"It is on us to push this industry forward." - Guy Rocourt "What got us here what got us through a prohibition is what was grown in grandma's garden and made in grandma's kitchen natural simple formulations." - Guy Rocourt This episode of the To Be Blunt podcast features an insightful conversation with Guy Rocourt, co-founder and CEO of Papa and Barkley, a California-based wellness company that believes in the whole plant as medicine and safe access to cannabis. Guy talks about...

"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 Blunt, host Shayda Torabi dives into the complexities of cannabis licensing and operations. She...

"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 episode, we delve deep into the cannabis beverage market in Minnesota and how it's changing consumer habits. My conversation with...

"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 podcast, where we delve into the world of cannabis testing and its impact on the infused products category. This...

“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 the challenges and concerns facing the hemp industry with the new proposed legalization bill, the emergence...

“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 discusses the challenges of studying cannabis in the US, biosynthetic and synthetic cannabinoid production, and the importance...

“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 bridging the gap between law enforcement and the industry. We explore the challenges of cannabis...

“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 consumption lounges in different states. Join us to learn about creating quality content and setting...

“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 panel discusses the differences between synthesizing molecules in labs versus using enzymes...

“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 industry. He shares his experience in advocating for the cannabis space and applying for dispensary licenses...

“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 websites without extra help. Reagan and Shada Torabi discuss the importance of having a website for...

“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 Development at Floor Works. They are at the forefront of developing innovative cannabinoids to meet unmet...

“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 requirements, and the progressive hemp laws in North Carolina and Texas. Listen in as they share their...

“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'll also explore Manuel's Star Spangled Couture Collection, raising 8.9 million dollars and using hemp fabric to create...

“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. He also talks about how he helped one hemp and CBD companies go from 600,000 to 4.2 million in online...

“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 power of social media to their advantage, especially platforms such as LinkedIn which offer a great...

“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 skincare line infused with CBD. In addition, she discusses the legalities of her product and how she plans...

“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 where they can promote not only the products they sell but also market themselves. [00:00 - 02:38]...

“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 60 min AMA: https://calendly.com/theshaydatorabi/60min?back=1&month=2022-12 Social Media Brand...

“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 and stories of people whose lives were changed thanks to cannabis. He also talks about the need...

“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 his journey to get into this industry. Jarell also talks about how there is still so much to...

“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 market in New York, where cannabis is still not legal, as well as the legality of pseudo illegal...

“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 breaks down the FDA warning letters. He also talks about what an FDA warning letter might be and how it...

“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 back to the To Be Blunt podcast! In this episode, Shayda Torabi welcomes Marty Marion to talk about...

“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 tells the story behind their innovative products and elevated branding and marketing. She also takes us...