Suzan Nickelson made history when she was awarded a New Jersey medicinal dispensary license in the NJ RFP 2019 round. Then she made news when Holistic Solutions opened on February 10th, 2023, in Waterford Township N.J.
Holistic Solutions is a 4,000 square foot dispensary with 11 POS stations for seamless purchasing, a private consultation room for discussions with onsite medical professionals, and a drive-thru window. Holistic Solutions provides compassionate care and education to patients enrolled in New Jersey’s Medicinal Cannabis Program.
Suzan Nickelson has curated an assortment of THC and CBD products, including flower, pre-rolls, edibles, tinctures, vaporizers, concentrates, ingestible, topicals, accessories, its own strain called “Girlie” after Suzan’s mother, Elaine Campbell-Cohen.
Holistic Solutions stocks its shelves with products from independent entrepreneurs such as Miss Grass cannabis, artisan jewelry from Jamaican designer Kristie Stephenson, and women and BIPOC-owned cannabis brands.
“When you walk in, you’ll see art, culture—you’ll see some great cannabis and you’ll feel welcome,” Suzan said. “Cannabis teaches that out of many people we are one. We believe cannabis is a universal incubator. It’s a connector and we’re looking to connect.”
Holistic Solutions opened with 10 employees including women, minorities, veterans, and others who are normally underrepresented in the workforce. Suzan’s business plans include keeping about a third of its payroll for people living in the immediate area. She understands the value of investing in the community and in people.
Suzan started developing Holistic Solutions five years ago while working full time and raising three children as a single mother. She had been working in the cannabis market for over twenty years. And is the CEO of Ital Daughters LLC, a cannabis and hemp consulting company that helps minorities, women, and veterans understand the compliance and regulatory aspects of the industry.
“Like the women who raised me, I believe cannabis is a plant of reverence and spirituality that has been given to people to heal – however intentional stigmatization led to what we went through in the War on Drugs that disproportionately hurt entire communities of Black and brown people. This is what fueled me to work relentlessly to open the doors of Holistic Solutions,” stated Suzan Nickelson. “The women in my family passed down generational knowledge of working with various herbs for healing and spirituality to me, and I look forward to using that knowledge to run my own cannabis business so others can understand just how powerful this plant can be in a pursuit of wellness and healing.”
“I used my own seed money and started my company on my iPhone 6,” Nickelson told MarketWatch. “We felt that plant-based medicine was an option that many people should have, so we pursued that.”
Suzan, attributes Marissa Edmonds, chairwoman of New Jersey-based optical components maker Edmund Optics Inc. with helping to open doors for her in the business community.
Holistic Solutions also received backing from The Collective. The Collective was launched in April 2022, by Patrick Jonsson, a former Northeast Regional President for Curaleaf.
Suzan has done more than opening a dispensary; she is dispelling the myths and stigma around cannabis and paving the way for women entrepreneurs. She is honoring her rich Jamaican heritage and the generations of women herbalists in her family. Suzan Nickelson has just begun her journey into the history of women of color trailblazers in the cannabis industry.
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