We interview Nancy Whiteman, CEO of Wana Brands

About Nancy Whiteman

Heralded as “The Queen of Legal Weed” by Inc. (May 2017) and “The Martha Stewart of Edibles” by Entrepreneur (Jan. 2019), Nancy Whiteman is co-founder and CEO of Wana Brands, a top international brand already available in more than 3,000 dispensaries across the United States and Canada.

Nancy leads the company’s strategic vision and has been instrumental in Wana Brands’ growth into new and emerging markets.? She also directs the development of partnerships and licensing agreements domestically and internationally.

Nancy founded Wana Wellness Hemp Herbal Supplements leveraging her expertise in cannabinoid innovation and product development.

Nancy serves on the Marijuana Business Daily Advisory Board and the Benzinga Cannabis Advisory Board. She was recognized as one of Green Entrepreneur’s 35 Most Influential Women in Cannabis (May 2020) and named MJBizDaily’s first-ever Industry Impact Award Winner (December 2019). She was one of six women included in High Times 100 (March 2019) and was listed as No. 1 in Cannabis Business Executive’s 2017 Power Women in Cannabis (November 2017).

She is a member of the Colorado Cannabis Manufacturers Association, National Cannabis Industry Association, Cannabis Trade Federation and Marijuana Policy Project.

Prior to Wana, Nancy was a principal with The Whiteman Group, a sales and marketing consultancy, and previously held a range of senior-level marketing and business development positions including Vice President, Marketing and New Corporate Ventures for the Paul Revere Insurance Group in Massachusetts.

Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Connect:

Wana Brands on LinkedIn

Wana Brands on Instagram

Transcript:

[00:00:00] Intro: Max Hansen.?

[00:00:03] Max Hansen: Welcome back to episode 71 of the Built On Purpose podcast brought to you by Y Scouts. I'm your host max Hanson, the CEO of Y Scouts, where we find purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders. One of the practice areas why Scouts has been dominating for the last several years is cannabis. And speaking of dominating cannabis today, our guest is Nancy Whiteman, co-founder, and CEO of Wana Brands.

[00:00:24] Max Hansen: The number one cannabis edibles brand in North America by market share Nancy, welcome to the Built On Purpose podcast.?

[00:00:31] Nancy Whiteman: Thank you so much, max. It's a pleasure to be.?

[00:00:34] Max Hansen: Well, thank you. I'm going to start with an easy question just to get to the flow of things here. Uh, when and how did you get involved in the cannabis industry??

[00:00:44] Nancy Whiteman: Well, that's a bit of a funny story. So, um, I, I call myself the accidental cannabis entrepreneur. It started with a conversation with a neighbor who was the dad of one of my children's friends. And I hadn't seen him for a while and I asked him what he was up to. And, um, he said, oh, you won't approve.

[00:01:06] Nancy Whiteman: And I said, oh, really try me. And he said, well, I've started, um, And infused soda pop company. And I was, uh, while I was very familiar with cannabis, I was unfamiliar with the language of medical cannabis at that time. Um, and I said infused with what he said, it's infused with marijuana, which is what we called it back in the day, and long story short.

[00:01:32] Nancy Whiteman: Um, we ended up, uh, going into partnership with him for a brief period of time, uh, and ended up, uh, sharing a kitchen. And, uh, that's really how I got into cannabis. And it was sort of an interesting way to enter because as I said, I didn't actually know that much about the medicinal uses of cannabis. It wasn't that I didn't believe it.

[00:01:55] Nancy Whiteman: I just didn't know that much about it. Um, but when we started getting products to market and started getting incredible feedback from our end end-users about our products, it was like the light bulb going off. I really understood the power of the plant and then became very, very passionate about the power of cannabis to change people's lives for the better.

[00:02:17] Nancy Whiteman: But that is, uh, my, my, uh, somewhat happenstance story about how I got into cannabis.?

[00:02:24] Max Hansen: Oh, I love it. I love it. That's one of my favorite parts of doing these, uh, podcasts is, you know, kind of learning when people get introduced to cannabis and how it kind of gets off and running. What year was that? Just for reference?

[00:02:36] Nancy Whiteman: That was 2010 and, uh, cannabis was sort of newly legal in Colorado at that time. And it was just.?

[00:02:44] Max Hansen: Absolutely. And then getting into just so the audience starts to understand, I think, unless you've been hiding under a rock, uh, then you might not know this, but let's just, you know, kind of go through this for the audience's sake.

[00:02:56] Max Hansen: Uh, want a brand's current footprint is in 13 states and nine markets in Canada. Is that correct? Yes, it is. And then what are the growth plans from here? I know there's gonna, we'll talk a lot about, you know, the excitement of kind of where things are headed and it may be a little bit of where you've been, but what are the growth plans from here as far as, you know, what you could talk about and, and confidently talk about,?

[00:03:18] Max Hansen: well, now this is it for us.

[00:03:19] Max Hansen: We're no, I'm just kidding. So we're currently launching in four more states, uh, in the US and we are in discussions and I think five additional states right now. So we have just an enormous amount of growth ahead of us, uh, in the US market. And of course, beginning to explore some international opportunities as.

[00:03:44] Max Hansen: Ah, that's amazing. That's amazing. Does it get any easier as you go from state to state given all the different regulations and changes and, and compliance??

[00:03:54] Max Hansen: Well, some things I think have become easier. Um, the things that have become easier is that I think that we are really a well-oiled machine now, in terms of understanding how to launch in different markets, we have an absolutely amazing market expansion team that works incredibly well with our partners to get people up and running and then supporting them all the way through everything from operations to sales and marketing.

[00:04:20] Max Hansen: So that part has gotten easier. But the rest of it doesn't get easier because in an environment, of course, where we have cannabis still being federally illegal, we essentially have to start over in every market we go into. And that does mean understanding the regulations of each market. Uh, understanding also the more intangible elements of the market, uh, where people are in terms of their knowledge about cannabis, what they're ready for, um, you know, how to compete effectively in that market, the nuances of sales and marketing, which can be extremely different from market to market.

[00:04:55] Max Hansen: Um, and then really the complexity comes in with when you're dealing with as many markets as, as we are dealing with. There's just a lot of moving parts all the time. So, some things have gotten easier and some things get more complex.?

[00:05:10] Max Hansen: Awesome. Yeah. And I'm lucky enough to be in Arizona. So I have, uh, been able to try your products just based on where I'm at here.

[00:05:17] Max Hansen: And obviously I try, I traveled quite a bit to the other states that you guys are in as well. So that's been nice. And why Scouts were incredibly focused on health and wellness and in reading about that THCV Wana fit gummies, uh, product. Uh, we're extremely excited, excited about it. Um, tell us, tell us, give us some more specifically about that and we might get into it, um, obviously a little bit more again, but if you could go specifically into that, that week.

[00:05:44] Max Hansen: Great. I want to learn a bit more about that.?

[00:05:47] Nancy Whiteman: Sure. Well, the THC product is interesting. It's called. And it's interesting because THC is, is a cannabinoid that is somewhat paradoxical. When people think about THC, which is associated with getting the munchies and perhaps with, uh, you know, light on your couch and relaxing THCV is actually just the opposite.

[00:06:09] Nancy Whiteman: First of all, it's not intoxicating at all. Um, but it actually acts as an appetite suppressant and it also, for many people increases focus. So, uh, the Wana Fit formulation is really for people who are specifically looking for help in regulating weight and appetite, and also increasing focus. So it's a really new, very innovative product.

[00:06:36] Max Hansen: Um, and we are excited to try that question a little bit, changing gears. Uh, when you think about where you and the Wanda team are at today, what are you most proud of when you look at.?

[00:06:50] Nancy Whiteman: Gosh, that's a great question because I feel like we do have a lot to be proud of. Um, I think what I'm most proud of when I, when I think of where one is today, I can kind of bucket that, I guess, into a couple of categories.

[00:07:04] Nancy Whiteman: One, what are the business reasons to be proud? You know, I think we have really led the industry in terms of figuring out a market expansion, how to get to markets quickly with a capital-light asset-light type model. Um, and I think we've also led the industry in terms of innovation. So I'm very proud of that.

[00:07:25] Nancy Whiteman: And of course, uh, that has, uh, enabled us to have an extremely profitable company, which has a bit of a rarity in cannabis. I'm super proud of that. But when I, um, when I think beyond sort of the business pieces of it, I think the things that I'm proudest of are really. Our contributions to the industry in terms of bringing products that are really effective, both from a health and wellness point of view, but also from a recreational point of view, which I, I particularly think is part of health and wellness is the ability to relax and the ability to have fun and enjoy yourself.

[00:08:02] Nancy Whiteman: Um, so our contributions there are very meaningful in the, and then on a more personal level, um, really want to, is built very much in line with my own personal values. And that includes creating a workplace where people feel valued and respected and where they have opportunities to learn and grow.

[00:08:24] Nancy Whiteman: And, uh, I feel that that we've really done a nice job of that at Wana. And then the third thing I would mention is our focus on community involvement and really helping to address some of the needs in the world through very active corporate social responsibility program.?

[00:08:43] Max Hansen: Awesome. And I'll touch probably a little bit more on those cause I really want to highlight those.

[00:08:48] Max Hansen: Um, and, and you talked about this a little bit earlier, but when you guys were, uh, in the earlier days, how, how did you navigate such a highly regulated kind of ever-changing regulations from state to state? I know now, you know, it's a little bit more systematic. You've seen, you know, you've seen some things and, and you've seen enough now where you know how to kind of respond.

[00:09:10] Max Hansen: But when you were building the company, what was that like dealing with, um, you know, just state to state regulations, changing and, and, uh, things being different as you stayed, started to move forward.?

[00:09:22] Nancy Whiteman: Yeah, I won't lie. That was really challenging. And it still is really challenging because, you know, in, in any state at any time, regulations can be changing.

[00:09:34] Nancy Whiteman: Whether it's like a label is changing or now we don't want the use of this cannabinoid or whatever. So it, it requires really constant vigilance. And it also requires having partners who are very on top of it. Um, we, we do the sort of the obvious things we subscribed to surfaces that help us keep abreast of regulatory changes, et cetera.

[00:09:57] Nancy Whiteman: But it also is truly a partnership with the organization that we work within each state. They also have to have compliance people who are very on top of things, um, who are, uh, bringing things to our attention. And then we have to have the resources and the internal structure to be able to respond to things quickly.

[00:10:17] Nancy Whiteman: So it's, it is a team effort on.?

[00:10:22] Max Hansen: Awesome. And I think, you know, one of the things you taught started to touch about T uh, touch on that, I think we are in full alignment with is, um, you know, just some of the things that you're, you're proud of the corporate responsibility, uh, those types of things. I think most people agree that the world needs more female leaders, especially in cannabis.

[00:10:41] Max Hansen: What does it mean to you to represent all the females out there with your success??

[00:10:46] Nancy Whiteman: Well, I don't think anyone person represents all the funerals. Um, I'm sure that there are people who, who relate to me and probably some people who don't relate to me or my story, but, um, you know, it, it is a very interesting thing and I have to confess that I used to feel.

[00:11:06] Nancy Whiteman: Maybe a little bit of, I don't know what the right word would be, but that the focus on me as a woman in cannabis was a little much, you know, that I wanted to be recognized and acknowledged being a successful entrepreneur regardless of my gender. But I think my attitude about that has changed a little bit because I have had so many women come up to me over the years and tell me that it is meaningful to them to see a woman be successful in cannabis, particularly because this is a very male-dominated industry.

[00:11:42] Nancy Whiteman: Um, so, you know, I, I feel, um, flattered of course, and honored, of course, that, that I can be that, uh, for women that I can be, uh, an example of a woman who has been very successful in cannabis, but I also feel an obligation to help women be realistic about. Uh, w what it means to be successful, not just as a woman, but as a human being.

[00:12:09] Nancy Whiteman: And, you know, I'll give a particular example when, uh, we recently completed a transaction with a canopy growth corporation, um, and where they acquired an option to purchase one now in the event of, of federal legalization or another triggering event. And it was really lovely. We, you know, it was announced obviously on LinkedIn and we got literally thousands of people congratulating us, and a number of people sort of referred to me as, as Wanas a fearless leader.

[00:12:40] Nancy Whiteman: And I, I really had to sort of set the record straight that being an entrepreneur, there's many things that I would say about it, but, but, uh, having the quality of fearlessness is, is absurd, you know, and, and I particularly wanted to put that out there for women entrepreneurs, that there was no illusion that somehow having a normal level of, of fear and anxiety as you're starting a new business is somehow something to be embarrassed about or ashamed about it is part of the entrepreneurial journey.

[00:13:14] Nancy Whiteman: Um, and what I would really say is that what I hope is that I can be an example of women, of other attributes that are more realistic than fearlessness, right. And I would include in those, resilience. I'd include persistence. I would include, uh, trying to build a company that exemplifies the values of compassion and kindness.

[00:13:37] Nancy Whiteman: Um, and of course, good business practices that goes without saying, but, you know, I think that that being a woman in cannabis, uh, also gives me an opportunity and provides a platform for me to talk about the values that are important to me. And that's what I hope it comes from.?

[00:13:55] Max Hansen: Awesome. I just, the way you share that just says so much about why you're a great leader, just because of your humbleness and, you know, kind of how you see, uh, you know, the challenges and successes of, of being just a leader period, and then just such a, such a humble, uh, view.

[00:14:13] Max Hansen: I personally think, um, I have obviously dealt with lots of leaders in all industries. And what I think is I think females typically, I know this is a little stereotypical, a little stereotypical are set up to be better leaders. I think that they, uh, typically, and not always they're, uh, they are a little bit more empathetic and they kind of can see things a little bit different and they bring an awesome perspective.

[00:14:38] Max Hansen: So, uh, for me, I'm one of the ones. Can't wait to, you know, kind of start evening it out as far as, uh, bringing more women into leadership roles in cannabis. So thank you for your humble response to that question. And, um, what I, when I see the question now, it is kind of worded in a funny way, and I, I appreciate you straightening that out.

[00:14:58] Max Hansen: Another thing I want to talk about, and we've touched on this a little bit, but I want to get a little deeper. And it is, uh, tell us what makes the Wana culture so special? That was one thing that stood out to me and in my team, um, we are one of the first purpose and values-driven, uh, leadership search firms.

[00:15:15] Max Hansen: So we can identify, and we really recognize companies that are building special cultures. And so tell us from your perspective, you've already touched on some of it, but tell us what makes the wana culture special to you.?

[00:15:30] Nancy Whiteman: Sure. Well, you know, one of the things about cannabis is there's such an abundance of opportunity constantly coming at you.

[00:15:40] Nancy Whiteman: And so I think discernment and focus, uh, really are near the top of the list in terms of how you build a successful company and a successful culture. You, you can't do everything and you exhaust yourself and your exhaust your team if you try to. So I think one of the things about our culture is that.

[00:16:00] Nancy Whiteman: We have a lot of focus. We have a clear strategy. We communicate that clear strategy, uh, to everybody. But I also think that, um, and I hope that I modeled this as a leader, but that it's, it's incredibly important to me that people, uh, work together in a way that is collaborative and respectful. Uh, and, and that doesn't mean we all sit around and sing kumbaya and that we all agree on, on everything.

[00:16:28] Nancy Whiteman: It's not that at all. Um, because I think that that conflict and seeing things differently as also part of a healthy culture. Um, so I would say that, um, really. Compiling a team of people and they come this way. You don't make people anyway. You just hire people who, right in alignment with values, I think who see the world similarly in terms of the kind of organization that they want to be a part of and how they want to work with, with each other, uh, has led to a very positive work environment.

[00:17:04] Nancy Whiteman: And I, I point to COVID and what has happened to many companies during COVID and now as we're beginning to recover from COVID, um, you know, uh, a lot of companies found that morale really suffered turnover, suffered the great resignation of things that we, we read about. Uh, Related and, you know, by and large, we really haven't seen that our turnover is very low.

[00:17:29] Nancy Whiteman: Um, we've allowed people to have a lot of autonomy in terms of, uh, working from home versus working in real life. And I think that that is also reflective of one, culture is that you know, COVID has permanently changed things and we need to change with that. We can't fight, um, that, and I don't even think it's desirable to try to fight it.

[00:17:54] Nancy Whiteman: What we have found is that people can be incredibly productive, uh, when they do work from home. So I think this sort of infusing dare, I use that word, but infusing the culture with, with respect and shared values and having the leadership team really model those values, uh, has been really.?

[00:18:14] Max Hansen: Oh, that's so great to hear.

[00:18:15] Max Hansen: Is there any, uh, COVID related? I mean, obviously there's, you know, we have a lot of, uh, empathy for, for people that were negatively impacted by COVID, but, you know, I think if you, if you're anytime there's a challenge or something, challenges, society or challenges, individuals, I think everybody can find some bright moments.

[00:18:34] Max Hansen: Were there anything, any bright moments for you personally or as a company touched on a couple of them that came from uh COVID?

[00:18:43] Nancy Whiteman: well, yeah, I mean, I think that one of the things that covered did. Is that it made us all get a lot more intentional about our communications. So I think that we relied very heavily before on kind of, you know, dropping in, on people in their office and, and, and, you know, informally communicating things.

[00:19:07] Nancy Whiteman: And I think that it really, uh, forced us to be a lot more intentional about how we communicate. And then we also just tried to do fun stuff. I think one of the things that makes the culture special is that we all really enjoy each other and we all like to laugh and we all like to joke around. And so, you know, everything from, you know, making, you know, Puns and silly jokes and football pools and kind of all of that little stuff that helps us keep in touch with each other, not just from a business point of view, but from a personal point of view.

[00:19:44] Nancy Whiteman: Um, I think all of those have been some positives that have come out of COVID for us.?

[00:19:50] Max Hansen: That's beautiful. That's beautiful. And we touched on it when we started the talk about, uh, uh, about your, your deal with canopy growth, how is it going to help you continue to grow on, uh, and you, and I touched on it one time in a phone call as well, but just how, how are you saying, uh, it being a benefit for you and the business moving.

[00:20:11] Nancy Whiteman: Yes. Um, so as you can probably imagine, as we were going through the thought process of one is future, we did have conversations with a lot of different organizations, um, and there were some things about canopy that just absolutely stood out for me. And they've only stood out even more sort of post-transaction.

[00:20:33] Nancy Whiteman: Um, and I think there's some things that I would point to first is that canopy truly has a global perspective, uh, in terms of the industry and they have the resources and, and the vision to put that in place. Um, uh, a lot of what people see of canopy is, is the Canadian results, but there's really a lot more going on, uh, that, that we're able to.

[00:21:01] Nancy Whiteman: To learn about and to participate in not as part of canopy right now, because we're still still two separate companies, but ways that we can partner, um, today, uh, they have a depth of relationships. That's already been very helpful to us. Um, they have, um, R and D, uh, and innovation resources that are very deep, that we learned from.

[00:21:27] Nancy Whiteman: Um, they just, uh, they've really are, are proving to be a very, uh, great supportive partner to Wana. And I think, uh, one of the things that is sort of an interesting byproduct of what is a little bit of an unusual deal structure is that we really have the opportunity to get to know each other. As people and as business partners, before the formal acquisition takes place.

[00:21:56] Nancy Whiteman: And that's really a great thing too, uh, and we're, we're absolutely thoroughly enjoying the relationship with Kim.?

[00:22:02] Max Hansen: Oh, that's awesome. And that is very unique. Usually it doesn't unfold that way. So that's, uh, we're excited to see, uh, how that blossoms, how did your career in sales and marketing consultancy help you build Wana, I mean, clearly there's, you know, you had a really great career, uh, before Wana and built up some, some incredible skill sets and, and foundational things.

[00:22:24] Max Hansen: But when you look back, how, what skill sets really came in the most handy, uh, what, what helped you really build??

[00:22:33] Nancy Whiteman: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, in, in many ways I have sort of a traditional background, you know, I have an MBA. I worked in corporate America for a long time. I was the VP of marketing for a large financial services company.

[00:22:49] Nancy Whiteman: And all of those things, uh, had elements that have turned out to be very useful. And then in some ways, they were completely useless. So I'll kind of speak to both of them. You know, certainly my background in, in marketing and brand building, um, and, and also data, you know, understanding data and how to use data effectively have all been extremely helpful to me in, in building one up.

[00:23:19] Nancy Whiteman: Um, but I also think I have a pretty deep background in sales and consultative selling specifically. So, um, that also was very useful. Uh, I think that, uh, I'm a very curious person and that curiosity was very helpful. I spent tons of time, uh, in the early years in dispensary's talking dispensary, seeing what was selling, getting a feel for what was important to people, what was important to buyers, what the budtenders cared about.

[00:23:52] Nancy Whiteman: And, um, it's, it's almost like it just soaked in, I guess, is what I would say and, uh, became, uh, Just part of one eye and how we built one. And I don't, that might be a little bit of a vague answer. But then in terms of the things that you don't learn in corporate America, you know, cannabis is just a very fast-moving industry and the ability to, uh, adjust to extreme regulatory changes to changes of partnership and, um, you know, all of the things that happened, especially in the early days of the industry that I think is just a lived experience.

[00:24:34] Nancy Whiteman: That one, I don't think you can say, oh, I learned how to do this. You know, in, in my earlier career, you just kind of have to feel your way through.?

[00:24:42] Max Hansen: Yeah, absolutely. And, and I'm sure in more traditional industries, there's a lot more kind of data and analytics to make decisions from and in this industry.

[00:24:52] Max Hansen: Well, now there are some, but you know, when you first started, it was, you know, you guys had to try things and see if it worked and get feedback. And then, you know, kind of go back to the drawing table.?

[00:25:03] Nancy Whiteman: Yeah, that's very true. There were no analytics when we started. And so I think we started like, like many startups do, uh, not exactly knowing where we were going specifically.

[00:25:15] Nancy Whiteman: Okay. We were in the edibles category, but what did that actually mean? And what I think won out was good at was, uh, not, um, not falling in love with things and sticking with them just for the sake of doing that. So for example, when we started to see that gummies were really going to take off as a category, we let a lot of other stuff go.

[00:25:37] Nancy Whiteman: We had baked goods, we had some other candies. We even had crazy stuff like beef jerky and candied almonds and stuff like that. But, um, you know, We didn't, we didn't, uh, hold on to things, uh, past their useful life. And that really enabled us, um, in a world where there were not any analytics, um, to make good decisions and to stay close to the market.

[00:26:02] Nancy Whiteman: And a lot of that is just really feet on the ground and, and talking to people a lot.

[00:26:06] Max Hansen: Yeah. I was listening to, a podcast that you guys recorded talking about. Different types of gummies, like different types of products and consistencies and, uh, you know, temperatures that they melt at. And there's just so much that, uh, you know, you guys learned along the way, and there's so much involved that I think that most people don't realize and what makes such a great product.

[00:26:29] Max Hansen: So it's a, it's a, it's an amazing category. And, uh, we're super grateful. You guys have spent so much time and energy in, uh, making it such a great product. What are your thoughts? Speaking of products and kind of maybe where we're going, what are your thoughts about big pharma or tobacco, uh, alcohol and tobacco entering the cannabis industry?

[00:26:48] Max Hansen: Obviously it's a possibility, but what are your thoughts around it?

[00:26:53] Nancy Whiteman: Yeah, well, I think it's inevitable. Um, you know, those are all large businesses and they're all going to be looking for opportunity. And obviously we are already connected to big alcohol through our relationship with canopy and their relationship with Constellation.

[00:27:10] Nancy Whiteman: Um, I think what I hope is that the way the industry evolves is that, um, we are able to, uh, create and protect opportunities for smaller entrepreneurs to enter and to be successful in the industry. I would be sad to see this industry, um, become, uh, an industry where only well-funded, um, players even have a shot at being successful.

[00:27:41] Nancy Whiteman: But I think obviously it's a huge and growing industry. Uh, the beautiful thing about us being Americans is that we don't, uh, dictate competitive, uh, you know, situations, uh, businesses are, are free to compete, uh, in, in the areas that they want to compete in. Uh, what I look for is fairness and, and opportunity for a variety of different types of people to partake in.

[00:28:09] Max Hansen: Awesome. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And then this is kind of a question that talks about more of the future. There's a lot that's going to happen before this, but when the date comes, when you step away from Wana, what's the one thing that you want to be remembered for??

[00:28:26] Nancy Whiteman: Yeah. Well, do I have to say one? Can I say twelve?

[00:28:30] Max Hansen: You can say it, there's no, there's no rules.?

[00:28:35] Nancy Whiteman: Um, you know, I want to be remembered for, um, for creating a company that created products that were truly effective for people that gave people the effects that they were looking for. And, uh, and in many cases helped them with. Health and wellness issues that truly impact our lives.

[00:28:56] Nancy Whiteman: You know, whether it's sleep or fitness or anxiety or intimacy, or I could go on and on here. But you know, that people say Wana really helped me want to help me have a better life. Um, and one of the stories that I frequently tell, and I often get choked up being a mom, myself, this, this story really chokes me up, but I was speaking at something this was several years ago in Denver and a man approached me.

[00:29:25] Nancy Whiteman: Um, after I was done talking, he said that he had come to the event because he wanted to meet me and thank me. And I was like, Hmm, that's interesting. Um, he told me that he had a teenage son who had cancer and that the chemo is going very poorly and that his son just wanted to stop. You know, he was sick all the time and nauseous all the time and in pain.

[00:29:45] Nancy Whiteman: And he said, and then we found Wanat gummies and they gave him so much relief that he was able to go on with his chemo treatment. And he was now in remission and it's things like that, that on my inevitable bad days, that's what I remember that we created products that did things like that for people.

[00:30:10] Nancy Whiteman: So that's really probably the number one thing I would say. And then the second thing is that I hope that I will be remembered for creating a company that people loved working for it and where they felt like they got an opportunity and that it laid a foundation for them to have a good.?

[00:30:30] Max Hansen: Awesome. Those are some big things to be remembered for.

[00:30:34] Max Hansen: So that's awesome. Let's go back a little bit. I wanted to get a little into it, but I wanted to get through a couple of other questions. How does your company define social equity??

[00:30:46] Nancy Whiteman: Well, I think when we focus on social equity, it has to do a lot with what actually I was just saying before when you asked me the question about pharma and big alcohol Vic tobacco.

[00:31:00] Nancy Whiteman: In general, I'd say that social equity means that, that everybody has a fair shot at success in this industry. And then specifically this industry has a particular debt that it pays to, that it needs to pay to, to people of color, to BiPAP people. I think anybody who knows anything about the industry knows that um, the war on drugs, the so-called war on drugs was cynically and deliberately aimed at black and brown people, um, who very disproportionately paid the price for, uh, what is, you know, I think what has emerged as, um, a very, uh, cynical, um, way of conflating, um, black and brown people with, with cannabis and, and with, with drug use and the statistics on the percentage.

[00:31:56] Nancy Whiteman: Of people who are imprisoned for minor cannabis crimes, quote-unquote crimes, uh, who are people of color is of course way out of whack in terms of the general population. So these are the people who paid the price for, uh, cannabis, and they need to have the opportunity to now benefit from at this point, state, by state legalization, and ultimately federal legalization of cannabis.

[00:32:24] Nancy Whiteman: So, um, certainly for me, equity has that component to it. Um, but even, even beyond that, I think it really is about making sure that, that everybody has an opportunity to participate in the growth of this industry.?

[00:32:42] Max Hansen: Yeah, 100% agree. I get a little charged up thinking about all the people still, uh, locked up, uh, for crimes related or what were crimes back then related to cannabis.

[00:32:55] Max Hansen: And, uh, it's pretty sad. We have a long ways to go still. I would, I would definitely agree with that. And then w how does this play into your philosophy as a business? I mean, you've talked a little bit about it, but when you think about your DEI kind of philosophy, how would you best outline it? Obviously fair fairness is, is, you know, at the top of that, but how would you best describe it?

[00:33:17] Max Hansen: Uh, your philosophy of.?

[00:33:20] Nancy Whiteman: Well, you know, I think our philosophy is, first of all, you know, that physician heal thyself express. You know, I think companies have to start by looking inward and making sure that they are doing what they can do to create, uh, both an environment that is looking for diversity and welcoming of diversity, but then actually supports diversity.

[00:33:44] Nancy Whiteman: I mean, I'm sure in your field, Max, I'm sure you talk to, um, candidates all the time, uh, who are people of color who were recruited into organizations who were looking for diversity only to find out that once there, the environment was not actually supportive for them. So I think you have to start with, uh, looking internally, we track our own metrics against the demographics of the county that we live in.

[00:34:13] Nancy Whiteman: I'm pleased to say that, that we exceed that, but we're always looking to do better. We're always looking for, um, more diverse ways to recruit people. Um, we offer a lot of different training on systemic racism and, um, having people actually understand what's equality, what's equity, what are those things mean?

[00:34:34] Nancy Whiteman: And how do they show up and work environment? So I think, um, it really does have to start internally. Um, and then I think. Once your own side of the street is, is as clean as it can be. And it's never perfect because we're all learning and evolving in this. Then I think you begin to look out and say, what can we do as a company to support broader initiatives?

[00:34:58] Nancy Whiteman: And some of the things that we do, we've been a longtime supporter of the last prisoner project, which is as an organization that is focused on getting people. Who are still imprisoned for minor cannabis crimes out of prison, and then also offering them programs so that they can regain their lives. Um, we work with a variety of different organizations that support by puck, um, cannabis entrepreneurs.

[00:35:27] Nancy Whiteman: Uh, we work with new life, uh, uh, in, in Oregon, uh, Jeanette Horton's organization. We work with the black can have conference Christie Price's organization. We work with the color of cannabis, um, Sarah Wilson's organization here in Colorado. Um, so I think you have to both look inside and then you also have to look outside and say, really, what are we doing, uh, beyond putting up your little black squares on Instagram, you know, Martin Luther King day, what are you actually doing?

[00:35:59] Nancy Whiteman: And are you doing it consistently or is it, is it just lip service that you give, you know, at certain times of.?

[00:36:06] Max Hansen: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And before we got in cannabis, we worked with a lot of social impact companies that were doing some great work, and I think they, you know, talk to, they have their sites sides of the streets clean.

[00:36:18] Max Hansen: And, and so we learned a lot from a lot of the companies we were able to work, uh, with, and, and you're certainly right. There are so long ways to go for us, actually had Steve. Um, I had Andrew de Angelo on a podcast and I've met Steve and Angela. We support the last personal project as well, a wonderful organization.

[00:36:35] Max Hansen: And the other organizations you've mentioned are all really helping to bring balance and fairness as you kind of stated earlier. So I'd love to hear, um, you know, your perspective when it comes to. You know, I talk about, uh, social impact, but, but when it comes to co uh, corporate social responsibility, is there anything else that from in your, as his philosophy that comes into play, when you start to think about how you manufacture stuff and packaging and stuff like that, that, uh, you like to call out when it comes to corporate social responsibility.

[00:37:06] Nancy Whiteman: Yes. And let me actually back up from the manufacturing packaging piece of it and just talk about how I feel about corporate social responsibility in general. Um, and, and that is, is that my, my goal was that CSR was not siloed off at some little part of the company. Like here's the main part of our business and here's the person who does CSR.

[00:37:30] Nancy Whiteman: Right. I really wanted to see how we could integrate it into everything that we do. So to start with your point, uh, in terms of sustainability, you know, it isn't enough to, like make a contribution on earth day or whatever you do. You have to look at your whole organization. So we were one of the first companies to move to biodegradable packaging.

[00:37:53] Nancy Whiteman: This was about three and a half years ago. Um, and we work closely with. Organization called eco cycle in, in Colorado to help us look at everything in our facility in terms of what are we doing to make sure that we're as environmentally aware as we can be. Um, we've also just recently partnered with a very cool organization, um, in Colorado called water 22, which is an education fund in Colorado, whose goal is to raise public awareness among Colorado is about water and how it supports our quality of life.

[00:38:32] Nancy Whiteman: Um, some of the threats to our water supply, some of the tangible things that we can all be doing to conserve water. Um, huge problem here out west. We've been in an extended drought here for Al I'm talking to you, you're in Arizona. You know that, excuse me. So that's, you know, kind of the sustainability piece of it, but beyond just that, we also try to incorporate, uh, involvement for all of our product launches.

[00:39:03] Nancy Whiteman: Right. So, um, you know, uh, when we come out with the fit product, we look to partner with people who are working on fitness initiatives. Um, You know, we, we have a whole initiative for four 20, which we last year, renamed forward 20 that said, let's, let's have this stop being about everybody getting this high as they can on this one day.

[00:39:29] Nancy Whiteman: And let's start having it focused on how cannabis can be an integral part of the community. And so for example, this year, our focus forward 20 is going to be on, um, on food security. And, uh, our goal is to partner with a nonprofit in. Um, every market that we work with, uh, in, around the topic of food security, and we have a whole various range of, of things that, that we are doing on that.

[00:39:59] Nancy Whiteman: Um, we're also looking to build national-level relationships with nonprofits. Many of whom have not been comfortable partnering with cannabis companies in the past. Um, we've partnered with habitat for humanity. For example, we have an active program with our employees where we, uh, encourage them to get involved in their own volunteer activities.

[00:40:20] Nancy Whiteman: In fact, we provide PTO for people to volunteer. Um, but we have, uh, we're going to be announcing shortly, uh, a relationship with a major voter rights and education organization, a national organization. So what we try to do with, with our CSR is to say, this is not just a nice to do. This is baked into who we are as a county.

[00:40:49] Max Hansen: And I, I am, uh, I was a Wana a fan before I feel like maybe I haven't researched enough, but, uh, I can't wait til people start realizing consumers start realizing that this is all happening behind the scenes as well. I mean, obviously we both agree that it should in, in every business, but I think when people start to realize, uh, you know, the quality of the Wana brand and then what it stands for when it relates to giving back doing the right things, sustainability, I mean, it's just, it's just super special.

[00:41:22] Max Hansen: So I appreciate you sharing that. What about, um, and you talked a little bit about this as it relates to, to want to brands, but what is want to do to support diversity inclusion and the cannabis industry as a whole.?

[00:41:38] Nancy Whiteman: Well, some of the organizations that I mentioned before max are specifically the cannabis industry.

[00:41:44] Nancy Whiteman: So black Conoco black cannabis conference. For example, is an organization for black entrepreneurs in cannabis. The color of cannabis is an organization here in, um, Colorado that helps, uh, social equity candidates, uh, launch their businesses successfully. And we've supported them in a variety of different ways.

[00:42:08] Nancy Whiteman: Uh, new leaf Jeanette Horton's organization in Oregon is actually putting together a national level mentorship program, which we participate in as well. So we're always looking for opportunities to bring both of our, both our expertise, you know, what can we help people within getting started, but also financial resources to, to support those organizations.

[00:42:35] Max Hansen: Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, I'm going to start getting into a couple of questions about, uh, hiring in such in an emerging industry. It's obviously, you know, near and dear to our hearts. It's what we do. Uh, but before I do just a random question, there's lots of great things going on in your life right now, as it relates to business.

[00:42:53] Max Hansen: And we're hearing about lots of them, but what would you consider the best thing going on in your life right now??

[00:42:59] Nancy Whiteman: Well, the best thing always going on in my life is my relationships, right. With my friends and family and loved ones. That's always going to be number one. But the other thing that I do want to mention, and this is, uh, just an incredible privilege for me to talk about, but one of the things that I was able to do with, um, with some of the proceeds of the cannabis, the canopy transaction was to start a private foundation.

[00:43:26] Nancy Whiteman: And so obviously I don't have limited time because I'm still running water, but really I'm really starting to put a lot of energy into, um, thinking about how I can. Take this incredible, uh, opportunity that I have and make a lot more significant investments into areas that are a focus to me. Uh, and, uh, we're actually going to be, uh, renaming it right now. It's called the Whiteman Family Foundation, but we're changing it to the Wana Brands Foundation.

[00:44:00] Nancy Whiteman: Um, really in honor of the fact that it was one of the brands in cannabis that enabled this money. Um, but having the opportunity to think at a big scale about making change in the world is probably the most exciting thing other than my family and friends and relationship. And of course, continuing to build one on.

[00:44:23] Max Hansen: Oh, that's exciting. That's super exciting. When we think about hiring in this industry, uh, what types of leaders make the biggest positive impact in such an emerging industry like cannabis??

[00:44:40] Nancy Whiteman: Well, um, I think that the people who make the biggest difference are the people who start with some sense of mission.

[00:44:49] Nancy Whiteman: Um, where I have seen a lot of people flame out is people who get in thinking that this is some sort of get rich, quick scheme, and they're going to come in, make a killing get out and who cares. Right. I think to be honest with you, cannabis is a really hard industry. It's a very hard industry and there's easier ways to make money in this world.

[00:45:14] Nancy Whiteman: Right. So if you don't have something bigger that sustains you, uh, on those bad days, Then I think that it's hard to be truly a leader. So there's that. And I think related to that is I think that, um, there has to be some excitement about the actual potential of this plant to improve the world. Um, again, those are the kinds of things that sustain me when things get tough and things are always going to get tough.

[00:45:43] Nancy Whiteman: Um, so there there's that kind of foundational, uh, sort of thing that I think is important for leadership. And then I think, uh, plannable good business skills, the blocking and tackling of building a sustainable business. You know, a lot of times people have been successful at raising a lot of money.

[00:46:03] Nancy Whiteman: Blowing through a lot of money focusing on grabbing a top-line revenue and market share, but it's not really done in a sustainable way. Um, it's not done in a way that is leading towards a profitable path, right? So I think that the leaders who are going to have the biggest impact in the industry are the people who can maintain a balanced perspective on the need for top-line growth with also the need for, uh, for bottom line accountability.

[00:46:36] Max Hansen: What an amazing answer. You're talking our language about, uh, purpose-driven leaders, you know, coming into an industry and really helping them move it along for all the right reasons. Are there any learning lessons as it relates to hiring that you would talk about as far as things that you've learned, you know, while you're running one in, in, in hiring, is there anything that stands out as a learning.

[00:46:59] Nancy Whiteman: Oh boy. Um, yes. Um, I think it's related to what I was just talking about. Uh, I do think that the people who are happiest in cannabis are people who have some inherent excitement about the industry and about the plant. So I do look for that. Um, when I'm, when I'm hiring people, there has to be some level of fascination by that.

[00:47:22] Nancy Whiteman: Um, I also think that, um, someone who is aligned with values that your organization stands for, I could be interviewing somebody with just the greatest skillset, but if they haven't demonstrated to me that they like to work collaboratively with people that they treat people with respect, um, that they're not going to be a good fit for Wana.

[00:47:48] Nancy Whiteman: Um, so. But to me hiring for the good business skills as a given you're, you're never going to hire somebody who you don't think has the skills to do the job, but it's the intangibles that actually make them a great team member and a great fit for the company and make them happy personally. So I think all of those things kind of have to be in place when you're hiring.

[00:48:13] Max Hansen: Great. Yeah. A hundred percent agree. And so our team and the work that we do, we are lucky where we don't have to post jobs because they're are senior-level roles. And so for us, the way we, um, the way that we make sure that we have equitable hiring practices is we kind of control who we're reaching out to.

[00:48:34] Max Hansen: So we try to do that obviously. Equitable way. And we can kind of see who we're reaching out to. How, how do, how can you incorporate equitable hiring practices or share with our audience, how they can incorporate, uh, equitable hiring practices? Because based on everything you're saying, I'm assuming that you guys have and, and continue to, but share with us, you know, how, how you, how you can do that.

[00:48:58] Nancy Whiteman: Yes. Um, well, part of it is a starting with intention, right? That's where everything starts, that, um, that. Having a diverse candidate pool is our intention. Um, and so we are always seeking out different, uh, job boards and, and, uh, areas where we can recruit. I'm thinking new professional out Boulder would be to have them, you know, any, anything that really is looking for, uh, attracting diverse candidates into the pool is really important to us.

[00:49:35] Nancy Whiteman: Um, we also do some kind of more tangible stuff. Like we disregard felony drug convictions as a criteria for hiring. Um, we also look to expand, uh, opportunities for growth among existing employees. Uh, we are trying to work on fostering relationships with the historically black colleges and universities.

[00:49:57] Nancy Whiteman: So I think there's, there's a lot to be dWanand, um, We're we're always working on getting better at it. Uh, you know, at the end of the day, I think you always need to hire the best person for the job and the best person for the job is often also a diversity candidate.?

[00:50:18] Max Hansen: Amazing and very, very well said, well, we're starting to wind down.

[00:50:22] Max Hansen: I know I, I booked you for this hour and I want to be, uh, I want to be respectful of your time, but we've reached our last segment and this is actually the first time we've done it, but we have a, what's called the Y Scouts leadership philosophy. And at Y Scouts, we believe the best leaders on our consistently show proof points in being a relentless Sarner a deliver or developing others and driving results.

[00:50:43] Max Hansen: So I have a couple of questions based on each category here that I'm going to, um, I'm going to throw at you the first one's around relentless learning. What is, what was your biggest life learning??

[00:50:58] Nancy Whiteman: Ooh, um, you know, I'd have to say that that being a parent probably would fall into that category for me.

[00:51:06] Nancy Whiteman: Um, I think having children, um, is challenging. I don't care how wonderful your children are. There's going to be some pretty big bumps in the road and challenges that you're going to run into, and it makes you dig down deep in a way that nothing else in my life has done to, to be your best self and to, um, summon up all the compassionate and kindness and to be a great role model for them.

[00:51:39] Nancy Whiteman: So I think being a parent and, and my children are probably I'd have to say are probably my, where my biggest learning opportunities have come from.?

[00:51:49] Max Hansen: I couldn't agree with you more. Tricky situation. Now I got an 18, 16, 16, 12, and three-year-old all at the same time. So there's a lot of different learnings going on right now, as we, as we move forward here.

[00:52:01] Max Hansen: And now a couple of questions about, uh, developing others, um, who or what developed you the most in your life??

[00:52:14] Nancy Whiteman: Well, hmm, probably, probably, my parents. I think for most of us what we learn and what we model either we move towards it or we move away from it. It becomes from our families of origin. I was fortunate to have wonderful parents and, you know, they modeled, um, their own values and their own work ethic.

[00:52:35] Nancy Whiteman: And, you know, they were huge influences in my life.?

[00:52:40] Max Hansen: Absolutely. This could be the same answer. This is around the same topic about developing others, but what a Mo what motivates you to develop, uh, to develop.?

[00:52:50] Nancy Whiteman: Um, well, I guess I would, I'd sort of divide that into a couple of categories. One just starting personally is that, you know, it gives me great satisfaction and great happiness to see people thrive and develop and, uh, go on the path that they want to go on and to be part of helping them with that, I guess, it's that what people call that servant leadership model?

[00:53:18] Nancy Whiteman: Um, I really do believe in that, that it's, it's there's great. Personal satisfaction. And that personally, and then there's also the motivation of this is in fact how you build a successful business, right? You find the right people and then you create an environment where they can thrive and, and grow. Um, and that that's been such a cool experience for me.

[00:53:45] Nancy Whiteman: Um, and I, I don't believe honestly that, that we shaped people all that much. So?

[00:53:52] Nancy Whiteman: I think people will come the way they come. And so, you know, when, when you talk about, you know, people ask me, you know, how do you get people motivated? And I say, I don't get them motivated. I hire people who are already motivated and then I try not to screw it up.

[00:54:06] Nancy Whiteman: Um, but I think a lot of it has to do with creating a. An environment where people are rewarded for taking risks and even for quote-unquote failing, you know, cause I don't believe that you have failed if you've extracted the learning from a situation. I don't think it's actually a failure. Um, but I think that if, if you're a leader who wants to build a great business, you are inherently motivated to help people grow.

[00:54:33] Max Hansen: Awesome. That is just such good, sound information and advice from a driving results standpoint, which is kind of the last piece to our leadership model. What would you say is your biggest success to date? I know that's a big question because you've had so many of them and, you know, from parenting the business, but uh, just off the top of your head, what would you say your biggest success is today?

[00:54:55] Nancy Whiteman: I, at the risk of sounding corny, I'm going to say that my biggest success has been the relationships that I have in my life. And you know, I'm, I'm one of these people that, you know, I'm still friends with my best friend from second grade. I have an alarming number of friends from middle school and high school and college, and I'm old.

[00:55:15] Nancy Whiteman: So that's saying something, but it really is. I was saying to one of my kids recently, we were talking about the canopy transaction and I made the comment, which I truly believe is that I was already rich before that transaction occurred because of the quality of the relationships that I have in my life.

[00:55:34] Nancy Whiteman: So, you know, that for me is, is really that'll adage that people say, you know, why not? When you're on your death bed, you know, what are you actually thinking about? I think you're thinking about the people that you bought from the paper who mafia.?

[00:55:48] Max Hansen: Awesome. And I have another question related to this, but it may be redundant to the answer that you've just said, but in case it's not in case there's some more good nuggets in there.

[00:55:55] Max Hansen: What's your biggest life motivator in the.?

[00:55:59] Nancy Whiteman: Um, Hmm, my biggest motivator. Well, I'll tell you what I aspire to and, and, um, I don't say that I succeed at it all the time, but I aspire to be kind and I aspire to be generous and generous with my time, generous with my love, generous with my resources. Um, that's probably my biggest life motivator.

[00:56:25] Nancy Whiteman: And the other thing that I would say is that I have a lot of curiosity. Um, I'd like to learn things all the time. I'm like a huge, you know, podcast listener and I read a ton and I just like the process of learning new things. And that's very motivating for me.?

[00:56:44] Max Hansen: Awesome. Well, that's, you have been, uh, kind and generous with your time, and I'm curious, uh, the way you've answered all of these, this has been an amazing, uh, experience with you.

[00:56:56] Max Hansen: What, what else differentiates you from your competitors? Let's go back down that question.?

[00:57:02] Nancy Whiteman: Well, you know, I think that there's some things that I would point to that I think it does exceptionally well, and this is not intended as a knock at competitors. I'm just thinking about what I think makes Wana unique, um, and one of the things that I would say is that, um, we really have had.

[00:57:23] Nancy Whiteman: Just a huge focus on continuous improvement. And specifically, I'm going to talk about gummies since that's what we're, we're best known for. But, um, first of all, we have a lot of focus, right? We don't try to do everything we have, we have more than just gummies, but gummies really are really the area that we focus on a lot.

[00:57:44] Nancy Whiteman: And when I think of where we started with gummies versus where we are now, it's just been a series of upgrades, right. First, we had to learn how to scale them. We had to learn how to make them so they didn't melt. We had to learn how to make them delicious and to, um, get the flavors to the point where you were tasting the flavor and not the cannabis.

[00:58:09] Nancy Whiteman: Um, we. Uh, continually worked on upgrading our ingredients in the last year we have in, uh, in Colorado. And then we're doing this in most of our other markets, too. We are switching over to organic ingredients. We've switched from corn syrup to tapioca syrup, um, where we switched from, um, plastic packaging to biodegradable packaging.

[00:58:34] Nancy Whiteman: We're constantly looking at every single piece of the product and saying, how can we make it better? We don't rest on our laurels. And that is true. Also for our focus on innovation. Um, early on, you know, we just had to teach, seek on these like everybody else. And then. Early on. We saw the trend towards ratio towards class-specific into Casa TIVA hybrid.

[00:58:59] Nancy Whiteman: And then we started adding different cannabinoid ratios when, when CBD became widely available. And most recently we have a really focused on our optimals line, which is our use case-specific product line, uh, which offers products right now. We've got the one up fast asleep, which combines a very sophisticated sleep formulation with our fast onset technology.

[00:59:27] Nancy Whiteman: Life-changing for people who can't fall asleep. And we also have Wanat fit, which uses our TCB product, uh, and cannabinoid. So we have probably another six or seven products in the pipeline right now that will be a very robust pipeline, a product line, excuse me, when it's, when it's built out. So I think it's really are focused on constant improvement.

[00:59:52] Nancy Whiteman: Um, I like to say I don't like to spend too much time looking at competitors. I like to compete with myself and make sure that we're always pushing ourselves to be the best.?

[01:00:03] Max Hansen: What a wonderful attitude and a very great way to point out that your differentiators in such a humble way. Um, well, I'm going to start winding this down, uh, unfortunately, cause I could talk forever, but I know, uh, we, and you have a lot of stuff to do, um, but you can find all Awanas products [email protected] and feel free to follow them on Instagram at Wana brands.

[01:00:27] Max Hansen: Are there any other social channels that I'm, that you would want people to, uh, get ahold of you guys on? Are those the two best ways.?

[01:00:36] Nancy Whiteman: you can also follow us on LinkedIn? Because we're always posting a lot of interesting information on LinkedIn. We're also on Facebook.

[01:00:46] Intro: Thanks for listening to the Build-On purpose podcast, where on each episode we interview exceptional leaders, entrepreneurs, authors, philosophers, and some straight-up interesting people to explore their outlook on life work and leadership. You can hear any of our previous shows, 24 7, wherever you get your podcasts.

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Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.