Montalto, Liguria, Italy.

Women in the cannabis industry are activists, founders, and fighters.

The 21st century is characterized by rapidly growing and technical progress. Virtually all opportunities and possibilities are open to us, and we usually don’t have to wait long for them to be realized. One “click” and we can book flights online, shop, check the weather or find out the news of the day. All this and much more can be done comfortably from the sofa.

This growth gives rise to many new business models and new industries. However, what is still slowly developing like a prayer wheel in this fast-paced world is professional equality and equal rights for women and men. The cannabis industry, which is also experiencing exponential growth, is not excluded from this disparity.

In this article you will learn what opportunities women can take advantage of in the cannabis industry and what challenges they face. We also feature a few industry celebrities and their deserved achievements.

 

Women in the cannabis industry.

The cannabis industry is joining this rapid growth. Medical cannabis has been legal in Germany since 2017 and full legalization is currently being debated. In some other countries around the world, cannabis was legalized for recreational use a few years ago. It is thanks to this circumstance and the popularity of CBD products that some creative and courageous minds are reorienting themselves professionally and trying to market their idea. But the cannabis world is currently still a male-dominated world, whether on an industrial or private level.

There are a few female consumers, but they have stayed in the background until now. Girls, women, and mothers who smoke weed are looked at and condemned. The cliché serves weed boys sitting on the couch with a bong in hand.

Thankfully, this thinking and prejudice is being tempered by the growing acceptance of cannabis, but women in the cannabis industry must show stamina to hold their own against men. Recent studies show that nearly 37% of leadership positions in the cannabis industry are held by women.

What challenges do women face?

It almost doesn’t matter if it’s women in the cannabis industry or in other industries and branches, because women mostly face the same challenges everywhere.

They are seen as the “weaker” sex and are therefore often not trusted with onerous (leadership) tasks. Men feel that they need to protect and relieve women and that the “softer sex” just can’t handle certain tasks.

This includes both physical and mental stress. There’s no denying that men naturally have stronger muscles than women and therefore more strength, but women cope with psychological pressure and stress much better than men. They keep a cool head and, thanks to their empathic skills, can develop satisfactory solutions more quickly. This means that women can also work as harvest workers or trimmers, because they often do this physical work with great efficiency and with a lot of stamina.

Other burdensome hurdles for women are: They are either not heard or are interrupted more often, especially by men. A fitting statement came from Sara Brittany Sommerset, cannabis correspondent at the United Nations, global drug policy analyst, multimedia journalist and one of Green Market Report’s 100 Most Important Weed Women. She said, “One of the toughest hurdles women face in the cannabis industry – or any other industry – is not being heard and being interrupted,”

Also in the cannabis industry, scantily clad and sexy posing women are often used for advertising purposes. On the other hand, it can be difficult to trump with a serious appearance. “Sex sells”, that’s the way it is, and it will probably stay that way for a long time. But fortunately, there is a general rethinking on this point, at least as far as the seriousness of the companies that use such advertising measures is concerned.

But there are also great opportunities!

In the USA, it was the activists who pushed ahead with the legalization of cannabis. They didn’t give up and fought in a relentless fight against the stigma and against the illegalization of cannabis. Groups such as “moms for marijuana”, “womengrow” and the “international women’s cannabis coalition” have thus made a significant contribution to legalization and increasing social acceptance.

Women have far less need to prove themselves. As a result, they establish a very goal-oriented and serious working style without specifically emphasizing their achievements. As mentioned above, their emphatic skills are often the pillar of a well-functioning team and thus ensure a good working atmosphere.

Many women are taking advantage of the image change that the cannabis plant is currently experiencing. They seize their opportunities and create new ideas and business models. They do away with all the existing clichés, creating a more feminine cannabis world. Because the cannabinoid CBD can be particular very helpful in many women’s ailments, and some women take advantage of this fact. In a private as well as in a professional sense.

One of the biggest benefits is networking through social media. Women unite, support, and encourage each other to be open about their cannabis use. So, they fight together against the male domain and for a new cannabis image.

Successful Women in the Cannabis Industry:

• Amanda Jones and Jennifer Chapin are the founders of the large company Kikoko, in the USA. They sell teas, beauty and wellness products that are infused with cannabis. By women for women.
• Amy Margolis is an attorney and cannabis advocate, also in the US. She founded the initiative, The Accelerator, which helps cannabis companies founded by women thrive.
• Janika Takats is the founder of the first women’s cannabis network “CannaFem” in Germany. They want to connect women in the cannabis industry with each other.
• Franziska Katterbach is a lawyer and managing director of Khiron Med, a medical cannabis manufacturer.
• Janett Dalka is CEO of the cannabis lifestyle brand Breezy.
• Mila Grün is the founder and blogger of the cannabis blog Cannabibliothek

Fiore d’Oro- a female enterprise in the cannabis industry

The company Fiore d’Oro was founded by two women, Birgit and Isolde, and we still manage it. We took the courage to start an environmentally conscious company in this still male-dominated industry that produces high-quality CBD flowers and then develops various CBD products from them. The Fiore CBD is grown in Italy, in the Riviera dei Fiori, under favorable conditions for cannabis, in outdoor cultivation.

No pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or other chemical additives are used for cultivation. The products are created through respectful and sustainable treatment of nature and are 100% transparent and traceable.

Link source:

https://www.royalqueenseeds.de/blog-8-the-influential-women-in-the-cannabis-industry-n973,

https://www.vogue.de/beauty/artikel/diese-frauen-verdienen-ihr-geld-mit-marihuana

https://www.seedsman.com/blog/challenges-of-being-a-woman-in-the-cannabis-industry/

https://www.breezy.de/

https://cannabibliothek.de

Mila Grün