cannabis dispensary Archives -

Women's Cannabis Chamber of Commerce WCCC Vanessa Palacios

July 1, 2023January 20, 2024Women Owned Cannabis Businesses, Women Who Inspire

Vanessa Palacios COO & Co-Owner

Vanessa Palacios had a successful 20 year career with the Public Service Company (PNM) Her entrepreneurial husband, Oscar, encouraged her to make a career change and to consider opening a business.

Vanessa’s career with PNM gave her the opportunity to develop and perfect skill sets that would secure her an executive position with any company. She coordinated program implementation, including developing participation forecasts, designing promotions, managing contracts, tracking participation and budget, working with participating vendors, retailers, and contractors, and preparing regulatory compliance reports on programs.

Vanessa’s skill sets are the skill sets needed to develop a business plan, s.o.p.’s, and launch a cannabis dispensary.

Vanessa Palacios is a co-owner and Chief of Operations for Lemon Cannabis Co, located in the Nob Hill Neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lemon Cannabis Co is an integrated microbusiness that has just opened their first dispensary storefront. Lemon Cannabis Co. focuses on premium products and knowledgeable Budtenders to ensure both the novice and the connoisseur finds the perfect product.

Lemon Cannabis Co is working towards a more sustainable cannabis industry. They use glass containers for single pre-rolls and sturdy boxes for pre-roll 6-packs. Lemon Cannabis Co has a refill program: Bring the glass container and/or the pre-roll box back to be refilled and receive 10% off the purchase. They were surprised by the lack of biodegradable packaging and have begun working with companies to develop biodegradable packaging for Lemon Cannabis Co products.

Although Lemon Cannabis Co is new to the area, Vanessa and her team are native Albuquerqueans with strong ties to the community.

Creating a positive experience is what Vanessa strives to do in all interactions. As a past customer satisfaction trainer and 20 years of interacting with consumers to understand their needs, she brings a wealth of knowledge to the cannabis industry to meet consumer needs.

Her passion also lies within the community she serves, “I love Albuquerque! The people make it a beautiful place to live and I hope to be a part of all the wonderful and positive things happening here.”

Vanessa has been involved with United Way Worldwide for over 20 years. She has been an

avid contributor and was selected as a PNM Co-Captain in 2013 and 2014 to assist in raising money for the Annual Campaign.

Vanessa and the Lemon Cannabis Co. team continue the commitment to serving their community. They are creating a foundation to improve the community and have pledged to donate 5% of all Lemon Cannabis Co. profits.

May 30, 2023January 20, 2024Women Who Inspire

Alexis Berends Visionary Officer

Alexis Berends job title is Chief Visionary Officer at Union Chill Cannabis Company llc. In Lambertville, NJ. The title fits her.

Alexis has lived in Lambertville, NJ, (Nishowmensa, Lenapehoking) most of her life. At best calculation, her son is the seventh generation to call her beloved river city home. Hailing from a line of activists, musicians, and artists, she deeply believes in inclusivity and change, and that the fledgling NJ cannabis industry can be utilized as a catalyst to shape our collective future.

After receiving a Bachelors of Honors in Globalization, Development and Human Rights from Arcadia University in 2009, Alexis continued on to pursue her Masters in International Peace & Conflict Resolution. Her studies brought her to the Middle East where she studied the plight of the Palestinian people in the context of environmental justice. Her research was focused on water access and indigenous rights through the lens of international law. After a series of divine interventions – including a vision quest with an AWOL Israeli soldier and a kidnapping in revolutionary Egypt – her life path was forever altered.

Upon returning to the United States, Alexis promptly moved to St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. During her time in the USVI, Alexis began to immerse herself in the Rastafarian culture and their deep relationship with cannabis. After leaving the USVI, Alexis found her way to Humboldt County, California where she was introduced to the cultivation side of cannabis. Not dissimilar to the USVI, in California Alexis gained an intimate glimpse into the lives of many of our Native American brothers & sisters who have been so negatively impacted by the war on drugs and industries at large.

It is Alexis’ goal to create a cannabis industry that honors the First Nations Peoples of the world and a shared commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, as well as one that offers sincere equity to the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs.

Alexis Berends is also a Divemaster, Master Shark Diver, Yoga Teacher, and Reiki Master. She enjoys anything related to vampires, the ocean, and the spacetime continuum. Of her revolving titles at Union Chill Cannabis, Chief Visionary Officer seems to best encompass her passions and vision. She deeply believes in the medicine of cannabis, especially in treating PTSD in conjunction with mindfulness and intention.

March 23, 2023May 30, 2023Women Owned Cannabis Businesses

Suzan Nickelson History Maker

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.

LA Social Equity

Los Angeles opened the application process for social equity applicants in September 2019. To date only three of the 200 eligible applicants have received approval from the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation; Artist Tree, Sunset Business Solutions, and CannaTrust Group. Artist Tree in Koreatown is the only one that has opened.

The Social Equity Program is a three-tiered program that groups applicants meeting certain criteria and processes their application in a priority schedule created by the City.

Tier 1 Social Equity Individual Applicants must be low-income, and have a prior California Cannabis Arrest or Conviction, or have a minimum cumulative residency of five years in a Disproportionately Impacted Area.

A Tier 2 Social Equity Individual Applicant must be Low Income and have a minimum cumulative residency of five years in a Disproportionately Impacted Area or the individual does not meet the Low Income requirement but has a minimum cumulative residency of ten years in a Disproportionately Impacted Area.

A Tier 3 Applicant is a person who applied for a non-retail cannabis license under another Section of the Code but does not meet the requirements of a Tier 1 or Tier 2 Social Equity Individual Applicant.

The local and state application process is complicated and requires the expertise of attorneys, cannabis consultants, security experts, architects, and other professionals.

Filing fees are around $600 and application fees can cost between $7,000 and $9,000.

The Department of Cannabis Regulation reports that only 46 applicants have uploaded the minimum number of documents required to apply for a cannabis license.

In early 2021, the Los Angeles County Bar Association partnered with the city to provide pro-bono legal assistance to the 200 retail applicants.

The Department of Cannabis Regulation established the Social Equity Entrepreneur Development (SEED) Grant Program. SEED will provide $6 million in financial assistance to the 200 social equity applicants. The first grants will be dispersed in a few months.

The Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation is now hosting webinars on their website. The webinars provide updates and help social equity stakeholders navigate the licensing process.