An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Don’t forget about the cannabis patients. The cannabis industry has been most impactful when it remembers that we are actually helping people. Whether it’s medical or recreational cannabis, our industry helps everyone medicinally. We must remind ourselves that no matter how much success we have or hope to have, we are in business to treat patients through the legal use of cannabis.
As a part of my series about strong women leaders in the cannabis industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kema Ogden.
Kema Ogden, a successful entrepreneur and industry leader in the cannabis, health care and nonprofit sectors, is Nevada’s first African American woman cannabis dispensary owner who co-owns Top Notch The Health Center in Las Vegas. She is a board member with Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, the first national organization of doctors to endorse legalization of adult-use cannabis, and currently serves on the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board’s Cannabis Advisory Commission and its Subcommittee on Social Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Kema is the executive director of Community Outreach Medical Center, a Las Vegas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, fully integrated care, community clinic that serves non-insured and underinsured patients and families throughout the Greater Las Vegas Valley. She is a Leadership Council Member with the National Small Business Association and sits on its Health and Human Resources Committee. A Las Vegas native and UNLV graduate, Kema is the founder of the Ogden Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which provides health, wellness and education programs for the underserved population in Southern Nevada.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the cannabis industry?
The cannabis industry was built on the backs of minorities and I understand just how important it is for me to lead by example. Being a Black woman in cannabis means that I have to be twice as knowledgeable and more prepared than my counterparts. I saw barriers that needed to be broken down, so I started doing just that in my hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada when I co-founded Global Harmony LLC, the parent company of Top Notch The Health Center (Top Notch THC), in 2014. Since then, I have helped guide our Las Vegas-based dispensary to receive adult-use medical and recreational dispensary licenses along with cultivation licenses. It is a business venture that has connected very well with the local community in a marketplace filled with giant competitors.
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?
There are many interesting things that I have learned since getting into the cannabis industry. One of the most interesting is regarding the licensing process which is very slow. Once applicants are selected to receive a license (multiple licenses in some instances), lawsuits from unchosen applicants often keep selected license awardees in a holding pattern. Just trying to get started is a challenge. License winners start incurring costs because the rent must be paid, construction must begin right away so that your dispensary is ready to open as soon as possible, state and local licensing fees are due, behind the scenes planning and activities get under way all while significant expenses start adding up before a customer ever steps foot in your dispensary. I recommend a lease-to-buy option for getting started because expenses that you don’t expect will hit you after the first year.
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?
Everything costs a lot of money. There’s nothing funny about it, early mistakes can cost you big time. We started out as a licensed medical dispensary, and when we expanded to also include recreational cannabis there was an unexpected processing delay. We didn’t get to open on July 1, 2017, when the other recreational dispensaries opened in Nevada. A lot of those dispensaries that opened for business at the same time ran out of inventory. Once we were finally able to open up for recreational sales after everyone else, we still had inventory and Las Vegas area recreational cannabis customers came to our dispensary, Top Notch The Health Center (Top Notch THC), to shop. That delay wasn’t funny at the time when it happened, but it ended up being a positive for us because we had such a large influx of adults age 21+ visiting our store and making purchases while most of the other dispensaries had empty shelves.
Do you have a funny story about how someone you knew reacted when they first heard you were getting into the cannabis industry?
Yes, I certainly do. My dad is a former drug and alcohol abuse counselor and in the past, they were taught that cannabis was a gateway drug, which we know is incorrect. When I decided that the cannabis industry is where I wanted to be, I was originally scared to tell him due to the old teachings and stigmas he still may have believed. It wasn’t something that I looked forward to and I was afraid to have that conversation with him. My dad told me “I think it’s great” and he fully supported my decision. Little did I know, he was also educating himself and his stigma associated with cannabis had changed. It was a total relief and now we have a lot of passionate conversations about how cannabis helps people.
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?
Meeting my cannabis business partners has been such an amazing part of achieving success in this ever-expanding industry. I was a successful business owner in the health and fitness world as a former gym owner in Las Vegas. My two business partners had prior experience in cannabis, including the California market, so they were very knowledgeable about cannabis. I combined my business acumen with their cannabis expertise and it helped us all succeed quicker and faster than we ever could have expected. It’s been incredible to be a part of this small group of original owners.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Cannabis lounges are a big focus for the industry here in Nevada this year. The lounges are an entry way for social inclusion. There are so many barriers to entry, but when it comes to cannabis lounges in the Silver State, that barrier to entry is lower. I was very honored to be appointed to the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board as a Cannabis Commission Advisory Committee member and assigned to the Subcommittee on Social Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Our committee was responsible for making recommendations to the board and helping structure social equity and inclusion for lounge applicants. I am very proud to work on this with such amazing community activists on the committee.
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?
Gender parity is a serious concern. Instead of becoming more balanced, it seems like the gender imbalance is growing and that simply must improve. As individuals, we all need to hold our legislative officials accountable for their responsibility to make necessary change. We need to make sure that our tax dollars are being used to fight for programs that improve the cannabis industry and our lives as taxpayers and constituents. Tax dollars that are being collected from cannabis can and should be designated by our elected officials to help fund opportunities for more groups with diverse backgrounds to have a seat at the table. It is time that our government representatives use their elected roles to put their campaign words into action.
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.
- The team that you surround yourself with matters a lot. Surround yourself with people to achieve your desired goals. Your business partners really need to believe in what you believe.
- Everything costs more money in the cannabis industry than anything that you have ever been involved with. Whatever you think it will cost you to get into cannabis, you need to know that it will be five times more expensive to actually break into the industry.
- Have patience and keep a steady pace. Don’t go too fast and let your cannabis business grow naturally. Be patient.
- Stay grounded and connected to the community. Make sure that you understand the needs and wants of the community because you are there to serve them.
- Don’t forget about the cannabis patients. The cannabis industry has been most impactful when it remembers that we are actually helping people. Whether it’s medical or recreational cannabis, our industry helps everyone medicinally. We must remind ourselves that no matter how much success we have or hope to have, we are in business to treat patients through the legal use of cannabis.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the cannabis industry?
1. Social Inclusion
2. Advocacy
3. Diversity
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?
The same three things that most excite me about the cannabis industry also most concern me. Our industry needs legislative support for bills like the MORE Act and SAFE Banking for sure. But we need more of these things to include a structure that supports social inclusion, advocates for improvements to the cannabis industry, and actively promotes participation from communities of color which have been marginalized by failed cannabis prohibition efforts in America. If we actually make significant and measurable progress on these things, then we can move forward as a well-rounded industry that truly understands the unpleasantness of its past, the unfairness of its present, and the potential equality of its future which reflects a cannabis dream that many people have envisioned.
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 should absolutely be federally legalized. The tax money that would be raised through federal legalization can right many wrongs, provide education and support for the community, and create programs for women and minorities that can encourage entrepreneurship in cannabis.
Today, cigarettes are legal, but they are heavily regulated, highly taxed, and they are somewhat socially marginalized. Would you like cannabis to have a similar status to cigarettes or different? Can you explain?
Cannabis is similar to cigarettes but cannabis is more regulated. Unlike cigarettes, cannabis is healthy and so the benefits of using cannabis should be actively promoted to the general public. There should be no marginalizing cannabis consumers or the positive impact that cannabis can have in our country.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” — Martin Luther King, Jr. People really should care about other people in our cannabis industry. This certainly applies to women and minorities. The cannabis industry as we know it today was built on the backs of communities of color — Black and Brown people. If even one person is still sitting in jail for cannabis-related offenses while others are getting rich doing that exact same thing today, then the system is unjust. Until cannabis prohibition ends, cannabis-related offenses are expunged and marijuana-incarcerated people in this country are freed, then there remains a threat to justice everywhere.
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. 🙂
“When they succeed you succeed” — sharing that message is how I hope to inspire others. It is why I am active as a board member with Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR), the country’s first national organization of doctors to endorse legalization of adult-use cannabis. It is also why I am on the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board’s Cannabis Advisory Commission and its Subcommittee on Social Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. I promote and encourage other women and minorities to participate in the cannabis industry. Inclusion is vitally important to the future of cannabis. It matters with business in general, but it really matters in cannabis that women and minorities are included.
Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you only continued success! Thank you!
Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Kema Ogden of Top Notch The Health Center was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.