To Be Blunt

"It was something that could help people feel better. And so I thought involved and basically went state to state to state. I helped entrepreneurs put together their request for proposal request for application, and then I helped the legislators craft a lot of the rules in the regulations back in the day because nobody really knew what was going on." - Sara Gullickson In this episode of To Be Blun...

"The amount of consumers in America that don't consume alcohol has been relatively consistent for the last 50 years. Consumer habits are shifting, but alcohol consumption's not going away. I don't think it will out. Our hope is that consumers are making more responsible choices and that we're engaging with a whole new group of consumers." - Jason Dayton In this episod...

"With cannabis being inhaled directly rather than eating it, a small amount of contaminants can have a lot, potentially more toxic effect in your body than if you ate those same contaminants. So I think it's really important, and I think now the upside is we have one of the cleanest consumer products even with some of the issues" - Josh Wurzer Welcome to the latest episode of our po...

“Any day that goes by that someone is arrested for marijuana possession, it's a day of injustice. And if for no other reason, but that I'm happy to do whatever I can to legalize marijuana.” - Jason Tarasek In this episode, Jason Tarasek, founder of Minnesota Cannabis Law, shares his legal expertise and insights on the current state of marijuana legalization in Minnesota. We delve into th...

“By making something illegal, you're making it more dangerous. It's a classic effect of that. It's similarly with cannabis and what we were talking about with THC, it's about the lack of education and telling people just don't do any drugs, don't do anything.” - Miyabe Shields In this episode, Miyabe Shields shares insights on cannabis as medicine and healing. She dis...

“The only way to determine what is in a product is through proper lab testing, which even in the lab can be difficult. It's a challenge for law enforcement officers to determine if a product is legal or not without these tests.” - Griffin Lott In this episode, former law enforcement officer and cannabis advocate Griffin Lott discusses his experiences working in the cannabis industry and bridg...

“You're not gonna get anyone to listen to anything you have to say until you understand where they're coming from.” - Arend Richard In this episode, Aaron Richard joins the conversation to discuss navigating censorship in the cannabis industry and his upcoming high-end cannabis lounge, Cirrus Social Club. We also explore global cannabis legalization developments and challenges in opening...

“So what a synthetic is, you start off from a derived cannabinoid, so just CBD and then manipulate it to give you another cannabinoid of interest such as THC delta nine or THC delta eight, depending on the environment that you subject in.” - Chris Hudalla In this episode, we explore the future of chemically driven cannabinoids and how to ensure their quality and safety for consumers. Our esteemed...

“It's hard when you want to pay attention to what the system is saying or what your lawmakers are saying, or what the regulation is saying, and they're not making it, I guess, accessible or fair or really understanding.” - Coss Marte In this episode, Coss Marte shares his inspiring journey from being a multimillion-dollar drug ring leader to becoming an entrepreneur in the cannabis indus...

“If you wanna play the game, do your research.” - Reagan Hatch In this episode of To Be Blunt, Reagan Hatch, co-founder of CannaSite, shares her knowledge on the importance of performative websites for businesses and how to optimize them for speed, plugins, SEO, email marketing, blogging, and content integrations. She explains the value of web hosting and how businesses can maintain their own webs...

“Cannabinoids are not toxic as we know today.” - Alleh Lindquist “Everyone's trying to come up with the right way to move forward because I think everyone knows that we need to move forward.” - Robert Jensen, Ph. D Join us on this episode of the Be Blunt Podcast as host Shada Torabi sits down with Rob Jensen, CEO and Co-Founder of Floor Works, and Alleh Lindquist, VP of Research and Developme...

“You gotta go into this with eyes open, and if you're gonna go into it, you need to make sure that you're well educated.” - Rod Kight Join us in this episode as Rod Kight, a seasoned cannabis lawyer and cannabis entrepreneur, discusses the challenges of THC-A hemp flower in the market. He delves into the complexities of THC-A flower and its similarities to marijuana, Total THC testing re...

“There's a gift in you and there's a talent that you're still not sure about that you have, but you have it.” - Manny Cuevas Join us on this episode of the To Be Blunt as we delve into the story of Manny Cuevas, a fashion designer in the western wear industry. We'll cover his journey, from learning from his dad to showcasing their work in Denver and moving to Nashville. We&apos...

“You just gotta get super clear on who you're marketing to and you gotta get super clear on who you're messaging to and you have to be super clear on what are you trying to get outta of this and like who are you trying to connect with.” - Max Juhasz In this episode of the To Be Blunt podcast, Max Juhasz shares his journey of doing door to door sales and transitioning to digital marketing...

“I think we're all so silent in our states that people kind of need a little reality check. Like having these conversations [about cannabis] are a wake up call to people.” - Liz Udell Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode,Liz Udell shares opportunities and challenges of self-employment in the cannabis industry and how people who have been recently laid off can leverage the...

“Hire when you're able to, the most important thing you can do is like, hire people to do the things that you suck at or the things you don't wanna do. So you can free up yourself to still have time to do the things you want.” - Jenna Owens Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Jenna Owens shares how she established Fitish and changed it from a fitness program to a sk...

“I know sometimes people are like, I don't wanna toot my own horn. Well baby toot your horn. This is your chance. Like this is the whole point of getting featured in an article or speaking at a conference. ” - Shayda Torabi Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Shayda talks about relaunching her website and why it's important as content creators to have a website wher...

“We know that cannabis is a remediator , so it's sucking up things that are in the soil and so how it's grown, if it's organic living soil or, or there are pesticides used, you know, those are all factors that determine the end product. ” - Shayda Torabi New Website: https://theshaydatorabi.com/ Free 20 min call: https://calendly.com/theshaydatorabi/free15?back=1&month=2022-12 6...

“So to me, having partners, having media partners, having those people have a bigger audience. Getting them involved allows you to have a bigger audience so that they can accomplish what they wanna accomplish. ” - David Tran Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, David Tran shares how he was inspired to create a magazine for the cannabis space that talks about medical stories an...

“The most important thing that people should pay attention to is just being in store and actually being blunt in their education.” - Jarell Wall Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Jarell Wall shares how he hustled his way to be on the top and make a name for himself in the cannabis space. He shares how he was able to connect and become a CEO at Gentleman Quinns Blunt Co, and...

“The whole purpose of all of this is that everybody eats, everybody has an opportunity to participate if they want to. Everybody has access to information that should be readily available. And if you wanna participate, you work with people where the whole goal is everyone eats together.” -  Lulu Tsui  Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Lulu Tsui  shares about the cannabis ma...

“Go through all old social media posts and make sure there's not any high risk word lurking. This includes infographics, and hashtags, because the FDA and FTC go back several years on company social media posts.” -  Asa Waldstein Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Shayda Torabi welcomes Asa Waldstein. Asa  shares about his “Warning Letter Wednesday” emails, where he bre...

“But this industry is very fragmented. There are a lot of egos at play. There's a lot of money at stake, and it makes people crazy. We have to stop stabbing each other in the back and doing stupid things, and we have to come together as an industry to make a happier planet, a healthier planet, to help people live happier, healthier lives, and to get quality products.” - Marty Marion Welcome b...

“There's nothing more important or more powerful than staying fresh and staying relevant. There's just a lot that you have to do with your communication and your marketing and your branding to achieve that.” - Kristi Palmer Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Shayda Torabi welcomes Kristi Palmer of Kiva, currently the number one edibles brand in California. Kristi t...

"Selfishly, it’s about growth,  whether it's revenue or relationships. Externally, it's about content output, showcasing what legal cannabis looks like, the nuances of experience for consumers, and patients, and the brands that are available, the products that are available, the discussion…” - Mitch Pfeifer Welcome back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Shayda Torabi welc...