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Women Leading The Cannabis Industry: “Know the History of The Cannabis Prohibition” With Sysamone Phaphon of KhuenPhu

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Know the history of cannabis prohibition so you understand why it’s important to create a brand or company in this space that also supports those affected by the war on drugs. There are too many brands or companies forming in this space because they want to be part of the green rush. They fail to learn or realize there are still states incarcerating people for possession of cannabis while other states are profiting.

As a part of my series about strong women leaders in the cannabis industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sysamone Phaphon, CEO of KhuenPhu (pronounced Kun-Pooh).

Sysamone Phaphon is a leader and advocate for diversity and inclusion in the Cannabis industry. She is the current CEO and founder of the AAPI inspired CBD Nanoemulsion brand, Khuenphu. Sysamone also provides growth strategy & marketing consultancy for the cannabis industry through a digital marketing agency called A.V.O. Prior to pursuing the consultancy path & building her own company, she was previously the Head of Growth for cannabis manufacturer, Vertosa, where she managed PR, Marketing and brand partnerships for Vertosa & their various cannabis brand clients.

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

Prior to joining the Cannabis industry, I was managing growth and partnerships for a health tech startup. However cannabis has always been part of my life as a medicinal remedy. My mother used to put it in our pho broth to boost the flavors or to support our healing needs. My parents saw cannabis as an herbal remedy versus a gateway drug, so we grew up with the plant as a medicinal option. When the industry became regulated and recreationally legal I was given the opportunity to join Cannabis active ingredient manufacturer — Vertosa to manage growth for the company. I joined without hesitation knowing that I could learn so much from the team and really build out my dream brand through the experience and knowledge I would gain from the leaders at Vertosa.

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?

The most interesting thing is watching my parents wear my company swag and brag about me and my company to their friends. Typically Asian parents want you to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer. At one point in my life, they really wanted me to be a doctor. Cannabis is still a big stigma in the Asian community because of the fear and consequences that resulted from the cannabis prohibition era & the war on drugs. Fortunately for me, my parents are so proud of this path I have chosen because they understand how beneficial the plant is to our health. I learned that transparency and education are important to break stigma and stereotypes. Educating my parents, their friends and our Asian community has decreased their fear of this industry and really what pushed them to approve of my entry into the industry.

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 make many mistakes weekly. haha. It is part of the entrepreneurship path. One of the funny mistakes I made was underestimating the effects of full spectrum hemp derived CBD. Our team was testing a 50mg full spectrum infused gummy as a potential new product for our sleep category for those with really bad insomnia. I made the mistake of consuming it midday and ended up passing out and had a nice 15 hour sleep session. I woke up to many missed calls and messages asking if I was still alive. The lesson I learned is that it’s definitely best to test new product formulations especially for sleep after dinner time.

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

Honestly the funniest words from a reaction I have received is… “You’re a legal drug dealer”. I’m sure pharmacists receive that comment all the time. Everyone has jumped for joy and have been ridiculously supportive ever since I joined the industry. I get a lot of requests from my family and friends for free products to sample and test. That’s their favorite part about me being in the industry, they get access to free samples.

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?

I am grateful for my partners, advisors, team members and family. Everyone has helped me get to where I am today. Most of the professional people in my life have supported me freely with their skills and services and it’s a blessing to build a company at this early stage with low operating costs due to all the free support I have received.

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

Yes, I am super excited about international expansion. Currently a lot of Asian countries are jumping on the CBD train and I am very happy about being able to supply retail businesses in Asian countries with our products for their consumers. More to come soon on which Asian countries will be activated in the near future with Khuenphu products.

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?

  1. Champion early stage women founders. These women need the most guidance and support from people that have paved successful paths in the industry.
  2. Create equitable programs that actually serve their purpose in supporting the marginalized versus creating one just to say your county has one. There are too many equitable programs that are not serving the real needs of their county. I’ve seen many licenses handed out to equity applicants however there is no follow through or real hands on support with the process to help an equity approved business applicant get to a stable starting point.
  3. Create access for exposure that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The cannabis events and conferences that are active in the industry discriminate against brands that are not backed by venture capital. These events charge ridiculous exhibitor or vendor fees. Not only are they pricing themselves out of the industry but they’re not inclusive for bootstrapped founders.

You are a “Cannabis Insider”. If you had to advise someone about 5 non intuitive things one should know to succeed in the cannabis industry, what would you say? Can you please give a story or an example for each.

Sorry I only have two suggestions versus five for this answer. 😁

  1. Know the history of cannabis prohibition so you understand why it’s important to create a brand or company in this space that also supports those affected by the war on drugs. There are too many brands or companies forming in this space because they want to be part of the green rush. They fail to learn or realize there are still states incarcerating people for possession of cannabis while other states are profiting.
  2. Research the latest technology in the cannabis industry such as Nanoemulsion. Science research is continually evolving the industry products. We cannot evolve this industry and remove the negative stigmas if we are not continually advancing our products safely to showcase more of the science advancements and its benefits for general consumers.

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

  1. Growth potential stateside when federal legalization happens.
  2. Growth potential internationally as countries change their laws to legalize cannabis for medicinal & recreational use.
  3. New Product innovations that continue to happen for the industry. I love seeing new products launch into the market.

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?

  1. The # of people that are still incarcerated on cannabis charges concerns me while the rest of us are profiting. They should all be expunged and provided proper transition programs into society.
  2. Another change that needs to happen is a change to the regulations that hurt the businesses in the regulated industry and keep the illicit market thriving. There’s a lot of self serving creation of industry regulations by politicians but not a lot of listening to actual cannabis advocates and business owners.
  3. Equity programs not created or in existence for many recreationally legal states and their specific counties. If we’re going to activate states for recreational use, those states should also be creating programs that support those they crucified during the war on drugs.

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?

Let’s look at the research and data to help us make intelligent informed decisions versus taking a biased stance and self interest promoting position. There’s enough evidence and research to back up the benefits of federal legalization. I suggest we rely on the data to persuade senators towards legalization versus how much a Senator can profit for their own benefit if they vote in favor of federal legalization.

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?

No, cannabis is its own category and is not harmful to our health like cigarettes are. Cannabis is beneficial for our health, not detrimental. I prefer that it has its own status in the market with regulations that make sense for businesses in the industry.

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

Lead by example. I live by this quote daily because I cannot expect others to follow my lead and be motivated enough to work as hard as I do if I am not willing to roll up my sleeves and put in the dirty work myself.

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. 🙂

Opposite of the DARE drug program, let’s say Yes to plant medicine! I would love to inspire an educational movement that destigmatizes cannabis worldwide for all age groups. Providing transparency and proper education programs on consumption, understanding labels, and understanding how products are made would be the best way to destigmatize the plant. An education movement that not only educates but helps people understand how to properly select & consumer safe and stable products. An education movement that also allows access for all to the benefits of the plant. Education is the strongest weapon we have to change the negative narrative that was created for the cannabis plant.

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

Women Leading The Cannabis Industry: “Know the history of cannabis prohibition” With Sysamone… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.