Meet the attendees of the first Women Grow Leadership Summit, a gathering devoted to bringing more women into the marijuana business.
Now that marijuana has gone from illicit hippie drug to (sort of) legal medicinal plant, pot is beginning to acquire the same trappings that go along with any other industry. That means the emergence of boutique-style dispensaries, branded designer strains, “budtenders,” and, yes, business conferences.
The first ever Women Grow Leadership Summit took place at Cordillera Lodge in the Rocky Mountains in mid-May. Women Grow is dedicated to training—or “cultivating”—women to be leaders of the cannabis industry, a business the Arcview research group has called “the fastest growing industry in the U.S.” Now that marijuana is medically legal in 23 states (plus the District of Columbia) and fully legal in four, the organization asserts that it’s time for women to claim their place in the pot business.
The Summit sold out quickly, drawing 121 women from 20 states, with ages ranging from 23 to 68. They defied the tired old pothead stereotype, with lawyers, doctors, farmers, dispensary owners, research scientists, financiers and CEOs all in attendance.
