The Female Publishers of Cannabis
“The Female Publishers of Cannabis,” originally published in Civilized (RIP), October 2018
It’s no coincidence that three of the best designed Instagrams in cannabis—Van der Pop (VdP), The Highly and Latitude—are all published by women and that all three have aspirations far beyond Instagram. Equally unsurprisingly, it’s a group of women with serious business chops, beginning with Nina Fern, who left a successful career in international finance to launch The Highly. Then, there’s Van der Pop founder/designer April Pride, and in the 3 years since she launched VdP, the company has sold and resold 3 times already. Working double-shifts to publish the print and online editions of Latitude, there’s Amy Weinstein. And as it happens, Latitude is the first magazine published by 48North Cannabis Company, whose CEO, Alison Gordon, has been named one of Canada’s Top 10 Marketers by Marketing magazine, in addition to being the co-founder of Rethink Breast Cancer.
Clearly, sisters are publishing it for themselves, but the power of good design is only the starting point for a much larger discussion about women in cannabis, women in publishing, women in big business, and women in power, in no particular order. So, beginning with the premise that designing forward is leaning in, Civilized spoke with all four women on the state of the art of cannabis publishing today.
C: Please talk a little about the cannabis publishing landscape when you first started thinking of launching a project of your own. In your own words, what did that media landscape look like? And what was it about that landscape that compelled you to take your next step?
AW: I have been in the cannabis space for 4 years and have been immersed in cannabis literature and news. In this time I have only found a few publications that really speak to me in terms of aesthetic, and especially clarity and quality of writing. I am happy to be here in this group with these women. Van der Pop and The Highly, along with Gossamer and a few others are very intelligent publications that speak volumes to the future of cannabis and also to the true aesthetic and cultural values of (at least one important segment) cannabis users.
My situation is unique: I am publishing Latitude for 48North while managing most elements of the company’s corporate digital footprint as well. Latitude is a beautiful departure from what so many LPs are doing, and I am grateful that the idea was hatched around the time I came on board here. It was serendipitous, honestly. I have had the idea of compiling a book of women’s cannabis stories and experiences percolating in the back of my mind for at least two years now.
When I was young, before I could have ever imagined cannabis as a career path, I would tell people I wanted to create a magazine that highlighted women and all the cool shit they do, without making a huge deal about their anatomy (read: vaginas). I think Latitude totally achieves this. It is not pink. It is not for women only. But it definitely puts women first, which I think is a unique and underrated approach to publishing, and life more generally. I think the media landscape is hungry for writing and design that intentionally includes women. I think this desire is even more relevant right now in the cannabis space.
NF: When I entered the space, it was a very special time. This was still a movement and the content overall was thin but felt very authentic. It’s been fascinating to watch the evolution. The landscape seemed 10 percent in size of what it is today. Online, it was either ‘female centric’ (thank you, April!), or ‘stoner centric,’ with a few industry publications in between. Weediquette had premiered on TV and was very moving.
I wanted to create what I needed: the cannabis source for when I travel. The modern model of reviews was top ‘too many’ and ridiculously fluffed. The gaping hole for a voice for my demographic, which is older, was also calling me. We are typically represented in a ‘desperate housewives’ or ‘depressing Web MD’ kind of way. I wanted to approach healing with action, humor and common sense. As I saw the consumer demographic getting older in the dispensaries, I felt tried and true reviews were a necessity. So many people were self-medicating and the budtenders at the time were not educated at all. That's how I hopped in.
AG: It’s been a super interesting 5 years in the world of cannabis content. It went from almost nothing except High Times magazine to a few dispensary publications to a full onslaught of digital and print content. Many people are taking a more “stylish” approach to media content, and I have to admit that I miss the rag-tag grassroots content of the past!
That said, I completely admire what people like Gossamer are doing with their modern approach to integrating cannabis into broader lifestyle content. We decided to launch Latitude as an online and print publication to share stories of how women use cannabis in their everyday life as we believe story-telling is missing from the media landscape. People’s personal stories are a great way to break stigma and educate people that cannabis can be used in many different ways to enhance your life.
AP: The lack of transparency and relevancy around the good and bad of cannabis influenced the content Van der Pop produced. One of my clients was the EA to a CEO of a prominent cannabis VC. She relayed, “I see all of the decks. I see all the deals. Nobody is doing anything for women or with an eye for design.” I couldn't believe it. The creative opportunities were endless and today—3 years later—the white space is ever-growing. As stigma relaxes, the rainbow of faces and reasons associated with cannabis media will reflect dynamically diverse consumer sets.
C: I’d love to hear a list of each of your art/design/music/fashion inspirations?
AW: So much of my inspiration comes from music. The music, style and art of the Grateful Dead is a major lifeline for me. There is truly a Grateful Dead song or lyric for every single life situation, challenge, celebration, mundane moment.
Patty Smith is a cultural icon who I love from every angle.
Jim James from My Morning Jacket has an aesthetic (in his writing, fashion, etc) that is outlandish, indulgent, and reads completely authentic to me. His writing is relatable and weird.
NF: Prada, Dries Van Noten, Celine (Phoebe Philo era), Alexa Chung, Wes Anderson, Gary Hume. I am drawn to the architecture of design more than the detail. Music: I’m a Top 10 person and love anything with a good beat or sway. I come from finance and my entire being comes from a spiritual place. Howard Schultz, Ray Dalio, Thich Nhat Hanh, and of course Oprah. When I was a teen, with no parents at home, her talk show is what I turned to for guidance.
AG: I am inspired by everything and am a total popular culture junky—I was even doing a PhD in popular culture studies. I use Instagram to keep on top of my inspiration—I follow everyone from Kim Kardashian to obscure illustrators and cute animals from Tokyo. I love imagery and celebrity, and I even get inspired from online shopping! I have a deeper side as well and love This American Life along with other smart, funny, thoughtful podcasts like Serial and MILK.
AP: When Van der Pop launched, a friend mentioned a likeness to the work of Malika Favre. I dream of a day that she becomes a creative partner of the brand. Way cool w/ commercial appeal. Mies van der Rohe’s mantra “less is more” makes for great design and a more positive experience with cannabis. And “pop,” well, when a cork pops, smiles abound and “to be popped” is slang for being over served. A nod to the balance of which we all speak and seek. Beth Orton.
C: As follow-up, let’s talk about your favorite publications—non-cannabis, but not necessarily mainstream), online and print.
AW: I have to be honest: mostly, the only regular reading I do these days offline is the New York Times Magazine because it arrives at my house every Sunday.
NF: Visually, I gravitate towards European publications in print. Love Mag, AnOther, The Gentlewoman, Rika and Holiday. Michelin for food when I travel. As an East Coaster, it’s always The New Yorker for great articles, NY Mag for Adam Platt’s best food, and last, but not least, Playboy. Outside of the naked girls, it’s pretty fabulous and informative. The writing legacy is bar none. You know when someone is interviewed, they will tell a story that’s not in the mainstream fluff circuit. The design is great. It’s all over the place but it goes together.
AG: Opening the door on Sunday to the NYTimes is one of my most favorite moments of the week! If I can get through the times on any given week I feel that I’m to date on everything in the world. I fly a lot and I still read magazines on planes. My go-to’s are Vogue, Vanity Fair, New York and The New Yorker.
AP: I graduated from Parsons with a Masters in the History of Decorative Art with a focus on 18th and 20th-century American furniture. My influences are rooted in design pioneers with a particular love for all things beautiful in France and Germany 1875-1925. Van der Pop was born of my love for skate and surf culture crossed with the fantasy Chanel brings to life in a democratic way considering the specifics of the fantasy.
C: April, in the 3 years since you launched VdP, the company has sold and resold 3 times already. So, not surprisingly, given your background, you invested heavily in VdP’s Instagram—that’s obvious. But I actually learned how heavily you invested through The Highly’s Instagram, quoting you: “I spent 50 percent of my seed capital, and 80 percent of our resources in terms of time, building our social media, because I knew I could sell my company based on its Instagram account.” Would you talk about that decision in more detail?
AP: As you so positively pointed out, Van der Pop has found great fortune using social media as a marketing vehicle. Both from reach with consumers to brand visibility with creative collaborators, et al, strategic partners including investors, Instagram is an integral tool to one’s due diligence. So with tight budget/time and a restrictive digital advertising landscape, my hypothesis was Van der Pop’s IG feed had the greatest potential for impactful ROI. Rather than optimize the website beyond basic meta data and strategic use of content (cross-channel keyword campaigns), I optimized the efforts of Van der Pop’s first employee. The conscientiousness with which she developed our IG community brought our brand identity to life. While I understood the Instagram’s potential and had a clear vision for the visuals and voice that would come to define the brand, I also knew that I wasn’t the person to consistently execute.
C: Nina, in The Highly’s interview with Van der Pop, you followed up with a quote of April’s: “You can’t just be a brand that has a pretty picture. You’ve got to really stand for something.” So, two things. One, seeing as you left a successful career in finance behind to launch The Highly, I’m curious what sort of investment you made in your social media, and how VdP influenced your own business plan and the role of design in your game plan. Secondly, you describe The Highly simply as a travelogue, although it’s already been compared to “Michelin meets the New Yorker.” I’m curious, what were your goals when you launched, and have they changed any in the past couple years?
NF: April was right, good design and the effect on your business is not to be underestimated. 48North — I'm obsessed with your design.
I invested in art alone. It was insurance of being memorable and not becoming lost in a sea of gorgeous Instagram feeds. Unexpectedly, slowly growing this artist community gave The Highly a beating heart, a wonderful work culture and an authentic vibe. Our core mission hasn’t changed at all. This is where you go, what to get and most importantly why it’s good— backed up by tried and true reviews. Until The Highly is in print — which is the plan, I will still call it a travelogue.
C: Alison, in the introduction, I mentioned Amy Margolis’s piece, “We Must Do Better,” and, as a CEO, you can speak directly to that piece. In terms of the virtual cannabis industry versus real-world cannabis industry, do you see more equality online than in the business world when it comes to female leadership in cannabis?
What I mean is, it’s very interesting that the business side of cannabis remains male-dominated, but the vast majority of the best cannabis media, particularly in the past 18 months, is decidedly female-driven. Which led me to wondering if that’s actually creating a disconnect—inasmuch as, online, it appears as though women have as much stake and opportunities as men right now, when, in fact . . . Not so much. Beyond that, I’d just love to hear you respond to Amy’s piece with any follow-up thoughts, given your own chutzpah and hustle.
AG: I agree with much of what Margolis is saying—the cannabis industry seems to be near-monopolies with a handful of companies controlling a significant portion of the capital. That said, these companies have huge overhead and burn through cash like nobody’s business! There is going to be a long runway for these companies to be profitable.
It is unfortunate that many of these big companies are run by white men who have never used cannabis. Some of the CEO’s have even bragged that they have never tried it! It’s crazy—can you imagine if the CEO of Apple had never used a computer or smart phone? Insane. It’s hard to know what culture these homogeneous companies are creating for the industry and whether the many different cannabis consumers will reward them with their business. At 48North. we are very focused on the women’s market as we know that 48% of cannabis consumers are women, and women are more likely to see cannabis as a health and wellness vehicle. The fact that women are not represented at the executive and board level is shameful. It’s weird that I am the first and only CEO of public cannabis company in the world. It’s 2018!
I agree that women seem to be dominating on the media and lifestyle side of the business. While I think that’s great, it doesn’t really solve the problem of gender parity in the upper level and decision-making sides of the industry. Bridging the wealth gap is a big part of changing women’s roles in society and I would like to see more women in executive roles earning more money and making the decisions what will shape the industry.
CC: Amy, I thought of you when Alison mentioned the rag-tag grassroots of cannabis publishing. Your first print issue just dropped, and given how refined Latitude’s aesthetic is, I’m wondering, is there any way you incorporate the old grassroots into Latitude’s design, even spiritually? Is there a place for that old era of publishing in the new era?
AW: I really love the clean design and aesthetic that we brought to Latitude and think it is extremely important because it presents cannabis in a way that is digestible for people who might be new to the topic. It also elevates the content (pun perhaps intended?). However, I do look forward to creating more media and publications that are rooted in cannabis culture, but informed by the high design we are discussing here.
I think movement toward the fun, wacky nature of traditional cannabis culture, but infused with high design will allow people to understand the fun, funny, and subversive nature of what cannabis can provide. I think this will also allow those who have been at the forefront of the cannabis industry for the last 20 years to find content that is relatable to them as well. I want to include and give voice to all the people who have been marginalized by prohibition, and now legalization, especially those who have been so integral in making this change happen. That is the next step in my eyes.
C: Nina, you mentioned your obsession with 48NRTH, and I am wondering if you would expand more specifically upon what elements? I’d love to hear more about your print aspirations for The Highly, already moving in that direction, and how you see the print counterpoint and counterpart to your online presence? Just for fun, knowing how you covet awesome magazine covers, what do you imagine your first cover will look like?
NF: 48North has a strong sense of thoughtfulness. It’s easy to read, has a calm tone and is beautiful to look at. The Highly print will represent what cannabis culture is to us. Creative, playful and with a soul. The Highly online presence will be undergoing adjustments so the two are telling similar stories.
C: April, Amy Margolis has enlisted you as a Board Member for The Initiative. Could you share some mentorship parting advice, what you’d like to share with all the women who cannot attend The Initiative, but certainly have the chutzpah? What advice do you wish you’d been given, if any?
AP: All “subject matter experts” love to share what they've learned with interested, driven entrepreneurs. This, I’ve found, is particularly true of women. One day, I looked around and realized that all of my closest friends were running their own successful small businesses. Surrounding yourself with other women who are in a similar stage of building a company—or slightly ahead of you!—is invaluable.
The second piece of advice I’d give is look at the total raise you need and figure out how to get there with half. Creativity comes when budgets are tight.
C: Nina, as New Media, and as Green Media, and as 21st-century media, at its best, how should cannabis-driven publications be any different from mainstream? On that note, what do you see as cannabis-based media being able to accomplish that has not been achieved in mainstream media? Last, considering that weed has very dark past, one which is still very much part of our present day, what do you see as your greatest responsibility/responsibilities as publishers?
NF: Cannabis media should do everything differently. This start-up industry is emerging at the same time American mainstream media has gone way too far. Feeding our ecosystems the reality of cannabis and supporting value-minded companies and publications is essential. It is our responsibility to watch every word we put into the world. If we mess it up, people can get hurt and certainly this plant we fought so hard for will too. I am currently taking a deep dive into blockchain in hopes we can keep our messages and the timing of them contained. This is a story of evolution. What we know today will be different in the future.
CC: Alison, from the day we began this interview and the day it’s published, 48North Cannabis Company will have successfully merged with Good & Green, and which touches upon everything we’re discussing here. But my question is, simply, how does this moment feel?
AG: This moment feels incredibly hopeful! Jeannette VanderMarel is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced people in our industry. She brings a different set of skills, which are incredibly important to the growth of the company. We are so excited to be one of the first companies to grow outdoors—outdoor grow is going to be completely disruptive to the industry! I love that it’s (the first female-run cannabis company in Canada) two women who are going to turn the industry on its head!
