This week we are featuring female cannapreneur, Angelina Blessed. Angelina is behind Blessed Edibles, a Canadian-based company focusing on high-quality, full-spectrum cannabis oil.
Angelina is a Muay Thai fighter, a passion that strongly influences her brand.
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They sell cannabis-infused chocolate, oils, and water. We wanted to know how Angelina got into the cannabis biz, and what it’s like being a woman in a predominantly male-dominated industry.
Here’s what she had to say in this exclusive interview with Miss Marijuana.
Miss Marijuana: What was your very first experience with cannabis like?
Angelina: My first experience smoking was hashish in Nova Scotia. I loved the effects of that, but I don’t remember the quality of the cannabis ever being amazing. It was mostly homegrown and we were just kids in high school.
MM: If you had a bad experience with cannabis at first, what changed your mind about it?
A: No bad experiences at first, just not the greatest effects.
MM: When did you start taking cannabis seriously as a benefit to your health and wellness?
A: I had taken about a ten year break from cannabis after I started training for Muay Thai, really watching everything going into my body; super clean diet, no drinking or smoking.
After ten years of consistent training and not much recovery, I started to break. That’s when I tried cannabis again and found the recovery aspects amazing.
Shortly thereafter I got my medical license and started baking the goodness into edibles so I wouldn’t have to smoke. That was almost six years ago.
MM: Can you tell us about the moment you came up with your business idea? Where were you? What was the first action step you took? How sure were you about it?
A: I had been making cookies for friends, but I really wanted healthier options. This was never about building a business.
I started this to help myself, and then my friends, heal. And as we spoke about it more and became more educated on all of the benefits, we realized there was a hole in the market that Blessed could fill.
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I was in Parkdale, Toronto. How sure? I was never sure, this was all about, and still is about, following the path of self healing and getting to help others on the same path.
I sat down with my designer and dear friend John Thai and he asked all the right questions for direction and Blessed was born.
MM: What other aspects of your background and experience did you draw on to help you conceptualize and create this brand?
A: It’s really just who I was, and the massive amount of support the athletes and martial artists were needing.
Blessed grew out of my own and athlete’s need to heal. The true brand concept came from John Thai.
Our designers and photographers captured us and understood who we are.
MM: What did your friends and family think about you starting a cannabis brand? And how did their reaction make you feel/impact the building of your business?
A: My family wasn’t really understanding five years ago, pre-legalization, but now everyone has a better understanding of what I do, and how we can help.
My friends have always stood by, with open minds and hearts, holding me up through all of the incredible growing pains we have survived.
Reactions did not impact me. I always felt I was doing the right thing, but my friends’ guidance and support is really what built this.
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MM: What has been your biggest struggle while building your brand/business?
A: Going from the legacy market to the legal market was a difficult learning curve. Corporate business meetings were not something I had experienced before.
I struggled to find the right partner; lots of people are out there to steal your business.
It was so important to build this the way I wanted, to keep the integrity of the products and concentrate.
We love craft cannabis, the people that love the plant. We want to bring this to the legal world. My business partner is a good man with his heart in the right place.
MM: What has been the most exciting part?
A: Watching my dreams come to light through the eyes of such a dope, talented team standing strong with me.
Being able to help athletes learn to TRAIN>TREAT>REPEAT and make better and healthier decisions through their athletic/fight career.
And of course, manifesting this amazing dream job of research and development of edibles and cannabis and recovery and performance. Dream job. Yes.
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MM: How do you plan on taking your brand to the next level?
A: Uhhhh help.
MM: Where can people follow your brand? Instagram? Website?
A:
Instagram: @blessededibles @angelina.blessed
Website: gallerybrands.com/pages/blessed
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