Montel speaks with Jennifer Conforti on this episode of Let’s be Blunt. Jennifer thought she would never have children, and then was blessed with a surprise pregnancy at age 42. Shortly after the birth of their beautiful baby girl, they learned she had a congenital brain defect and she was later given a secondary diagnosis of severe autism. When her behavior developed into self harm, no doctors or therapists had the answers that would help their child. They tried thirty different pharmaceuticals and none of them worked. That’s when they learned about medical cannabis, and everything changed.
BRANDS PROMOTING EQUITY IN CANNABIS | MADISON SHOCKLEY
On this episode of Let’s Be Blunt, Montel speaks with the Founder of the Cannabis Equity Policy Council and the CEO of Cadre, Madison Shockley. Cadre is a visionary social equity brand that actively advocates for equitable opportunities across the cannabis industry, offering exceptional cannabis products while uplifting marginalized communities.The Cannabis Equity Policy Council is a 501c4 non-profit made up of cannabis equity entrepreneurs and social justice non-profit organizations unified to collectively address the gap in funding, educational resources, and legislative advocacy for cannabis equity policies.
CANNABIS, CROHNS & 5 STAR EDIBLES | DAVID YUSEFZADEH
On this episode of Let’s Be Blunt, Montel talks with Michelin Star Chef David Yusefzadeh. David was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2011 and has been utilizing cannabis to allow him to function in his everyday life. He is a Michelin Star Chef and food designer who spent the majority of his career working eighty hours a week in fine dining restaurants and hotels around the world. Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Mario Batali and Richard Ekkebus are just a few of the chefs that he has spent time with professionally. He is currently the CEO and Founder of Plant Jam, a cannabis edibles company based in Massachusetts.
Montel talks with Chicago cannabis entrepreneur Akele Parnell on this episode of Let’s Be Blunt. Akele earned his masters degree in public health and doctorate of law degree from Washington University. He served as in-house counsel at Green Thumb Industries Inc., one of the largest publicly traded cannabis companies in the U.S. There, he worked across finance, securities, corporate governance, commercial transactions, real estate, M&A, corporate transactions and social equity to assist the company’s market expansion and business development activities. Today he is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ÜMI Farms, a Chicago-born craft cannabis company. He is the recipient of the Clio Award for the Community Benefits Agreement with Nature’s Care Dispensary West Loop and BCB Mastermind’s Trailblazer in Social Equity He is also a member of the board of directors of Chicago NORML, and the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition where he co-led the negotiation and implementation of the cannabis industry’s first community benefits agreement.
On this episode of Let’s be Blunt, Montel talks with Hemp-OG Chris Boucher about the potential pitfalls of Delta-8 products on the industry. Chris has been involved in the hemp industry since the early 1990’s globally. In 1994, he became the first person in modern times permitted to legally grow a hemp crop in the US, at the USDA Research Center in Brawley, California. In 2014, he established a large, sustainable hemp farm in California to support his educational, commercial, and advocacy activities and now today, he is CEO of Farmtiva, Inc. which breeds and sells CBD fiber and grain seeds and co-founder of Juicetiva Hemp CBDA Powder.
In recent years, the oversupply of CBD extracted from US grown-hemp caused the price of CBD to plummet, and some CBD producers began to experiment. The result was the emergence of Delta-8 products being widely marketed and sold across the country with no regulatory oversight and limited laboratory testing. Most products sold as delta-8-THC typically contain a high percentage of delta-8-THC and small amounts of other cannabinoids, including delta-9-THC, and reaction by-products. Some of the cannabinoids are not naturally found in cannabis. In most cases, nothing is known about the health effects of these impurities.
On this episode of Let’s be Blunt, Montel talks with Nishant Reddy, a CEO and Founder who is widely recognized as an expert within the cannabis sector.
Leveraging a successful career in institutional finance with a focus on investment banking and private equity, he has built one of the most respected and financially successful cannabis enterprises in the US, Satya Capital. He is regularly featured as a thought leader in Forbes, Business Insider and Bloomberg, and is considered an outspoken advocate of social justice and sustainability.
Montel talks with Marcia Pledger on this episode of Let’s Be Blunt. Marcia is the co-founder of the Ohio Cannabis Health & Business Summit, an annual educational event in Cleveland aimed at both the general public and people in the cannabis industry. She is a freelance business journalist, content creator and author with 30 years-experience covering local and national stories on topics as diverse as cannabis and technology, to opinion pieces and small business challenges and she covers various aspects of the cannabis industry in her “Blunt Talk” blog.
On this episode of Let’s Be Blunt, Montel talks with serial entrepreneur, financier and former professional football player Ruben Lindo. Ruben broke into the cannabis industry in 2015 as a consultant and then began a national CBD company in 2018. The following year he founded Blak Mar Farms, which today is present in three states and growing. After ten years in professional football, he also started coffee and cigar companies, restaurants, tech firms and has worked in construction management and nonprofits. Herbn Couture is a lifestyle Brand that falls under the Blak Mar Farms Cannabis brand. Over the past several years Ruben has hosted the Herbn Couture Luxury Cannabis Networking Gala to give regular people access to the cannabis industry, bringing together cannabis executives, lawyers, accountants , investors and current and future cannabis operators.
Montel talks with Kate Miller, co-founder and CEO of Miss Grass, on this episode of Let’s be Blunt. Miss Grass is a brand on a mission to help the world get good at weed. Inspired by her stint working at a dispensary in college and powered by a decade-long career in entertainment where she worked alongside Ben Silverman and led brand partnerships for Lorne Micheals’ Broadway Video, Kate is dedicated to rewriting the pervasive and shameful narrative around the plant and building a community of conscious cannabis consumers.
Montel talks with Aaron Bloom on this episode of Let’s be Blunt. Aaron owned, operated and represented traditional healthcare companies for over twenty years. He’s now applying that experience to helping people find relief through medical cannabis and CBD. He is the CEO of DOC MJ, the Chairman and Founder of Floridians for Safe Medical Cannabis Care and an attorney by trade.
On this episode of Let’s be Blunt, Montel is on location at Capital Cannabis in Douglas, MA speaking with the owner-operator Teresa Matteson. Teresa was offered an opportunity to transition into the cannabis business in 2019. She dug in and educated herself on the science and the business of cannabis, and opened Capital Cannabis in 2021. Part of her motivation to enter the industry came from seeing the impact the plant medicine had on a co-workers father who had been given a year to live due to his stomach cancer. Utilizing RSO oil, he was able to see three more grandchildren born and lived an additional five years. Teresa shares the joy she feels knowing how her customers are being helped by natures medicine.
On this special Veteran’s Day episode of Let’s Be Blunt, Montel speaks with the Executive Director of the Veterans Cannabis Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving U.S. military veterans’ quality of life through the opportunity of cannabis. Stephen served in the United States Navy for over 20 years as a Naval Aviator and Commanding Officer. His professional experiences span global development, aviation, organizational development, innovation, macroeconomics, security cooperation, defense financial management, and acquisitions. Nine million+ veterans cannot access medical cannabis through their healthcare provider, even in states where cannabis is legal. VHA doctors cannot recommend cannabis or submit the forms that many states require. The federal status of cannabis has also made it nearly impossible to research the impacts of cannabis on veterans’ health issues such as TBIs, PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression. New legislation is pending to improve access in legal states, but we are not here yet.
On this episode of Let’s Be Blunt, Montel speaks with Steven Hoffman. Mr Hoffman served as the initial Chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission from 2017 – 2022 where he was responsible for standing up a safe and equitable market for recreational cannabis in the state and expanding access to the medical cannabis program. Prior to serving on the Commission, he was a Senior Partner at Bain & Company, the Chief Strategy Officer for Sapient and the CEO of two venture capital backed technology start-ups. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of several cannabis businesses with a focus on bringing clinical support and higher quality products to medical cannabis patients.
SEIZURES, CANNABIS & LIVING SOIL CULTIVATION | HELEN GOMEZ ANDREWS
Montel talks with Helen Gomez Andrews on this episode of Let’s be Blunt. Helen is a lifelong cannabis enthusiast and advocate, and parent to one of the first medical cardholders in New York State. Together with her husband and two kids, she moved from New York City to MA, leaving her Wall Street career behind to launch The High End, a vertically- integrated cannabis company centered around organic living soil cultivation, solventless extraction, and a hospitality and home- grow driven retail experience. She’s sharing her daughter’s journey with epilepsy and the relief she has found through the use of medical cannabis.
On this episode of Let’s be Blunt, Montel talks with the founder and executive director of the INDIGENOUS CANNABIS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, Rob PeRo and Mary Jane Oatman. The ICIA uplifts cannabis economic development by advocating for equitable policy reform, empowering communities through education and destigmatization, and building connection through programming that brings together cannabis and hemp industry professionals, Tribal leaders, government officials, and advocacy organizations.
Montel talks with Gary Long on this episode of Let’s be Blunt. Gary transitioned from an extensive career in traditional healthcare to the cannabis industry. He held leadership roles at numerous public companies and brings a wealth of knowledge to his new role as the CEO of Botanical Sciences, Georgia’s first physician owned vertically integrated cannabis company.
