Celebrating Women’s History Month with Women-Owned Cannabis Brands
2022 National Women's History theme is
"Women providing healing, promoting hope"
A recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.
Women have long advocated for compassionate treatments and new directions in public health and women's mental and physical health. Women have also historically led the way in mending divisions, healing wounds, and finding peaceful solutions.
Low rates of female and minority participation is a pervasive issue within cannabis, and female leaders are tackling these glaring disparities through their businesses. ASHE is a woman-owned business, and we want to highlight our women-owned brand partners because we understand the challenges we face in a male-dominated industry. Through education and spreading awareness, we hope to bring balance to this industry and empower those who have been historically oppressed and underrepresented.
According to MJBizDaily’s 2021 Women & Minorities in the Cannabis Industry report, female executive representation is down to 22 percent — lower than 36.8 percent in 2019, and well below the national average for mainstream businesses, which stands at roughly 30 percent.
In a recent report by Headset, Gen Z women are now the fastest-growing consumers of legal cannabis, increasing year-over-year sales by 151 percent.
FUN FACT:
Did you know that only female cannabis plants can produce potent high THC buds? Male plants are used primarily for breeding purposes or to produce concentrate oils since they contain a small number of cannabinoids and low THC.
IMELDA
WALAVALKAR
FOUNDER — PURE BEAUTY
Pure Beauty is a legendary California cannabis brand based in Los Angeles. The Pure Beauty brand combines high-quality, potent flowers with an authentic appreciation for culture and creativity.
Their Founder, Imelda Walavalker is a Latinx businesswoman and community cultivator who has made a positive impact in the cannabis industry. From criminal justice reform to cannabis, she paved the way to breaking historical stigmas around Hispanic and Latinx individuals in cannabis by creating a more diverse environment for all innovators.
Pure Beauty continues to support and encourage equity in the cannabis industry. Their company currently donates a portion of its proceeds to fund programming for incarcerated populations. They are committed to being part of the solution by using their voice and cannabis to keep the industry diverse and fair.
CHELSEA & KRYSTAL
KITAHARA
FOUNDERS —YUMMI KARMA
Yummi Karma is owned and led by sisters Chelsea and Krystal Kitahara, who are proud to be the first state-licensed manufacturer in Orange County. Their story starts over 6 years ago when the only cannabis considered legal was medicinal. Those days taught them the importance of patience, perseverance, and compassion.
Yummi Karma has always operated with a focus on people, lifestyles, or issues that have been marginalized and the objective of providing a solution or positive impact. They are especially known for making products for women.
Their first products were groundbreaking: savory edibles, like chips, popcorn and sauces, that allowed consumers to medicate easily and responsibly, without worrying about large quantities of sugar that came standard with edibles back then. Just as importantly, they helped normalize the use of cannabis products in everyday life.
Sources: Yummi Karma
KATE MILLER
FOUNDERS —MISS GRASS
Miss Grass is weed for the times. Miss Grass creates premium THC and CBD products specially formulated to make consumers feel *just* right. They also educate on the science, the history, the culture, and the products that work best—all in the spirit of conscious consumption. So whether you’re brand new to the weed party, or you’ve been around for a while, Miss Grass is here to light your way.
Kate Miller is the CEO and co-founder of Miss Grass. After a decade-long career in entertainment, Miller left the industry to return to her early days as a dispensary budtender and pursue a different passion: weed. What started as just a side project with a GoDaddy URL purchased in college has since become a full online shop and wellness brand focused on accessibility, education, and ending the stigma surrounding cannabis.
Information Provided by Miss Grass and The Cut
KIRSTIE, JENNI, DONNA
FOUNDERS —HIGHER
Higher is a family and women-owned & gluten-free edible company based in Santa Cruz, CA that focuses on bringing delicious edibles free of overly processed sugars and flours to the market. They have a passion for community, high(er) vibrations, and all-around good vibes.
The concept of Higher began 20 years ago when Donna Price (pictured here with her daughter and Higher partner) started making her own edibles in the Prop 215 days. Donna's body has served in the Army, successfully battled cancer, and suffers an ongoing knee issue that has progressed into multiple surgeries; Through these stages, she found that her body felt the least amount of pain and inflammation when she ate clean and stayed away from heavily processed sugars and grains. Because of the lack of tasty, GF edibles in the market - Donna began creating her own clean edibles that she could enjoy with her family. Donna’s edibles show that you shouldn’t have to compromise flavor for a healthy product.
Together with her daughter Kirstie and Sister-in-law Jenni (pictured above), Donna was able to bring life into her vision to create Higher Edibles!
Information Provided by Higher Edibles
ELAINE LU
FOUNDER/CEO — ASHE Society
Founder and CEO of ASHE Society is female business entrepreneur.
In just a few short years, Elaine has taken her Orange County cannabis retail store, ASHE, to the next level. Proudly thriving amongst a sea of male-dominated cannabis operators, Elaine truly stands out in the industry.
Despite opening in the middle of the pandemic with 29 other competitors in Orange County, Elaine achieved over $16 million in earnings since opening due to ASHE’s unique business concept. It is noteworthy to mention that ASHE’s success is attributed to the welcoming design, extensive menu and education-focused marketing strategies. In addition, Elaine’s business strategy was built upon a social mission rather than creating another stereotypical cannabis brand. ASHE authentically stands for the core values of advocacy, social equity, health and education.
Elaine also has several other cannabis operations including a manufacturing and distribution facility in Long Beach which is currently in construction. In West Hollywood, Elaine was amongst the top ranked applicants for opening a cannabis consumption lounge. In San Bernardino, she is further expanding her customer base by adding another retail store later this year. Finally, in Los Angeles County, Elaine is developing the first female-owned cannabis microbusiness in the City of Pomona that is scheduled to open later this year.
Prior to joining the cannabis industry, Elaine had a 15-year career as a seasoned marketing professional winning multi-million dollar contracts for several award-winning companies including multi-national engineering firm, AECOM. She also has retail experience for the worldwide clothing retailer, Gap and Banana Republic as a visual merchandiser for over five years.