Cannabis Industry Interviews

Liz Gehl is the founder and CEO of Gehl Search Partners, a talent recruitment firm that specializes in finding qualified personnel for highly regulated industries with a focus on positions in sales, marketing, strategy and planning, compliance, finance, accounting, and administrative roles. We recently caught up with Liz for an interview about what makes a […]

David Purcell is the Director of Emerging Business for the Cannabis Career Training program in the Continuing and Professional Studies division at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia. All eyes are on Canada this year as the nation steadily progresses toward establishing its highly anticipated national adult-use marketplace — so we invited David to an interview to […]

Johnnie Rush is the Chief Business Innovation Officer for The McBride Company, a creative concept and design firm that specializes in creating spaces imbued with a specific experience, emotion, or attitude. The McBride Company’s first cannabis project — the Pineapple Express dispensary in Los Angeles, California — attracted media attention and helped generate a lot of hype […]

Pam Marrone is the CEO and founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, a company offering bio-based pest management and plant health solutions that are effective, efficient, and environmentally responsible. As the cannabis industry takes off, we’re seeing a continual and deliberate push away from the stigmatized days of old and towards the general acceptance of cannabis […]

Jedidiah Haney is a cannabis activist and entrepreneur who is an outspoken advocate for sensible cannabis regulations and opponent to the seemingly default legalization legislation, which hinges on price gouging and over-regulation. He is also the founder of Higher Influence, LLC and a founding board member of The Cannabis Alliance. In our recent interview, we […]

Cody Stevenson is a serial entrepreneur with an emphasis in the digital space, and he is the current Director of Business Development for Ganjapreneur. Before coming to Ganjapreneur, Cody served in the U.S. Marine Corps, founded several media-based startups, and worked on digital marketing campaigns with many different Fortune 500 brands; he also built and […]

Jack Hudson is the founder and CEO of Ermont Inc., a licensed medical cannabis company based in Quincy, Massachusetts. Founded in 2013, Ermont is a medical cannabis operation that spans all aspects of the industry, including cultivation, production, processing, and retail. Ermont opened its dispensary’s doors in late 2016 and has already attracted local and national […]

Ezra Soiferman is a Montreal-based professional photographer, documentary filmmaker, and has been the official artist-in-residence for Tweed — one of the largest cannabis brands on the planet — for almost one year. Ganjapreneur has also just learned that Ezra and Tweed are now talking about extending the residency past its originally planned early-July end date and discussing […]

Maggie Widlund is an attorney at 7 Point Law, a leading national law firm dedicated to the protection of cannabis entrepreneurs and the betterment of the industry. Passionate about cannabis and the evolving industry, Maggie comes from a background in corporate litigation, having learned to mitigate legal battles in the tech world of Silicon Valley; Maggie’s other […]

Richard Cranor is the creator and director of ‘Star Leaf,’ the sci-fi horror/comedy about an alien strain of super-potent cannabis and the group of enthusiasts who seek it out deep in the Olympic Mountains; the film pursues and explores the deeply personal connections that many people discover when using cannabis. Richard recently launched Star Leaf brand cannabis […]

Craig Brand, Esq. is a founding partner of Ganja Law P.L.L.C. and Ganja Law Consulting, LLC, a global cannabis legal and consulting firm. Having served as a defense attorney in Miami for decades, he is all too familiar with the DEA and their approach to federal drug policy enforcement. Craig has witnessed firsthand the political imprisonment […]

Greg Walters is co-founder and co-owner of Prohibition Gold, a Washington-based company that operates off an industry-changing concept — that cannabis-infused edibles and beverages should not taste any different from the food and drinks you would normally enjoy. On that note, Prohibition Gold offers flavorless powder mixers for consumers to easily turn their favorite meal and/or beverages […]

Mike Yoell is a managing partner for Core Security Solutions, a San Francisco-based company that offers an extensive suite of security services and consultation to cannabis growers, processors, and retailers. In cannabis, security companies like Core Security Solutions are much more than just a failsafe for the dispensary or licensed cultivator that hired them. This […]

Roger Brauninger is the Biosafety Program Manager for the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) — a non-profit, internationally recognized accreditation service that offers a full range of comprehensive laboratory and laboratory-related accreditation services and training. In the following interview, Roger discusses why accreditation programs are so important in validating the cannabis industry, typical issues A2LA might encounter […]

Matthias Crandall is the innovator behind Paradigm Supercritical Innovations, creators of the PSICO2 extraction systems. We caught up with Matthias recently to talk about his entrepreneurial journey and experience serving the cannabis industry. You can read his responses below, wherein he explains the reasons, science, and strategies behind using CO2 as an extraction solvent. Matthias also explains the planning […]

TG Branfalt has been writing for Ganjapreneur for the past two years, covering cannabis policy updates and business developments around the country and worldwide every single day. TG has worked as a reporter for Reuters and other media outlets, and he has written extensively on public policy. He developed our comprehensive guide to the nine […]

Susan Rust is Founder of 4blooms, a California-based boutique marketing firm serving cannabis industry clients. Susan brings 20+ years of enterprise web development, creative design, operations, sales & marketing experience to the cannabis space. We recently interviewed Susan about marketing strategies for cannabis companies. In our discussion, she describes the problems faced by cannabis companies and […]

Anne van Leynseele is Founder of Northwest Marijuana Law (NWMJ Law), a firm that specializes in state cannabis laws up and down the U.S. West Coast. We recently interviewed Anne to learn about her experiences serving cannabis entrepreneurs in the Northwest. In the following interview, Anne shares her legal background and talks about making the transition […]

Brandon Cassens is Founder of My Urban Greenhouse — an urban gardening solution for folks who lack the yard space typically needed for a personal garden, but who still want to take advantage of cannabis home-growing laws in Oregon, Colorado, and other normalized states. My Urban Greenhouse manufactures automated, hydroponic growing systems and ships them around […]

Daniel Yazbeck is CEO of MyDX, a company which aims to produce the first widely-used consumer devices for personal chemical analysis. The company’s first device, CannaDX, which he himself created, is geared toward testing cannabis for cannabinoids and terpenes. Retailing at $699, it is a handheld device that accepts small cannabis samples to perform tests on, and it communicates […]

Charlie Heidenreich is Founder and President of Deathcache Pipes, a Wisconsin-based manufacturing company that recently released its patented specialty pipe, the Battista. We recently caught up with Charlie to talk about the strategies, efforts, and patience required to bring a cannabis-specific invention to market. In the following interview, Charlie talks about the ups and downs […]

Roger Martin is the founder of Grow for Vets USA, a nonprofit working to ease the suffering of veterans through the use of medical cannabis. The organization originated in Colorado, but through Roger’s leadership has been expanded into multiple states around the nation. Roger has had a long career in the service of the United […]

Paul Pedreira is owner of Portland Best Buds, a premium cannabis dispensary located in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Portland Best Buds originally launched in the summer of 2015. The dispensary, however, has faced a lion’s share of the regulatory harassment that has become all-too-familiar among cannabis startups and entrepreneurs. Portland Best Buds was […]

Ata Gonzalez is the founder of GFarmaLabs, a cannabis processor and infused product manufacturer based in California which has developed several hit products including Liquid Gold chocolate, which won the 2014 Cannabis Cup Best Edible award. We recently connected with Ata to learn about how he started his company from scratch and grew it into the massive […]