Kaya Cast

In today’s episode we will discuss the challenges that cannabis businesses face in terms of advertising and marketing their products, including strict rules and regulations and the risk of ads being taken down by platforms like Google and Facebook. Maria Mcliggott, will offer tips and solutions for ensuring that ads are successful and reach their intended audience. We will also cover strategies fo...

Kirsten Trusko is the CEO and Co-Founder of Emerging Markets Coalition (EMC)– an organization focused on normalizing financial services for underserved markets, currently focused on cannabis related industries. She’s spent a career in FinTech and cutting-edge financial services. Relevant to her current EMC role, previously she’s led the successful drive to normalize marginalized and/or underserved...

Weiwei Fellman is the founder of Kota Botanics, a premium hemp CBD and plant-based health supplements company located in Fargo, North Dakota. Weiwei is a proud first-generation immigrant from China to the United States. Having been raised in China, she was familiar with the benefits of plant-based medicine (Traditional Chinese Medicine) for illness treatments and wellness improvement. After leavin...

Virginia is a licensed architect and is responsible for developing the in-store experience and customer journey, creative strategy, visual communication and marketing integration for retail clients. Virginia brings over 15 years of experience in the retail, wholesale, and international markets where she has successfully developed and implemented retail strategies for global brands. She works in cl...

As a licensed attorney, Sumer Thomas offers a unique perspective on the legal landscape of the cannabis industry as well as a critical eye toward new laws. Thomas’ expertise in the evolution of cannabis regulation is bolstered by her law degree from the University of Florida. Her legal background in tax, business, and administrative law brings a broad perspective for solving businesses' complex pr...

The holidays are among us, which means it’s time to make your list and check it twice. As we start making our way through our gift list, we all come across a handful of people for whom we just can’t quite figure out what to get.‍ Instead of going with the boring fuzzy socks or holiday mug this year, why not encourage your customers to opt for gifting something everyone on their list is sure to lov...

Gary Cohen is the CEO of the most trusted award-winning POS brand in North America. He has met with nearly 2000 dispensary operators from coast to coast and leveraged expert knowledge to provide cannabis retailers the support they need to get a license, pass inspection, launch a store, and improve operations. Cova Software has been the fastest-growing software solutions company in the history of l...

Live from MjBizCon 2022! Tony Gallo is a licensed security consultant and Managing Partner for Sapphire Risk Advisory Group, named one of the Top 100 ancillary companies in the cannabis industry. Tony has more than 30 years of retail experience in the Loss Prevention, Audit, Safety, and Risk/Emergency Management fields. He is considered one of the leading authorities in cannabis security, armed ro...

Live from MjBizCon 2022! Toi Hutchinson served as an Illinois Senator, representing the 40th District from 2009 to 2019. During her time in the Senate, Hutchinson championed a variety of causes including protecting women and children from violence, modernizing the state’s tax structure, and legalizing cannabis. Prior to leaving the Senate, she served as the 46th president of the National Conferenc...

Christopher Violas is the CEO and Founder of Blaze. With a BA in Information Technology, Chris has built a best in class seed to sale cannabis platform that is making cannabis tech easy! BLAZE is a cannabis software suite providing best-in-class tools for operators in the seed-to-sale supply chain. The BLAZE team is comprised of former operators and industry experts passionate about automating the...

Have you been dreaming of starting a career in the cannabis industry but you’re not sure where to begin? It can be overwhelming changing careers or starting something new, especially in the ever changing cannabiz! In this conversation with Tommy Truong we give practical steps to begin your journey into the cannabis industry. It begins with knowing what you want and where you want to be. Investigat...

Christine Gervais has been a licensed CPA since 2010 using her skills to help small businesses grow and achieve their fullest potential. With a Master’s degree in accounting, in addition to years of experience both in public accounting as well as serving as the CFO for large private organizations, Christine has the knowledge base to provide comprehensive accounting and consulting services to Culti...

Patrick Grenier is the Coordinator of Marketing for PreRoll-Er out of Montreal, Quebec. PreRoll-Er specializes in the manufacturing of validated solutions for your pre-rolls or any other cannabis products. As a market leader in the manufacturing industry, their solutions have been tested and proven. Patrick shares his insights into what dispensary owners need to be aware of when it comes to the qu...

Jon Bond is the Director of Partnerships at Dutchie. He has a long history in the Cannabis industry from launching a dispensary in the early days of legalization to working at the largest Cannatech company in the industry. Jon shares his insights into building people first cannabis companies with the aim of training, growing, and investing in world class teams. Jon has been a part of developing th...

Social media has the power to connect people across the globe. It allows content creators to share their stories and dog owners to post cute pup pics for all the world to see. Even though cannabis is legal in the majority of the U.S. states and Canada, there are still large limitations to advertising and posting on mainstream social networks. The most popular social media platforms like Facebook,...

Amber Erickson is an experienced cannabis technology marketer. She is Head of Marketing at Seed Technology, empowering dispensary owners and operators with digital signage and interactive solutions to decrease wait times, increase revenue, and reduce staffing costs. In my conversation with Amber we discussed how to create impactful in-store digital experiences within your dispensary. We also discu...

Tahir Johnson is the Director of Social Equity and Inclusion at the Marijuana Policy Project where he developed and launched an internship program in partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus foundation placing interns at some of the most prominent companies in the industry. He advises legislators, regulators, and other industry stakeholders on best practices to ensure equitable cannabis law...

As of 2022, more than 400 thousand cannabis industry jobs were created in the United States alone (that's 33% from the prior year.) That number hit over 151 thousand cannabis industry jobs in Canada, with the market size growing by 83% over five years. Here are the Top 10 Cannabis Jobs:  1. Budtender Dispensary Manager  Dispensary Owner Inventory Manager Cannabis Cultivator Cannabis Accounting  Se...

Tommy Truong (CPA) is the co-founder and CEO of KayaPush. With over $1 Billion of payroll processed last year, Kayapush helps dispensaries scale through an easy people management platform. Tommy has helped thousands of business owners grow their companies through simplifying workforce management. In the first of many conversations with Tommy, we discuss growth principles for your bud tenders and d...

Dianna Tarbell is the General Manager and Myan Adams is the Sales Manager for Seven Leaf which is the first 100% indigenous-owned and –operated Cannabis producer to receive a Health Canada license. In this episode, we discuss the story of building Seven Leaf which is an indigenous owned and operated cannabis producer. Our guests discuss the challenges facing First Nations professionals looking to...

Tom and Maria discuss some of the most important insights from our recent cannabis industry seminars that we hosted in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Maine. We joined with our partners across the country to share growth techniques to successfully launch and grow a dispensary. It was fantastic to connect with cannabis retailers and hear their stories.

This week’s episode features the “Greatest Hits” from our cannabis industry seminar that we hosted in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Maine. Designed to help you navigate the process of opening a cannabis dispensary with best practices of over 3000 dispensaries and how they succeeded. Gary Cohen, CEO of Cova Gary Cohen is the CEO of the most trusted award-winning POS brand in North America....

Neal Chaudhary is the founder of Red Pill Labs and Irie Systems. Neil is a consultant with cannabis retailers on best practices, strategies, and finding unique solutions for businesses. To use innovative techniques and technology to make their systems and their retail operations grow. He is here to help solve those complex business problems all cannabis retailers face. We also talked about Bob Mar...

Ernest Toney is the founder of BIPOCANN, and leads the strategic efforts to improve equitable representation for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) entrepreneurs and business owners in the cannabis industry’s state-legal markets. Ernest Toney shares practical insights for BIPOC people who are looking to enter the industry and businesses that are looking to connect with those individua...

As a dispensary owner, you need different technology and softwares to help you with all your daily operations, like your sales and your inventory management, and even your security. Cannabis Technology helps you manage your people and streamline operations, which saves you time and money. Today, we want to talk about the top six dispensary technologies that you need to run a growing cannabis store...