An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be consistent. Success doesn’t come overnight or over months or sometimes years. Be true to what you believe you want to create and create it. I use an evidenced based system. I create something, implement it, evaluate it and determine whether it is working or needs to be adjusted. Lol, I was always accused of being a habitual planner by my former partner and I guess I am because that’s what works for me.
As a part of my series about strong women leaders in the cannabis industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah L Madaio.
Debi L. Madaio is recognized by many as Trenton New Jersey’s “First Lady of Weed.” As the former majority owner of NJWeedman’s Joint, the once popular marijuana-themed eatery located in the state’s capital city, Madaio has defiantly honed her legacy as a heroic cannabis mompreneur. A registered nurse, cannabis activist, mother to two daughters and an adopted special needs son, Madaio was an influential force behind the scenes of the business. Now celebrating several cannabis ‘wins’, including the opening of her new shop, The Weed Stalk in Somerset, NJ; the awarding of a New Jersey conditional cannabis license; and inclusion on the Insider NJ 100: Cannabis Power List, Madaio believes her biggest triumph is as a domestic violence survivor.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the cannabis industry?
I have always been an advocate for the safe accessibility of cannabis for all. No one should have to be afraid of arrest and or incarceration for taking advantage of the healing aspects of this natural herb. I have been using cannabis off and on for the last 42 years, recreationally as well as medicinally. The government has had its own agenda when it comes to cannabis, and that agenda has never been one based on facts. As a cannabis consumer and registered nurse, it only made sense for me to step up and educate people about the true benefits of cannabis. In 2015, my former partner and I opened New Jersey’s only cannabis themed restaurant and lounge, allowing cannabis consumers to medicate in a safe environment with like-minded people. The rest is history.
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 Weed Stalk LLC is my current company located in Somerset, NJ. I received a conditional license October 2022 and I am currently working on securing my conversion license as a Micro Recreational Dispensary. I have learned so many life lessons on this cannabis journey, not all pleasant, but lessons all the same. The most valuable lesson I have learned is to keep business just that, business. Make a business plan with signed contracts, agreements, and designated division of duties. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way after being physically forced from my previous business. As a woman, I tend to be a nurturer and let my feelings and emotions dictate some of the decisions I make, and there is not much room for that in the business world. Partners are for dancing and dancing only, that is one of the life lessons I live by every day.
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?
When I first came to Somerset and obtained my space for The Weed Stalk, I was so excited that I hired a graffiti artist to paint a beautiful mural on the side of my building with the Weed Stalk name in four-foot lettering. It could be seen for blocks. Everyone loved it, or at least I thought everyone loved it until I got a notice from the town instructing me to remove it immediately or I would be fined for every day it remained. Come to find out I needed a variance and a permit! Who knew? That was a costly mistake, but it got the people in the town talking about The Weed Stalk and how it was there and now how it was gone. I learned to check with zoning before I did anything to the building. The entire ordeal did get me an invite to join the town’s FB page and I consider it my bridge to the community. LOL — not at all what I set out to do, but money well spent.
Do you have a funny story about how someone you knew reacted when they first heard you were getting into the cannabis industry?
The funniest reaction I have gotten to being in the cannabis industry recently came from my 88-year-old mother. My mother always knew I was a cannabis user, but she has always looked at it as something negative. She was a product of the “War on Drugs” era and the “Just Say No” propaganda wars. When I obtained my conditional micro license, she was one of the fist people I called. I laughed and said, “Bet you never thought you would live to see the day where you would be able to say out loud that ‘my daughter sells weed,’ lol.”
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?
There are many people that have helped me be successful along the way, and that I will be eternally grateful towards. One of them is my IT/ social media person, ReAnna Ruiz. She encouraged and believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. She certainly went above and beyond and did things for my business that I was not capable of doing, and of course there is my legal team, but the person/people who truly helped me were my children. As I briefly stated I had been physically forced from my previous business by my ex-business partner, NJWeedman. He took everything I had worked so hard for. The thought of losing everything and leaving my children with nothing, without a future was the driving force behind my success, I had to do it for them. I started my previous business to ensure I would be able to care for my disabled son as he got older, so I have no choice but to be successful with my new business, The Weed Stalk.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am always working on a new project when it comes to The Weed Stalk. Along with working on my conversion license, I am working on the business décor, software, and focus. It’s an old hippie chick head shop, catering to the wants and needs of the cannabis consuming woman.
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?
Cannabis has historically been a male dominated industry and unfortunately the toxic masculinity and misogyny are still rampant. When a woman stands up for herself and is a driving force in business she is referred to as a “b*tch.” This antiquated thinking needs to change, and stereotypes need to be abolished when it comes to women who consume cannabis. First and foremost, individuals need to acknowledge the misogynistic ideations within the industry and call out those who are perpetuating them.
Men get away with what they get away with until they don’t get away with it any longer. Exploitation of women should never be tolerated. Women are not just accessories or playthings. Just google women and weed and see what image pops up.
Companies need to stop doing business with known abusers. Misogynistic men should not be celebrated and again should be exposed. The best way to change these behaviors is to cut off any-and-all profits relating to them. Young women need to know that they don’t need to perform sexual favors for a disgusting old man to be working in the industry.
Moving forward, women need to stand firm and support other women instead of bashing them. It is unfortunate that women do not support women and blame and chastise them when they speak out about abuses they have suffered as a direct result of whispered about misogynistic so-called norms. As a DV survivor myself I have experienced this firsthand. As women we need to stand tall and be proud of the knowledge and passion we bring to the industry.
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.
As a Cannabis Insider my advice to being successful in the cannabis industry would be as follows:
Know what your passion is. In other words, know your niche. My company, The Weed Stalk, is woman owned and focuses on the needs of the cannabis consuming woman. Women have different wants and needs when it comes to cannabis. Something as “silly” as calories, carbs, bio-degradable, environmentally friendly packaging, and sustainably sourced cultivation are things I have been laughed at for mentioning when talking to my male counterparts. Buying cannabis should not be an anxiety producing experience, it should be a pleasant one. Our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts should be able to walk into a dispensary and be met by knowledgeable budtenders who help them make the best selections based on their needs and wants.
Be consistent. Success doesn’t come overnight or over months or sometimes years. Be true to what you believe you want to create and create it. I use an evidenced based system. I create something, implement it, evaluate it and determine whether it is working or needs to be adjusted. Lol, I was always accused of being a habitual planner by my former partner and I guess I am because that’s what works for me.
Do NOT expect anyone to believe in you or support your ideas. People will criticize you and tell you what you should have, could have, would have done differently if they were you. Listen to their ideas and take it with a grain of salt. Don’t internalize everything, maybe they have a point, use everything to your advantage.
DO NOT LET PEOPLE SEE YOU CRY. I mean this literally. Never let anyone see you have self-doubts, they will not believe in you either. You want people to want to come to your place of business and if you are there crying saying how horrible things are, why would they want to even check the place out. Now not to say I don’t cry; I cry a lot. I cry when I get up in the morning and in the shower if I feel like I need to, but once I put my makeup on, it is all smiles and positivity while I am in the public eye. If I need to cry again, I wait until I am in my car and let the waterworks go.
JUST SHOW UP. I mean that, even if you don’t want to do something just go thru the motions, it will get you from point A to point B. When I started my journey with The Weed Stalk there were times when I was so depressed and didn’t think I could do it, so I just went thru the motions and half-heartedly did paperwork or cleaned. Sometimes the overall picture and magnitude of what I was attempting was so overwhelming, I would wonder why I was attempting it at all. So, I kind of went on autopilot and just showed up and went thru the motions and well here I am, getting ready to apply for my conversion license, something in fact I never thought I was capable of doing.
LASTLY and this is a big one, block people on social media that are not supportive of you. You don’t need to make a big production out of this, and nobody even needs to know you have done this. You don’t need to know what they are doing; it will not help you and will only upset you. When my former business partner physically forced me from our business, I was destroyed. I went off on my own and created The Weed Stalk not believing I would be able to start over by myself. Watching his exploits and the exploits of my former employees created a lot of pain and anxiety for me. I didn’t need to know what he was doing, I only needed to know what I was about to do. At this point all of that is irrelevant to me. My ex-partner took what he took from me, and I am never getting it back, and even though it hurt a great deal, I needed to cut it all out of my life to be able to move forward and be successful. And the people that sit on the fence and follow both sides and report back to you about what is happening, block and delete them too.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the cannabis industry?
What I find most exciting about the emerging cannabis Industry in New Jersey is being included in it from the beginning. It is far from perfect, but I am so thankful for this opportunity to do something I am passionate about. I am also excited to help bring about needed change and abolish stereotypes when it comes to women who consume cannabis. What I find the most exciting is to be able to stand up and finally speak the truth about cannabis and its limitless benefits as an educated consumer and entrepreneur.
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?
MISOGYNY. There is no room for misogynistic practices in the cannabis industry any longer. The days of this market being a good ole boys club are coming to an end. Toxic masculinity needs to be exposed and no longer tolerated and BOYCOTTED. I refuse to buy any products from any company that keeps these ideations alive.
Corporate Cannabis. Cannabis is a culture, and that culture needs to be kept alive. I refuse to buy cannabis from big out of state corporations and will always support my local business owners.
FEDERAL LEGALIZATION. Even though some states have legalized cannabis, we need to continue the fight for federal legalization. Now is not the time to sit back and forget, we still have a lot of work to do to FREE THE PLANT!
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?
Cannabis has been proven to have many beneficial uses, so the federal government needs to acknowledge those benefits and uses and conduct further studies to collect and evaluate those facts when it comes to the rescheduling of the plant. Let us not forget all the people who are still in prison for this plant. The wrongs need to be righted, but they will not be unless we continue to push for needed change.
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?
Cigarettes have been proven to be highly addictive and cause a multitude of physical ailments and should not be legal, regulated or not. I do not believe that cannabis should be placed in the same category as cigarettes since it has proven health benefits. I do believe that cannabis should be regulated and taxed to ensure consumers are receiving high-quality products and its sale, thru tax dollars, go to benefit the communities and people who live in them.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A life lesson quote for me is, “Always do the right things, because it is the right thing to do.” I try to live my life like this, because I believe that is how life should be lived.
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. 😊
The movement I am inspiring is changing the stigma related to “Cannabis Consuming Women.” There is a great deal of negativity that surrounds women who consume cannabis. We as women need to stand up and let the world know that we are responsible individuals who enjoy using cannabis. Just as woman can have a socially acceptable glass of wine, we should be able to consume cannabis at the appropriate time and place and not be subjected to outdated negative stereotypes. I am an educated woman with two undergraduate degrees RN BSN and BSCJA. I work full time, have raised children and pay taxes. We as women need to be celebrated.
Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you only continued success!
Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Debi L Madaio of NJWeedman’s Joint was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.