This article originally appeared in the May 2018 print issue of Cannabis Business Times. To subscribe, click here.
Even in a room filled with spine specialists and neurosurgeons, Priscilla Vilchis never feels out of place.
In her 20s, Vilchis managed some of Southern California’s top physicians, helping them navigate regulations and negotiate with insurance companies as a medical practice consultant. She credits that experience for providing her the self-assurance and the know-how to participate in the cannabis industry.
“I looked at myself like an equal, if not better, every time I sat at the table,” Vilchis says. “Everything I said I would do, I executed... [It’s] imperative that everyone delivers with everything that they say. I think that’s a huge part of gaining respect.”
Now 31, Vilchis is the owner and CEO of Premium Produce, a medical and recreational cultivation and processing company with operations in Las Vegas, Nev., and Lynwood, Calif., and additional delivery and distribution licenses in California.
Her seemingly rapid rise to industry notability (she was the first licensed female minority in L.A. County as well as the youngest female minority to be licensed in Nevada) has earned her the monikers “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” in Nevada and “The Hollyweed Queen” in California. Asked how each of those nicknames captures her character, Vilchis has her answer ready. “Well, that’s simple,” she says. “I’m a queen.”
To read the full article in the May 2018 print issue of Cannabis Business Times, click here.
Top photo by Jacob Kepler
