Contributors

Jesse Barney

Barney is a brand design freelancer in the cannabis industry. He is a visual communications expert with a passion for seeing cannabis brands expand into mainstream markets.

Maria Denzin

Denzin is the owner of MJ HR Strategic Solutions, an HR consulting firm based in Palm Springs, Calif. Denzin specializes in talent strategy and development for the cannabis industry. Her firm helps cannabis business owners create strategic HR plans to select, develop, reward and retain employees who deliver value and loyalty. She can be reached at [email protected].

Justin Hampton

Hampton is a journalist and content specialist who has been writing for the cannabis press since 1993. He has been published in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, VICE, High Times, The Daily Beast and Leafly. In addition, he has participated in external messaging for the Measure AF campaign in Mendocino County, and participated in advance press roll-outs for the 99 High Tide Dispensary in Malibu, Calif. He currently develops personal brand voices for entrepreneurs within cannabis and the financial sector. He can be reached at www.justinbhampton.com.

Jolene Hansen

Hansen is a freelance writer based in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area. A former horticulture professional, she is a frequent contributor to the Horticulture Group publications owned by Cannabis Dispensary’s parent company, GIE Media.

Jillian Kramer

Kramer is a Cleveland, Ohio-based freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the online or print versions of Glamour, Food & Wine, SELF, The Wall Street Journal, and more. Her work covers everything from career and money to women’s issues, cannabis and beyond.

Kyra Reed

Reed launched Markyr Cannabis, a digital marketing and social media strategy agency, and Women in Cannabis, a support group for women entrepreneurs, with four chapters in Northern California, in 2016. Reed has also launched Kadin Academy, an online business academy that educates women entrepreneurs in cannabis.

Brad Speidell

Speidell boasts eight years of industry experience and is adept at cannabis product management—maximizing profit margins while respecting compliance. Speidell leverages enterprise analysis skills to create quality products and coordinate cannabis sales and marketing standards. Speidell advises The Green Solution National (TGSN) on product developments, market analysis and high-level sales strategy. As chief dispensing officer of The Green Solution (TGS) Colorado, Speidell has overseen product development and high-level sales strategy, contributing to TGS Colorado’s expansion into 15 locations and a portfolio containing hundreds of successful products, while also advising TGSN in these specialties. Speidell works to ensure TGS stores stay ahead of the competition while maintaining strict compliance and best practice procedures.

Ash Stewart

Stewart is the delivery services specialist at Eugene OG in Eugene, Ore. Raised in the South, she moved to Oregon to pursue a therapeutic model of cannabis for her personal healing. Her experiences led her to work in cannabis clinics, assisting other patients in establishing treatment plans for their individual needs. She spends her spare time gardening, raising her family and hiking in Oregon’s lush forests.