About Student (Cannabis) Startups
This week, we at SMART wanted to highlight the achievements and perspectives of some of our most reflective and visionary young entrepreneurs in the world of cannabis business. Here we will share a little bit about them and their advice for others looking to start their business in cannabis.
NEKKTAR: Julia Loni Turner
Julia Loni Turner is the founder of NEKKTAR, a company building cannabis accessories that elevate everyday living. She was inspired to create their signature product, BUZZBOXX, after noticing the inadequate options to store and transport joints in a stylish way. During my sophomore year at Duke University, she began designing BUZZBOXX, a multifunctional and sleek joint holder, and would bring prototypes to college parties to receive feedback from students.
After 15 rounds of interaction and testing, her company built BUZZBOXX to bring confidence to cannabis users and their experience. She is excited to work with Nadir and SMART to normalize the conversation of cannabis with students and on college campuses and to show that cannabis is a viable and exciting industry to enter post-college!
Julia grounds her perspective as a founder in her experiences as a consumer, looking to begin a company that represents her, “her personality, and her values”. Understanding the therapeutic benefits of cannabis on a personal level spurred Julia to follow her urge to work for herself and invest in her future as a cannabis entrepreneur.
As a “queer woman of color”, she understands the impact of her work in the field for younger people of similar backgrounds and the importance of actions over empty words and slogans. Wanting to remain true to herself and her roots, Julia has created a sleek and essential product and has lofty ambitions for the future, including collaborating with Nike, a company she looks up to.
Z’s Papers: Izaak Cohen
Izaak Cohen (@izaakcohen @zs.papers), a Skidmore College 2020 graduate in Studio Art and Business, has been a SMART member for about 2 years, as I interviewed him first in the Summer of 2019 after Nadir met him earlier that year.
As the owner of Z’s Lifestyle Brand, a design company “developing and manufacturing elegant objects that enhance the overall smoking experience”, he enjoys “making creative decisions and producing beautiful things that make people happy…It motivates him to see people emotionally connected to his business that began as a fun project.
Izaak loves seeing progress over time”, pointing to a consistent vision that he has been developing since college. “I want to be working with players from multiple industries and helping to bridge the gap of cannabis into popular culture from a perspective of beauty and education,” he adds, and his products certainly fit this assigned description. Aware of potential failures but ready to learn from them, this thoughtful collaborator in Izaak Cohen wants to be remembered as someone concerned with “using art to communicate self-love and sophistication.”
Canbiance: Jarrett Duran
A 2019 UC Berkeley chemical engineering graduate and the founder of Canbiance, Jarrett Duran thrives in a workplace where he gets to “build his dreams alongside people that he enjoys working with and caring for”. He recognizes that being a founder comes with both “creativity and accountability” and embraces the challenge.
Canbiance focuses on the therapeutic aspect of cannabis and seeks to maximize the plant’s medicinal potential “through holistic personalized and preventive healthcare” to end the problem of amphetamine abuse and addiction.
With being a young founder comes avoiding “tunnel vision” and remembering that one’s “idea serves as a solution for a particular population’s problem or pain point.” Jarrett has high ambitions to “serve as the global guide for health and medicine” by “leveraging the power of health science, technology, and cannabis pharmacology” and learning from personal experiences.
Canbiance: Hiram Dunn
Hiram Dunn is another Berkeley grad from 2018, also majoring in chemical engineering. Another member of the Canbiance team, he wants to “make this world a better place by opening people’s minds when it comes to health and medicine.”
His experience is motivated by his internalization of cannabis stigmas earlier in his life, seeking to share education with more people so they can benefit from natural wellness. He sees Canbiance as a future “leading provider in natural and alternative medicine while providing fitness and lifestyle workshops.” He enjoys challenging himself and the freedom to make his own decisions as a founder.
Canbiance: Maha Haq
Experienced “businesswoman scientist” Maha Haq is Founder and CEO of Cannaclub and CREA (Cultivating Research, Education, & Advocacy), two collegiate organizations focusing on cannabis-botanical drug education, activism, and opportunities for the next generation. These organization’s missions are to empower students and scholars interested in the cannabis, psychedelic, and botanical drug industry while making a positive social impact through education and advocacy.
Under Maha’s leadership, Cannaclub expanded to 20 universities across the nation with over 5,000 members since starting at her alma mater UCLA, where she also served as a researcher at the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative. Through Cannaclub, Maha is conducting a study on Adderall abuse among college students and how CBD can help mitigate stimulant drug addiction, doing so through focus groups with the student-founded hemp-CBD brand, Canbiance. Maha plans to enter the THC edibles market in California as Canbiance’s President.
With an M.S. in cannabis pharmacology and therapeutics from the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy, Maha has fought against workplace sexism in the cannabis world to reach where she is today. She wishes she had realized the importance of asking for help and collaborating with people with skill sets complementary to one’s own. With plans for a Ph.D. and to run multiple businesses, Maha Haq is a name to be remembered as a trailblazer and jack-of-all-trades within a male-dominated industry.
Are you interested in having your voice heard by our College Cannabis community? Submit ideas for SMART blogs at hi@studentmmj.com
