Latest / The Scene Projects / Kelly Riddle on Cannabis Industry Growth, Events, and Breaking Stigmas

Transcript

Kelly Riddle on Cannabis Industry Growth, Events, and Breaking Stigmas · The Scene Projects

• 0:12
  Welcome in to another exciting episode of Real Biz.
• 0:15
  I am your host Bubba Starts, and with me today from the Canna joint, Kelly Riddle.
• 0:19
  Kelly, welcome to the show.
• 0:21
  Hey.
• 0:22
  What's up?
• 0:22
  So good to see you.
• 0:23
  Thank you for having me.
• 0:24
  Yeah.
• 0:25
  It's good to see you again too, and, you're so busy.
• 0:28
  I'm glad I got to nail you down for a few minutes today.
• 0:31
  Thank you.
• 0:32
  I know.
• 0:32
  I just I I don't like being bored.
• 0:35
  I just I've learned about myself.
• 0:38
  Me neither.
• 0:39
  Me neither.
• 0:39
  So love it.
• 0:40
  Before we get too far into the conversation, I know you got a lot of things that, you're doing
• 0:45
  this year that you wanna share.
• 0:47
  I I really like to start off with just getting a little bit of your backstory and what's
• 0:51
  brought you to this point, and then we'll pick it up from there.
• 0:54
  Awesome.
• 0:55
  Well, you know, I went to school for journalism and had the great pleasure of really starting
• 1:00
  out my career, at Maxim magazine in New York.
• 1:05
  I had a great experience there.
• 1:07
  Really learned end to end, the magazine industry.
• 1:10
  I was in production.
• 1:11
  I got to work on some other titles.
• 1:14
  But after my time there, I've decided to move to the great state of North Carolina.
• 1:19
  So I've been here.
• 1:21
  As far as the cannabis industry, there was not a lot going on here.
• 1:26
  We are still actually fully an illegal state other than what's legal under the 2018, hemp
• 1:32
  farm bill.
• 1:33
  So I was working more in the fashion sector.
• 1:36
  I was an entrepreneur.
• 1:38
  I started my own, brand agency, worked with a lot of small and midsized companies across The
• 1:44
  US, and, you know, eventually fell into the corporate landscape.
• 1:48
  So I worked for Tanger Outlets as creative director, and then I landed at Kinder Music
• 1:54
  International where I did some incredible work in the baby music field, which is just a
• 1:59
  natural transition to cannabis.
• 2:03
  I was looking for a new role and connected with the team at MJBiz Daily and MJBizCon, and that
• 2:11
  was really my segue into the cannabis industry.
• 2:15
  I spent five years there really deep in the editorial side, getting to work with people all
• 2:23
  over the country, seeing kind of different markets come online and how those rollouts
• 2:29
  went.
• 2:31
  Loved really working on MJBizCon and bringing the whole community together every year and had
• 2:37
  a great experience there.
• 2:39
  But about a year ago, I decided to venture out on my own, and that's where the Canna joint was
• 2:45
  born.
• 2:47
  So awesome.
• 2:48
  What what a journey to get where you are now, and, what a great company to start working for
• 2:55
  kinda out of school at Maxim, kind of added zenith, right, in those days.
• 3:02
  Obviously, remember seeing it on the magazine racks, anytime we went through, especially as a
• 3:07
  younger man.
• 3:08
  They were always trying to attract us as their clients.
• 3:12
  So
• 3:13
  We surprisingly had a large female readership.
• 3:16
  I think it was the comedy.
• 3:18
  I don't know.
• 3:19
  I think it was the the realness of it.
• 3:22
  Right?
• 3:22
  And, that's kinda taken us into this digital era where real is the only thing that sells in
• 3:30
  the age of AI.
• 3:32
  You can't trust anything that's out there.
• 3:35
  So it really becomes about the people behind the publications, and and that's why I think
• 3:40
  it's so cool that you are willing to come on the show with us today and and to not just have
• 3:45
  your publication and the, you know, the art be the face, but to also put your face on it and
• 3:52
  to say, no.
• 3:52
  This is this is the why behind everything that I'm doing.
• 3:56
  And I think that's so cool.
• 3:57
  Absolutely.
• 3:58
  I think, coming into the CannaJoint, you know, I had spent a lot of time in the events
• 4:04
  industry.
• 4:04
  And one thing that every event has in common is you pretty much leave exhausted.
• 4:09
  I mean, if you're the person having to set up and break down and work the sales floor, you
• 4:13
  probably have bloody fingers.
• 4:15
  You know?
• 4:16
  You're dehydrated.
• 4:18
  If you're somebody wanting to make the most of the time and you're running from end to end,
• 4:21
  you see these convention halls or, you know, 20 some thousand steps in a day is nothing.
• 4:28
  So I really wanted to do something different, you know, and really lean into what if we
• 4:35
  could, you know, create a more intimate experience that you leave not only invigorated
• 4:41
  in your mind but refreshed in your body.
• 4:44
  You know, we try to incorporate things like massage, you know, meditation, you know,
• 4:51
  smaller roundtables where everybody's involved in the discussion, infused food, you know, open
• 4:58
  air environments, and things of that nature.
• 5:01
  So it's really kinda I call it the soft landing between events.
• 5:06
  You know, really trying to build on the experience and what you're investing there, but
• 5:11
  not make yourself leave feeling like you need to check into the hospital.
• 5:17
  No.
• 5:18
  And, you know, what, fourteen years ago now, thirteen maybe, I was very fortunate to be able
• 5:27
  to, partake, not only attend, but to, be a part of a booth outside at the first ever legal
• 5:36
  cannabis cup that was, in Denver, Colorado outside of Denver at the Denver Mart.
• 5:43
  An incredible, time, and the industry has come so far since then, especially with so many more
• 5:52
  states having legal recreational or medical programs now.
• 5:56
  Over half of the country having something, even my home state of South Dakota has a medical
• 6:01
  program now for the last several years.
• 6:03
  And it it's been really incredible what what has transpired in this community.
• 6:09
  You know, Ben, someone who has partaken in cannabis, you know, probably from too early of
• 6:14
  an age.
• 6:15
  I hate to admit it, but that's kinda one of the consequences of the illegalities of it is is
• 6:21
  that nobody would talk about it.
• 6:23
  Right?
• 6:23
  And you wouldn't talk about it.
• 6:25
  It was just don't do it.
• 6:26
  And what's the one thing to make a teenager do something is to tell them not to.
• 6:29
  Right?
• 6:30
  So I feel like we're in such a better place now as opposed to, you know, even ten years ago,
• 6:37
  much less, you know, decades prior of just being able to talk about things and having
• 6:43
  platforms to do so in and then having spaces that inside of these conventions.
• 6:49
  I know that you've had some booths at at the conventions that you're able to provide a space
• 6:53
  where people can just slow down.
• 6:55
  Those those conventions, no matter if it's the cannabis industry or it's, you know, any
• 7:00
  industry that these are at, they are very busy.
• 7:02
  They are overwhelming in so many ways.
• 7:05
  Right?
• 7:05
  The sensory overload.
• 7:07
  So how cool that you, you know, seeing that and having obviously taken part in plenty of them
• 7:12
  over your time to say, hey.
• 7:15
  Why don't we just have a space where we can, like, chill out for a little while and people
• 7:19
  can be comfortable to just sit and relax for five minutes and kick their feet up and maybe
• 7:25
  get a massage and, to be able to rest, briefly at least inside of the conventions.
• 7:32
  Yeah.
• 7:32
  I think it it makes a huge difference.
• 7:35
  And, you know, a lot of the people that show up at our events are like, wow.
• 7:38
  This has been the most valuable time of, you know, the week.
• 7:43
  And that's because, you know, it's hard to have a quality conversation with so much noise going
• 7:49
  on around you.
• 7:50
  I've done so many great interviews that I've had to throw away because so much crazy sound
• 7:56
  in the background.
• 7:57
  So, you know, we know these events are important, and there's a place for everything.
• 8:03
  But having, you know, this alternative or, you know, instead of maybe the big loud party, you
• 8:09
  come to we had one that it was a pajama party, so you came comfortable.
• 8:14
  And they were cute pajamas, but, you know, it's very come as you are.
• 8:19
  And I find when you kinda strip all of that away, that's when people have the strongest
• 8:25
  connections, the most lasting, you know, connections, and it turns into collaborations,
• 8:29
  business, media exposure, and all those great things that brands really need to succeed,
• 8:34
  especially in cannabis.
• 8:37
  Totally.
• 8:37
  Well and it's not just about the hang and making connections with people.
• 8:41
  It's also about content creation.
• 8:43
  So talk a little bit about that and the interviews that you're doing and, you know,
• 8:47
  what you're capturing while you're there.
• 8:50
  Absolutely.
• 8:51
  While I was at MJBizCon, I actually launched our content creator program.
• 8:55
  And funny enough, it bore out of the first year.
• 8:58
  I literally had to run everywhere by myself to capture all the content.
• 9:03
  Our social media manager had just had a baby.
• 9:07
  So I was like, wow.
• 9:08
  This is a challenge.
• 9:10
  You know?
• 9:10
  We were doing Instagram lives and, you know, interviews and also just wanting to capture
• 9:16
  everything on the show floor.
• 9:18
  And then also as I got to work alongside a lot of creative, content creators, influencers in
• 9:25
  the industry, you know, when you don't have a large budget for, you know, paid media or your
• 9:31
  band because your product, you know, doesn't align with the community guidelines outlined,
• 9:38
  you know, leaning into creators, other brands, like collaborating.
• 9:43
  That's one of the things I love most about this industry.
• 9:46
  You know, certainly, there's kind of, you know, some people that, you know, are kinda on the
• 9:52
  outside, but most people are very willing to step in, give advice, help other brands
• 9:59
  succeed.
• 10:00
  It's such a collaborative environment.
• 10:02
  And the post, when you can, you know, do that and bring the collaboration to Instagram, your
• 10:08
  audience can really grow.
• 10:09
  You can get more exposure.
• 10:10
  So we always lean into creators.
• 10:12
  We try to, you know, curate an experience that it's easy for them to get the content they
• 10:19
  need.
• 10:20
  We bring in, you know, people who they wanna interview.
• 10:23
  So it's more than just what we're doing.
• 10:25
  We bring in other media at the Canna joint coming up in Hudson on May.
• 10:31
  Chronic Magazine is one of our sponsors.
• 10:33
  We're excited to have them in the house.
• 10:36
  But, again, we bring in the other magazine, influencers like Queenie and Penny Lane, and
• 10:42
  the list goes on.
• 10:43
  So that's a core part of everything we do because brands invest a lot in those few days
• 10:48
  of an event.
• 10:49
  You know?
• 10:49
  Nothing's cheap in the event industry, and it's very important to be there.
• 10:55
  But what I find most powerful is when you have a takeaway that makes that event last beyond
• 11:00
  those few days.
• 11:02
  You get exposure that continues, networking that continues on long beyond the event.
• 11:08
  Yeah.
• 11:08
  In this day and age that we have, you know, everything.
• 11:13
  If it's not on video, it didn't happen.
• 11:15
  Right?
• 11:15
  So if you're not having a plan for capturing and supplying that to your sponsors and vendors
• 11:23
  and people that are there, you know, what are you really doing?
• 11:26
  You know?
• 11:27
  And, yes, the in person stuff is great, and there's a ton of value there.
• 11:32
  But, truly, it needs to be, on camera and to have something to take away is so important.
• 11:38
  And I honestly, it's a piece of advice that I give to literally everyone that I talk to, and
• 11:44
  it's why I have a platform where we are creating and not just having a conversation,
• 11:48
  but providing pieces of content for our guests and, you know, sponsors to take with them far
• 11:54
  beyond just this moment.
• 11:56
  So incredible that you've done that in an industry that maybe, I mean, with legalities
• 12:03
  being what they are now, I feel like it's a little bit easier.
• 12:06
  But, you know, even ten years ago, fifteen years ago, nobody wanted a camera on it just
• 12:10
  because what you were doing was highly suspect and illegal.
• 12:14
  And and now the industry has changed, and it's really opened up to a lot of I mean, this
• 12:18
  opportunity for you, particularly, may not would not have been possible fifteen years ago.
• 12:24
  No.
• 12:25
  And, you know, being in North Carolina, I'm reminded of that often.
• 12:28
  You know, we have a long road to grow.
• 12:31
  We're not even decriminalized.
• 12:33
  People are still being arrested for even minor possession, let alone, beyond that.
• 12:39
  So they're having you know, we have the THCA craze here, And, you know, some in South
• 12:49
  Carolina and North Carolina, they're actually cracking down on a lot of the shops, even, you
• 12:55
  know, testing products.
• 12:57
  So it's going to become a tighter regulated market here, soon, which might help with some
• 13:04
  of that gray area.
• 13:05
  You know?
• 13:06
  But we have a long way to go here.
• 13:08
  We have a lot of stigma to break down.
• 13:10
  I mean, people are very willing to pop a pill and take whatever, you know, a pharmacy
• 13:15
  prescribes them, but you say the word cannabis down here, and it's a lot of ohs and oh.
• 13:20
  I don't know.
• 13:21
  Now even you brought up teenagers.
• 13:23
  I mean, with my kids, I actually didn't talk a lot about what I did for work.
• 13:27
  They they knew the word MJBiz before they knew what that really meant because I was worried
• 13:33
  about them going to school and, you know, misrepresenting what I did.
• 13:38
  But in not talking to them about it, you know, they actually developed quite a bit of stigma
• 13:44
  surrounding the plant.
• 13:45
  The information they were shared in schools was very outdated.
• 13:49
  He said there were only two medical markets.
• 13:51
  It was, like, 2,012 data.
• 13:53
  Nothing I mean, obviously, they're not promoting it to kids to use it, but still a lot
• 13:58
  of those scare tactics to the point where my kids were pretty upset when they found out what
• 14:02
  I did.
• 14:03
  And I did a lot of showing them, you know, the science behind it to help, you know, bridge
• 14:08
  that gap.
• 14:09
  But we have a lot to do, and that's why I found an NC three chamber.
• 14:13
  It's a North Carolina cannabis business chamber, so we represent, you know, all the
• 14:18
  interested interests of businesses from industrial hemp all the way through to future,
• 14:24
  rec or medical markets that will hopefully come into play here soon.
• 14:29
  And a big part of what we're doing is to try to educate the community, whether it's having an
• 14:35
  event where hemp beverages are available, helping, you know, people understand the
• 14:39
  cannabinoid system, working with scientists and researchers.
• 14:42
  We're so lucky to have doctor Alin Howlett here at Wake Forest School of Medicine.
• 14:48
  She actually discovered the c b one cannabinoid receptor in the body.
• 14:53
  So pretty incredible people here, but still, like I said, there's a lot of work to be done
• 14:59
  here.
• 15:00
  And I think across the board yet as well, and the pendulum tends to swing forward and then
• 15:08
  back, and it it's constantly two steps forward and one step back.
• 15:11
  And being in legal battles, it's really hard to forecast where it's all going.
• 15:19
  I think there has been a tremendous amount of progress in the last few decades, but still so
• 15:25
  far to go yet.
• 15:27
  What is top of mind for you in the space and maybe more specifically with the Canna Joint
• 15:35
  over the next three to six months?
• 15:38
  I mean, with the Canna Joint, we're showing up, in New York big.
• 15:42
  It's, you know, my roots there with Maxim was based in New York City.
• 15:46
  I lived in the Lower East Side, spent some time in Brooklyn.
• 15:49
  So I've been really enjoying, you know, that market, and, you know, it's evolving, very
• 15:55
  innovative.
• 15:56
  So really showing up for those brands, and retailers, at Ravelry and Hudson is our, you
• 16:03
  know, primary focus.
• 16:06
  In the fall, we're looking to potentially go to the Midwest, and then lots of smaller events
• 16:12
  that we like to support as well.
• 16:14
  So you'll see a lot of that cropping up.
• 16:17
  But one of my biggest passions is actually, you know, in addition to doing events, I'm a
• 16:21
  fractional CMO and event producer for other people.
• 16:25
  So I've come on board with the sports cannabis team as head of events and partnerships.
• 16:31
  We've been able to do some great content plays.
• 16:34
  We did sports cannabis Super Bowl, trivia with some guests and did some online events, but we
• 16:41
  are in the process of planning, the sports cannabis Olympics this fall in LA.
• 16:48
  So more details to come on that, but what really makes me passionate about sports
• 16:54
  cannabis is the power of both former and current athletes to bring that message, to
• 17:01
  break down the stigma and showcase how cannabis is used for wellness and recovery.
• 17:06
  It's not just the smoke show or the Puff Cons, you know, that you think about.
• 17:12
  You know, there's a lot more to this plan.
• 17:14
  I think that's what a lot of people are missing.
• 17:16
  You know?
• 17:16
  So it's a powerful movement to really bring together both the sports and cannabis worlds.
• 17:22
  You know, a lot of athletes are, you know, given opi oh, it's like candy.
• 17:29
  You know?
• 17:29
  But cannabis has traditionally been banned.
• 17:32
  But we're seeing that change.
• 17:34
  We're seeing, you know, momentum behind this, and so that's a very passionate project of mine
• 17:40
  as well.
• 17:41
  Yeah.
• 17:42
  And as more ex players are kinda speaking up about their experience and really just kinda
• 17:46
  walking into essentially a, you know, a a preprescribed bag of pills in their locker when
• 17:53
  they get done with the game.
• 17:55
  And it's really honestly, it's absolutely disgusting how our medical system is designed
• 18:04
  truly as it sits right now.
• 18:07
  And we both know sitting here that we can do so much better.
• 18:11
  And I I feel like there is a building wave of, the education side was so important and remains
• 18:18
  the foremost important because there's been such a push to stigmatize it for so long that
• 18:26
  it takes us, a long time to break that down in someone's mind and to open their mind to that.
• 18:33
  And I think there's no better way to do that than how you've been doing it and approaching
• 18:38
  people in smaller you know, even if you're at a large event to break it down into some smaller
• 18:43
  groups and to provide that education.
• 18:46
  Love what you're doing with sports.
• 18:47
  Obviously, the SCENE projects has our SPSN sports network as well and seeing what grows
• 18:53
  there.
• 18:53
  So a lot of overlap for us still and to have you involved in maybe some of our events in the
• 19:00
  future as well.
• 19:01
  So, Kelly, where can everyone find you before I let you get out of here?
• 19:06
  You can find me at thecannajoint.com.
• 19:09
  Definitely check us out there and, you know, all the different things that I'm doing,
• 19:14
  Instagram or at the.cannajoint.
• 19:19
  So share a lot out on there of things that you don't wanna miss.
• 19:23
  Excellent, Kelly.
• 19:24
  Well, I appreciate your time today.
• 19:26
  I know you have a busy, busy schedule and a lot of things to get to.
• 19:30
  So I appreciate you spending a few minutes with me today and sharing more about the CannaJoint,
• 19:35
  and thank you for being part of the scene.
• 19:38
  Thank you, Bubba.
• 19:39
  It's great.
• 19:40
  Thanks.