#BTSPodcast - #21: April Pride of Van der Pop & OF LIKE MINDS on shifting business models, embracing change, & the importance of inclusion & equity in cannabis

#21: April Pride of Van der Pop & OF LIKE MINDS on shifting business models, embracing change, & the importance of inclusion & equity in cannabis

Explicit content warning

08/29/19 • 117 min

Van der Pop started as a cannabis accessories company, with beautifully-designed accessories made specifically for women. Over time, founder April Pride saw a need for education with her customers and pivoted to women-focused cannabis education. As Van der pop grew, eventually being acquired by Tokyo Smoke, which was later acquired by Canopy Growth, April’s role changed quite a bit. We discuss how she grappled with handing over the reigns and embracing her new role. April’s new company, OF LIKE MINDS is a marketing platform for cannabis brands, and will be launching a podcast in Fall 2019 (link soon to follow). She shares how she's talked to her kids about working in cannabis, the importance of advocating for equity in the cannabis industry, and learnings around launching a product and selling a business.

Follow April Pride

instagram.com/aprilpride

twitter.com/aprilpride

aprilpride.com

A link to the book we discussed Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addition, Depression, and Transcendence" https://amzn.to/2Za2wXb

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Follow April Pride

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Previous Episode

#20: Curator, educator, entrepreneur, Erika Dalya Massaquoi on being a hybrid, advocacy, & ethics in the garment industry

Erika Dalya Massaquoi is a curator, educator, and entrepreneur. Erika’s curatorial work includes shows for the Frye Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) List Visual Arts Center, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. She has held curatorial positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of the Moving Image.

She has taught new media, cinema, and contemporary art classes at Yale University, New York University, and The New School for Social Research. She also served as the Assistant Dean of the School of Art & Design at The Fashion Institute of Technology (FiT).

Erika and I discuss the benefits of growing up in the warmth of an uplifting community where her creative interests were met with encouragement, black was beautiful, her experiences being told she’s “over qualified” for positions, and how she and her husband navigate family time in conjunction with their careers. Erika shares how she’s become more open to sharing her experience and her story, parenting, moving across the country, adjusting to new environments.

Follow Erika Dalya Massaquoi & The Oula Company

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https://twitter.com/erikadalya

https://www.instagram.com/theoulacompany/

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https://twitter.com/theoulacompany

http://erikadalyamassaquoi.com/

Links referenced in this episode:

More on Claire Partington’s Taking Tea at SAM: http://seattleartmuseum.org/visit/calendar/events?EventId=63663, https://youtu.be/bSnTkA8nc10

Rinny "Riot" Perkins' “Bad Bitch on Anti Depressants” for #MentalHealthAwareness month: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxBZ9gbll_7/

"Disguise" https://www.seattleartmuseum.org/Documents/Disguise%20Educator%20Resource%20List.pdf, https://www.artsy.net/show/seattle-art-museum-disguise-masks-and-global-african-art

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Next Episode

#22: Ryan Lewis (my therapist) on mental health, insurance, & the business of therapy, because "therapists are people too"

Licensed mental health counselor & pschyotherapist Ryan Lewis, i.e. my therapist joined me on #BTSPodcast. He’s so great and I appreciate him so much which is why I asked him to be on. We discuss the emotional toll of his work, how he fell in to counseling/therapy, learned to set healthy boundaries for himself, selecting a counseling program, making a living as a therapist... including everyone’s favorite subject: insurance! Ryan is a Seattle University alum, and I really appreciate him sharing the business side of therapy and his own journey.

Ryan Lewis is a Seattle-based counselor who prioritizes helping patients internalize their optimal values and innate strengths to empower and enable them to live the life they desire and deserve. He’s also... my therapist! He takes an integrative and holistic approach to his work with patients, and he’s been incredibly helpful to me.

Find Ryan on Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/ryanlewiscounseling

Here’s his Psychology Today profile: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/ryan-a-lewis-seattle-wa/70418