In the podcast episode, Diana is joined by Kristin Souza, and they discuss their favorite cannabis products and the joys of activities like travel and kayaking. The episode also delves into the importance of community engagement and local activism in cannabis legislation reform. Kristin shares her experiences with the Connecticut Cannabis Small Business Alliance and their efforts in shaping laws, as well as her work with Cannabis Corner Radio and her marketing project, Sugarleaf CT. The podcast covers the significance of being vocal about cannabis support online, dealing with pushback in activism, and the evolution of Cannabis Corner Radio.
In the podcast episode, Diana is joined by Kristin Souza, and they discuss their favorite cannabis products and the joys of activities like travel and kayaking. The episode also delves into the importance of community engagement and local activism in cannabis legislation reform. Kristin shares her experiences with the Connecticut Cannabis Small Business Alliance and their efforts in shaping laws, as well as her work with Cannabis Corner Radio and her marketing project, Sugarleaf CT. The podcast covers the significance of being vocal about cannabis support online, dealing with pushback in activism, and the evolution of Cannabis Corner Radio. This episode is sponsored by Mitragaia.com.
0:16- Welcome to Your Highness Podcast
1:13 - Fave Pot
3:56 - Fave Not Pot
8:21 - Main Segment
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00:16 - Diana (Host)
Welcome to your Highness Podcast. I'm your host, Diana Crash, and today I am joined by Kristen Souza. Once again, thank you for joining me today, Kristen.
00:27 - Kristin (Guest)
Thank you so much for having me. It's always a blast. I was thrilled.
00:31 - Diana (Host)
Oh, you're sweet. And before we start I should just apologize for my voice, because the allergies are bonkers right now, and this is what I don't know. Maybe I'm less annoying with this.
00:48 - Kristin (Guest)
I don't think you were annoying before, but the voice doesn't sound. The vocal fry is not that intense.
00:57 - Diana (Host)
All right. So we're going to start this episode, as we do every episode, with our recurring segment fave pot and fave Not Pot, where we talk about our favorite cannabis-related item and our favorite non-cannabis-related item right now. So I am going to start with my fave pot. I have yet to try this brand Wild, which I see everywhere on all the lists, you know, like best gummy list and all of that, and I know why now, because we were gifted some samples and they had all these different flavors. So you're going to hear about more of them in the future. Believe that, because I am obsessed with this brand. I am obsessed with this brand Today. I did their. Today. I did today. I consumed their blood orange gummies that are one-to-one THC, cbc and sativa enhanced, and they also I also did. I also took one of the 20- 1 ratios that they have with cbd um. They're delicious, okay, they are so good I could seriously, if I didn't know any better, eat the whole bag oh my god, all right now I'm okay, intrigued.
02:19
And also in the box it says that they are the first climate neutral certified cannabis company, so that's good. I'd like to hear that I love that not a lot of excessive packaging either, but it's beautiful and, um yeah, I'm a big fan, so I love that I've had their drinks before the the cbd for the CBD seltzers.
02:41 - Kristin (Guest)
they're delicious.
02:43 - Diana (Host)
Oh, okay, I need to try those. No, I love that brand.
02:48 - Kristin (Guest)
So what's your fave pot?
02:50 - Diana (Host)
right now.
02:51 - Kristin (Guest)
My fave pot right now. You know I was thinking about this and I was looking around at my gadgets and I'm like you know I've got to give a shout out to my daily driver and my tried and true gadget here. I love my StashLogic storage box. I've got a couple of them in different sizes, but the brand is really great. The guy's name is Skip Stone, I think he's out in Colorado and there are a lot of these. You know it was designed to kind of keep your gummies and your flower kind of away from little prying fingers of children and the paws of animals. So it's. You know, they have a very tight zipper on them. They're odor proof so you don't stink up your car if you got some fresh flour or, you know, you throw a joint that you have smoked in there. But yeah, I really love my Stashlogix boxes and I've got quite a little, quite a little pile of them.
03:38 - Diana (Host)
It's so funny. You said that because my microphone is actually on top of my one of my Stash Logics. Yes, Because it's literally the perfect size.
03:49 - Kristin (Guest)
I love that the medium perhaps yes.
03:54 - Diana (Host)
But, also, it is perfect. It's perfect segue for my fave not pot which is travel. I will be using my Stashash logic box my stash logics box sorry, um love skip. He is always so generous and he has donated um giveaway items to us in the past and also that um he. He donated um branded stash jars for us in the past. That were just really nice.
04:23 - Kristin (Guest)
Oh amazing.
04:24 - Diana (Host)
But, yeah, this bag will definitely come in handy for my fave, not pot, which is travel. I'm going on a road trip, as I told you before we started, to our hometown yes, hometown pride Going back to Maine. This maniac is going back to Maine. I'm excited. So that's my fave, not pot. Right now I really can't think of anything else because I mean, yeah, I could recommend podcasts and stuff like that, but right now that's one track mind. We're leaving next week.
04:56 - Kristin (Guest)
So I don't blame you. I was like, once you get like vacation on the brain, it's the countdown to like, oh God, okay, we can relax, we can just exist. Yes, brain, it's the countdown to like, oh God okay, we can relax.
05:06 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, just just exist. Yeah, I love that. Yes, I really am. I'm finally like letting myself get really excited about it. So that's, that's exciting. So what's your fave, not pot right now?
05:20 - Kristin (Guest)
You know it was staring at me shimmering in the sun as I pulled in the driveway after running errands, but I am so excited and kind of similar to the nice weather. I got a kayak a couple of years ago and really haven't had, I know, and I love my kayak. I think it's so relaxing to just be like out on the water. I'm not a super athletic person. This was something that I was just able to easily pick up.
05:38
I loved that, but I really haven't taken her out very often. So she's you know, it's pretty teal, blue, kind of leaning against my shed in the back. I'm like, yes, I'm going to do some spring kayaking, so that's awesome. Oh, my God.
05:51 - Diana (Host)
Kayaks are amazing. I mean, I still have a little bit of trauma from when I was younger and I tipped over in one when I was at summer camp, but it's not that funny.
06:07
But no, I mean like camp, but it's not that funny. But no, I mean like, yeah, it's funny. But looking back as an adult with a child now I'm like they let an eight-year-old just go out into a kayak, like in the middle of the deep water. Just honestly, yeah, and like, luckily, somehow I remembered what they taught us about, like you know, rowing in the opposite direction or whatever it was. I don't even remember what it was now, but at the moment I did, my flighter finally kicked in and I was able to get right back up.
06:32 - Kristin (Guest)
That is legit one of my fears, because when I first got it you know I'm going into these forums about kayaking and you've got these people that are like essentially whitewater rafting on their kayak, talking about what to do if it flips over on top of you. I'm like I'm sorry, ma'am, what. I'm going to stay on some smooth waters with my life vest.
06:52 - Diana (Host)
We're inching in. I know they're like teaching us oh, this is what happens. I'm like but it doesn't happen that often. Right, and they're like oh no, it does.
07:01 - Kristin (Guest)
I take a buddy so far. I'm not brave enough to fly solo.
07:04 - Diana (Host)
for that reason, oh yeah, the ones where you can have like fit more than one person. I'm totally cool with those. Now this is one where, like it sucks you in and you're like that. That seat is you Like you're you're.
07:15
You're like the boat. You know what I mean. You are one with the raft. Yeah, like there's no, like getting away from this, like you are part of it when you tip over. Oh God, this is funny. Ever feel like life's stress gets to be too much? Welcome to Meet your Gaia, your natural wellness partner. We are the number one rated provider of Kratom, a 100% natural plant-based solution used in Asia for centuries to help increase focus, energy and relaxation. Want to know more? Use the code YHPOD to get 10% off your first order. Today. That's meetyourgaiacom and code YHPOD for 10% off. All right, so switching gears a little bit, getting a little more serious, but also still fun, because you always make it fun. Your social media is so much fun. It's my favorite type of social media because it's fun and informative and sassy a little salty sometimes, but the best kind of salty.
08:43
So you've been doing a lot of work around the intersection of social media and activism right. Um, like a lot of work. You're even going out in the world and teaching people about it. So why is it so important for cannabis enthusiasts to be vocal about their support online?
09:03 - Kristin (Guest)
Um, you know, good question, and I think it's important for a couple of reasons. So, first of all, I think most of us, if you are involved in the cannabis industry or the cannabis world, you should inherently be an advocate or activist anyway. There's still a lot of stigma surrounding it. We tend to exist in an echo chamber, so you hear a lot of people saying the same things. That is a very niche demographic and the rest of the world needs to be learning and hearing from folks that look like, sound like, go to the same events as them. So a big part of it is just we should all be advocates and with that, I think, grassroots activism.
09:43
You know, 15, 20 years ago that was walking around your neighborhood with a paper flyer or slapping posters up and just hoping you could get someone's attention. We now have multiple platforms where you quite literally have the world at your fingertips and maybe you're only hitting 200 people, but are you going to stand in your living room otherwise and get 200 people to hear you? That's a lot of people, and then we're talking. Some platforms have thousands and then people are sharing it, and so it's a really great way to get your message to a larger group of people much faster, and so it's just a very efficient way to garner attention for your causes.
10:24 - Diana (Host)
So feel free to ignore this question, but what do you feel? How do you feel about people that say they're not political but they sell cannabis products?
10:37 - Kristin (Guest)
And there are a lot of people that would be apolitical. I still, very much to the core of my soul, believe if you are making money off of something where other folks are still sitting in prison or they have prior prison records that are preventing them from getting health care, housing, jobs, you just have an obligation or you should take a seat and I know that's going to be controversial in some circles, but it's just how I feel it really is.
11:15 - Diana (Host)
I feel the same way.
11:16 - Kristin (Guest)
I agree with you 100%, you know and I know there's a lot of people that are like I'm not political, I'm not an advocate, I'm not saying-.
11:24 - Diana (Host)
Everything is political, though.
11:26 - Kristin (Guest)
Yes, everything you know that doesn't make sense to me. I'm not saying you need to go out and be, you know, hanging people's faces on doorknobs and phone banking although those are great things to do but at least use your voice and just share with your grandparents, your mom, your aunt, you know that's still advocacy.
11:44 - Diana (Host)
If you're saying, hey, I'm not political, the only reason I got into this, the only reason I'm selling cannabis or into the industry, is because you know my grandmother had cancer, my blah, blah, blah.
11:57 - Kristin (Guest)
All of those things are political impactful because there are so many other people that are maybe on the fence with using it for like in conjunction with other cancer treatments. Maybe you've got someone who's considering it for a family member, but they kind of feel funny about it and now you or me, we're sitting there and they're like, okay, I, you know, I resonate with that person, like I see a little bit of myself in that person and they're doing it too. It's that simple sometimes.
12:29 - Diana (Host)
I know there are a lot of ways that you can answer this, but what are some of the ways that you have witnessed local activism impacting cannabis legislation directly?
12:39 - Kristin (Guest)
This has been very, very cool to be able to witness and I think part of it's just because you know I'm nosy and I like to know what's going on but also just being involved in things, which is really important to get involved in your community, both locally- and within cannabis Right Like.
12:56 - Diana (Host)
I feel like there's a difference between being curious and like in a journalistic kind of a way and being nosy.
13:01 - Kristin (Guest)
I like that. Yeah, so I'm going to go with that. I'm curious. No, so I am a board member of the Connecticut Cannabis Small Business Alliance. We are a newly formed nonprofit that loops folks from small cannabis businesses, whether they're we're talking manufacturers, folks with delivery licenses, people like myself that are ancillary doing marketing, podcasters, anyone involved in the community, which is a little different from some other, you know kind of business to business type networking groups, and we do have a pretty big emphasis on the advocacy piece.
13:39
So, as a board member, you know we've got a group chat and a few things were coming up around topics that would be discussed in the Capitol. So you know the group of about 10 of us we were talking about it via text. One of the individuals worked on writing some pieces of legislation that we could share with senators. Other folks were kind of gathering bodies to actually go down to the Capitol. You know I kind of took on a role of just trying to amplify it on social media and sharing it so that more people were aware of what we were doing.
14:12
And those efforts worked and we actually got pieces of the bill, some vocabulary changed in it to make it less painful for the hemp industry. So it was really just real time, yeah, real time, watching normal people just like us talk about it. Take action, find our legislators, you know, speak to them in a you know, person to person, not screaming into the abyss, not calling them names, just listen. You may not know this and we're experts in our field and we wanted to share this with you. Is everything perfect? Far from it, but I have, you know, in the last 30 days, actually seen this happen and it's so cool, it's really great.
14:54 - Diana (Host)
That's amazing to be a part of actually changing legislation. Like I know, you love that right.
15:00 - Kristin (Guest)
Like I love that. That's so exciting. I know it's such an arduous process too.
15:06 - Diana (Host)
Like it's a lot of work, a lot of boring work.
15:11 - Kristin (Guest)
It is a lot of work and I always considered myself politically engaged. I was more on the end of, you know, helping candidates get elected and volunteering during campaign time. I had never had my hand in in this part, you know, like testifying at the Capitol, writing proposed sentences to go into something, and you know I wish I had like almost done a before and after of when we started, like a handheld video. I was terrified. I'm like I have no business. I don't know what I'm talking about. None of us do. No one knows what they're doing and you're shy.
15:44 - Diana (Host)
You're a self-reported shy person, right? I mean that's what you say and I'm not shy. And when I watch you, I'm like terrified, literally terrified. Like I have such stage fright. It's ridiculous really. It's actually irrational To testify like that and to speak. I mean it's just amazing You're doing such amazing work.
16:08 - Kristin (Guest)
I do it. You know, in full disclosure, my testimony thus far has always been via Zoom. I'm a little too nervous to actually go down there, but you know we're taking baby steps.
16:18 - Diana (Host)
That's a huge step, that's way more than a baby step, I mean even just having to speak to people in that kind of way and be so impactful. I mean that is amazing, but you get a little bit of pushback, you know right, you know you know, you know, we, sure do we all do? I mean you do because you're way more public facing right now. Well, more specifically, you touch on subjects that might have some controversial issues, you know feelings associated I don't think they're controversial, but some people might view them as controversial.
16:57
So what is some? What are, what are some of the pushback Like? What is, what are you getting from opponents that on a regular basis?
17:07 - Kristin (Guest)
When I first started talking about cannabis on social media, the expectation was that it was going to be the prohibitionist part of the population that would push back and, to be very honest, that wasn't my experience and it was a little strange to me. Like I said, I do politics so I'm very comfortable with you. Know you pick your team kind of and the other team is very aggressive totally accustomed to that as well. What I didn't anticipate was listen, we're a community and we all love this plant. We're all very different people and we have very different opinions about everything, I mean down to which tent you should grow your plant in. So it's been the cannabis community that will push back sometimes most of the time.
17:57
To be honest, you know and I tend to touch on a lot of you know, being a woman in this industry we're underrepresented. I will highlight the fact that women and people of color are underrepresented in the C-suite type. You know level of this industry, so to say, oh, there's so many women or whatnot in this industry, well, all low level, or you'll have panels where it's five men and a single woman. So I point that out a lot and I get a lot of pushback, both legacy and regulated, you know, saying either it's you know it's a misrepresentation of things, or as bold as to say, well, this has been a man's game and we're just new stepping into it, which gives me ideas for some of my spicier content to be honest.
18:45
Sometimes I repurpose those without saying they were a direct message. I'm like interesting, okay, so the pushback comes from, I think, different facets of the community. By and large, everyone's wonderful and lovely and I've met so many great people and at the same time, you meet people that you're just like what on earth? We're both activists fighting for this plant and we're just slamming into each other because you don't like the way I'm on social media or vice versa. So it's, that's it for me. Like the way I'm on social media, or vice versa.
19:14 - Diana (Host)
So that's it for me and that's what's going to hold us back from having federal legalization, because the people, like you said outside of this echo chamber, they don't know why people have such strong opinions on THC caps and how you consume and where you're planting. And how you consume and where you're planting and how you're planting and all of this. They're just like is it legal or not?
19:40
You know, Right, Are we allowed to buy it? That's cool. And meanwhile you try to tell someone who's outside of this echo chamber, like all of these infights that are happening, and it just is met with such a blank stare because it's like wait what, how?
19:58 - Kristin (Guest)
what you know exactly that it's met with glossy eyes and a blank stare. You're exactly right. And they're looking to us to get information and they just see us yelling at each other sometimes, which, to the average person, they just like that seems like a nightmare. Yeah.
20:16 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, yeah. You're like so are we having childcare covered by cannabis companies yet? And people are like wait a minute, what, what You're like what Exactly, and these things matter.
20:30 - Krisitn (Guest)
So, yeah, we all need to be nicer. Yes, it does feel like you're just screaming into the void sometimes. Sometimes it really does.
20:41 - Diana (Host)
So to that point, do you have any advice for activists who are dealing with the pushback or the haters?
20:51 - Kristin (Guest)
You know, yes, I joke all the time. I'm like you know, I'm the kind of person that I'll put all of this controversial, saucy stuff out into the world and then get all teary eyed because I'm getting a little bit of pushback. You, it's important to realize that for every person saying something negative, there are probably two to three that are watching it, thinking it's so bold or brave or they're so glad someone's finally saying it. So you know, just remembering that, you know, even if it's one person that you're making a difference to, even if it's just yourself that you're making a difference to, that's super important. It's easier said than done. But just developing a thick skin More kind of unpopular things I've seen some people that'll, you know, make comments like oh, this person blocked me or how dare they delete my comment?
21:41
This is my, you know, little piece of the world that I can curate and I don't happily block and delete get to be to a point where I feel like those comments might be triggering to someone else or they're really triggering to me. You do not have to give other people access to your platform to spew their nonsense. Let them build their own and say what they want over there. So I'd say feeling comfortable with that and just protect your peace. If you're online and the comments and the feedback are getting to you, put your phone in a sock drawer and just walk away. Whether it's a few hours or a few days, the internet will be there when you come back, you know.
22:21 - Diana (Host)
It sure will you know, I don't think it's going anywhere. Yeah, I mean that's really great advice. So tell us about Cannabis Corner Radio.
22:34 - Kristin (Guest)
Oh yes.
22:35 - Diana (Host)
I would love to.
22:36 - Kristin (Guest)
So Cannabis Corner Radio is a radio show that airs in Connecticut on 103.5 FM every Monday from one o'clock to two o'clock. I joined in October of last year, so I'm about five months in, and my co-hosts are Jola Chance and Lou Vega, also both from Connecticut. They have been original hosts to the show and the show itself is celebrating five years this month, which is really exciting. Wow, yeah, I know I'm like. So I'm the new kid I'm celebrating five years with them. I have not been there for five years, so it's really great.
23:16
So we're, as far as I know, the only on-air radio show that is specific to cannabis in our area, certainly in Connecticut, possibly even New England. So we're going to fact check that one. But so it's been a great opportunity where we can just put it out on the airwaves. We pull in guests each week, much like we're doing here. In the past it's been very localized to Connecticut, massachusetts and we're you know Connecticut as a market is maturing and the show is maturing with it, and we're you know we're bringing in more national guests and folks from out of state. But it's a lot of fun and it does stream on YouTube. So we do have a YouTube channel and also on Facebook, so you can watch it like a TV show or just catch up on Spotify or listening to it on the airwaves.
24:05 - Diana (Host)
Oh yeah, that's a good time to mention that YouTube now is allowing people to put their podcast episodes up on YouTube, like which, in addition to the other platforms, which is really cool. It is because I know a lot of people that watch YouTube all day and they say they don't listen to podcasts. So if you want to check us out, we're on there as well.
24:31 - Kristin (Guest)
Contentment quick. No, you know, and that's like again with the social media. I really different platforms are going to serve different purposes and exactly that. I know tons of people that just scroll YouTube all day and they're watching clips of podcasts, but they don't want to just listen to someone. The different avenues people want to do it is perfect Put it on YouTube, put it on Spotify, listen on someone's website. I mean, there's a way to tailor it for everyone's taste.
24:58 - Diana (Host)
Absolutely. I'm so excited that you're doing that now. I mean, you're perfect for a radio show, so I'm so excited that you're doing that, and I know you have a lot of other things that you're working on, but is there anything specific that you'd like to promote before we end?
25:12 - Krisitn (Guest)
Anything specific to promote, like I said, the radio show that we'll be doing so, just keeping an eye on Cannabis Corner Radio. We're going to be launching some. You know we're getting our website up and running and the plan is by 420 to launch that. So there will be some exciting add ons where we're going to be more of a media company and doing some you know exciting events and offerings for people. So I're going to be more of a media company and doing some exciting events and offerings for people. So I'm going to keep it kind of vague and elusive, but more to come with that. That's through your Sugarleaf. That'll be through Greenhaven Media.
25:45 - Diana (Host)
Oh, greenhaven, I'm sorry. Okay, I didn't know if you were, because I know you were also still doing things with Sugarleaf. Yeah, and.
25:52 - Kristin (Guest)
I was going to say the Sugarleaf. That is my business page. It's Sugarleaf underscore CT. On social media. I have been doing it freelance for a couple of years and turned it into my full-time professional endeavor last year. But I do marketing and social media management for the cannabis industry. So I worked with you know, a law firm, another podcaster that you know, a CBD company, so it's really varied and so much fun to help them just develop their marketing strategies and get their message out there on social media. Obviously I love that, so that's what I've been working on with that.
26:30 - Diana (Host)
Oh, that's exciting. Well, thank you so much for joining me again and you're always welcome to come back. My Music Subscribe to our Substack your Highness Newsletter for the latest announcements and event updates.