An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Trust your gut. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s to have confidence in my intuition and that the decisions I make should align with my core values and my sense of purpose.
As a part of my series about strong women leaders in the cannabis industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Monica Lo.
Monica Lo is a multidisciplinary creative and the creator of Sous Weed®, a blog-turned culinary cannabis resource founded in 2015. With a formal background in communication design from Pratt Institute, she honed her skills as a food photographer and stylist while working in the advertising industry in New York City. Monica is also the author of The Weed Gummies Cookbook.
Her work for Sous Weed has been featured on The Today Show, VICE’s Munchies, Healthyish, and in magazines such as Vogue and Kitchen Toke. Born in Dallas to food-loving Taiwanese immigrants, she finds pleasure in documenting family recipes for posterity, collecting vintage Chinese cookbooks, and researching ancestral cannabis in ancient Asia.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the cannabis industry?
My cannabis journey really began in 2015 when I herniated a spinal disk during an early morning bootcamp workout. My doctor had prescribed a mixture of opioids and acetaminophen, but they wrecked my stomach, making the whole situation worse. I eventually tried a cannabis edible my roommate brought home from the dispensary and that night I slept so well.
The next morning, I knew I needed to figure out how to safely make my own edibles. Since we lived in a strict no-smoking building, I had to be discreet about the wafting scent of cannabis; this meant I had to rule out cooking on the stovetop. At the time I was a creative director of a sous vide start-up and thought I’d put our machines to the test–and it worked!
Since the cannabis flower and cooking oil are sealed in an airtight bag and placed underwater to infuse–there’s no smell! Plus, I can make multiple cannabis infusions at once, using all my favorite cannabis strains. I would use these infusions in a variety of sweet and savory dishes. This is how Sous Weed® was born! These sous vide cannabis experiments ended up helping me manage my back pain, and by documenting it on my blog, doors opened for me to collaborate with really amazing people and brands in the cannabis industry.
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?
A cookbook has been a dream of mine since the start. I worked hard on a Sous Weed book proposal and started to send them out in 2019; it got rejected left and right. The combination of sous vide cooking, cannabis edibles, along with a story written through the lens of an Asian American, was too niche.
In 2021, cannabis edibles sales in medical and recreational states began to skyrocket as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We started to see consumers choosing edibles, specifically gummies and candies, over inhalable forms of consumption. It was the perfect timing to work on a cookbook focused on sweet treats and I was excited to team up with Ulysses Press to do it.
The idea behind it is, it’s far more cost-effective to make your own infusions and treats at home, especially as dispensary prices are on the rise due to a variety of reasons from taxes to operating costs. Dispensary edibles often have preservatives to extend their shelf life. But when you DIY, you can make your edibles without the commercial preservatives and also customize the dosage to your body’s needs. With The Weed Gummies Cookbook, I was able to share my sous vide technique, recipes, and story. It took a few years for the timing to be right but I finally had the platform.
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 you’re super passionate about your craft–it shows. Starting out in this industry people were constantly pitching projects and my expertise as a creative contractor was in high demand. I would jump headfirst into projects with people I had not fully vetted. It was not fun when an invoice would go unpaid for months but now I’ve been able to look back at my naïveté and laugh. These days I review incoming projects with a critical eye, boundaries, and my work does not begin until a contract is signed!
Do you have a funny story about how someone you knew reacted when they first heard you were getting into the cannabis industry?
I had kept my cannabis cooking experiments from my parents for quite some time. I eventually had to bring it up to them because the SF Chronicle wanted to interview me and I felt it would be better for them to hear it from the source rather than reading about it in the paper. But they were initially very concerned; my father even called me a drug dealer. This was mainly because of the stigma around cannabis and the lack of education on its medical use. Dad went down a research rabbit hole and came back feeling better about the situation. It took mom a little longer to come around though. For mom, I flew her out to San Francisco and had her tinker in the kitchen with me as a bonding experience. I wanted to show her how I use cannabis infusions in our family recipes and we worked together on this Infused XO sauce and Oyster Mee Sua. I mentioned in my book, that’s how I discovered her beginner’s dose is my maximum dose! After a meal of noodles and 25mg of XO sauce, I took a long nap on the couch while she blasted music and deep cleaned my kitchen.
We also worked on the Taiwanese Snowflake Crisp Nougat recipe together for the book. When my son was born, my mom made the nougats for me to take to the hospital to share with the NICU staff–uninfused, of course!
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?
Asian Americans face unique issues when it comes to cannabis use and acceptance due to differences in culture and social stigmas–which is why I started Asian Americans for Cannabis Education (AACE) with Ophelia Chong and Tiffany Wu back in 2015. We felt the mainstream media didn’t accurately represent cannabis users and we most definitely did not fit into the lazy stoner stereotype. We wanted to be a responsible face for cannabis users and to help dispel myths and stigmas around this beneficial plant. Looking back, I’m incredibly grateful for the experience to trail blaze with the two of them. The landscape did not look like it does now. With legalization and widespread cannabis education, we’re seeing a lot more AAPI brands and entrepreneurs entering the space and being extremely successful. Ophelia is still leading the charge in LA and hosting Potlucks to connect and network with Asian Americans in the cannabis community. The summer event had 140+ in attendance!
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am currently riding the high from the release of The Weed Gummies Cookbook! I am also focused on motherhood right now. It’s incredibly important to me to bond with my baby and to build a solid foundation for his development and wellbeing.
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?
Great question. In the early days of legalization, especially here in California, there was an exciting number of female founders and executives in the cannabis industry. The landscape has since changed. At an industry level, we need to increase access to capital; it costs quite a lot to operate legally in the cannabis industry. A push for more mentorship and training resources will also help women and BIPOC participate especially as large corporations have now entered the playing field.
That said, achieving gender parity should be an ongoing process. Companies, big and small, should set goals to increase the number of women and diversity in hiring, especially in the C-suite.
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.
If you’re starting out in this industry, go in with an open mind. You may be working on ancillary products or services that aren’t directly related to cultivation or production. Understand that you won’t know everything and that’s okay. We are all still students of this plant. The cannabis industry is in its infancy and I’m excited to see more clinical and scientific studies and upcoming technologies.
Regardless of the sector that you work in, it’s important to understand the legalities and follow regulations as it varies from state to state. As a brand, identifying and understanding your audience is important as your marketing efforts will need to be focused. You won’t be able to use traditional marketing tactics due to advertising regulations. Many brands utilize social media influencers but they must be vigilant and follow FTC and state advertising compliance. For example, in Washington, the risk of noncompliance can cost up to $1,000 per violation for the brand. Marketing in the cannabis industry is an exercise in creativity and tenacity.
Destigmatizing cannabis use is a long-term endeavor–there’s decades of bad propaganda embedded in our culture. Consumers look like you and me and we need to work together to squash the stoner stereotypes. Be responsible and conscious in your cannabis consumption. Vocalize how legal access to cannabis has been beneficial for you. And when cannabis is on the ballot–be sure to vote.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the cannabis industry?
I am excited to see cannabis education and cannabis medical research now being conducted all over the world. With that comes destigmatization which then leads to decriminalization and legalization. And hopefully with all of that comes the expungement of cannabis convictions and more access to cannabis for medical patients worldwide.
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 is an incredibly versatile plant that evolved 28 million years ago on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. More than 4,000 years ago, Chinese farmers used it for oil and fibers. Over 2,500 years ago, the Chinese used it for medicinal, spiritual, and recreational purposes. This is all to say, humans have cultivated and utilized cannabis since the beginning of recorded history. Cannabis is our ancestral medicine. And let’s be honest. The War on Drugs is a massive failure and has led to corruption, violence, and mass incarceration with a disproportionate impact on people with lower income and the BIPOC community. People are now generating immense wealth from this plant while others are sitting in jail for cannabis-related convictions. The U.S. is quickly legalizing state by state and users are seeing the benefits. It’s time to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, legalize on a federal level, and grant clemency to the 40,000 people still incarcerated.
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?
It has been proven that the chemicals in tobacco are toxic, addictive, and can cause variety of diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Whereas the cannabis, has deemed itself useful in a variety of medical research from chronic pain management to Alzheimer’s Disease to epilepsy, and beyond. While I agree more medical research should be conducted and an age limit enforced to purchase cannabis, I do not think it should be as heavily regulated and taxed as cigarettes. They are not the same.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Trust your gut. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s to have confidence in my intuition and that the decisions I make should align with my core values and my sense of purpose.
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. 🙂
It is so important for us to understand the history of cannabis, not just the origins, but also how communities of color in the U.S. have been disproportionately harmed by the failed War on Drugs. Anyone who is entering the cannabis industry should be building criminal justice reform support into their company’s purpose. For example, I am donating a portion of the profits of The Weed Gummies Cookbook semiannually to The Last Prisoner Project.
Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you only continued success!
Thank you so much!
Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Monica Loof Sous Weed was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.