#me next in line at the dispensary trying to act normal

[stopthatfool]

small announcement about da fic!

Slight adjustments and minor edits have been made to the first chapter of The Jeep Universe! Not sure if anyone cares, but i thought i would document it here just in case anyone notices! They're really minor edits-- grammatical errors and one minor inconsistency about why Ice was the only one in the hospital when Mav woke up! I also fixed all the en dash to em dashes (in all the posted chapters)! finally. whoopsies.

[egofag]

Me trying to act normal when I'm next in line at the dispensary

[parabellum-rpg-archive]

Congratulations, Joss! You’ve been accepted to play Aaron Murphy (previously Aaron Khan, last name changed to fit the new FC’s ethnicity). Your request to change his FC to Bob Morley has also been approved. Please make your page and send it in within 24 hours.

Admin note: Joss, you’re absolutely flawless. You make it very easy to fall in love with your writing, and you’ve given Aaron so much depth! I can’t wait to see him on the dash! - Admin V

IC INFORMATION —

CHARACTER DESIRED Aaron Khan DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER IN YOUR OWN WORDS If you told Aaron to turn out his pockets and show what he’s accomplished in life, you might see it as just empty hands, but to him, being a dealer is the only thing he’s ever been really good at. He’s got learning disabilities, dyslexia and ADHD, that prevented him from ever really settling into a normal life or doing well in school, but when it comes to weed, he’s a fucking prodigy. He can tell the weight of a bag just by looking at it or holding it, he can tell from the smell if product is good or not, and he knows how to spot an undercover cop at 100 yards. His greatest skill is in being able to read his customers. He can tell from the moment you approach him what strain you’re going to need, how much, and what you’re willing to pay. He’s friendly, never tries to force you to be his friend, and always stands by his product. If weed were legal, he might be paying taxes and living the good life at a cannabis dispensary. As it is, he’s the guy on everyone’s cell phone under “Aaron Green”. People usually assume when you say your home life was bad that someone was smacking you around or there was no food, maybe your parents were junkies or crackheads. But it doesn’t have to be that dramatic to be bad. Sometimes your family can just forget you exist. Aaron was one of eight kids and none of them ever really had a chance. He disappeared in among his siblings so that no one ever noticed when he never came home at night. His home was loud, but there was never any real love in it. His parents were immigrants who’d come to America as children and never gotten out of the ghetto neighbourhoods of Detroit. They never had enough money and worked all the time, and when they came home, they would just stare blankly at their children, as if to say, “are you still here?” Aaron doesn’t think they were ever even in love; certainly the photographs never show people who looked happy to be together. Sometimes he lets himself wonder if they were like him, with dreams that they could never achieve and a burning need to do something, and if they just got beaten down by life, but it’s not like he can ask anymore. Chicago was the farthest Aaron could get from Detroit on the money he’d saved up, and it seemed like a town that still had hope, while Detroit was just dying slowly around him. He had a cousin there whose couch he crashed on (Aaron has cousins everywhere, they come out of the woodwork whenever one of them needs somewhere to crash), and a few job possibilities lined up, but he’d get itchy if he got stuck working behind a counter or washing dishes or shifting mail around, needing more stimulation than entry-level jobs provided. If he’d had the money to do training in a trade or something, maybe he could’ve done something with his hands that kept him occupied, or trained to be a tech expert, since he loves video games and can play them for hours if need be. Instead, he asked his dealer if the guy could hook him up with a gig, and one thing led to another. Working for the Costellos is mildly terrifying at times, but it feeds that part of him that needs to move and stay active. He doesn’t deal anything too hard, just weed and some party drugs, and he’s a favourite of club kids and college students for the quality of his product and his innovations when it comes to packaging and branding. He’ll wake up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea about a new line of edibles like peppermint chocolates for the on-the-go buyer who doesn’t want to overindulge, or flavoured strains of CBD oil laced with hash to give a smooth high without any paranoia, or making their own line of e-liquids for vapes (something he’s very into, do not get him started on the unfair legislation around vaping rights), and spend the next three days making it happen only to crash once his latest masterpiece is complete. He could probably survive without a roommate at this point (though he’d have to live somewhere shady to do so and he’s become a little too comfortable to move back to the hood), but he used the excuse of needing one to let Corinna into his life. She’s the first person he’s lived with that he doesn’t feel anything but uncomplicated affection for, and the idea of having friends that you’re not either also selling to or working for is new and interesting for him. He’s a genuinely nice person (more so when baked but also overall), and he’s always happy to share his groceries or just sit up with her and listen to her talk. He may even someday tell her about his family, though that remains a subject he doesn’t address.   WRITING SAMPLE “Hey, man-bun!” Aaron turned around by reflex, even though someone yelling anything at you out of the blue was, at best, 50/50 gonna be a shitty situation. “That’s what your mom called me last night. At least I think that’s what she was saying, there was a lotta moaning going o-” Aaron didn’t get to finish his sentence, the punch catching him straight in the jaw. He looked like he could handle himself in a fight, but his muscles were all for show. Staggering back, he checked to see if all his teeth were still there. That was one thing that hadn’t gone wrong yet. “You sold me bad shit, motherfucker! Gimme my money back, or I’m gonna end you!” If this had been back in Detroit, Aaron might have taken this conversation more seriously, especially because he’d just gotten punched in the face, but this was Chicago, and he worked for the Costellos. Some little trust fund baby wasn’t gonna roll up on him and try and get a fucking refund. “That’s a shame. You still got the stuff? I’ll trade it in for new shit.” They were outside a bar in Costello territory, and the guy squaring up at him looked like he rowed every day and ate ivy for a living. Sure, he was dressed like he was living that thug life, but c'mon, no one’s teeth were that straight in Chiraq. That was the problem with cities like this, everyone thought they could front. Nobody in the suburbs would’ve even bothered, they’d have probably said please and thank you, but out here, people watched too many movies and thought you had to act like an OG. His friend, cuz of course he had a friend, punks like this never tried anything when it was a fair fight, just stood slightly off to the side and switched between grinning and sneering. “Are you fucking stupid? Did you hear me? Gimme my fucking money now! You’re lucky I don’t call my boys down and fuck your shit up for giving me lousy stuff!” It had gotten to the point where Aaron wasn’t really a street dealer primarily anymore, he was the guy you called when you needed something. He did deliveries and hung out at parties and clubs. When you were selling a product people wanted, you didn’t have to pound the pavement to sell it. But he was doing another favour for Holden. Aaron always did favours for Holden, no matter how many times the other man asked. He couldn’t help it. And normally he could spot an asshole a mile off and choose to refuse service, but Holden needed his quota to stay up, so Aaron had been a little too liberal with his sales tonight. Figures he’d get punched on his night off. “Like I said, I can do a trade if you’re unhappy with the product, but this isn’t a Target, man. We don’t do refunds. So hand over the shit, and I’ll give you some primo Afghani Kush. I’ll even top up the bag free of charge, cuz I wanna preserve our relationship.” The kid wasn’t having any of it. “I already smoked it and it did jackshit! I’m not even high! We even mixed it with some coke and it did fucking nothing!” Oh boy. So on top of assholes, they were idiots too. “You can’t mix it with coke, man. That just ruins both highs. If you’d said you’d wanted something to blend with uppers, I coulda-” Aaron was prevented in continuing with his sales pitch when the kid pulled out a gun. The fucking sikik seemed to think he could draw down in public. Granted, it was a shit neighbourhood, but it was still a Neighbourhood. “C'mon guy, this is a bad move. You really wanna think this one through, you know?” This whole evening was really turning into a bummer. If he got shot by this at hırsızı, he’d never live it down. And he didn’t have health insurance. The kid’s gun didn’t waver, and his friend had pulled a piece too. Awesome. “You coulda just given me the money, now I’m gonna take everything, and I’m gonna kick your ass too, you piece of shit fag-” The conversation ended abruptly with a squealing of tires and bright lights. Aaron jumped out of the way, rolling across the sidewalk and dragging himself up when there wasn’t immediate gunfire. The kid and his friend were now lying in the road groaning in front of a red Ford pickup. The door opened and Holden got out, looking at Aaron with bewilderment. “What the hell happened?” Stumbling forward, Aaron had the sense to kick the guns away from the two kids as he limped over to the truck’s passenger side. “Just a difference of opinion, don’t worry about it. But I’m thinking we talk about moving you to somewhere a little more high-class. This neighbourhood is going to shit.” As Holden slammed into the car and peeled away, the neighbourhood returned to normal, like it had never happened. It was Chicago, weirder things happened every day. Aaron leaned his head against the glass and dug a joint out of his pocket, inserting it between his lips and expertly lighting it with his lucky Zippo. “Don’t smoke that in the car, you’ll make it reek in here.” Laughing, Aaron rolled down the window. “You’re the weirdest dealer I know, man. C'mon, night’s still young, let’s hit Lake Forest and make some money off the preps out there.” Holden, shaking his head, took the turnoff and headed for the suburb. “You ever take anything seriously, cabron?” Aaron winked. “Not unless I can’t avoid it, kaşar.”

[skars-bill-gard]

Do You Right

A/N: So this chapter was necessary because I need to introduce your best friend and her significant other (Y/B/F/S/O) The song in this chapter is Get Away - Kehlani ft. G-Eazy. Tweaked the lyrics a little to match it better. Anyways, I hope you like it.

Warnings: Languages, alcohol, weed, marijuana paraphernalia, bad writing, errors of any kind

Word Count: 2034

Chapter Two: Get Away

That night had been a lot of fun. Talking with both Alex and Bill had been amazing, they were great and made you feel like you weren’t an outsider and that you did belong there. You couldn’t wait to see them again. The album party had been success so your agent tells you. You’ve been happy with every decision that has been made so far but to be honest you feel like  you have no idea what you’re doing. You were just reviewing decisions before you go with them. Your agent and producers are great people but that doesn’t change that not everything is sunshine and butterflies; Bill and Alex understand that. Most people don’t know that and mistake your feels as being ungrateful. Your phone quickly broke you from your thoughts, notifying you that you had a text.

‘Hey, are you gonna be able to kick it today?’ (Y/B/F/N) asked.

‘Are you in LA?’ You responded.

‘Yeah, I just touched down. I miss my best friend and I know you just had a promo party I thought you might miss someone you know.’ She texted back.

‘Okay cool, is (Y/B/F/S/O/N) with you? You both can stay and the airbnb that I’m staying at.’ You offered.

‘Yeah he is and thank you we appreciate it. What’s the address?’ She asked.

You texted her the address and she let you know that she would be there within 30 minutes. That gave you enough time to straighten out the living room and kitchen. You put on some shorts and a t-shirt instead of the booty shorts and sports bra you wore to bed. Once you were ready you heard your phone chime, your friend letting you know she was here.

“Hey!” You exclaimed while opening the door and letting them in.

“Hey, where can we set out shit?” (Y/B/F/N) asked.

“Second door on the left.” You responded while both her and her fiancee went towards the room.

The house you were staying in had bluetooth speakers also over the house, it was pretty much a smart house and you were able to put music on and dictate which room it played in. Currently, you had it playing in the living room where one of the home studios was set up. You grabbed your laptop and began pulling up music from the upcoming album.

“Dude, I haven’t heard any of your album yet and that kinda makes me feel like a bad friend.” She said while her fiancee agreed.

“Don’t feel bad. Only my agents, producers and the people on the actual album have heard them.” You explained.

“But why? I thought you’d want everyone to hear it as soon as possible?” She inquired.

“I do but I don't. This is really personal like this album literally has a few songs about my bipolar disorder and my ex. I’m scared of what people are gonna think and I’m also thinking is the image I really want.” You explained.

“Well let me hear something and I’ll give you my honest opinion.” (Y/B/F/N) stated.

“Okay but the producers said it’s gonna be a banger. G and Halsey said the same thing.” You said.

“Fuck the producers, they’re interested in money. We’re interested in if this is who you are.” (Y/B/F/S/O/N) said.

You were looking through the audio files to find out what you wanted to play for them. While looking through it, you tried to think of which one would best showcase your thoughts on your semi-recent break up. You decided on Get Away. You double clicked the audio file and allowed it to play through the living room speakers.

‘Maybe the fact I got a flight at six, adds to the mystique of what might exist

lurked your Instagram tryna like your pics, I know your girlfriend, she probably might get pissed. It's one o'clock, I've drunk all of this so that's probably why I'm all acting brash.

Maybe some different time our paths will cross and then we'll drink some wine

and we'll fuck and we'll kick it, smoke weed for a minute. You'll end up a verse when I think of a line or when I need a muse on a record just like this one and then when he hears it, he's so amused. He think it's her but it's just fun. I mean really now, it ain't just one

I mean really now, when I jot this it's just a stream of my conscious when I touch on these topics. I’ve got him thinking 'bout when she's topless while we were out on vacations in the tropics that was before we broke apart just like chopsticks. Now I know our past it ain't spotless, nah but we got this. Guys slip away and then find their way inside flows

Guess I could've took that chance I suppose but that's life and the way that shit goes, he knows.

I know we fell out of touch and this probably won't amount to much but if we're trying to get back to where it got away I'mma stay, not about to rush. all the fights and the bouts and such. Your best friend hate it but he doubts a bunch

You make the call, I know I've been gone for long but rainfall after droughts are lush

Shoulda-wouldas always crossed my mind; months passed guess we lost the time like a misplaced watch to be straight up like I sip straight scotch, know I crossed the line

but what if it seems that the dreams we both chase conflict with each other's then there won't be no space to make a home now when you know there's no place. I guess there'll always be a part I won't face, real life and that's why I left with no trace, knew I couldn't answer the "please don't go" face. Know your lifestyle's a slow pace, I like that but right now I feel like my life's a boat race. Yeah it's sad but we're worlds apart but life is short.

Maybe I was made the villain but I'mma save this villain for a song that I might record.’ Your voice blasted through the speakers.

“I like it but it is very telling and personal.” (Y/B/F/N) said.

“Yeah I know it is that’s why I’m not sure if I made the right decision putting this on the album.” You stated your feelings aloud.

“I agree with Brooke it is personal but at the same time you didn’t say a name and no one knows who he is and it makes you seem more human.” (Y/B/F/S/O/N) said agreeing with his fiancee.

“I appreciate your feedback but I still have doubts about it.” You said.

“But dude like I think that’s normal because this is a huge thing for you like you're making a fucking album. You’ve got pressure on you from yourself, your agent, your producers and everyone else. Also, you feel like everything is riding on this.” (Y/B/F/N) said trying to ease your worrying.

“ I do feel that way because I wanna be able to buy my mom, my grandfather, my aunt and uncle and my cousins houses. I wanna make sure my mom doesn’t ever have to work again. I want financial stability. I need to put this pressure on me because I know what I’m capable of and if I push myself hard enough I can get there.” You said.

“I get what you're saying but you’re gonna burn yourself out by worrying yourself too much.” (Y/B/F/S/O/N) stated while (Y/B/F/N) packed a bowl.

“I guess that’s true.” I agreed waiting for (Y/B/F/N) to pass the bong to you.

“Do you care if I invite some friends over? Well, only 2 people.” You asked.

“It’s your place dude.” (Y/B/F/N) managed to say in between coughs.

‘Hey get your ass over here. We’re baking.’ You texted to both Alex and Bill.

‘Whose we?’ Bill texted back almost instantly.

‘Well my best friend and her fiance and if Alex responds him too.’ You texted back.

“Dude, you good?” (Y/B/F/S/O/N) asked after your coughing fit.

“I’m great. I’m about to get fucking lit.” You said still coughing a little as your phone chimed.

‘Send me the address’ Both Alex and Bill texted.

“Whose coming over anyway?” (Y/B/F/N) asked before hitting the bong again.

“Bill and Alex.” You said as though it was nothing.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!! Do you mean two of the Skarsgards?” She shouted.

“Yes, Bill and Alexander Skarsgard. Now please don’t shout I’m right next to you and please don’t fangirl too hard.” You said giving her a look for yelling practically in your ear.

“Okay I won’t but this is so cool. My best friend knows famous people.” She explained herself.

“Well, babe, she’s famous now.” (Y/B/F/S/O/N) chimed in.

“Well I know that but to me she’s my best friend I don’t see her as someone famous because to me she’s my best friend.” She stated.

“Dude, thank you. With me rising to stardom, I was told I need some people who see me as (Y/N) and not (Y/S/N)”

You ended up smoking and shooting the breeze for about 15 minutes before you heard the doorbell ring. You knew who it was but you thought it was weird they rang the bell instead of texting you so you looked through the peephole to make sure it was them before letting them in.

“Smells like weed in here.” Alex said as he walked in with Bill trailing behind.

“Well yeah I mean I did tell you we were baking.” You responded while chuckling.

“So what’re we doing. What's on the agenda?” Bill asked before being handed the bong.

“I’m not really sure. I was thinking maybe we could all go to lunch and then just kickback and watch movies here or something.” You responded.

“That seems like a pretty tame afternoon.” Alex stated.

“Well that’s the plan so yeah.” You responded not really sure what else to say.

“So that sounds good and we should do that but maybe later we could have a little party.” Alex in a quizzical tone.

“How big of a party?” You questioned, wary.

“Just you, your friends, like 3 of my friends and 3 of Bills so 11 people max.” He answered with puppy dog eyes.

“Okay but you’re buying the alcohol and the weed. There’s a dispensary like 10 minutes from here.” You responded causing him to smile and nod.

“So what’re we gonna watch?” Bill asked changing the subject.

“We could watch IT.” (Y/B/F/N) threw out before laughing causing everyone else to laugh.

“I’ve seen it, I think I’m good.” Bill responded while still laughing.

“Ooh, have you seen Rocky Horror Picture Show?” You suggested.

“I have not.” Bill said.

“Well today’s your lucky day, we’re watching that.” You said grabbing the movie.

The rest of the movie was mostly spent with laughs and side chatter. The whole time you noticed Bill glancing at you and you had no idea why. You wanted to ask him but you didn’t want to make yourself seem like an idiot if you was wrong and he wasn’t looking at you. My best friend seemed to notice it too before pulling you into the kitchen while the guys got lost in their conversation.

“Dude, he wants you.” She said quietly

“No, he doesn’t. I barely know him and he’s like I don’t know outta my league.” You responded.

“He is not out of your league,” She said while smacking your arm. “Just because you two barely know each other doesn’t mean he can’t find you attractive. I say go for it and get laid because you could really use it.”

“Listen, I barely have any friend out here. His brother is my friend and I want Bill to be my friend and I’m not about to fuck this up by trying to fuck him.” You responded.

“Well then maybe you could become his friend and then move on to his friend with benefits.” She countered.

“You’re relentless. I’ll be his friend and if something happens then it does but I’m not going to try to convince him to be anything more.” You explained.

[marvel-obsessed-mind]

The Incident

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Word count: 1,532

Warnings: i think there’s one curse word. Secondhand embarrassment.

Summary: ( Hey I was wondering if you could do an imagine where the reader bumps into Peter and she gets coffee on her shirt so she has to wear his sweatshirt to school to cover it up? Or something along the lines of that? And maybe ned and Michelle could think that they're together or something, idk. (oh, and the reader has a HUGE crush on Peter) requested by @dkcoendjehwbd

A/N: I did it! finally posted when i said i would, sort of. It’s 12 something in the morning and I’m tired as hell, but I did it! If this seems choppy, I’m sorry. I forgot how to write fluff.  And this is not proofread. Also, I didn’t add Ned and Michelle. I hope that’s okay! Enjoy!

Spring was your favorite time of year for one reason: the weather. Like today, for example. It was one of the first times this year where you felt like you could comfortably wear a tank top without wanting five other layers keeping you warm.

You happily walked down the street, enjoying the sun on your skin on your way to get some coffee before heading to school, when you saw a familiar mop of brown hair entering the same coffee shop you were heading to.  Oh boy. This is fine. Just act normal, Y/N. You started to panic for a second before you told yourself, you will not freak out just because your crush is going to the same coffee shop as you today.

Shaking it off and make your way into the coffee shop, breathing in the smell delicious coffee as you got in line. You looked at the line in front of you and were happy to find that there were only two people in front of you, one of which included Peter.

You fidgeted as you stood behind Peter, who was currently bopping his head to the beat of the music coming from his headphones, watching in adoration as he started to move his whole body with the music only he could hear. And with the added bonus of him wearing the Midtown sweater today, and him dancing, it made your heart squeeze painfully at the sight.

As much as you had been trying to deny it, you had been seriously crushing on him for the past year, but never got the courage to say anything to him. And you were blissfully unaware that he felt the same about you.

You were so deep in your thoughts that you didn’t notice Peter stepping up to order, or the barista asking you what you wanted. You came back when the person behind you tapped you on the shoulder. You looked in front of you and saw that you were next in line with an annoyed barista. Your face flushed bright red as you mumble an apology to the person behind you. You rushed up to the counter and quickly gave your order, apologizing as you do so.

After a couple minutes, you had your coffee in your hands, and, still embarrassed, you kept your head down as you walked towards the door, unaware that Peter was still in the shop. Unaware of him until you walked right into him managing to spill your coffee onto your tank top with a shout of surprise. Oh god, why me. You thought, gasping from the heat of the coffee on your skin. You quickly looked up and saw that it was Peter that you bumped into. That fact making you want to hide under a rock. And never come out.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry!” You hear Peter exclaim as he spins around, mortified, staring at your soaked shirt.

With a bright red face, you quickly reassure him, “No! No, it was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’m the one that should be apologizing.” You glare down at your shirt, tugging on your shirt with one hand while you went over and put your empty cup in the trash.

“Hey, can you get me some napkins? I gotta try to get this dried out before I get to school.” You ask, starting to freak out because realized what just happened.

“Oh, yeah! Of course! I’ll be right back.” Peter says, rushing off.

As you watch him jog to the napkin dispensary your thoughts start to become increasingly louder and more panicked Did I seriously just spill my coffee, on my shirt, in front of Peter?! Oh my god. You feel your face burning with embarrassment as he comes running back with what looks like enough napkins to fill an entire dispensary. Despite the embarrassment still clutching at your heart, you can’t help but let out a snort of amusement.

“I think I went a little over board with this, but here you go.” Peter hands you the napkins and nervously stands there, feeling like he could be doing something more than just getting you napkins.

“Thank you, Peter.” You mumbled, distracted by the stain on your shirt. Not noticing Peter’s shocked expression. His crush knows his name. His crush knows his name. He purses his lips in an attempt not to smile with that information.

“It’s no use.” You sigh, defeated. You looked at your watch and knew you didn’t have enough time to go back home to change. Damnit.

“Thanks for the help, Peter. Sorry again for bumping into you.” You look down and bit your lip, your good day ruined. “Well, this is gonna annoy me all day” you mutter. Oh well.

You look up and smiling softly at Peter, “Well, I’m gonna go, got school to go to and all that.” And with and awkward head bop, you quickly move to leave and still get to school on time.

You’re just starting to walk down the sidewalk, when you hear Peter call your name.  Eyebrows raised in surprise, you turn around and see peter jogging towards you, sweatshirt off and in his hands.

“H-hey.” Peter stuttered, losing his confidence as he stared into your beautiful eyes. You blush under his intense gaze, “Hi. Is everything okay?” You ask, confused as to why he’d still want to talk to you.

“Um… Y-yeah, I thought you could borrow my sweater for the day?  I figured you didn’t really walk around all day with a big coffee stain on the front of your shirt.” He muses, a little confidence making its way back. Which is the reason he says these words, “Plus I’d be going through the day knowing you’re wearing my sweater.” The second those words make it out of his mouth, he wants to take them back. Why would I say that? Oh my god, she’s going to hate me oh my god. I’m so stupid. WHY. Peter’s mind starts to plague him with thoughts of you hating him. I blew it.

Meanwhile, your mind goes blank for a second because of that comment. Did he really just say that? You try to get a good response together, but end up just making an embarrassing high pitched noise.

You clear your throat and try again, “What?”

You look at Peter’s bright red face as he tries to say something, “It’s just that… Um… you’re very pretty?” he gulps, “AndI’vehadacrushonyouforawhilenowpleasedon’thateme.” He says in one breath, looking down at his feet, internally screaming.

You swear you’re getting whip lash from everything he just revealed, your breathing speeding up.

“What?!” You shriek, oh shit that was out loud. You stare at Peter with wide eyes, “Sorry, could you repeat that?”

You can see Peter’s chest move rapidly as he whispers, “I like you.” He grimaces at you as he waits for your response.

You feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven, and the smile that takes over your face is proof of that.

“Well, that is great news, my friend. Because I like you too!” You watch as Peter deflates with happiness, a smiles gracing his adorable face.

“But… Are you sure about the sweater? I can just suffer through the day without it.” You think about the embarrassment you’ve already gone through in the last 15 minutes… “On second thought, maybe it’s best of I use it for today.” You chuckle.

“Oh, um… Yeah. Here you go.” Handing you his sweater, he shuffles awkwardly, shy in the aftermath of you telling him you like him, he’s not sure what to do.

“Thanks, Pete.” You say as you pull you backpack off to put the sweater on. You inhale as you put it on, dying at the fact that you are putting on Peter Parker’s clothes.  After getting everything situated, you smirk at Peter,  throwing your hands out in a ‘ta-da!’ fashion, “Everything as you hoped it’d be?” Peter blushed, “Shut up.”

You laughed and turned around to walk to school, already prepared for the fact that you’d be late. You look over your shoulder and see that peter was still in the same spot. You called out, “You coming? We got school to get to!” You see Peter shake his head and walk up to where he was in step with you, smile still on his face.

After a, slightly awkward, silence, you decide to address something, “ So, Peter… what are you doing  tonight? Would you be interested in trying out this new Thai place by my place?” slightly shocked at the confidence you had, you stared at the ground in front of you, a confused expression on your face.

You could feel Peter’s eyes burning a hole in your head as he processed what you said. “Yeah! I’d love to, Y/N. We’ll work out the details later?”

Your eyes darted to his, and you bit your lip, in an attempt to stay calm, “Awesome. That sounds good to me.”

With that settled, you both relaxed and headed to school, talking about anything that came to mind.

Today wasn’t as ruined as originally you thought.  

TAGLIST: @thatspiderbaby @captaincalliemae @baka-chanismyname @babyfairybaekhyun @trickyholland @digicharr @mamanewta5 @artsysad

[violetsystems]

#personal

If you haven’t really noticed already I’m a creature of habit and schedule.  Which is probably why I’m back here writing this morning.  Mostly because I feel like I have some constructive things to talk and open up about.  Emotions aside they can be too easily manipulated sometimes.  Everything I put out there gets manipulated in some way or another.  It’s whether or not you feel you are respected or not.  And lashing out at one thing can suffocate the atmosphere in other realms.  That’s a long difficult talk that I’ve had over and over again on here for years.  How I have to keep an open channel but it gets jammed frequently.  It’s been a lot more quiet lately.  There have been some changes in my life in the last couple of weeks on vacation.  More money for one but less at the same time.  I live inside of a monthly spreadsheet for personal finances so none of it really matters.  I have goals.  I spend a lot less but I budget everything out I need.  I think with the stability I’ve carved out for myself I worry less about the future in that regard.  I have a job.  It sucks sometimes.  This city can be a beast but it’s far less confrontational than New York.  My dad often says that the same problems you find in a job you will find anywhere.  He also kind of gave me the advice to stay the course and keep doing what I am doing.  I’m already prepared for the bullshit here.  I already know where I want to be.  Neither of my parents know specifically what my plans or dreams are.  They know I travel to New York now instead of overseas.  But the specifics are frustratingly hazy.  They never pry too deeply.  Which is why i love them both.  I took my mom out for lunch yesterday in Chinatown.  She took the train and I met her at the stop.  We ate roujiamo at the usual spot.  I told her if I ever travelled alone again internationally it would be to China.  She replied that I could also visit Hong Kong and say hello to my cousin.  I told her I’d rather stay away from the drama even though it’s still China all the same.  I would probably hit up Shanghai and Macau.  The only two places I’ve been in China alone for any period of time.  I spent a day in Macau once.  I ate Indian food at this restaurant alone just before hopping the ferry back to Hong Kong.  The owner sent the server over to invite me to join her and her son at the table.  It’s a moment of kindness that sticks with me to this day.  I was in a tank top covered with tattoos.  Knowing where you are valued for just being you and knowing where you fit in is a sanctuary in and of itself.  Lately I feel like I finally do have a reason to stay in Chicago.  Even if it’s just to paint the walls of my apartment which hasn’t been touched for over a decade.  Kind of like my personal life.  

For the record I’ve spent my time alone getting my shit together.  Chicago is cheaper in the long run.  You wouldn’t know it from the taxes.  I was in line at the dispensary and this guy behind me was remarking how shitty the experience was for him.  I couldn’t tell if he was an op or an undercover.  That’s why I always stay measured and positive in my responses to people i don’t know in public.  I said Chicago as a city made 3.2 million in sales the first day.  Colorado as a state in 2014 made 1 million in taxable revenue.  There aren’t very many places to purchase right now.  So if you believe in taxation with representation I think the future looks bright.  The medical dispensary does not sell flower right now to reserve for its medical patients.  I believe that’s fair.  I also believe it’s not a good idea to abuse the medical system when recreational is getting its feet on the ground.  I also know big Marijuana exists and lives in a mansion outside of the city.  Illinois has been fairly good about being mindful of the social justice aspect of the transition.  But things are still a bit messy and deceptively capitalist.  I bought a small jar of candies to try.  You could only buy one.  It doesn’t really change much in my situation.  It does give me options.  It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t act responsibly.  The ambiguity is still there.  It’s in running distance.  It’s in a weird industrial medical district about a mile from my house.  I run past the FBI building to get there.  I flicked the sign off yesterday without a second thought.  They should already know where I live by now.  I’ve been on the same schedule for years.  And frankly I’m through taking shit from anyone from here on forward.  I’m sure there’s no hard feelings.  Just hard candy.  Life in Chicago for me has been harder than normal.  I stop complaining and started living it.  I don’t go out and yet everyone knows who I am.  I should rephrase it that I don’t go out to clubs.  I don’t drink anymore.  New Year’s was pretty quiet.  Most of my friends spent them with their significant others.  I spent New Year’s day throwing out trash.  People keep saying my space feels larger than it did.  I bought another larger litter box for my cat.  She hops out of it now like a princess.  If someone were to show up at my door without notice it wouldn’t be a big deal.  If the love of my life simply teleported into my living room I’d be ready for them.  But really finding stability in a chaotic world is hard for anyone.  There’s people that find stability boring and they probably don’t read anything of what I write.  I walk outside of this apartment and it’s a little like Pulp Fiction on overload sometimes.  I’m a little less overwhelmed by all of it but it is exhausting.  Which is why I spend more time on my home and making it more livable.  It feels a lot more like New York these days.  Which I’ll be back to near my birthday.  I haven’t celebrated it really for years.  I got a call from an alderman wishing me well in New York last year during fashion week.  Truth be told I hardly ever leave our political ward.  Just like I don’t spend my time where it’s not appreciated.  

A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes.  You can probably apply the same thinking to brand loyalty.  But being more mindful of how and where you spend your time and money can yield interesting results.  I do think people worry less about me these days.  The idea of being too risky can make a lot of people uneasy.  It can also attracts some real shit shows.  Just like our president tried to push brand America, there’s something to be said of brands New York and Chicago.  I might even stretch it to include Los Angeles and Oakland.  But the truth is Chicago has become far more diverse than I had ever expected it to become.  For all the talk of murder and guns, our homicide rate is down for the third year in a row.  I live in Pilsen which is a predominantly hispanic neighborhood.  Chinatown is right next to us.  So is the medical district.  I walk all over the place on foot.  I never really feels unsafe.  Sometimes I feel bothered.  On my block people mind their own business.  But you have to be approachable.  And you have to adapt.  Then there’s the trick of knowing when to walk away.  If it sounds maddening and frustrating it is.  But I don’t really show it.  People keep talking about finesse and how somehow I need more of it.  And then people keep stealing my style and ideas and pretending I don’t exist.  Everyone except a small pocket of resistance that likes to wear pink gear around me.  It’s like I operate in my own little area of authority.  I always call it an aura of accountability.  I’ve made some sacrifices in my life to be a good person and get passed over.  But these days I feel like people understand the logic of why.  That being said people are still intimidated by me.  I wonder sometimes if that’s my own fault.  I do have a lot of bullshit to navigate.  People never seem to leave me alone.  Often I imagine I’m just some character in a movie when I leave the house.  Not like the lead role.  I blend into the background.  I have my role and my lines.  I don’t veer too much away from the NPC dialog tree.  I stick to the main quest line and grind my reputation with hidden factions.  I also play a lot of World of Warcraft on the side.  I can’t say that life totally sucks although I really wish I could share it with someone.  I kind of already do.  Why would I still be writing if I didn’t?  I don’t know what any of it means.  I’m completely in the dark about everything.  Everything except my finances and mental peace.  Staying in between the lines and not crossing them is tricky.  Especially when people step on your toes every chance you get.  I spent a lot of time making a space for myself where the only toes getting stepped on are my own.  Mostly by my cat.  She adds a lot to the space.  I feel less angsty and a little less bored.  Today I felt inspired enough to write about it.  Probably won’t check in for a couple of weeks.  Just going to lock myself up in this ward and play it safe.  There’s enough politics here to keep me busy without worrying about the rest of the world’s sovereignty and secret wars.  <3 Tim

[politicoscope]

Why America Has For Years Been Waging Economic War Against Venezuela

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/why-america-has-for-years-been-waging-economic-war-against-venezuela/

Why America Has For Years Been Waging Economic War Against Venezuela

Venezuela is America’s current target for mass destabilization in the hope of installing a puppet government. America has for years been waging an economic war against Venezuela, including debilitating sanctions which have dramatically affected the state’s ability to purchase medicines, and even mundane replacement parts needed in buses, ambulances, etc. Alongside the economic war there has been a steady propaganda war, but in recent months, the propaganda has escalated dramatically, from corporate media to US political figures.

Venezuela is described as “the country pilots are refusing to fly to,” as per a March 18, 2019, AP article on American Airlines cancelling all flights to Venezuela, containing scary phrases like “safety concerns” and “civil unrest.”

On March 9, American cancelled my Miami-Caracas flight on the basis that there wasn’t enough electricity to land at Caracas airport. Strangely enough, the Copa flight I took the following day after an overnight in Panama had no problem landing, nor did Copa flights on the day of my own cancelled flight, according to Copa staff.

The cancellation of flights to Venezuela then lends legitimacy to the shrill tweets of Marco Rubio, Mike Pence, John Bolton, and the previously unknown non-president, Juan Guaido.

I’ve been in various areas of Caracas since March 10, and I’ve seen none of this “civil unrest” that corporate media are talking about. I’ve walked around Caracas, usually on my own, and haven’t experienced the worry for my safety corporate media is telling Westerners they should suddenly feel more than normal in Venezuela.

In fact, I see little difference from the Venezuela I knew in 2010 when I spent half a year here, except the hyperinflation is absurdly worse and in my absence I missed the years of extreme right-wing opposition supporters street violence – a benign term for the guarimbas which saw opposition supporters burning people alive, among other violence against people and security.

So it strikes me that the decision of American Airlines to stop flying to Venezuela is not about safety and security issues, but is political, in line with increasingly hollow rhetoric about a humanitarian crisis that does not exist, even according to former UN Special Rapporteur, Alfred de Zayas.

I asked Paul Dobson, a journalist who has lived in Venezuela the last 14 years, if anything like this had happened before. Turns out it has, also at a very timely moment.

“At the time of the National Constituent Assembly elections, July 30, 2017, the major airlines – including Air France, United, American, pretty much all of the European airlines – suspended their flights one day before the elections, citing “security reasons.” Most of the services were reopened about four days after the elections, some of them two weeks after the elections.”

So were there ‘security concerns? I asked Paul.

“This was towards the end of street violence (guarimbas) that had been going on for six months in the country. Why didn’t they suspend their activity six months before, two months before? They did it the day before the elections, clearly trying to influence votes and the way that people see their country internationally. There were no extra security concerns that day than any day over the last 6 months. So, there was really no justification for it. And it caused massive problems on the ground, around elections.”

America manufactures crises; Venezuelans respond with calm On February 23, a month after a previously largely-unknown, US-backed man named Juan Guaido claimed he was the president of Venezuela, there was a short-lived period of instability at the Venezuelan border with Colombia, when America insisted on forcing aid trucks into Venezuela.

Nicolas Maduro

Aid trucks that burned that day were the result of attacks of masked young men on the Colombian side, and not from the Venezuelan military as western corporate media and Marco Rubio would have you believe. Less-known is that the ‘aid trucks’ contained very odd humanitarian aid, including nails and wire.

Were their fake concerns genuine, the US could have done what Cuba, China, and Russia, among others, have done and send the aid through appropriate channels, like the UN and the Red Cross. America’s attempt to ram trucks through Venezuela’s border has been revealed as the cheap propaganda stunt that it was.

A couple of weeks later, suddenly there was a very timely country-wide power outage for six days, affecting most things in Venezuelan infrastructure and life, a reality that Palestinians in Gaza have been living since at least 2006 when Israel bombed their sole power plant, never since allowing them to import the parts needed to adequately repair it.

When I lived in Gaza, I grew accustomed to outages of 16-22 hours a day, for months on end. Near-daily sustained 18 plus hour power outages continue in Gaza, but that’s not something the regime-change squad were or are outraged about.

Western media coverage of the blackout was tabloidesque, claiming without any proof whatsoever that 300 people had died due to the outage, portraying Venezuelans collecting water from a spring at the Guaire river in Caracas as collecting dirty sewage water, looting (which actually occurred in the Western border city of Maracaibo and not in Caracas, unless there were localized and unreported incidents), and in general blaming the Maduro government for everything under the moon.

Talking with journalists of Mision Verdad, an independent Venezuelan investigative news site, I learned that one of the targets of looting was a mall in Maracaibo, where electronics were the items of choice, not food. Another incident reportedly involved looting beer and soft drinks. Odd behaviour for a starving people in a humanitarian crisis.

When I arrived three days into the outage, aside from darkened buildings, empty streets, and in following days long lines at water dispensaries and ATMs, I saw no instability. Instead, I saw and learned of Venezuelans working together to get through the drastic effects of the power outage.

I learned at the Ministry of Urban Agriculture of how they took vegetables and crops to hospitals and schools during the electricity outage, but also of how urban agriculture has become an act of resistance in a climate of war and fake news. At a circular plot next to a social housing block I saw young men and women working the land, bursts of lettuces, herbs, beetroots, spinach, and peppers, as well as plots still being planted.

At the Fabricio Ojeda commune, in Catia—a western Caracas barrio of over 1 million people—residents spoke of the 17 tons of produce they generated a few years ago, then sold in the community at prices 30-50% lower than the average market price.

One of the commune leaders spoke of raising rabbits as an affordable, and easy to maintain, source of protein.

“We’re trying to achieve self sustainability of this produce, for the community. This is what we’re doing against the economic war,” he said.

Two days ago, visiting the Caracas barrios of Las Brisas, I asked Jaskeherry, head of a colectivo (organized group of people) how the community had managed during the power outage.

“We had a contingency plan with all the colectivos in the area to organize ourselves to help the people. My fridge is connected to a power bank. The community brought their meat here and I stored it. We brought a cistern here. Around 300 families were benefiting from this. Each community has their own colectivo that does things like this to help out.”

I’ve heard from several different people here that one reason for the lack of chaos is that Venezuelans have already dealt with US-instigated crises, and have learned to remain calm at such times, surely to the dismay of US pot-stirrers who hoped for scenes of chaos, the pretext to US intervention.

Manufactured poverty; Support from & for government I’ve gone into a number of smaller and large supermarkets in the lower middle-class areas of Caracas, and in it’s upper middle-class regions of Chacao and Altimira. There is food, including luxury items, which Venezuela’s poor can’t afford.

And in some stores there are said to be empty shelves, although I haven’t yet seen this.The policies of private companies —including the largest, Polar, whose CEO opposition supporters wanted him to run against Maduro in the last elections – to hoard goods and create false shortages is well known. That said, this theme that there is no food is one continually pumped by Western corporate media, along with the “humanitarian crisis” claim.

To help the poorest, the government initiated a food box delivery program known by its acronym, CLAP, wherein organized communities distribute government subsidized food to 6 million of Venezuela’s poorest families.

The system is not perfect, and I’ve heard complaints of boxes being late in reaching some communities. However, I’ve been told—including by a woman I interviewed yesterday who herself works in CLAP distribution—that problems lie in corruption on a local level, individuals in communities not distributing fairly or evenly.

Hotheads like Marco Rubio, and script reading corporate media, try to maintain that President Maduro has little support. But massive rallies of support, and a notable absence of opposition rallies of recent, counter that propaganda.

On March 16, for two hours I walked with Venezuelans at their anti-Imperialist, pro-government march, filming them, speaking with them, hearing person after person insist on their support for their elected president, Maduro.

Many or most of those marching were from Caracas’ poorest communities, the darker skinned, Afro-descendant Venezuelans that are scarcely given a voice by corporate media, almost certainly because they are ardent supporters of the government and Bolivarian revolution.

When I asked about their feelings of corporate media coverage of Venezuela, people told me it wasn’t depicting the reality, “they make it up, it’s all lies, all lies. The only president we recognize is Nicolas Maduro. And we want this man, Juan Guaido, to be arrested immediately”.

A young tax lawyer told me:

“We’re here to support our (Bolivarian) project. We don’t want any war. We want medicine for our people—we don’t want sanctions from any government that prevent us from purchasing medicine. It’s very difficult for us to bring what’s needed for our people.”

Leaving the still crowded demonstration, I went towards Caracas’ eastern districts, hoping to attend one of the three or four opposition actions that a local journalist told me they had been tweeting about. None panned out.

A few days later, I went to Bellas Artes metro, the same scenario transpired, I couldn’t find the opposition protest that I’d heard was planned. Eventually, in front of the National Assembly, I did film between 15-20 well-dressed men and women not doing much other than standing around. Eventually, most passed by security and onto the premises. I didn’t hear them issue, or attempt to issue, any opposition statement, nor was there any violence from or against them.

A mass of government supporters arrived on motorbikes. A nearby man told me that these women and men on bikes had come to preserve the peace. He said that opposition had said they would stage a provocation (his words match what the local journalist told me, based on tweets to that effect from opposition/supporters), and that the pro-government bikers were not going to allow that to happen.

Height of hypocrisy and irony; US to ensure ‘foreign influences are not controlling Venezuela’ The US has been forcibly exerting its foreign influence over Venezuela for years, to the detriment of the Venezuelan people it crocodile-tear purports to care about. Most Western corporate media do not mention the manifold adverse effects of the immoral sanctions imposed on Venezuela.

At the end of January, UN human rights expert Idriss Jazairy denounced the sanctions, clearly noting they are, “aimed at changing the government of Venezuela,” and that, “Coercion, whether military or economic, must never be used to seek a change in government in a sovereign state.”

On top of this, America recently withheld US$5 billion intended for the purchase of medicines and raw materials used in medical production, Venezuelanalysis reported, after already freezing numerous Venezuelan assets, apparently holding them for their groomed puppet would-be president, Juan Guaido.

Unsurprisingly, John Bolton recently again menaced Venezuela, reiterating Trump’s, “all options are on the table,” military intervention threat and as though hallucinating blathered on about foreign influence and Venezuela and keeping the Imperialist Monroe Doctrine alive.

In a meeting with the US Peace Council delegation in mid-March, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, spoke of the openly-hostile US leadership.

“When you have such an administration saying almost every single day, ‘all the options are on the table.’ And they say the military option is not discarded, then we have to be prepared for all of the options.

We told Mr.Elliott Abrams, ‘the coup has failed, so now what are you going to do?’ He kind of nodded and said, ‘Well, this is going to be a long term action, then, and we are looking forward to the collapse of your economy.’”

Elliott Abrams

President Maduro, in a meeting with the delegation, told us:

“We do not want foreign military intervention. Venezuelan people are very proud of the national independence. These people surrounding president Trump—John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Marco Rubio, Elliott Abrams —every single day on Twitter, these guys are tweeting about Venezuela. Not about the US, the American people…they have an obsession with Venezuela, like a fatal obsession with Venezuela. This is extremely dangerous, and we need to denounce it and make it stop.”

Having written extensively about the war propaganda and Imperialist rhetoric around Syria over the past eight years, this obsession is very familiar. As Alfred de Zayas, said in a recent interview:

“If you call Maduro corrupt, people will gradually believe, he must be somewhat corrupt. But nobody reminds you that corruption in Venezuela in the 1980s and 90s – before Chavez, before Maduro – was rampant. The press is focusing only on Maduro, because the name of the game is to topple him.”

We’re seeing Syria (and Libya, Iraq…) all over again. The demonization of the leadership of a country America wants to dominate. The absurd rhetoric steaming daily from corporate owned media, pretty much in chorus. The troll army ready to attack with an energetic vitriol on social media anyone who dares to present a non-Imperialist perspective. And most worrisome, the acts of terrorism intended to hurt the people and incriminate the government.

Sadly, it seems the United States is ready to stoop to the same dirty tactics it and allies used against Syria over the past eight years: backing and collaborating with terrorists to attack the state. Indeed, last night while trying to finish this article, the power cut and remains off in many areas of the country.

Earlier this week, Information and Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez tweeted that the cause of this recent outage was an attack at the Guri Hydro complex, Venezuela’s central hydroelectric power plant and transmission area.

By today, electricity has partially been restored to Caracas.

I spent much of this afternoon riding on the back of a motorbike around Petare. The district is known as the largest “slum” in Latin America, an extended series of barrios, and is one of Caracas’ poorest and most dangerous areas. Wherever we rode, I looked for the humanitarian crisis corporate media insists exists. Instead, I found vegetables, fruit, chicken and food basics sold wherever I went, from the main square to hillside barrio of 5 of July (5 Julio).

On the hillside of Avila, the mountain overlooking Caracas, I saw at intervals while riding lines of people collecting spring water in jugs since the power outage has affected water distribution. I also saw lines of tankers, being organized by the municipality and with the military, to distribute water around the city and country. A chart listed over twenty hospitals designated to receive water.

The Venezuelan government has accused America of being behind both the March 7 outage and this week’s, stating the former was a combination of cyber, electromagnetic and physical attacks on the power grids (like the alleged secret US plan to do the same to Iran’s grid), and the latter a direct physical attack on the Guri complex, causing a fire at three transformers.

Clearly, the goal of such attacks is to create so much suffering and frustration among the public that there is chaos, and a “needed” US intervention.

The chaos has not happened, the people have refused it.

RT

[theherblifeblog]

Spotlight Series: Katie Stem, Peak Extracts

Katie and her business partner Kate started Peak in 2014. Katie had been a medical cannabis user for ten years at that point, using cannabis to make infused chocolate to help her manager her Crohn’s symptoms. She knew that specific cultivars provided the results she was looking for while others didn’t so much, she wanted to create single strain specific products for other patients in the Oregon medical market. They transitioned to the adult use market in 2016 and were one of the first edibles processors licensed in the state.

Katie is also a Chinese herbalist and has developed a formula for a product called Rescue Rub which is said to help with everything from neuropathy to muscle strains to healing tattoos. The Peak Extracts chocolate bars are made with local, pesticide-free cannabis and gourmet 70% dark chocolate couverture. They are vegan, gluten-free and rich in antioxidants. Designed to deliver a unique, full-spectrum cannabis experience, Pure Peak CO2 Oil features Terp-lockTM, a proprietary process, and top-quality ceramic, glass and stainless-steel cartridges.

You can connect with Katie and Kate at Peak Extracts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

How did you get involved in the cannabis industry?

The Oregon medical marijuana community was still pretty small when I got my card in 2005 to manage my Crohn’s disease. It was a tight knit group here in Portland and we did a lot of experimenting and sharing recipes. I began making strain-specific infused chocolates in 2006, and I realized immediately that some strains were fantastic for my pain and nausea but others were not. In 2014, my girlfriend Kate and I decided to start our business in the medical market, and invested in our first CO2 extractor. Our company did well selling chocolates and topicals to the medical dispensaries, and then when it went legal here we decided to expand further. We were the first licensed edibles manufacturer in the recreational market in 2016, and have been very busy ever since.

Tell us a little bit about your product or service

We take in material from local farms selected based on their values, quality product and growing practices, and turn it into a variety of strain-specific products. Our chocolate bars are made from gourmet 70% dark couverture and are divided into a rainbow of effects, color-coded based on whether they are indica or sativa dominant, and “bright” or “heavy.” We also have a line of terpene-rich tinctures and vape cartridges, also strain specific, so people can have the utmost control over their experience. Rescue Rub is our topical, developed during my years as a practicing Chinese herbalist. It contains 12 herbs plus cannabis, and is designed to treat trauma, pain, and inflammation.

What time does your day typically start and what does a normal day look like to you?

We usually start working at 8am, since the factory gets going at 8:30, it’s nice to get a head start. We have 10 employees and make thousands of units of product every week, and service around 150 accounts. That means that my partner and I do a lot of different jobs, so it seems like no two days are the same. My days are usually filled with managing product flow/inventory, sourcing material for extraction, doing design work for our ever-changing packaging and labels, and managing our sales and extraction staff. Kate and I communicate several times a day, as she oversees production on the factory floor, and packing orders for delivery. It’s literally never dull. Although the factory shuts down between 5-6pm, we usually have a few more hours of work to prepare for the next day. We often take a long walk and go over our day, and then do clerical, social media or design work until 9pm or later. Anyone who’s ever run a small business knows that the work is never finished, but having control over such an exciting and dynamic process is a fine reward.

What is your vision for your company going forward?

We are going to continue expanding our product line and reach into other states. We’re about to roll out some exciting hemp-based products, and we’re hoping to expand into Kate’s home state of Michigan later this summer. Our vision is to continue to offer the best quality product with the most customizable effects. As we move beyond Oregon, consumer education is going to be paramount. Not many other states have cannabis as entrenched into their culture, and we are excited to engage with a new wave of consumers that can benefit from all cannabis has to offer.

What would an ideal post prohibition society look like to you?

Cannabis was used for millennia as a medicinal tool, and I would like to see it available in a variety of forms to suit everyone’s unique needs. Much like all mainstream categories of packaged goods, I hope that there will be room for both craft, high end products and cheap, readily available ones. Oregon and Northern California have the perfect natural conditions to supply the world with the finest possible cannabis, and I would love to have that be our niche market, much like Bordeaux with wine. I’m hoping that in the next few years, cannabis will be legal nationwide, allowing our company to expand without having to have a new facility in each state.

What was your first experience with cannabis like?

I was one of the last of my peers in high school to try cannabis. I would hang out with them while they were stoned and act like Lassie— herding them away from danger and towards the snacks. I was 17 when I smoked for the first time, with my drama teacher. We were on this magical stretch of the Snake River Canyon, and we hiked for hours and talked about philosophy, spirituality and nature. It was a high bar to set for all future experiences and I’m grateful I got such a spectacular introduction.

Tell us about some of the challenges you face working in the cannabis industry

The biggest challenges have been around changing for unreasonable regulations. It was very difficult to get a permit to use our extraction system within the Portland city limits, exacerbated by the fact that at the time we had an all-female staff. They assumed that as women, we couldn’t possibly know how to run such a large (and loud!) piece of equipment. Banking has been another giant hurdle. Luckily, we do have a bank account now, but it requires a hefty monthly maintenance fee, quarterly audit and a three hour drive to make a deposit. I’m hoping that soon both banking and the draconian 280E taxation will be resolved.

What are some solutions you've found?

I’ve found it’s best just to channel my inner labrador retriever, and not get flustered by the thrice daily “cannamergencies” — abruptly changing packaging rules, sexist inspectors, etc. We’ve learned to pivot with ease, and to not become discouraged when we hear the word “no,” unless it’s something unethical or illegal, of course. And as for the sexist inspectors, we have male friends that are willing to come in and pretend to work for our company to assuage them. It’s upsetting how often we’ve had to resort to that play.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about cannabis?

Your response to cannabis will be affected by your own individual endocannabinoid system, which in turn is shaped by genetics, time of day, past illness, and even past antibiotic use. Not only that, but each strain of cannabis has its own unique effects. It’s literally infinitely customizable to the experience you want to create, and we have more control than we think!

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about your product or service?

Our dedication to strain specificity and terpene retention sets us apart in the market as a company that can provide consumers with unparalleled control over their cannabis experience.

If you could go back in time and do it all over again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

There are a couple of our products I wish I had released years before we did, such as our tinctures. I had no idea the demand, or the utility for me personally.

What is your favorite way to consume cannabis?

Ironically, our newest product is the one I use the most, our strain-specific tincture. I love to combine them to achieve different effects. For instance, we have an amazing Bright Sativa 23:1 CBD tincture that I use during the day, and add a couple drops of the heavy indica 2:1 tincture for pain as needed. It’s long lasting, delicious, and as we expand our line there will be even more varieties to experiment with in combination.

Concentrate or flower? Why?

I mostly use our vape pens these days, although I could never give up flower vaporized in my vintage volcano. Our CO2 oil is delicious and as I curate the strain collection, I always have access to my favorites. I also find I have less issue with allergies because any molds or mildew are eliminated by the extraction process. The only disadvantage is that it’s vaporized at a higher temperature, which will damage some of the more delicate compounds that make each strain unique.

Do you think cannabis legalization will change the world for the better? Why?

Carl Sagan characterized cannabis as an introspective drug, and I agree that it has an enormous potential to counteract some of the unsavory aspects in our current social climate. People in pain, emotional and physical, tend to be more selfish and reactive. Cannabis eases so many conditions and brings calm and relief, as well as a shift in perspective. I’m hoping that we will use this powerful tool to fight against suffering and lack of compassion, and cannabis will usher in a kinder, more thoughtful society.

What advice would you offer to another woman who is looking to get into the industry?

Don’t give up when someone says you can’t do something! Find some trusted allies in the industry and have regular meetings with them about what you’re learning. Try not to be too protective or proprietary— I’ve found that the more I share, the more I learn about possible flaws in my thinking or process. It’s a brand new industry, and we’re all going to grow together very fast.

[cascadeliclavlyf]

Loud Thoughts

The Hot Box Hero is back, baby! The smoke has cleared and your boy has manifested a college degree somehow throughout the haze of being an East Anchorage mobber. It’s been awhile since I hit you with the depths of the pothead world so watch out, we got much to discuss.

First off, I’m seeing more and more dispensaries popping up all over town except for in my region, the eastside. It’s like they know how crackin’ a dispo would be out there and don’t want to see the east winning man. Shout out EA legend Josh Boots though, soon the fire will be supplied.

In other news, the hero has set a new record for the least amount of change to get a Swisher Sweet from Holiday: Seventy Eight cents. Now don’t dismiss this as something that doesn’t take talent; you must have some real skill to pull this off. You go up to the counter with all your change; hopefully you have a lot of pennies, too, because that will discourage the cashier and make it more time consuming. They already have a lot to worry about, a large line of burnouts, knocks in the bathroom getting high, shitty kids trying to shoplift like it isn’t obvious — Holiday is one of the hottest public places in the city.

This time I was at the Debarr Holiday, which is top-notch with the fuck shit. Anyways, I went in there with my seventy eight cents with the goal of getting a ninety-nine cent Swisher. I already had to work a lot of god-like magic just to find this change all over my house, cuz’ I ain’t smokin’ no joint, hittin’ no bong — none of that shit, I’m smoking a fucking blunt! So, after you dump the change on the counter and act like this is the first time you’ve counted this change, you start doing the pocket pat down, like, damn, you could of swore you had more change on you. What happened? After that, if they aren’t completely fed up and ready to just hand you the Swisher, you decide to charge the rest on your card, damn well knowing that your account is in the negatives and your about to get declined for twenty-one cents in front of all these top-notch citizens in line. If all these tactics haven’t worked, your last move is go out to the car to grab change, you know, because.. there’s a cup full of change you overlooked on your way in there, right? So you go out there and pretend to look for change, find nothing and come back devastated by lack of change to get what you want — the Swisher.

This isn’t something you can try everywhere. For instance, I tried to do this at a local smoke n’ gift on Boniface and the Asian lady who ran the shop was not having it. She instantly was wondering where the other sixty-seven cents was for the two-pack. She’s trying to get every dollar for her wholesale tobacco that probably costs her next-to-nothing. I walked out and went up the street to get on a session when I quickly realized that I dropped my wallet in the parking lot. I went back to find the wallet gone, but not without looking completely burnt the fuck out wandering all over the parking lot and going into the shop multiple times to question the lady in the store. This is what my life has come to: a lost wallet investigation in a Boniface strip mall, pressing hard skepticism on an old Asian lady who thinks I’m crazy as shit. The wallet was found and I was contacted on Facebook about it, but the whole fiasco had me really questioning whether I should be smoking as much weed as I do.

That questioning continues to this day, and I continue to burn heavy. My job prospects with my college degree are being hindered as well as my presentation as a citizen in the “normal world” as I’m almost turning the corner into my thirties. One thing remains though: my happiness. Maybe I’m gassed out — who knows? But I will never let society dictate how I want to live.

Speaking of gas, here’s another one out the Hot Box Hero vault. I went to go smoke with the homie on my birthday and my tank was on E. I’d been heavy mobbin’ off the rippery. So, I go to park my car on this incline and let the session commence when I realized that I would not be able to start my car when I came back and I was blocked in to get my car to flat ground. What the fuck am I doing with my life? I really am, “The King of Burnt.” The story gets better, or more “gassed up” as one would say. After making some calls and getting a friend to bring me gas I finally got a hold of the guy whose car was blocking me in and was able to get my car started and off the incline. Being me and the fact that I was coming off a fat dutchie, I wasn’t thinking straight and just threw the gas can in the car splashing gasoline all over my blazer.

The next day my car reeked like gas, pure fumes coming from the floor mats. The hot box hero doesn’t stop though and soon I found myself wondering why the fuck I was so high in my car. I think you get the gist of it — the Huffington Post cutty. Someone please save me from myself, or get me a gram of Honey Banana Kush, something to take the edge off this headache. I’m gassed up literally!

[jazminhupp]

CannaInsider Podcast Interview with Jazmin Victoria Hupp

In this podcast from 2015, I share all the information on why women will be successful at running cannabis businesses and how to get started.

Key Takeaways: 1:25 – What is Women Grow 2:47 – Jazmin talks about how Women Grow came about 4:30 – The different areas in the cannabis industry in which women can get involved 5:41 – Can women get in the industry if cannabis isn’t legal in their state yet 7:03 – Jazmin talks about Lobby Days 9:44 – Jazmin talks about women’s purchasing decisions in cannabis 10:39 – How do you make cannabis products women friendly 13:26 – How will Women Grow evolve over the next few years 14:48 – Jazmin explains what a Women Grow event is like 17:32 – Success story of Women Grow 18:41 – Women Grow sponsorship opportunities 19:59 – Jazmin talks about her key takeaways from her travels around the country 22:34 – Contact details for Women Grow

  Full Transcript

Matthew: Hi, I’m Matthew Kind. Every Monday and Wednesday look for a fresh episode where I’ll take you behind the scenes and interview the leaders of the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com. That’s www.cannainsider.com. Are you looking for a fulfilling and lucrative career in the cannabis industry? Visit www.cannainsider.com/careers. That’s www.cannainsider.com/careers. Now here’s your program.

Women Grow connects, educates and empowers cannabis industry leaders by creating community and events for aspiring and current business executives. I am pleased to welcome Jazmin Hupp, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Women Grow to CannaInsider today. Welcome Jazmin.

Jazmin: Thank you so much for having me.

Matthew: Sure. To give us a sense of geography where are you today?

Jazmin: I am mostly based out of a suitcase. Today I am in New York City. Women Grow was founded in Denver. The majority of our national staff are there, but I have bases in New York City and San Francisco, but I’m mostly on the road. We have chapters operating in 20 cities, and my goal is to visit every city at least once a year.

Matthew: Wow. For listeners that may not have heard of Women Grow in the past, can you just give us a high level overview of what it is?

Jazmin: Sure. Women Grow is a professional networking organization that supports female leaders in all segments of the cannabis industry. Our goal, as you said, is to connect, educate and empower women to lead America’s fastest growing industry. Our largest program is the signature networking events which our held on the first Thursday of every month in 20 cities across the country. We also hold cooperative events with the top conferences, host webinars, publish a lot of content. And on February 12th we recently brought together 76 women in cannabis in Washington, D.C. Then I flew to San Francisco, held an event for 200 entrepreneurs and investors called Creating Cannabis Products for Women featuring 6 of the top female cannabis business owners in the Bay Area. And then I went to the Emerald Triangle and met with women organizing in Humboldt. That’s a pretty typical month for me in Women Grow.

Matthew: Jazmin you’re so lazy. We’re going to have to talk to somebody about that.

Jazmin: Of course.

Matthew: Now I want to rewind a little bit. I want to talk about the, you know, making cannabis products more friendly to women, but I want to rewind a little bit to back in the very beginning with you and Jane. What was the impetus to start Women Grow? What was the conversation you were having with Jane, and how did women grow spark? What was the first spark where you said we got to do this?

Jazmin: Sure. And you’ve interviewed Jane before so I will have to reference your listeners to her edition to get her perspective on it because of course it’s a little different from mine. But Women Grow was announced at NCIA’s national conference last June by Jane, and I was sitting in the audience. Jane had organized the top women business owners in Colorado who wanted more women to join the industry but had run out of steam to do it in their spare time.

She had been producing events for international organizations like UNICEF and G Medical. I had launched six businesses before this and had about a decade of practice in branding and communications. And I had been working with an organization called Women 2.0 based in the Bay Area. And Women 2.0’s mission was to get an equal amount of venture capital funding for women in technology, and I had helped Women 2.0 from grow from the Bay Area to do events in 6 countries for about 100,000 entrepreneurs. But even after 9 years of Women 2.0 only about 4% to 6% of venture capital funding goes to women which severely limits the types of technology products we see on the market. The script for how technology funding worked had already been written and it wasn’t inclusive. Coincidentally Jane had fashioned the Women Grow launch after Women 2.0. So we decided it was meant to be and started collaborating right away.

Matthew: Great idea. Now there are a lot of different areas under the cannabis umbrella where women can get involved, but they may not be aware of all the different ways they can get involved in the cannabis industry. Could you name a few to help add some color around that?

Jazmin: Sure. Well your audience is probably a lot more sophisticated about the types of cannabis businesses out there because you’re interviewing all these great people. But a lot of people start out thinking that there’s only two jobs in cannabis. Either you’re producing cannabis products or you’re selling them. And the truth is that this is a multibillion dollar industry with dozens of different specialties.

Some of the areas that I don’t see a lot of competition in, but I think women are particularly great at are cloning banks, trim crew services, HR services, marketing and training. We have a webinar that should be available by the time this podcast is released. It goes into depth about all the different industry opportunities and how to decide which one might be right for you.

Matthew: Great point. We also interviewed one of the founding members of Women Grow from Cannabis Trainers, Maureen McNamara. And she’s an excellent trainer. So that’s to your point, you know, there is a lot of opportunities in training as the other aspects you mentioned. Now for women that are in states where cannabis is currently not legal, what should they do? Should they just wait or is there any opportunities to get started doing something now?

Jazmin: Yeah, you’ll notice that a lot of the successful business owners in cannabis actually came from the legalization movement. Working to legalize in your state will instantly connect you with other like minded people, educate you on all the issues and give you the confidence to move forward. Additionally having women help write this legislation make it more likely that the final results appeal to women who are often cited as the swing vote in legalization. And it helps make sure that the final results are fair and inclusive.

So if you’re in a prohibition state, find the legalization organizations near your and volunteer. Some of the groups that we partner with are NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Marijuana Policy Project, MAPS which is the Multidisciplinary Associate for Psychedelic Studies and so on. And so get connected with those folks and start volunteering and start making a difference.

Matthew: That’s an excellent point about the volunteering and activism because you are dead right. There is so many people I’ve met that are really leaders in the space from a commercial side that have their origin story in the activism. So it was a natural progression. So a lot of people out there what are listening that are wondering how to get in that is an excellent suggestion. Now you were recently at Lobby Days, what is that and why is it important?

Jazmin: We just had our first annual Lobby Day event, and it was a fantastic experience for everybody that attended. To steal a line from my friend Joe Brezny, “If you’re in the marijuana business, you are now also in the policy business”. And the cannabis industry is one of the most closely regulated, and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. Unlike most developed industries where multibillion dollar companies pay hoards of lobbyists, there are actually few lobbyists involved in cannabis. So each individual person can actually make a big impact on how we get to serve patients. After 80 years of Reefer Madness, the staffers creating marijuana policy may know very little about what we do and why we do it. So we have to show up and tell them.

As you would expect from an industry that is legal at the state level but illegal federally, there are a lot of conflicts to be resolved in a short term. So as your listeners probably know, access to banking for cannabis businesses is spotty at best. One of our founding members,Brook leads the Live Green Group in Colorado, and they’ve lost 34 bank accounts over the last five years. Last year they did over $10 million in revenue and didn’t have banking services for half of that. So forcing these cannabis businesses to be conducted in cash benefits no one, and that’s why we were there supporting HR 2652 which is the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2013. Notice it’s of 2013 because we’re still trying to get this passed.

The second major conflict that we were working on is the section of the tax code called 280E. I don’t know if your listeners are familiar with 280E.

Matthew: Sure, you can cover that briefly.

Jazmin: Well so 280E prohibits businesses involved with drug trafficking from deducting normal business expenses from their income. This was written so that drug cartels couldn’t write off their speed boats for example. Unfortunately the IRS has interpreted that to apply to our state legal cannabis businesses. So many dispensaries pay 50% to 70% of their net income, not profit, income in federal taxes because they can’t write off salaries, health insurance, retirement benefits, business equipment, rent, marketing, utilities, so on. Cannabis business owners want to pay their fair share of taxes, but we need to make it fair.

Matthew: Gosh that is totally unfair. You’re right. Now you have somewhat of a controversial position on women’s purchasing decisions of cannabis. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Jazmin: Yes. Women are going to be the dominant cannabis product buyers after national legalization. Right now it appears that more men than women consume cannabis, but that’s mostly related to its illegal status and the types of products on the market, not because there’s anything about cannabis that’s better for men versus women. Once prohibition is lifted cannabis products become just like any other household good, and we know women already control the majority of household spending. On top of that women are more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic illness, more like to try alternative health therapy, and are more likely to be in charge of the wellness decisions for their families. One on five women will face depression. One in eight will face breast cancer. There is no scenario where I can imagine where women don’t become the dominant buyers of cannabis products.

Matthew: Right so make your cannabis products very women friendly and how do they do that?

Jazmin: Well the first step is to get more diversity on your leadership and marketing teams. Having an inclusive team where people of all genders and colors are heard are going to help you make the best decisions day in and day out for your brand to attract an inclusive audience. I especially encourage you to pick a woman to run your social media marketing. We’re seeing a ton of brands take the easy route for quick attention by posting bikini babes with bongs. If you’re treating women like decoration to attract men instead of serious customers, you’re missing out on a loyal audience. A loyal audience that very few brands are actively serving. I think anyone who probably picked up a podcast with Women Grow on it gets this, and I can’t wait to see the new products and services you come up with. The guys with their heads stuck in the sand will be quickly surpassed.

Matthew: Now is there any examples you’ve seen recently of companies that have put out in the market women friendly cannabis products that you were impressed with?

Jazmin: Absolutely. We’re seeing a lot of great work being done on the edibles front to serve a more diverse customer than just candies or cookies. So in Colorado one of our founding members is Julie Dooley, and Julie’s Baked Goods specializes in gluten free edibles with no refined sugar. Which honestly she was just a patient on the market who had to be gluten free herself due to a health concern, and there were no products available on the market for her. And so she brought those products out to the market and they’re wildly popular. We have another brand called Auntie Delores out of California who sponsors Women Grow who is going to rapidly expand into multistate operations because they’re creating products that just nobody else was in a brand that’s friendly to both men and women.

Matthew: You know one other thing that Julie Dooley is doing that’s interesting is she actually names the strain too on her edibles so you know exactly, it allows you to dial in your experience which is very helpful which I don’t see a lot of edibles doing. I know Julianna and Lauren at Auntie Delores, you know, they talk a lot about their ingredients and being very transparent with the ingredients and that’s helpful. And they also talk about, you know, doing things that other people aren’t doing. They’re like hey there’s a lot of chocolate bars out there, we’re not going to make a chocolate bar. So being innovative in that way I think really helps you stand out. So great points. Now Women Grow is still a young organization. Where do you see it going? I mean even since we had Jane on, maybe Q3 of last year, it’s changed. The scope has changed. How are things evolving? Where do you see it going in the next few years?

Jazmin: I mean it was just since you’ve interviewed her we really seen what an amazing opportunity we have to create a new industry with a new script that’s diverse from the very very beginning. This is an industry that’s going to serve people of all colors, of all genders, of all ages, and the best way to do that is to invite all of those people into the industry. So from our humble beginnings as a professional networking organization we’re now working to create programs to push women into the cannabis and up to the top.

Our monthly events in 20 cities are a great introduction to the cannabis industry for women. They can learn a bit about the industry in a supportive environment without quitting their day job or investing $1,000 up front. We hope that our events and content online are part of a very successful research phase that convinces them to get their first job or launch their first company in cannabis. From there we hope they attend one of our national events like our leadership summit which teaches women how to grow and expand their businesses to rise to the top of the market. And we’re just going to keep going from there.

Matthew: So walk me through what it’s like to attend a Women Grow event. For someone that’s walking in for the first time, what can they experience? What’s it like? What do they do? How long do they last? What’s the vibe like?

Jazmin: So our monthly networking events in these 20 cities across the United States are the first Thursday of every month. So you have a consistent time and place that you can plan to, you know, make your first entry or your fifth entry into the cannabis market. And that was something that no other organization across the country was offering was a consistent, pre-planned time to meet which seems so simple, but consistency is one of the things that this industry is lacking on many levels.

So when you arrive we hope that you will be greeted with a crowd that is the exact opposite in ratio from what you would see at a typical cannabis industry event. The majority of cannabis industry events are about 80% men and 20% women, and our events are the exact flip of that. So you’re going to have 80% women and about 20% men at our events. You’re going to have time to mix and mingle. And again these people tend to be very open and welcoming. The marijuana industry is blue ocean right now, blue sky. There’s no reason for us to even treat each other like competition because the market is going to be large enough that there is room for everyone right now. And then we listen to an industry speaker and get a current perspective on what’s going on in the market.

This is an industry that’s difficult to research online. Remember it was illegal not too long ago, and it’s still illegal in a lot of states. So there’s not a ton of information available online. You really do have to show up in person and talk to the folks doing this and do the research on your feet to really get a sense of where the market’s going and where you might belong in it. So you’ll get some great information from an industry speaker. And then we do some sort of activity at almost every meeting that will force you to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. So for example my meeting here in New York, we go around the room and everyone gets up for 15 seconds and just says who they are and what they’re interested in so that after we have the speaker people can just jet over to meeting new people. When is the last time you went to a networking event and knew all 50 people in the room, that’s the type of event that we hope to create.

Matthew: Do you have an example of a woman that came to Women Grow and didn’t have any background or history in the cannabis industry and was successful in kind of breaking into it, because I want to leave listeners with actionable information or examples on how they can get into it. You mentioned a little bit about the social media and women tend to gravitate to that because they’re good at it. That’s an excellent way you can provide value I think out of the gate. Do you have any other examples of how women kind of busted into the industry with no previous background into it?

Jazmin: Sure. I think a lot of people think that you know you had to be an underground grower for the last 20 years to be a part of this industry, but the truth is the vast majority of people getting into this industry are new to the industry. They’ve got great professional backgrounds in maybe related fields, but being new doesn’t make you unqualified. It just makes you kind of like everybody else. And so one example is we had a member come out to our Denver chapter named Lauren Gibbs, and she runs a business that does social media strategy and was able to very quickly assess what the cannabis industry needed in comparison to our other clients, and now has cannabis clients within her larger social media strategy business.

Matthew: Now there’s a lot of cannabis companies out there that are looking to get their brand out there in a national way, and you offer some sponsorship opportunities that I think do this well because everything is so compartmentalized in states or cities. Can you talk a little bit about the sponsorship opportunities you have?

Jazmin: Absolutely. Like you said there are very few national organizations in cannabis. I actually was just in Humboldt County last week, and the women there asked me well what are the women doing at a national level. How are the women organizing at a national level? And I kind of looked over my shoulder and I was like oh shoot we are the women organized at a national level. There really isn’t anybody else. And that applies to the industry in general is that there’s only a very few organizations working on a national, and we’re lucky enough to be one of those.

We’ve been really fortunate to have nearly 50 companies come out to support making cannabis an inclusive industry, and in order to make our events as affordable as possible we depend on this companies who want to be known for attracting female customers and female employees to sponsor us, and that covers the majority of our expenses. So if anything I’ve said resonates with you and you want to be part of creating something awesome, email Julie@womengrow.com to talk about those sponsorship options. The cannabis industry will never be this small again. And so your small gesture now can make a big change to our collective future.

Matthew: And before we close, you were just on a bunch of trips all around the country. Can you just give us a few nuggets of what you learned or key takeaways, you know, visiting different people in different parts of the country?

Jazmin: Oh wow. I mean I think the thing that you learn the most is that this is a very very local industry, and what is so stunning to me is how different everything is, you know, in Colorado versus Washington and Washington versus California. And then once you get within California the difference between Humboldt and L.A. they’re just different planets. So I guess my first advice is to recognize that to the outside world we may look like one cohesive industry, but there is actually so much happening and so much that varies depending on the local level, and that’s why we do have these local chapters that can talk to people about what’s happening locally in their state because a program that I might give in San Francisco that generates a ton of interest… so for example we did Creating Cannabis Products for Women for 200 in San Francisco and we got great feedback from people who said yes I’m going to start my business now, yes that really encouraged me to start fundraising, yes that was exactly what I wanted to hear. And then I drove up to Humboldt and started talking to women there about becoming executives and leaving the industry and they were like hold the phone, we don’t think of ourselves as executives. We think of ourselves as farmers. We don’t think of, you know, we’re not out here to lead an industry. We’re out here to protect our families and to protect our livelihood. It’s just a whole different mindset and a whole different set of priorities. So I think the first tip is just to remember just how actually diverse the industry is.

Matthew: Now for women listening right now, you said 20% of the people that come to you, the different chapters are men, do men come? What are the reasons that men come?

Jazmin: Men come because they are very smart and they know that what we’ve got going on is pretty powerful. Many come just as a support or maybe they’re business partner is often very common, but the other guys who come on their own without a female friend, you know come because they tell me that they understand how well connected and how fiercely intelligent the women are that are a part of this industry, and they want to be a part of that. They’re looking for female cofounders. They’re looking to add women to their team, and we’re a great event for that.

Matthew: Now as we close how can listeners learn more about Women Grow online?

Jazmin: Definitely go to www.womengrow.com and sign up for our list. That’s how we publish all of our future events, all of our content. Go to our blog and just read everything I’ve ever written about how to research the industry, how to figure out what event is right for you in the industry. We also encourage you to make a plan to attend a national conference this year if you haven’t already attended a national conference. It’s a great way to give you a good picture of the industry, and we host kick off events for the largest of the national conferences. So you can join us in May in Chicago. In June we’ll be in both New York City and Denver, and in November we’ll be in Las Vegas, and we do these kick off events to set you up to be more successful and make connections there. You can also follow Women Grow on Facebook and on Twitter.

Matthew: Jazmin thanks so much for being on CannaInsider today. We really appreciate it.

Jazmin: Absolutely. Thank you Matt.

Matthew: If you enjoyed the show today, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes, Stitcher or whatever app you might be using to listen to the show. Every five star review helps us to bring the best guests to you. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com/itunes. What are the five disruptive trends that will shape the cannabis industry in the next five years? Find out with your free report at www.cannainsider.com/trends. Have a suggestion for an awesome guest on www.cannainsider.com, email us feedback at cannainsider.com. We would love to hear from you.

CannaInsider Podcast Interview with Jazmin Victoria Hupp was originally published on JazminHupp.com