Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Stella Morrison of CannaContent

Decades of Prohibition and “Just Say No” style campaigns have created a massive dearth of information. A lot of misconceptions about what cannabis is and is not have filled that void. As marketers, we have a responsibility to correct these misnomers, but many of them are deeply entrenched in our industry. Conscientious professionals need to push back against misconceptions by doing their due diligence and educating first, not just selling.

As a part of my series about strong women leaders in the cannabis industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stella Morrison.

Stella is an award-winning former journalist with more than 15 years of editorial experience. Her specialties are in content creation for SEO, brand voice development, content marketing strategy, and editorial calendar creation and management. Stella is the owner of award-winning content marketing firm The Stellastra Effect and of cannabis digital marketing agency CannaContent, which specializes in content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media management, web design and development, and brand identity development for the cannabis industry. Prior to opening her agencies, Stella worked in the brand licensing industry, overseeing product lines, enforcing brand voice standards for international brands, and developing private-label brands in consumer electronics, home lighting, and kitchen products. She is a newcomer to California by way of New Jersey and New York. Her favorite cannabis product is low-dose edibles.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the cannabis industry?

CannaContent was born in the newsroom. I met my business partner Adam Uzialko, CannaContent’s co-founder and Managing Editor, while we worked as award-winning reporters in central New Jersey. Eventually, I went into brand licensing for a few years, then opened my first agency, The Stellastra Effect, while Adam went to an online publication where he reported on the cannabis industry.

While at that publication, cannabis companies would approach Adam and offer to hire him to help on their writing projects. Adam called me asking for advice about these offers, and it was clear by the end of the conversation that this was a business, not a one-off opportunity. I was always a cannabis lover and was keenly aware of the injustices that the War on Drugs brought to the U.S. and the world (The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a must-read), but I did not realize before this conversation that this was indeed an industry that people could work in.

Soon after that conversation, I was on a plane to Washington and Oregon to visit as many dispensaries as I could, attend events, and talk to dispensary employees (called “budtenders”). When I returned, Adam introduced me to Brie Brewer, our Chief Creative Officer and co-founder. We sat in the Bryant Park Whole Foods poring over the marketing materials I brought back from the west coast and assessing what I saw and learned out there. We had our first client about two months later.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Talking to politicians and celebrities is nothing new for me — it’s a remnant from my journalism days — but it happens more often in cannabis than I initially expected. One of my favorites was when our team interviewed rapper Redman during the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo in New York.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I believe that every mistake is a lesson and I treat every mistake as an opportunity to improve. I’ll never forget our first egg-on-our-face moment — — one that set this line of thinking into motion. On the first website we built, the website draft started appearing on search engines when it should not have been public at all, let alone coming up in Google searches. I was so embarrassed. We never made that mistake again. It taught me the value of moving methodically and asking obvious questions that we think we know the answers to!

Do you have a funny story about how someone you knew reacted when they first heard you were getting into the cannabis industry?

Lots of people ask for free samples — that joke got old quickly. While it’s not ha-ha funny, I can share what I find most meaningful about working in the industry. My open involvement in cannabis has encouraged so many people in my life to come out of the woodwork and embrace their love of the plant, to give it a try for the first time ever, or to revisit it after years of abstinence. I’m proud to have started my own little wave of normalization within my spheres of influence.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

The list of people who have been essential to my success thus far is quite extensive. There are phenomenal people in my life who I’m lucky to call colleagues, clients, and now friends, who have honored me and CannaContent with support, guidance, and referrals.

There’s one story from the very beginning that I tell often. Way back when CannaContent was in its very earliest days, I attended a presentation given by cannabis industry creative Jyl Ferris at an event run by the phenomenal organization Women Grow. After Jyl’s presentation, I confidently walked up to her and invited her for coffee to learn more about her experience. She looked me right in the eye and said, “I don’t let people pick my brain,” and told me to learn everything I can about cannabis before attempting to work in it. I took that as a challenge, and it made me a more well-rounded, thoughtful, and knowledgeable professional.

We’ve been lucky to work together on a few clients over the years, and I thank Jyl every chance I get for having that conversation with me.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I set a goal in 2023 to build more bridges with professionals I respect and admire in the cannabis space, and particularly in the cannabis marketing and PR spaces, and that goal continues into 2024. There are some exciting projects coming around the bend that expand on the groundwork laid last year. CannaContent also has some impressive campaigns lined up for Women’s History Month, Pride, and the winter holidays at scales we’ve never tried to achieve before. I can’t wait to share these projects with the world.

I’m also continuing to build more relationships with women-owned companies, solopreneurs, freelancers, and professionals in the cannabis space. I want to be able to refer talented women to colleagues whenever I can.

Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Despite great progress that has been made we still have a lot more work to do to achieve gender parity in this industry. According to this report in Entrepreneur, less than 25 percent of cannabis businesses are run by women. In your opinion or experience, what 3 things can be done by a)individuals b)companies and/or c) society to support greater gender parity moving forward?

It’s simple: hire more women and non-binary folks, pay them their worth, and pay them on time. Buy their products. Engage with their content. Refer them to your colleagues. Concrete actions put dollars in a person’s pocket, and when these companies have dollars in their pockets, they can continue to operate successfully.

You are a “Cannabis Insider”. If you had to advise someone about non-intuitive things one should know to succeed in the cannabis industry, what would you say?

First, be prepared for how often things change. A single tweak to a policy or regulation can greatly affect your plans, whether you need to change a marketing campaign or you’re waiting to open your dispensary. Be prepared to “hurry up and wait” a lot, which ties up precious money and time. It’s bound to happen, and it’s just part and parcel of working in this space.

Second, just like any specialized market, it’s important to learn as much as you can about how the entire supply chain operates. Understanding the industry as a whole helps you broaden your perspective and come up with better ideas that create value for everyone. Ask questions and look for knowledgeable people to connect with.

Finally, vet anyone who you want to work with in any capacity. Any new venture can attract folks who don’t have your business’s best interests in mind. Be smart and look after yourself.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the cannabis industry?

I am delighted to see the active conversations — — and actions! — — around diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s quite rare to be an active part of an industry that’s being built around us as we work, but that unique circumstance means that we have greater say in how its foundational principles are laid out. It’s not as difficult to fight for change when there’s less precedent to push back against. There’s a loud demand, and actions to match, for the industry to do the right thing by communities who have been harmed by criminalization.

The resilience of this industry is another element of the cannabis industry that I find incredibly exciting. So many people in the cannabis industry have a pioneering and innovative mindset that boosts my own. I find that entrepreneurial spirit, smart, and quick thinking to be quite inspiring, and the mutual creativity that comes from this community takes us quite far together — farther than we could go alone.

I’m also quite excited by all the reasons someone comes to the plant. No matter where you go, you hear stories of people who found relief from horrible chronic pain or crippling anxiety with cannabis, had loved ones get their quality of life back due to the plant, who believe in the plant’s power to heal and bring us closer together, and so many other pathways. The unbridled passion for the plant is what drives us, and tapping into that energy is absolutely magical.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

Decades of Prohibition and “Just Say No” style campaigns have created a massive dearth of information. A lot of misconceptions about what cannabis is and is not have filled that void. As marketers, we have a responsibility to correct these misnomers, but many of them are deeply entrenched in our industry. Conscientious professionals need to push back against misconceptions by doing their due diligence and educating first, not just selling.

I also don’t want to see the history of prohibition be erased. So many activists and patients laid their livelihoods and lives on the line for us to reach the point that we have today. Honoring that legacy needs to stay top of mind, especially as the industry grows and people who may not be aware of (or who disregard) the history of cannabis legalization in America take up mantles of leadership.

Finally, I’m concerned that equity initiatives in some states are not having their intended effect. As cannabis industry professionals, we owe it to the communities most harmed by the War on Drugs to ensure that they do not continue to be harmed by regulations that may keep them on the sidelines as this industry plays out.

What are your thoughts about federal legalization of cannabis? If you could speak to your Senator, what would be your most persuasive argument regarding why they should or should not pursue federal legalization?

Like many in this space, I believe federal legalization is a must on multiple levels — for prison reform and drug policy reform, for improved access to banking and funding, to open more research opportunities, and to stop the endless millions and billions of dollars wasted on cannabis enforcement, just to name a few. The momentum for reclassification of cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III substance gives me some hope, and I think some movement is better than no movement, but I think it will be quite a long time before we see enough appetite on Capitol Hill for true movement in regards to federal legalization.

In terms of the most convincing argument I have, I would point to the absolute waste of time, efforts, personnel power, and money funneled into criminalizing a plant. There are so many pro-legalization points within that framework, but the gist of it for me would come down to, “what are we doing here, and what’s the point?”

Today, cigarettes are legal, but they are heavily regulated, highly taxed, and they are somewhat socially marginalized. Would you like cannabis to have a similar status to cigarettes or different? Can you explain?

Cannabis is medicine. Cigarettes are not.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

This one comes from my business partner Adam. He consistently reminds me that it’s OK to not conquer a mountain in a single day when I feel the pressure to get it all done. He says, “there will always be something to do tomorrow, and that’s OK.” I turn to that a lot.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I want the American work culture to change. I want it to become more collaborative and less hierarchical. I want more breaks and fewer late-night hours. I want people to feel happy when they come to work, and not like they need to drag themselves through another slog of a day. I firmly believe that you can operate a successful business while honoring peoples’ boundaries.

It took me a long time to divorce myself from the concept of hustle culture, and in many ways, I’m still working through it, but I’m a better person and a better professional for not burning my candle at both ends. I want more women to get the message and to not back down when it comes to caring for themselves and not devoting all their time to work.

Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you only continued success!