JM Valbuena certainly has a talent for writing about successful cannabis businesses.bestselling book author Successful Cannabis Entrepreneur: A Practical Guide to Success in the Legal Cannabis Fieldis a multifaceted entrepreneur and co-founder and chief marketing officer of Prime Harvest, a technology-driven cannabis company with a 10,000 square foot cannabis manufacturing facility and popular San Diego dispensary, Jax Cannabis. Additionally, she is also the owner of her Synergy Studios, a cannabis-focused media company and the platform for her supportive apparel brand Boycott Shitty Weed.
Balbuena is also the co-founder of Divana Mushrooms, an e-commerce platform specializing in medical mushrooms, and co-owner of Palenque Provisions, a family-owned Latin food production company. Balbuena, who is originally from the Dominican Republic and is based in San Diego, said he inherited his parents' strong desire for entrepreneurship. She is a decorated U.S. Navy veteran and medical marijuana patient, who she credits with saving her life after a severe head injury.
Valbuena exclusively shares insights from her journey as a cannabis entrepreneur, her motivation for writing the book, and the values that are most important to her in the cannabis industry.
Cannabis Now: What inspired you to write the book?
JM Balbuena: I didn't originally set out to write a book about the cannabis business. My initial focus was on self-help books about using cannabis for mental health. In the process, the publisher said: “There are a lot of self-help books out there. But there aren't any books about the cannabis business written by people like you who have been in the cannabis industry.” Considering I've only been in the cannabis industry for six years. I was a little nervous at first. When I told her of my hesitation, she replied, “I don’t know. And with the amount of work you've done so far, you can help a lot of people. ” So, in that moment, I just said, “You know what? “Then let's see if you have any books on that.”
What message did you want to convey through the book?
The purpose of this book was to attract high-quality stakeholders, whether on the entrepreneurial, professional, or investment side of things. I wanted to paint a picture of chance. There are opportunities in the industry. There's an opportunity for bright minds to come in and try to propose solutions to those problems.
It was important to me to convey that information from the perspective of someone with a diverse background like myself. I'm a Navy veteran, and cannabis has helped me deal with the unique perspectives of being Latino, Black, and an immigrant. I'm an LGBTQ+ woman. I felt that people could relate to my experience and that I could help them see opportunity within challenges. “Hey, if I've been able to do this, you can do it too” type of message. People get discouraged when they hear statistics that say women are not always in leadership positions, but often in lower ranks, and that less than 2% of legal cannabis businesses are owned by Black entrepreneurs. I'll put it away.
The cannabis industry is unique because it's new and not many industries have been stigmatized for over a century. One of the things I mentioned in the book is what I learned from my family. When there is a problem, that problem usually has a solution. Oftentimes, we tend to focus on problems and things that are directly affecting us, and not necessarily on arriving. What's the problem? How can I fix it? Think critically. More importantly, think creatively. Let's highlight affected communities and see how they can positively impact solutions.
We also have the opportunity to work with our industry to create real social justice. Here in California, 80% of marijuana arrests are for underage possession of marijuana, and most of those arrests are people of color. We have an opportunity to reverse that with cannabis and set a precedent to prevent other similar situations from happening in the future. This is a multi-billion dollar industry. We can reallocate those revenues back to communities like Colorado, which funnels tax revenue from cannabis into education. I'm really excited about the possibilities of what I can do in this industry. That's the tone of the book I was aiming for.
What do you think are the three things you need to be successful as an entrepreneur?
The first is having a creative vision to find solutions when faced with challenges.
You have to be resilient, which means being creative. You have to find a way to find a solution and push through without giving up.
Know when to ask for help. In that sense, let's create a strong team where everyone can demonstrate their strengths. Because while “solo entrepreneurship” may seem okay, it's very lonely and there's only so much you can do. Knowing when to expand your team or expand your business to hire someone else to fill in the gaps is critical.
What do you love most about being a cannabis entrepreneur?
Local community/community. The cannabis community is very diverse. Most of the people in this space, from the bottom to the top, are in this industry as advocates for plant medicine. We have all found solace in plants, most of the time. We are on a mission to ensure we remove the stigma of doing business.
Can you share a significant learning experience from your journey?
I have to be patient. Things move a little slower in this space. But at the same time things happen very quickly. Cannabis has been around before us. Probably will come here after us. But the regulated space situation is new to everyone. The people making the laws have never done anything like that before. The people operating under those laws have never done that. This law can be harmful to businesses because most people who make the law know nothing about our industry. In many cases, the legislation does not even involve industry players. Sometimes it feels like they're regulating the atomic bomb. It's just a plant, calm down.
As we crawl through the trenches, we point out: We're going out of business. ” For example, it is important for lawmakers to understand that legal dispensaries do not increase crime in cities, do not cause or contribute to an increase in the number of minors participating in consumption, etc. And they say, “Oh, well, I don't think they're trying to inject drugs into our neighborhood.'' We help medical patients and adult consumers benefit from this factory. I'm trying to. we pay taxes. We're doing everything they ask.
The regulated situation is new to all stakeholders, so we must be patient and things will correct themselves. Unfortunately, it happens slowly, but patience is the key.
