Diversity in the Cannabis Industry

Kyra Reed is a social media industry veteran and a community-focused brand innovator. She was named a ‘Social Media Pioneer,’ by Entrepreneur Magazine and her work in social media has been featured in The NY Times, Tech Crunch, NPR and 20/20. In 2016 she launched Markyr Digital Cannabis, a digital marketing and social media strategy agency focused on the Marijuana, hemp and CBD industries. Kyra’s cannabis clients include growers, manufacturers and dispensaries. Kyra founded one of the largest cannabis networking groups for women, Women Empowered in Cannabis (WEiC) and WEiC:Careers a job matching site for women in cannabis and companies committed to gender diversity and inclusion in their hiring practices. She is also the founder of Lady Jane Society, an event production company focused on high end retreats for women in cannabis and Haus of Jane, a collaboration event with Tokeativity, currently hosting virtual speed networking events for women working in cannabis. Kyra was noted as one of the “100 Most Important Women in Weed” in 2019 and 2020 by Green Market Report.

Whitney Beatty is a dynamic former reality television development exec turned cannabis entrepreneur. After a 15 year career that saw her raise from an assistant at the iconic William Morris Agency to a Senior Vice President of Development at Warner Brothers / Telepictures, she transitioned to use her knowledge of brand and niche markets in the cannabis space. Inspired by a lack of stylish, safe cannabis storage systems and a distain for storing medicine in a shoebox, Whitney's first company Apothecarry Brands, Inc. was selected for the first cohort of Canopy San Diego cannabis business accelerator. Whitney subsequently pitched and won the ArcView Groups 2017 Los Angeles pitch prize and was selected at the Fall 2017 Pipeline LA portfolio company. Whitney’s newest endeavor in the cannabis space is Josephine & Billie’s, the first dispensary focused on the recreational and medicinal needs of women of color. It’s named for Josephine Baker and Billie Holiday, two black women who were demonized for cannabis use, and the store itself is a teapad — the black version of the speakeasy where black people would consume cannabis and socialize in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s, complete with a false wall entrance! Our true focus is on consumer education, and everything about the concept — from store organization with a focus on aliments and attributes, to the signage, to our extensive community engagement — will be geared to our customers in store experience.