Few female entrepreneurs have enjoyed the kind of widespread accolades and recognition in the cannabis industry as Nancy Whiteman. Often called \u201cThe Queen of Legal Weed,\u201d Whiteman is founder of the Wana Brands Foundation and CEO and co-founder of Wana Brands, North America\u2019s leading cannabis edibles brand available in 15 states and throughout Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whiteman says Wana Brands\u2019 mission is to create efficacious products that deliver customized experiences for health and wellness or recreational effects. The company places a strong emphasis on delivering quality products. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way to provide consumers with real value and to differentiate yourself in the space,\u201d she says. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Since starting the company in Boulder, CO in 2010, Whiteman has witnessed the cannabis industry\u2019s profound\u2014and undeniable\u2014evolution firsthand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like the Wild West\u2014no requirements to test for potency, no child-resistant packaging and no rules about pesticides or solvent usage or levels,\u201d she says. \u201cNow we have a far more regulated, safe and sophisticated industry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the landscape is very different today, Whiteman says much still remains the same, and she advises company leaders to be realistic about what they can do.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to focus on not getting out over your skis,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be in the cannabis industry, you better be able to roll with the punches, adapt to change and find that exhilarating rather than draining.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike most of Colorado\u2019s other original cannabis brands, Wana Brands is thriving with no signs of slowing down. In 2021, Wana agreed to sell to Canadian titan Canopy Growth for an all cash payment of $297 million. Shortly after, she took $50 million of the proceeds to launch the Wana Brands Foundation (WBF), which takes Wana Brands\u2019 mission of enhancing lives through cannabis a step further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WBF allocates at least five percent of the endowment every year towards charitable initiatives, such as research and education, food security, shelter, safety, mental health, sustainability and social justice. While Whiteman is able to give back through the nonprofit, her primary role is working as Wana\u2019s CEO, continuing to push the brand\u2019s strategic vision forward. (Despite the acquisition, Canopy and Wana essentially operate as independent companies.) Whiteman\u2019s leadership is instrumental in their growth into new and emerging markets. She also handles the development of strategic partnerships and licensing agreements in the US and abroad.<\/p>\n
Whiteman says this year\u2019s corporate goal is \u201cmaking market share; not taking market share. Despite all the challenges, there are a number of bright spots in the industry. The key is to grow the market rather than to join the race to the bottom in pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to being a female chief executive, Whiteman says she hasn\u2019t faced as many challenges as the vast majority of other women-owned businesses due to the fact that she was \u201cable to bootstrap Wana Brands and never had to take on equity or debt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, as the market has grown, it favors the group of people who historically have had the easiest access to capital, and as such, the leadership of the industry has become whiter and male,\u201d she says. \u201dAnd the fact is female entrepreneurs receive only about two percent of venture capital funding compared to their male counterparts. So, we certainly have some work to do there.\u201d<\/p>\n
For other women trying to make it in the cannabis industry, Whiteman advises them to \u201cfigure out your first step and see where you can go with it\u201d and not to waste time \u2018crossing t\u2019s and dotting i\u2019s\u2019, because the industry changes too much, too often.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people call me \u2018Wana\u2019s fearless leader\u2019 and I laugh to myself. No entrepreneur worth their salt is fearless\u2014it\u2019s a scary thing to do,\u201d she says. \u201cMy advice is simple: Don\u2019t waste your time conjuring mythical attributes\u2014trying to be the smartest, the most confident\u2014because it\u2019s just not realistic. Be resilient, be persistent and be accepting of the fact that fear and anxiety are part of the process. And don\u2019t judge yourself for feeling that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This story was originally published in issue 48 of the\u00a0print edition<\/a>\u00a0of Cannabis Now. Read it now on the Cannabis Now\u00a0iTunes app<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post \u2018The Queen Of Legal Weed\u2019 Has Spoken<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Few female entrepreneurs have enjoyed the kind of widespread accolades and recognition in the cannabis industry as Nancy Whiteman. Often called \u201cThe Queen of Legal Weed,\u201d Whiteman is founder of the Wana Brands Foundation and CEO and co-founder of Wana Brands, North America\u2019s leading cannabis edibles brand available in 15Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":562,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,21,17331,85,17360,13509,1772,510,4229,5429,17223],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/562"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68254,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68253\/revisions\/68254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: \u2018The Queen Of Legal Weed\u2019 Has Spoken<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"