Although Apple removed all 181 vaping-related apps from the App Store earlier this week, the number of cannabis-focused podcasts continues to grow. Today, one of the smartest yet has dropped, promising to give women guidance on How to do the Pot. The seasonal, narrative podcast tackles the most common questions curious female cannabis consumers Google most—usually secretly.
As an early innovator in the cannabis industry, April Pride’s path has taken her from fashion designer to cannabis company founder to podcast host. In 2016, she launched Van der Pop, one of the first luxury lifestyle brands in the business to offer high-style smoking accoutrements. Later, Pride incorporating an educational resource to Van der Pop’s digital presence dedicated to the many new consumers she’d attracted. Two years later, it was acquired by Canada’s Canopy Growth Corporation.
Through her work, Pride quickly realized that women were an underserved and fast-growing market who wanted information about cannabis, especially as legalization and positive acceptance continues to spread across North America.
Of Like Minds co-founders Ellen Scanlon (left) and April Pride (right) recording 'How to do the … [+]
Zorah Olivia
“When I started my first company that designed discerning products for cannabis, I underestimated the need for education. While women appreciated my products, many were not confident in their knowledge about how to buy cannabis and how it could serve them,” Pride told me.
For her cannabis career encore, Pride enlisted friend and business partner Ellen Scanlon to form Of Like Minds, a new cannabis education platform for women. Part of its portfolio is podcasting, which is in collaboration with the award-winning Western Sound, a Los Angeles-based production studio and Gina Delvic, the founding producer of Call Your Girlfriend.
“We decided to form Of Like Minds, a business with a mission to equip women with the information they need to understand cannabis. We decided that a podcast would be one of the best first steps to provide quality information and promote discreet discovery for women still uncertain about the plant and its effects.”
Listeners will hear from a diverse array of industry experts and professionals who have incorporated cannabis in their lives. Guests will include a professional athlete who uses CBD in training, a retiree who uses cannabis for pain management, a medical doctor who advises pregnant women, and a felon turned entrepreneur. How to Do the Pot’s first season will focus on topics relevant to the health and happiness of women such as pregnancy, sleep and auto-immune conditions—of which women account for eight out of ten diagnoses.
“The industry has long been male-led, which overlooked the needs of women, the fastest growing consumer segment,” says Ellen Scanlon, co-founder Of Like Minds. “How to Do the Pot is our opportunity to share the best stories in cannabis, change hearts, and minds, while helping women feel more confident in their choices.”
Here’s an exclusive preview of what the first three episodes cover — available for download today with the next three released weekly on December 3, 7, and 10, 2019.
Subscribe to 'How to do the Pot’ season one wherever you listen to podcasts.
Courtesy Of Like Minds
Episode 1: What’s up with CBD?
“Some of you may do the pot. Some may be curious. Some may think you’re just-fine-thank-you-very-much. Wherever you land, we know that three letters have been buzzing all around in the last couple of years. C-B-D.”
Questions answered:
- How is hemp different from cannabis?
- How is CBD different from THC?
- What’s the science behind cannabis and pain relief?
- How does one top athlete use CBD and what can we all learn from her story?
- What’s the role of cannabis in reducing opioid consumption for acute and chronic pain?
Episode 2: Is weed cool when you’re pregnant?
“The question our host is asked in quiet hallways at conferences, whispered in women’s bathrooms; a question so contentious to answer that only a very few people even responded to requests for interviews. Can I use cannabis… if I’m pregnant?”
Questions answered:
- What data exists around how many women use cannabis while pregnant and the potential effects?
- What do doctors see in their practices?
- For women who do do the pot while pregnant or breastfeeding … what do we know about using THC or CBD?
- Given how many people use cannabis to treat everything ranging from nausea to anxiety to depression, why should we should consider this subject seriously for women’s physical and mental health?
Episode 3: Is period relief spelled P-O-T?
“A condition that affects one in 10 women, can cause debilitating pain, lead to invasive surgeries and hard-to-tolerate drugs, even infertility; it can take years to be diagnosed, and patients often have to advocate fiercely for their doctors to take them seriously. We’re talking about auto-immune diseases.”
Questions answered:
- What are the physical and personal effects of endometriosis?
- What are the most promising ways that cannabis can treat symptoms of PMS and endometriosis? And how to best should it be consumed it to relieve pain?
- How does an endocannabinoid deficiency contribute to endometriosis and other auto-immune disorders?
- How do you talk to your doctor about endometriosis and cannabis?