Sessions

The narrative around cannabis is shifting, and while it’s spreading like wildfire through North America, the rest of the world is playing catch up at varying degrees.

This episode our favourite - and only - Sessions facilitator, Tiyana Matliovski, is taking the reigns, and she wants to take you on a tour down under.

She is joined by husband Surjeet Shetty, and together they discuss their recent return home after living and working in Vancouver since 2016, and their plans to support the cannabis shift back home with their new venture Goodshift Co.

If you want to know more about this Sessions host you can find her via the below links.

Tiyana Matliovski via her instagram @just_callme_t

Surjeet Shetty via his Instagram @brownmanroaming

Goodshift Co via instagram @goodshiftco

Sessions, by Her(B) Life is a production of Blue Dream Media.

Produced by Tiyana Matliovski and Executive Producer, Gill Polard.

This session is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.

Our individual cannabis experiences are varied and unique, and are often shaped by the communities we come up in, by our friends at school and of course by our family. And with the level of stigma attached to cannabis varying so greatly from community to community, it can be harder for some to be open about their relationship with this plant.

This is particularly true for minority communities and this session is a great reminder that not all cannabis experiences come equal.

If you want to know more about this Sessions host you can find her via the below links.

Kaitlyn Ho via her instagram @kittykat_kait

Jessica Fung via her Instagram @wearebuntbae

Sessions, by Her(B) Life is a production of Blue Dream Media.

Produced by Tiyana Matliovski and Executive Producer, Gill Polard.

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

We’re very lucky as this Session we have Dr Sana-Ara Ahmed hosting, a practicing clinical Anesthesiologist, Interventional Pain & Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist in Canada. She is the owner and operator of Alberta based medical clinic Genuvis Health, which provides integrative and compassionate chronic pain management for Calgarians. The successful incorporation of medical cannabis into her practice for treating chronic pain, anxiety, depression, functional sleep disorders and opioid related issues has well established Dr. Ahmed as an expert in the field.

She is joined by Shabana Safari, colleague and nurse at Genuvis Health who has been working with Dr Ahemd for more than a year. This episode they addresses that big green elephant in the clinic;  when is comes to understanding medical cannabis the wider medical community is rather uninformed. 

This leaves many patients vulnerable and open to harm caused by unchecked biases and misinformation, as well as diminished treatment options. Dr Ahmed’s clinic is one of just a few that utilise cannabinoid therapy, and she is one of just a few doctors that are specialising in this treatment modality. 

Interestingly both Dr Ahmed and Shabana entered the world of medical cannabis with biases toward the plant. Like many, there was an underlying distrust as well as a big dose of scepticism towards the concept of cannabis as medicine. Both women reveal how it was their first hand experience interacting with and seeing the incredible transformations of patients that ignited their passion for the plant. 

A must listen episode for all healthcare professionals, tune in as Dr Ahmed and Shabana speak frankly about their experiences treating patients with cannabis.

If you want to know more about this Sessions host you can find her via the below links.

Dr Sana-Ara Ahmed via her Twitter @drsanaara

Dr Sana-Ara Ahmed via her Instagram @drsanaara

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This episode you’ll hear from Jamie Shaw, Chief Communications and Culture Officer at Pasha Brands. A cannabis industry veteran, Jamie has spent much of her time lobbying for cannabis reform in Canada. She has worked as a consultant in education, communication and advocacy and is a well-known figure in the cannabis community for her dedication to this community.

She is joined by cohost, Ashleigh Brown, Founder of SheCann, one of the first online cannabis communities catering to women. SheCann is both an cannabis education platform and resource, as well as a digital space that encourages women to ask questions and share their cannabis experiences. Ashleigh was introduced to medicinal cannabis after a long battle with her own health issues, which saw her having up to 100 seizures a day. She was inspired to create SheCann to ensure women felt supported in their own explorations of cannabis.

This episode titled ‘Awkward’, by Jamie Shaw, is our first ever self titled episode, and it pays homage to the current state of legal cannabis, just one year after legalisation in Canada.

We often hear discussions around the challenges of the current legal framework, so perhaps we should preface this conversation with an assurance that we all welcome the end of cannabis prohibition - the federal legalisation of cannabis in Canada is a certainly a step in the right direction, and with any luck will play an important role in a global shift. 

However, as both Jamie and Ashleigh have laid out in this episode, the process of legalisation and its consequences have in some parts of the country diminished access for patients patients and consumers, and has done little to address the damage of a century of prohibition. 

Instead of legalisation being part of a collective ‘shift in consciousness’ around the plant, the change was implemented as a ‘means to an end’, and has thusly failed to address many of the issues that underpin the industry. To make matters even more challenging, tight regulations implemented by Health Canada have paralysed many players, making it difficult for the industry to champion change by doing any of the necessary groundwork.  

The overarching theme of this ‘Awkward’ session, is the idea that it’s now up to patients and consumers to be the voice of change. Luckily as Ashleigh points out, it’s a very rapid shift from sceptic to patient to advocate - but there’s still much work to be done.

This session is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

Jamie Shaw via her twitter @jamiesashaw

Ashleigh Brown via her twitter @Ashleig02112447

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This episode you’ll be hearing from sister duo Zia and Tamu Stolbie, who perfectly encapsulate the ‘hustle’ mentality we all hear about in the cannabis space.

The Stolbie sisters, as their known in the local industry, have several businesses in operation, all centred around the cannabis plant, which in their words ‘was the missing link’ in their professional careers until now. They have a thriving creative agency, GG Media Lab, which works with cannabis LP’s, brands and influencers. Their apparel line, Stolbie Brand, has a focus on sustainability planting one tree for every item sold, and their event company, High End Dinner, catering to the ever growing demand of infused cannabis experiences, with Red Seal chef Adam Barski, better known as the Budder Chef.

At the very core of all their pursuits is collaboration, partnering with creatives and industry professionals from all disciplines to create robust and diverse services as part of their business offerings.

Diversity is of course at the crux of this conversation, Tamu and Zia being two WOC working in what we know to be an industry in need of creating and maintaining a space where people from all walks of life have equal opportunity.

They discuss their aspirations for themselves and this industry as a whole, having come from tech and film, and also their journey working together as sisters, which for anyone but these two would be challenging to say the least.

This session is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

ggmedialab.com, stolbiebrand.com, highenddinner.com

Zia via her instagram @ziastolbie

Tamu via her instagram @tamustolbie

Or their collective professional page @stolbiesisters

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This episode we welcome two passionate cannabis advocates and industry professionals, Emerald Asuncion and Abi Sampson.

Tune in to listen to Emerald and Abi as they discuss their experiences being women of colour in the cannabis space, intersectionality, the roots of cannabis legalisation, and the dedication of the industry pioneers who have paved the way for the legalisation of cannabis in Canada.

Through their conversation they highlight some of the pitfalls of the legalised industry, which has all but forgotten minorities and indigenous peoples in the race to get to the top.

Many view this industry as new and emerging, which is only true when we consider it in the mainstream context. Truthfully this road has been paved by a long list of activists and advocates for decade.

While recreationally legal cannabis is just over a year old, Emerald has worked in the space for more than 7 years starting with the BC compassion club in 2013. She now works as the communications and culture coordinator as Pasha brands, which is itself a prohibition era brand house.

Abi Sampson, a slightly newer addition to space, has been working in cannabis since 2015. She is the Chair of the Dandelion Initiative, a grassroots not-for-profit organization providing support and advocating on behalf of survivors of sexual assault. She’s worked with NORML Canada, a cannabis advocacy group in Canada, is on the board for NICHE Canada, and is currently working as Client Care Specialist at Canopy Growth Corporation. She is also a determined representative of her Filipino roots, which you’ll hear more about in this session.

Some advice for this episode, if you’re a foodie like us, you’ll want to take notes around the 35 minute mark when these two get into blazing and Filipino food for the ultimate munchie indulgence.

This session is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

Emerald Asuncion via her instagram @eme_liketheaward

Abi Sampson via her instagram @iamabisinstalife and twitter @HiHeidiHigh

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This Session you’ll hear from Andrea and Jeremy of The Village Bloomery, in Vancouver BC. The Village opened its doors back in 2015, where they operated for four years as a grey market retail store. As of August of 2019, the Village was granted their cannabis retail licence and now operate within the federally regulated cannabis market in Canada. 

The Village has long been known in Vancouver for being a quality cannabis retail store, one that typifies what it means to service the community within which they operate. Every detail, from flower they carry and the curation of products, to the design of the store and the knowledgable staff, was meticulously crafted to ensure customers were at ease, whether they were new to the cannabis or long-time consumers.

As the recreationally legal cannabis industry in Canada is still in its infancy, the evolving framework has left much to be desired, particularly around access to products, inflated prices and sustainability. Join Andrea and Jeremy in this illuminating episode as they speak frankly about the challenges of operating in the new system, their experience transitioning into the legal framework, and how this has affected consumers, both new and old. 

All in all a very fascinating episode from two of Vancouver most respected cannabis retailer owners, and one which sheds some light on just how much knowledge and effort goes into building a successful retail operation.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

Online The Village Bloomery or on instagram and facebook via the handle @villagebloomery

Sessions, by Her(B) Life is a production of Blue Dream Media.

Produced by Tiyana Matliovski and Executive Producer, Gill Polard.

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This episode you’ll hear from Zoe Helene founder of Cosmic Sister and Robyn Griggs Lawrence, author of several cannabis cook books, including the newly released Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis, which is an incredibly well researched and interesting story about the origins of cannabis as food.

Robyn, who is an educator and author, also has a cannabis catering service, and is a veteran of the natural health and wellness industry. She was editor-in-chief at Natural Home magazine for 11 years before making the transitioning into cannabis.

Zoe and Robyn discuss at length cannabis as medicine, as nutrition, as a tool for self-exploration, and how cannabis makes almost everything better - especially airports, according to Robyn.

They share ideas around cannabis as a natural health ingredient, which fits effortlessly within the shift in our lifestyles towards a more holistic, organic, chemical-free way of living. They also explore the challenges of the evolving identity of cannabis in a mainstream context as well as the subcultures developing within the cannabis space.

Both veterans of the cannabis industry, this episode is led by Zoe, who herself has been working with cannabis and other plant medicines for years with Cosmic Sister. A platform to further the concept of psychedelic feminism, Cosmic Sister aims to support and encourage women working with cannabis and other plant medicines.

We recommend you check out Robyn’s book and also head over to Cosmic Sister site after listening to this episode of Sessions.

This session is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

Robyn Griggs Lawrence via her instagram @cannabis_kitchen

Zoe Helene via the Cosmic Sister instagram @cosmicsister

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This episode is a gem for anyone just starting off in the cannabis industry or hoping to pursue a career in the space.

Our guests have have made a career out of advising people on how to do cannabis business well. We welcome the trio behind EstroHaze, co founders Kali Wilder, Sirita Wright, and Safon Floyd, who drop some serious nugs of wisdom this episode.

EstroHaze is at its core a multimedia platform aimed at educating and inspiring the businesses and lifestyles of women of color and multicultural communities in the cannabis industry.

EstroHaze began its journey with a huge leap of faith, one that is sure to get you motivated. They applied to a seed-stage cannabis business accelerator, Canopy Boulder, and were accepted. Within a matter of weeks the trio had quit their jobs, packed up their lives in Brooklyn, and moved to Boulder, Colorado - and haven’t looked back since.

Now they run a company that supports multicultural women in media, connects cannabis professionals with businesses, and with just a quick search of their website, estrohaze.com, you’ll find long list of articles and videos providing really valuable tips and methods for running businesses centred on cannabis.

This session is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

Online Estrohaze.com, or on instagram, twitter and facebook @estrohaze.

Kali Wilder via her instagram @iamkwild

Sirita Wright via her instagram @siritasavage

Safon Floyd via her instagram @accordingtofon

Welcome to Sessions by the Her(B) Life. We are back for season 2 with a new lineup of people who have made cannabis their business. Between advocates, industry professionals, influencers and creatives, we’ll be showcasing some of the industry's best and brightest in a new episode every Thursday.

This episode we welcome Laura Doell and Candice Johnson from Sundial Cannabis who discuss everything from Integrated Crop Management (ICM), to the challenges and triumphs of women working in the legal cannabis landscape.

For those of you who don’t know, ICM is high level Integrated Pest Management system for crop protection which uses biological, environmental, mechanical and/or chemical treatments to ensure healthy plants are protected from potential harmful plant virus, plant disease and pest insects.

It’s an incredibly interesting subject that sheds light on how large cannabis cannabis grows protect the plants from some of the typical ailments that befall all plant grows.

While cannabis is certainly a new and thriving industry, it is still an agricultural one. And we have of course been honing our agricultural skills for quite some time with foods we eat.

Laura having worked in large-scale commercial vegetable greenhouses for decades as well as other cannabis LP’s, joined Sundial as the Director of Integrated Crop Management (ICM) and built their ICM system from the ground up.

Candice comes from early learning and childhood development, which, in her words, transitions quite well into the cannabis industry. She works as a Lead in Integrated Crop Management at the Research and Development facility, where she uses education and instinct to work with growers to ensure happy and healthy plants from clone to harvest.

If you want to know more about this Sessions hosts you can find them via the below links.

Candice Johnson via her twitter handle @jcjohns9

Laura Doell via her twitter handle @laura_doell

Sessions is brought to you with the help of Sundial Cannabis, the natural alternative for modern wellness.