like...

37:40

I know it's just so funny. I don't know why I basically laugh, but I'm like, yes, I only like organic cannabis. If you think about how it's grown, like I have a friend, so even in Maryland, homegrown is legal. Okay, fair. It's impossible, you can have like two plants, right? And homegrown is legal in DC too. I have a friend and her fiance is growing right now in their apartment, but he uses compost, like he composts his own soil.

38:07

and then he's like growing with his own compost and like all this stuff. So that's like true organic. Yeah, we eat facts. You know, what you're smoking, those are the flowers. That's the fruit.

38:20

Interesting. I'm so excited to see how this industry evolves and how the next generation is like, what do you mean? I'm about to have this test. I'm just going to have a little bit of this just to calm down. I had test taking anxiety growing up. What if we could have managed these things? Yeah, like a little tincture. Again, not everybody equates cannabis to smoking. There are so many other ways you can consume these. Gummies, you can do a tincture. You can put it in juices.

38:48

They put it in oils and butters and cook with it, like, like, your eggs and have a little bit of THC. You know, you can microdose too. People put it in capsules, tablets, you know. I've seen somebody make like a little sugar pack, you know, like, that you can like infuse in your drink. It's got to be a whole innovation. You're gonna have a whole manufacturing, like, white label companies, and then all these little influencers are gonna come out with like their own little collagen CBD.

39:18

mixture, it's going to be white labeled by Pope Weisman. The goal, Wiseco, white labeling coming soon, you know? And I really want to see cannabis more infused in mainstream culture. So this brand that I just introduced, I really haven't even introduced yet, but I just have like my first event for it called Friends in High Places. The whole point of Friends in High Places is essentially we are a creative agency that is infusing cannabis into sports.

39:48

into entertainment, into music, just mainstream lifestyle brands. Wanted to be just as normal as like how you pour, you know, a little shot of whiskey after you make a business deal, you know? Like cannabis should be that normalized. Yeah, wow. Towards, it's gonna take a while, but. Let me borrow $5, sis. Right, you, let me borrow $5 from you right now and then I get back. Back, back.

40:15

Yeah, you know what, we can probably make that happen. We can probably make that happen. I think that's one of the beautiful things about, you know, our lives and, you know, we're real friends in real life. Yeah. People who are listening in. Yeah. So, it's like, I think growing up, you always have this vision of like, okay, I need to, like, these are the people that people know, and I need to get around those people. You're around them. And that's actually not the right framework. It's really like, I need to know the people that...

40:43

are next to me. Yeah. And it's so fun because I can call Hope with questions and situations. Like, I have all types of situations. I'm just like, hey. So like this happened and this happened. Is this legal? Is this not legal? Like, what are the things that I need to know, you know, in the same way that she can call me and be like, hey, I'm thinking about, you know, this event or what's the honorarium that people would actually charge for this, you know? And it's just such an easier life, I think, being able to have.

41:14

people doing interesting and ambitious things that are outside of your day to day. What you're doing, yeah. And for me, like as someone that kind of was like thrusted into like a high level of entrepreneurship kind of unexpectedly, like I wasn't ready per se. So there's a lot of things that come up that I learn later that I have this like natural ability to tackle and stuff, but like, I don't know. So it's nice to be able to pick up the phone and be like, okay.

41:42

Morgan, I know you've raised a lot of money before, like, is this how it's supposed to be? Like, why my investor is not calling me back? Like, what do I tell my buyer? You know, how do I keep my balls in the air right now when they're not? I mean, eh? And yeah, you know, like all these things, like I had no guidance on that. So yes, like it's been amazing to have friends like you to be able to, I mean, we're like guiding each other. No, seriously.

42:11

and then wait till you have to go mat lead as a CEO. Yeah, I know. I'm so glad you did it first. I literally was looking for all types of resources. I was like, there's nothing for this specific category. Now we have, see, this is a problem with people like us because now it's like, ooh, business idea, I see a void. No more businesses. I can't do another business. My macho business is launching.

42:39

And people are like, when did you? I'm like, this has been two years. Right. I feel, yeah, that's for two years. You like came up with it like right now while you've been at home more, like no. Yeah. How do you have time for this? I'm like, girl, what you mean? Like, we've been working on this. You know, when you have an idea and it's like, I can't help it, but to come to life, that's where Friends in High Places came from. I was just like, look, I can't help, but like I go to sleep thinking about like,

43:07

the infusion of cannabis in mainstream culture. So I knew like, I gotta do it, I gotta do it. You gotta do it. Although there's a timing for everything with your industry to your point, you know? I remember when there was a media, a weed media company, I think Snoop Dogg tried to do it. And I remember being like, oh, it's too early, bro. Too early. I mean, there's a few that are like, are surviving, but they're highly capitalized, like a High Times.

43:32

You know, they've been around two since that was like the first one back in old school holidays. You know, so they're still around, but they done, you know, they bought dispensaries and they're in retail now. Well, they had to switch the business. Like media is not the right business model because you can't advertise. You're not brand safe. So you got to build money. None of that. Right. Like you could have a media company and let me know if you want to do that. Let me know if you want to do a TV on that.

43:57

Yes, you know, we already got the infrastructure don't work harder work smarter guys always always Anyways, you know I could keep you with you all day girl. Oh Where should people find you on the internet? How can they get in contact with you and Obviously they can be a connoisseur. Yes store as well. Of course

44:19

Okay, so if you are interested in business information about cannabis and just like in general especially if you are a young woman trying to find your way, definitely follow me on Instagram. My Instagram name is I am Hope So Dope and people have really been calling me that since I was in here. Hope So Dope. I need to pause. Did y'all hear that? Hope So Dope. Look, everyone's like, you're a grown woman. Change. Keep it. Don't change it.

44:48

I think people have been calling me that since middle school. That's my name. But yeah, so Instagram, I am HopeSoDope. You can also find me online at HopeWiseman.co. I let my name lapse and somebody bought it and is trying to sell it back to me for like 10 grand. Don't let that happen, y'all. We should buy it. At this point, yes. They knew what they were doing.

45:13

But yeah, Hope Wiseman, doctor. You should let us buy it. You let, you should let somebody else buy it for you. Yes, that's a great idea. See y'all. Okay, I'm gonna call you about that. Okay. And then if you're interested in shopping with me, if you're in the DMV area ever, check us out at Mary and Maine on all socials website, Mary and Maine, my holding company is Wiseco.

45:39

Wiseco.ltd if you're looking at, you know. What else does she own? Cause we own a few other things. And then. So good. Hope, I'm so proud of you. Y'all, I hope this was really interesting. Obviously we could talk about this forever because it's literally lifetimes worth of work. So I encourage you, if you're curious about the cannabis world, if you have ideas that you feel like you could incorporate cannabis into your life, if you've got.

46:04

a dad, a grandma, an auntie in your life who complains about their aches and their pains and their dis and their that, you know, consider exploring kids. It is, it's just an alternative option. It's an alternative option. Recommendation. Yeah. Alright, I hope you enjoy the day, my friend.

46:28

Thanks for listening to the Journey Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you leave a review and head to our Instagram and YouTube to leave a comment. I look forward to hearing how this podcast has made an impact on your own journey.