The cannabis industry is not as women-friendly as it once was. In fact, the amount of women in leadership positions at cannabis companies dropped from 36% in 2015 to just 27% in 2017, according to MJ Biz Daily data. That number is even more stark for women of color.
While that data previously showed that women held more c-suite positions in cannabis when compared to the national average of 25%, the recent decline shows narrowing opportunity.
As a result, only 42% of women feel as though the cannabis industry holds more professional prospects than others. That’s according to Women in Cannabis: A Living History — a multi-year study aimed at understanding the experiences of women in the industry.
But, the emergence of the multi-billion dollar CBD industry offers opportunity to change that. That’s why it is important now more than ever to support women-owned cannabis businesses as this industry evolves.
Five CBD Brands Made by Women of Color to Support Right now
Terrestrial Roots
Terrestrial Roots is a New York-based, Latina-owned CBD company that was founded by Cindy Bencosme. According to the website, Bencosme has suffered from Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder from a young age. Additionally, she also suffers from “anxiety, stress and the pressures of everyday life growing up in NYC from an immigrant family.” Consequently, she developed Terrestrial Roots to ensure “affordable, ethical, natural medicine for my community by sourcing from small businesses and staying transparent.” The company offers full-spectrum oils, flower, deodorants, salves and lip balms, all made using locally sourced, organic hemp.
View this post on Instagram
from @terrestrialrootsco in Instagram
View this post on Instagram
from @terrestrialrootsco in Instagram
Happy Organics
Happy Organics is a Latina-owned brand in Merced, California — which is located in the agricultural heartland of California. The company was founded by Jessica Gonzalez, a third-generation apiarist whose grandfather was a beekeeper in Michoacán, Mexico. Gonzalez’s grandfather passed the craft to her father, then too her. After that, she began infusing “harvested raw honey with CBD […] to find a way to ease my fathers’ pain as he got sicker,” according to Happy Organics’ website. Happy Organics, which also focuses on wellness and bee conservation, offers raw honey, salves, lip balms, and other hemp infusions.
View this post on Instagram
video from @happyorganics.co on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
post from @happyorganics.co on Instagram
Buena Botanicals
Buena Botanicals is an organic CBD brand that was founded in 2019 by Afro-Latina twin sisters, Coral and Rah Hines. Their mother’s experience using CBD to treat her arthritis and nerve pain inspired the Hines. So, they to launched the company in 2019. Their organic products are tested by a third-party lab. They also include an array of plant-based ingredients aside from hemp, like coconut oil and shea butter for example. Products include elixirs, body creams, soaps, bath bombs and even spa kits, all “infused with organic full-spectrum CBD oil. The hemp used to make our CBD is USDA certified Organic, hand-harvested, eco-responsible, and ethically grown,” according to Buena Botanicals’ website.
View this post on Instagram
post from @buenabotanicals on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
post from @buenabotanicals on Instagram
NFZD Beauty
NFZD Beauty is a an infused beauty brand that was created out of a need for inclusion in the CBD beauty industry. Founded by Briggitta Hardin, NFZD celebrates and develops products for melanin-rich skin. She also creates the products with a commitment to efficacy and affordability. NFZD Beauty products are vegan and cruelty-free. Hardin also makes her product line — which include sheet masks and oil cleansers — with full-spectrum CBD derived from hemp.
View this post on Instagram
post from @NFZDbeauty on Instagram
Soy Negra CBD
Soy Negra CBD was founded by Afro-Latina entrepreneur Lisa Dodson. The company specializes in THC-free natural hair and skin care products. Soy Negra currently offers CBD isolate-infused organic bath and body products ranging from soaks to scrubs. “I want the everyday mom to take her weekly bubble bath and drop a CBD-infused bath soak or bath bomb into her tub and let her troubles melt away, even if only for a moment,” reads the company’s website.
View this post on Instagram
post pulled from @soy_negra_CBD on Instagram
Fruit Slabs is bipoc female owned and the new CMO is a black woman! The only kosher and vegan edible in the state.