Meet Corinne & Andrea of the Cannabis Coaching Institute

Speaker 1 (00:00:07) - In this week's episode, I have the pleasure of sitting down with Corrine and Andrea of the Cannabis Coaching Institute. Welcome to the Faces of Cannabis interview series, where we take a break from talking about edibles and focus on the people behind the plant, whether it's fellow podcasters, bud tenders, gogi advocates, cultivators, cannabis lovers, all have their stories to share, and I want to share them with you. This was an interesting conversation with two dynamic women in the coaching and education space. We touched on a number of topics, including how they each got started with cannabis, how the two of them met some edibles, tips and tricks as they're both edibles, enthusiasts themselves, the deep impact they've seen with students and clients of their businesses, and a whole lot more. Without further delay, please enjoy this conversation with Corrine and Andrea. All right. I am very excited to be joined today by Andrea and Corrine. And before we get started, would you be able to both tell the audience, invite me the show about edibles? Uh, just introduce yourselves and tell us what it is that you do. . You want me to go Andrea's point? Yeah. Andrea's pointing at Corin. Nobody else can see that, but I can. So, go ahead, Corin.

Speaker 2 (00:01:27) - Yeah. My name is Corin BAAs. I'm the program director of the Cannabis Coaching Institute and the founder of Waken Bake, uh, blog for Healthy Edibles.

Speaker 3 (00:01:36) - I am Andrea Mahar. I'm a cannabis educator and coach and I run Reveal Cannabis where talk about all kinds of nerdy cannabis things, including edibles.

Speaker 1 (00:01:45) - Right. And how did you both get started with weed?

Speaker 2 (00:01:50) - Are you gonna point at me again? Do you want me to go first? ,

Speaker 3 (00:01:52) - I just think let's just have that cadence. You go first.

Speaker 2 (00:01:55) - Perfect. Sounds good. Ok. Um, how did we get started with cannabis? That was a very, very long time ago, and I think, um, my story is very similar to so many people's stories. You know, I started out as a patient, I started out with someone who was in pain and suffering and was unhealthy, and someone told me that cannabis was healthy, and I was very lucky to get that message at that time because I was on a ton of opiates and, um, anti-inflammatories and all these, all these pharmaceuticals, right? This is, um, a tale as old as time at this point. And when I was told that cannabis is healthy, I kind of laughed it off. I was like, well, you know, it's not as bad as alcohol, or it's like the same as alcohol, but it's not good for you. And again, luckily the person who gave me that message was like, it is, just use it a little differently. It's not about, you know, packing a huge bong and, and just like falling asleep. Um, so I started kind of intuitively microdosing back then. That was years and years ago. And from that moment on, my life changed. Um, I was off all of my prescription drugs within a few weeks and started walking a ton, lost 30 pounds. It got me interested in yoga and holistic health and wellness, and it just kept going and going and going.

Speaker 1 (00:03:08) - Amazing. And what about you, Andrea?

Speaker 3 (00:03:11) - I used cannabis as a kid for what I thought was fun at the time, and then got really away from it and actually became really like anti-cannabis again in my thirties, especially about, about like women men or, sorry, um, moms who used cannabis. Like they were definitely evil . Um, and then I fell into a really deep depression and couldn't get out. Like I did all the things that you're supposed to do to get out and none of it worked. And it was my mom, thank God, and she came over and dropped literally like a bag of weed on my pillow and said, I think this might help. And for me, the first puff of that joint changed everything. Like I remembered who I was inside again. And then for me it was like a long journey of trying to figure out like, how does this work and how can I make it work, and how can I use cannabis and still be a functional parent? Um, and that led me to the Cannabis Coaching Institute. And then here I am.

Speaker 1 (00:04:04) - So I guess it's safe to say that you don't see cannabis moms as evil anymore. . Yeah. Yeah. It's,

Speaker 3 (00:04:12) - I feel a lot of, like, I still feel guilt about it for the way I was thinking about these moms, right? Yeah. Um, yeah. It's, it's, but you know what,

Speaker 1 (00:04:20) - Uh, it's o it's okay to change your opinion over time, I have to say, because I've probably had that same kind of feeling of, of guilt as you have. I definitely started, you know, using cannabis recreationally in high school, like so many people, and I've had sort of a ebb and flow with it over the years, and I switched to edibles, you know, for good reason, but Absolutely. Now I know you two, aside from the Cannabis Coaching Institute, you also have a podcast that you do together, is that right?

Speaker 2 (00:04:48) - Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:04:48) - Super. The Wake and Bake Podcast. Podcast, I know. I wake just several episodes. It's fantastic. Now, you two obviously work on the podcast, uh, and you're doing, working with the Cannabis Coaching Institute. How did you two meet?

Speaker 2 (00:05:02) - We haven't,

Speaker 3 (00:05:02) - We haven't what

Speaker 2 (00:05:04) - We've never met. No way. Really. We're still, it's gonna be a very big day for us, . Right. But we haven't met in real life. No, we, um, well, Andrea joined the Cannabis Coaching Institute in 2018. She was part of a, I believe you were in the first cohort, right? Yep. Yeah. So right as soon as we opened, Andrea joined and we were online friends and, and colleagues for many years. And then I think we were gonna meet in the pandemic hit, and then we've just always had these plans, but she's in Canada and I just run around everywhere. So , it's hard for us to, to link up.

Speaker 1 (00:05:40) - Wow, that's amazing. So maybe one day

Speaker 3 (00:05:42) - I just found out, I just found out like Karin's, like maybe a full foot taller than me, like not too long ago. Oh, really? . I didn't even know .

Speaker 1 (00:05:50) - Like, if it's like online, then you guys are probably always seated when you're talking to each other. That's hilarious. I love that. That's, it just goes to show the power of the internet and the connections that we can make via the internet, because I have met a lot of great people through this podcast too. That would never have happened if it wasn't for Bite Me. And again, the power of the internet and the power of cannabis as well. Now, from what I've read, you're both edibles, enthusiasts, and obviously the Wake and Bake that website's fantastic. And I encourage any of my listeners to go over and check it out. Um, you have a lot of great recipes over there. So you're both enthusiasts, edibles, enthusiasts. Do you have any like favorite go-to recipes or gadgets, techniques, anything like that that you'd like to share?

Speaker 2 (00:06:34) - Weed loop, , weed loop in suppositories, that is always, it's always what I answer with at this point because it's, that has been, in all these years I've been doing Wake and Bake for a decade. That has been one of those recipes that I didn't think much about when I was making it. I was like, oh, I'm just gonna put this recipe out there. And I've gotten hundreds and hundreds of comments and emails from women who had helped, and I just, I didn't see it coming. And I, I really think it's such a great entry point because edibles can be so complicated. Mm-hmm. , um, yeah, weed Lube is, um, it's, it's got very few downsides and a lot of upsides that people like to write about, so I always say that one first.

Speaker 1 (00:07:14) - I love that because I recorded an a weed lube episode not that long ago myself, that has yet to come out. But, uh, I wholeheartedly agree in the power of weed lube, for sure. . Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:07:28) - How am I supposed to follow that up? Like, there's nothing I can say. My go-to thing is infused olive oil. For me, it's been a life changer with my son who has, um, eczema really bad and infused olive oil has changed the game for him. Plus, I love that it's so versatile. You know, you can make granola, you can make spaghetti sauce, you just put it in your salsa a couple of episodes ago. Um, and I think when people can understand that it doesn't have to be like cookies and brownies and lollipops, and they can look at all the things that they put olive oil on that for me, um, I love that kind of like aha moment for people when they realize it doesn't ha edibles don't have to be what you think they are,

Speaker 1 (00:08:10) - Right? Because everybody does think of the classic pop brownie or the space cake or whatever, but I have never heard of infused olive oil for eczema. And I have been an eczema sufferer myself before. I know those medicated creams you get are really hard on the skin. So that might be something I'll have to try. I don't really get outbreaks anymore, but refused olive oil.

Speaker 3 (00:08:31) - I'll tell you a tip. Like we have a jar of infused olive oil on the kitchen counter at all times. So my son puts it on his eczema. We put it on every cut. It works on itchiness for like bug bites. It's great for sunburns. If my kid has a stomach ache, I'll rub it on his stomach. It's just, it's such a part of our life now. We just, it's, it's, yeah, it's ubiquitous and I love it. And I think everyone should have it on their counter.

Speaker 1 (00:08:54) - All right. Well you've heard

Speaker 2 (00:08:54) - It here. It's so funny. Oh, sorry, go

Speaker 1 (00:08:57) - Ahead. Yeah, no, you go ahead, . Well,

Speaker 2 (00:08:59) - It's, it's just so funny because we have the same thing, but ours is coconut oil. Like we have the vat of infused coconut oil, and that's our go too. So it's just, it's so interesting that your carrier oil is just a little bit different, but everyone should have just some infused oil sitting around like, right. I think it's whatever oil that you use all the time, get that and infuse it and let that be your go-to vat of, of magic,

Speaker 1 (00:09:22) - Right? And there's pros and cons to both, but for most people, if you're already infusing coconut oil, it's pretty easy to infuse all oil as well, or vice versa. So yeah, wanna have both and see how you can make it fit into your life. Now let's talk about the Cannabis Coaching Institute. I'm just curious about how it got started, your backstory, like what, what brought you to starting this institute for people?

Speaker 2 (00:09:46) - Yeah, so it's kind of a continuation of that first story, right? Where it helped me so much, and so I just wanted to help other people with it. And it started to turn into this idea of making a cookbook, because when I went looking on the internet, I was led to forum after forum where people were just arguing nonstop, this works. No, this is the way to do it. No, this is, and I was like, I would leave just feeling more and more confused. And I was like, well, I'm just gonna test stuff. I'm just gonna test things and whatever works, I'll share that. Um, that quickly turned into a cookbook concept, the Wake and Bake cookbook, because it was one of those things where it's like the light bulb moment where I was like, oh, that's cute. Wake and bake a cookbook, though, you know, , it's gonna be mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (00:10:25) - , this is gonna be so much fun. Um, so I, I had studied comedy writing. I was a yoga teacher. I was like, I'm gonna combine like comedy and wellness and cannabis and just make this fun little side project. Again, I really wasn't thinking that that much about it. I just wanted to do it. I was like, I wanted to share what worked. And as soon as I did that and started the blog, I started getting questions from people from all around the world that had all these health challenges and questions about cannabis. And at the time, I had no idea. I didn't even know some of these things. Uh, I didn't know about the anti cannabinoid system. C B D was very new at the time. Um, I didn't know what was real and what wasn't real. And so I was doing tons and tons of research constantly.

Speaker 2 (00:11:06) - And when people would ask me a question, I was really like, okay, I wanna give them everything I've got. Like, let's learn as much about this thing and cannabis is possible and send them the answer. And I would send the answer, the answer. I'm using air quotes, you were listening . And, and then I would check back in and they're like, well, I didn't get to it because of this, or this didn't quite work out, or, you know, I started realizing that this is way more of a process. There is no one size fits all answer for anyone. And I was thinking about ways that I could maybe support people through that process and came across health coaching. I had heard of health coaching before and I was like, well, maybe this is a way that we could do this. Like put it into that model that already works that we already know works and see what happens.

Speaker 2 (00:11:46) - And when I did that, my clients got great results. I was like, oh, these two things together, cannabis and health coaching, this is what's up. Because it takes a long time for people to be able to figure out what works for them. They do it a lot faster in a supported environment where they can ask questions and receive support in education. And as a health coach, you're leveraging behavior change all along the way. And so many of the things that people are dealing with benefit from behavior change and lifestyle change. And so again, that combination was just, it was really working and I was excited. And so I was out there in the world and I was working with clients, and it was my focus. And shortly thereafter, two women came to me and they were like, Hey, how do you do that thing that you're doing? And I was like, well, I did this training and this training and this, and I studied all of these things, and like, can you just teach us how to do it? I was like, okay, that sounds like fun, . That sounds easy enough. And, uh, that's how the Cannabis Coaching Institute was born. That was in 2018. And we've trained hundreds of coaches and educators since then and have this incredible community and network, and it's been a really incredible experience.

Speaker 1 (00:12:48) - Yeah, that, that's pretty awesome. And now, Andrea, you mentioned that you were part of the first cohort of the cci, uh, as, uh, we'll shorten it from time to time, but can you talk about your own experience and journey with the Cannabis Coaching Institute?

Speaker 3 (00:13:02) - Yeah. For me, I was like, I came like as an angry student because I had done all this Googling trying to get the answer, and it wasn't there. There also wasn't anybody to help me understand how to get out of this depression and, you know, go on with my life. And so I thought, oh, I'm gonna sign up for this and I'm gonna learn how to do this thing. So I joined c c I drastically changed my life as it does for so many of our students because of that magic that Kareem was talking about. Um, being in a supportive coaching relation with somebody who has your back and understands what they're doing and understands what to do with cannabis. There's also this like, kind of hidden part of c c I that we don't talk a lot about, but makes a huge impact for most of our students.

Speaker 3 (00:13:49) - And that is we have a really robust mindset, um, coaching curriculum so that we understand like what's happening in our own brains as we're attempting to make these health changes and do these things so that we're not, you know, sabotaging ourselves or sabotaging ourselves when we start a business. Um, so tho so that all together like completely changed my life, everything, every single part of my life, um, was changed by going through that process, but I really wanted to know more about the nerdy cannabis science. So I started bugging Corin like almost right away. I was like, oh, we need, you know, you need to teach us more about this or this or this. And I bugged her so much that finally she was like, can you just like, come on and like do the, can you come on and teach the stuff? So yeah. So I joined on a couple of years ago, and that is my favorite part of doing this work is helping people understand how and why cannabis works, because that's so helpful in figuring out the answer for you.

Speaker 1 (00:14:45) - Right? And I do like that you have, if you go over to the website, the Cannabis Coaching Institute website, you have the whole curriculum laid out so people can see what they're going to be learning and what to expect, which I think is always great because that shows transparency. I, I guess, in, you know, what to expect. Now, Corrine, you've mentioned that you've taught hundreds of students at this point, and probably after you came on as well, Andrea, um, maybe thousands. What's what's the biggest impact that you've seen with the students that have completed the program? .

Speaker 2 (00:15:19) - I like get goo. I got goosebumps as soon as you ask me that question because I just had this moment where it was just like a wave of the women especially who have gone out there and have done incredible things. Um, some of our students have gone on to become college professors, which was the first thing that popped into my mind is that they went into the educational system that has very little content currently about cannabis, especially cannabis being used for health. Um, actually, Andrea, I saw your face when, when she asked this question. Yeah. Do you wanna,

Speaker 3 (00:15:54) - Yeah, I'm just books for so many people. It allows them to speak their truth, to come out, talk loudly about cannabis, which is new and scary, but that also allows them to like just be more themselves. And these people that we trained who are themselves have gone on to do all of these wonderful things that are now impacting tens and thousands of millions of people. For example, just two nights ago, we were interviewing one of our former student who's written a beautiful book called Midlife Magic, that teaches women, especially how to use this plant for better health in those middle years. We have people who are helping others who are going through cancer understand how cannabis might be beneficial in their cancer treatment. We have people who are working with kids, people who are working with specifically autistic people, people who are working specifically with women in menopause.

Speaker 3 (00:16:47) - Like if you have a passion and a voice and a story and a particular audience of people that are important to you, it's so cool to see that all these coaches take what we teach them and tailor it just for this one group of people that really need it. Um, and so I always talk about in class, I love this idea of putting like a drop in the pond and then there's ripples. And so Corrine put a drop in the pond when she started c c I, and since then, hundreds of people are putting more and more drops in this pond to the point now where, like, I got, I got called a couple of weeks ago from a publication in Washington, and she's like, I googled cannabis coach, and you came up and can you talk to me about how people might be able to use cannabis to stop using alcohol if they're overusing alcohol? And just to think of like all the steps that had to happen for that conversation to have, but then I can help her inform her audience and where does that go? Um, so it's like never ending, really the impact that's, that's out there. That's

Speaker 1 (00:17:53) - So powerful. Yeah, go ahead, Corin.

Speaker 2 (00:17:56) - I have to bring this back around to edibles because so many people, again, they were on that journey where they start, they learning about all of these different new ingestion methods, and then they wanna know how to make edibles. And Andrea and I both had the same dream when we were moving forward in our career, which is to start an edibles business, right? When you start making edibles, you're like, I'm gonna be, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna put a baker hat on and I'm gonna make the edibles every day. . And then, and then you start looking at it. And even in Colorado, and it was medical, I was like, oh, that's a lot of resources that you need. Those are a lot of loopholes. I'm not a paperwork person, and the laws were constantly changing. So every time I would take a step forward in that direction, they'd be like, Nope, it's over here now.

Speaker 2 (00:18:36) - And I was like, oh man, there's, this is really, this maybe is not for me right now. And what we've seen that's been really interesting is that so many of our students came with that kind of idea, like, oh, I wanna start an edibles business. And instead they've moved on to these different ways of teaching other people how to make their own edibles and getting medicine into people's hands, because I think we can all agree that it's just so impactful for human beings once you actually do that work and you're understanding the medicine. And it really, it, I think it turns so many people onto this idea that the cannabis is one of the most dynamic plant medicines on the face of the planet when you start trying to cook with it and you're like, oh, simple, I'll throw it in some brownies. And that's one way to do it.

Speaker 2 (00:19:15) - But if you ask even one little question, what is decarboxylation? Or if you start going like, how much t hc right? What is the dosage of this thing? You start going, wait dosage of what? Thc, C B D C, B G C B D A. And so you start kind of getting into this like, what is this plant? What's going on here? And, and so many of our students have taken that journey and they're like, I wanna share how to do this with people and have gone on to create courses and do a ton of workshops and, and start sharing with people how they can make their own medicine, which I think in so many ways is better than having an edibles company, right? You don't, you're not putting the same, um, the same box. You're not as tied to going in and putting the chef hat on every day and making the edibles, um, and all of these changing regulations. Instead, you can put the power back into people's hands and say, you can do this. This is actually, it's, it's interesting. It's not, it's complicated, right? There are a lot of things to know about it, but it's super interesting and it can be more straightforward if you know what you're doing. And that's what I think is really cool about what a lot of our students have done. Like Michelle, who else has done edibles business? Can you think of any?

Speaker 3 (00:20:21) - Yeah, we have lots of people who are doing just exactly what Corrine said, you know, writing blogs about it, doing podcasts, about it, creating workshops or workshop series about it. Even one woman who is in, um, Hawaii, and she, through c c I learned about things like C B G A and the acidic cannabinoids, and now she's making custom tincture blends that she is able to sell on the legal Hawaii market. But she can explain it to people too, like, this is why you might benefit from this particular thing that I've made. She's able to have such, um, um, a bigger impact with her product because she has the knowledge, the confidence, the tools behind her. So yeah, it is a perfect marriage even for people who do wanna put on the chef's hat and make their own edibles business. You need to know about the plant, the end. You need to have some education there. Right.

Speaker 1 (00:21:15) - Well, I'm really actually glad that you brought that up because when it comes to making edibles, I started this podcast, I forget, close to four years ago because I love making edibles. It's my preferred way to consume. And I've been making edibles for years, and people will often ask me, why haven't you started an edibles business? And my my response is that it's a double regulated industry. You have the food regulations, which is already stringent enough, and then you have cannabis regulations. I don't have the deep pockets for that. And I'm pretty sure if I started a business doing it, I would probably quickly come to hate making edibles, . You know, it's, it's great when I'm doing it for myself if I'm giving them away to friends and family or whatever, but as soon as you start doing it to earn a living, it totally changes the game. And so I really like to hear about, do you have any more examples of people who are interested in starting edibles businesses, but then, you know, change their minds?

Speaker 3 (00:22:09) - You, we actually teach them at c C I because we have so many people just like us, come through the doors. We actually teach them, like in general, to stay away from that, to, to not make that the main way that you're gonna like, focus your career for the reasons that Corin brought up. Mostly like the ever-changing regulations. All you need is your state or province to change their packaging, what you know, where things need to go on their package. And you could be out of business if you spent all your money on packaging, for example. So I'm gonna say the vast majority of people who have come into c C I with the secret dream of creating their own edibles company, have found something far more rewarding to do with their time and their passion and their knowledge than sit in the kitchen and make 10 gram 10 milligram edibles. You know, that may or may not work for people. Mm-hmm. .

Speaker 1 (00:22:59) - Right? Yeah. I love that. And I was just going to mention as well, it sounds like, uh, I mean, alongside reducing stigma and helping people, like you mentioned the professor, I'm sure doctors also because they seem to get very little education on cannabis, which makes them very reluctant to talk about it with their patients. Um, the, the impact that you have is pretty profound and wide ranging. And I love that you mentioned that it's a lot of women as well, because I like to thank women supporting women. It is a female plant that we're all, you know, getting the benefits from. So I really like that too. Now, Andrea, you started Reveal Cannabis. Can you talk a little bit about how you help people through your own coaching business?

Speaker 3 (00:23:39) - Yeah, for sure. I run my own private cannabis coaching business, which has been, again, extremely rewarding because I am able to help people go most of the time from zero knowledge of the plan. You know, most of my clients are reluctant to come to cannabis in the first place, and the only reason they're considering it as an option is because they have someone like me to walk them through it. So that part has been extremely rewarding. Just my private coaching business. I'm also a teacher by trade. I'm an elementary school teacher, turned cannabis coach, and I can't stop teaching about cannabis. Like I, I know stuff and I'm like, you all need to know this too, . So I have a YouTube channel, um, I write blogs and I'm also working right now on developing a curriculum or developing a class for doctors to understand how to, to understand cannabis and how it might be helpful.

Speaker 3 (00:24:31) - So for me, taking, taking c c I has allowed me to take my own like particular education bent and put, you know, put my stamp on it there. And that is one of the cool things about people coming in is that, you know, you can come out and be the college professor, or you can come out and be the cannabis informed massage therapist, do you know, like whatever it is mm-hmm. that you're passionate about and good at, you can bring that into the cannabis industry, not only through c C I, but anywhere. We're so lucky to work in this tiny baby industry that will never, ever, ever be smaller than it is today. Right. Um, worldwide, you know, so you, there's still so much space to come in and be like, I wanna be like a cannabis coach just for dogs, just for doodles, even, you know, like have at her, you know, there's lots of space right now.

Speaker 1 (00:25:18) - And so for you, or a lot of the people that come are coming to see you, are they typically starting out as non-cannabis consumers? But they have like that curiosity or

Speaker 3 (00:25:28) - Almost everybody I work with is a non-cannabis consumer. I work with quite a few seniors who, you know, they are sick of the prescription medication game, they are in pain and they've heard, you know, from someone, their granddaughter or something that this might work. So a lot of my clients are seniors. And then I have a lot of clients who are women around my age who have read my story and resonated with me who currently use cannabis but don't know how to figure it out just like me. You know, they, they know it's helping them to feel better on a Friday night, but they don't know whether they could feel good on a Tuesday morning too and still go to work kind of thing. So a lot of, um, yeah, I'm gonna say like half and half kind of like seniors and then women my age who want to understand this plant medicine so that they can have an improved quality of life. Like use this plant for its intended use, you know, to feel better and feel happier and healthier.

Speaker 1 (00:26:22) - Mm-hmm. . Now Karen, if, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you have two programs through the Cannabis Coaching Institute. Can you just talk about the differences between the two?

Speaker 2 (00:26:33) - We're actually moving away from that model. . Oh, are you ? Um, we're, well kinda, we're, we're focusing on, you know, we've been in this really incredible vantage point where we've watched what works and what hasn't worked, not just for Andrea and I, but for hundreds of people. And what we noticed, you know, in the past couple years especially, is that the largest impact are the students that become cannabis educators and kind of are thinking about this more of a, a one to many model in doing workshops and doing retreats and creating content, like Andrea said, for the YouTube channel. We've seen that that's where the biggest impact is. And so right now our focus is really in facilitating that impact. So we've got the Certified Cannabis Educator program, and in that you get to geek out with Andrea and become the biggest weed nerd that you know, that anyone knows.

Speaker 2 (00:27:23) - Um, even if you know nothing about cannabis or if you're a cannabis expert and you've studied with tons of other people, Andrea teaches you what you need to know to communicate with other people. And we give you the hands-on experience having those conversations. Because if you've ever, even if you are a cannabis expert, if you've ever tried to explain these topics to someone and just watch their eyes glaze over , and, and then you go, I think I missed the mark, how could I have said that differently? We've had those conversations too. And we wanna make sure that when you leave this program, you can have these kind of complex conversations with people about this dynamic plant medicine that interacts with an incredibly dynamic system in the human body without them shutting down, like with other brains shutting down. We wanna have these like magic school bus, um, you know, where they instead are seeing what's going on inside of their body and the next time they take c b D oil, they go, oh, that's why that's working.

Speaker 2 (00:28:16) - Not like, what did that crazy lady say about that enzyme inhibition? Right, right. You know, we wanna make sure that it's, you're communicating in a way that leverages behavior change, that that makes people feel inspired and curious about this plant. And so you get hands-on experience doing that. And then, and this is something that Andrea and I are both really passionate about. Cause we're single moms and we do this as a job, so we wanna share, especially with women, how to do that, how to do that, especially if you're a mom or you've got a busy schedule or you've got another job and you really wanna do this. And the reason we're so passionate about it is because we know that if you can make this financially sustainable for yourself, you'll be out there doing it more often. You'll be out there sharing this message really well because you've learned how to do that on a more consistent basis.

Speaker 2 (00:29:02) - And so there are three, um, kind of tracks that you can take after you've learned all this incredible stuff about cannabis and you've learned how to talk about it in such an effective way. Um, you can either take a content track where you learn how to make content for the internet, whether that's blogs, um, you, I mean, you can write a book with it as well, doing YouTube videos, starting a podcast. Um, and then Danielle Simone brand comes in and teaches you how to freelance. So you can do that on your own or you can do that for other cannabis companies who need good information because how many, you know, cannabis companies are out there trying to do this thing where they're making content and they're spreading more misinformation and we're seeing more of it. So you can be a really well informed freelancer and be building your business that way, or you can be doing your own thing or a combination of those.

Speaker 2 (00:29:45) - The second track that you can take is doing workshops. So Andrea's done this really incredible thing in her own very small town. She had this cannabis club that became wildly popular and she created these 14 workshops that you can deliver either as a club where you're inviting people to come to the same space, you know, month after month. And, and you're building this community maybe in your hometown, or we've had students that have run it as individual workshops and you can travel around giving cannabis and sex workshop and that's all done for you. So you have all the marketing materials, all of the slideshows, everything that you need so that you can get out there and start sharing this information. And then we have a third track, which is retreats. So, so many people wanna spend time in that space where they're, um, they're spending more time with people and they get to really do some deep work with folks.

Speaker 2 (00:30:33) - And again, Andrea's got, she's the, she's the handout queen at cci. So she makes sure that you have all the things that you need from like contracts and um, schedules and all those kinds of things so that you don't have to think about how am I gonna do this thing instead of it, do I wanna do it? Great, I'm gonna do a workshop now I wanna put on a retreat. Now I'm gonna go write this blog and I know that this is all gonna help me build a business and help more people. And so that's the program

Speaker 1 (00:30:59) - I love. Good, because you're ma you're sort of setting up all your students for success so they can sort of hit the ground running and find success with what whatev, whichever track they choose. And Andrea, look like you wanna say something? Yeah,

Speaker 3 (00:31:11) - I just, there's a lot of great cannabis training programs out there. We, like you said, it's 2023, how lucky are we that like that's a thing. Mm-hmm. , you know, that there's many cannabis training programs out there. What we do really well at C C I is give you a strong foundation in cannabis science. The knowledge, the tools, the confidence to talk about it, but then we teach you how to monetize that because like Corrine said, part of what she didn't say, but part of her secret mission is to have women specifically, but everybody out there being able to talk about this plant right, about this plant and have that be sustainable so that we can start to change the narrative around cannabis so that the first page of Google is filled with like, maybe health benefits of cannabis instead of all this bullshit that's on there. Sorry for swearing, but um No, that's totally

Speaker 1 (00:32:02) - Fine. .

Speaker 3 (00:32:04) - Yeah, just combining those two things so that this isn't just like a hobby that you talk to your husband about or something that this is something that you're out there sharing with the world.

Speaker 1 (00:32:15) - Well, and I also think you mentioned talking about monetizing it. Maybe people don't like to use that word or they don't like to talk about that, but at the same time as you mentioned the Google searches, it's kind of nice to think that maybe it's, those returns on those searches are filled with independent people who are knowledgeable and destigmatizing the plant use and not just like, you know, huge cannabis companies that are just trying to pump out as much content as they can. Cuz there's such a difference in the quality of the information you're gonna get from that. And of course anything that helps destigmatize cannabis is just gonna further, you know, it's worldwide, worldwide adoption. I mean worldwide legalization one day might be a bit of a dream at this point, but you never know we're helping change. Oh,

Speaker 3 (00:32:57) - I think we're heading there . Yeah. Yeah. I think we're well on our way,

Speaker 2 (00:33:01) - Right? You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. There will always be those places that are like, no, but I, I mean we're watching it. We again, we've been able to sit back here for decades now and just like, I didn't think it was gonna happen in my lifetime at all, to be honest. I mean, when I was younger, you know, smoking weed in my closet because I also smoked cannabis when I was in high school and in college, not in the same, you know, not, uh, obviously didn't know anything about it then. Um, but I was like, it's never gonna happen. They would never, they would never let it happen. And, and that's the thing is that we are the ones that are controlling the conversation. We're the ones having these conversations about Delta eight and synthetic cannabinoids right now and dabs and having these tough conversations that are, are only here because cannabis has, has, um, been liberated, you know, so it's, it's really rewarding work. I do wanna say too, I said, oh, that's the only program this program are focused on. Well we are the Cannabis Coaching Institute. And so if you get through that program and you're doing workshops and you're doing retreats and people are asking you like, Hey, you know, saying I wanna help one-on-one or asking those questions, there is still a way to further your education. We just wanna make sure that you have those foundations first. So it's now a required program then to become a cannabis health coach.

Speaker 1 (00:34:14) - Right. And speaking of education, I'm glad to, I'm glad you mentioned Delta eight because I listened to your podcast episode that you both did on Delta eight and I thought it was fabulous. So anybody who has uh, come across Delta eight, you should definitely listen to that episode and I can link to it in the show notes so people can hear it. Um, now do you either of you have one or two tips that you would give someone to help maximize their cannabis use for improved health and life satisfaction?

Speaker 3 (00:34:43) - My number one trick is to track, um, cannabis is extraordinarily dynamic and so are you, so, you know, like your need for THC or C B D on one day at one stressful point in your life if you're a woman, if you're about to get your period like is totally different than two days later or when you didn't have a fight with your spouse or when you know you haven't been exercising your body. That's just you, that's just what's happening inside your own body. And then we're so lucky to live in Canada where I can go in and pick from hundreds of different products and mm-hmm. . So if you can even just, I know Marge, you have a tracking book that you sell so right

Speaker 1 (00:35:27) - Out, so very timely

Speaker 3 (00:35:29) - . Yes, buy that thing and then track because it's amazing when we teach our students to do this and then they start tracking and then, then they can go back and they're like, oh my God, actually Blue Dream makes me feel anxious every time I take it. But I thought it was gonna be good for me so I kept on taking it. Um, being able to really like hone in on what's making you feel good is oftentimes the game changer for people as far as seeing this as a medicine, as a far as as opposed to like something I'll try on a Friday night cuz I'm not sure how I'm gonna feel. That's my number one.

Speaker 1 (00:36:00) - Right. What about you Corrine?

Speaker 2 (00:36:03) - I think my number one at least right now is intentionality. So there's kind of the flip side of that. Like tracking is great after you've, um, after you've taken a dose, you know, and you wanna make sure that it's doing what you want it to do, but knowing why you, why you're approaching the plant in the first place, instead of just going, I take this cuz I want to feel good and like leaving at that, I want to feel better as, you know, it's great to know that cannabis can do that, but how do you wanna feel better? What is it that you're actually trying to tune into? Because we do know that about cannabis as well, especially when you're utilizing any amount of thc, um, it amplifies things for you. And so if you wanna use it on a Friday night to to relax, it's gonna look different than if you wanna use it on a Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (00:36:44) - And the more you track, obviously the more honed in that you can get on that. But I, I think that one of the things I've noticed most over time is when we added intentionality into the coaching, into the, the, the protocol of in and of itself is like, okay, sit down and be intentional about this and um, you know, maybe write about why you're coming to cannabis, you know, what's going on with you, like, check in with yourself and then see what happens afterwards. Um, it, it changes things for people. It gives you more reverence. Usually you need less. Um, for some people they need a lot less than they would otherwise. And I think it opens up this other dimension of cannabis that is the wellness piece that's beyond the, the medical side of things, but that is you tuning into yourself. You know, when Andrea says that cannabis made her feel like herself and so many of us have that, you know, we're like, it just makes me feel like more of me, uh, being able to actually leverage that and tune into that.

Speaker 2 (00:37:40) - Like, what, what is it tuning me into right now? Am I becoming more myself or is it giving me these, this experience that is a little overwhelming or that is causing anxiety or those kinds of things? And does my asking the question beforehand actually change that? Is it, is it the strain or is it that I just kind of haphazardly out of habit, took an edible cuz it was delicious or, you know, took a puff of my vaporizer because I liked the taste of it and I was going out and I think, oh, when I, when last time I took a puff of a vaporizer and I went out , you know, for a walk, I had a great time. Um, but like Andrea said, we're, we're dynamic critters. We have a lot of life happening all the time. And the end cannabinoid system responds to that. It's constantly responding to every situation that you're in. And so when we think about what we're doing before we do it, it changes our relationship with it. So I think that's things, tune in and ask yourself why, what, what are you, what are you doing here?

Speaker 1 (00:38:36) - And you're both right. Uh, cannabis is incredibly nuanced and so are our own bodies. And that intentionality, like you said, can help you be more mindful. And I feel like we ought to bring that kind of intentionality, mindfulness into a lot of the things that we do. But we are so often rushed through our days with the our to-do list and the rest of it that we don't often just take that second to pause and think, you know, what am I expecting from this moment? And as far as tracking goes, that can just help you remember these things because again, we're so busy and you think, you know what, I was maybe a little PMSing a few days ago and this particular strain wasn't, wasn't ideal for that particular hormonal state of my body on that day. And you think you'll remember, but in my experience is that you do not remember . So if you write it down somewhere, anywhere in, uh, my journal, any a notepad, a note on your phone, it really helps to combine the intentionality with, you know, your hopeful, your hopeful outcomes that you're going for. Now as we bring this conversation to a close, I just wanted to ask you both if you have any plans or upcoming projects or achievements that you're excited to share for, you know, maybe the rest of this calendar year or coming up in the near future, whatever it might be.

Speaker 3 (00:39:52) - I wanna share that I have been nominated as Cannabis Educator of the Year, which is mind blowing to me.

Speaker 1 (00:39:59) - Yay.

Speaker 3 (00:40:00) - A, that there is an award for being a cannabis educator like, yay, 2023, um, and b, that I'm nominated. So yeah, I'm really freaking proud of that. I'm really f I'm really proud that this is like something that people are, you know, thinking about even voting on because this is such an important topic and cannabis education kind of seems to me like sometimes it's like, you know, like if we get to that we'll teach people about cannabis, but for me it should be first. So yeah, I am really excited and um, proud about that.

Speaker 1 (00:40:33) - Well, congratulations, I think are in order because to get any kind of nomination like that and the recognition just proves that you have been working hard to achieve your goals. Yeah, thank

Speaker 3 (00:40:42) - You.

Speaker 2 (00:40:43) - Andrew's crushing it. Um, . Yes. Um, it's so interesting that you're asking this question right now in life. I I feel like it's time personally for me to refill my cup. I've been working at this for a long time, for 10 years and so this year for me is a lot about, um, taking a bit of a slowdown, a step back and, and learning from what we've not learning from, um, putting into practice what we've learned over these years as opposed to kind of like, go forward, let's try to keep up with this growing industry. Um, I really wanna take these lessons that we've learned from the plant and from having these experiences and, and make them easier for people to make it easier for people to approach them, be successful with them. And that's why we've been making changes to the program, which is is the biggest, um, I'm sorry, c c i is just the most incredible thing I've ever done in my career.

Speaker 2 (00:41:44) - And watching what it's turning into is really exciting and I wanna be here for it, I guess is what I really wanna say. I'm gonna cry, I'm like gonna tear up cause I'm very excited and I'm like, I just, I wanna take things a little more slowly. Cause I feel like when you're doing these kinds of businesses and when you're creating these kinds of things, it's easy to, you know, like get into the, that hustle culture of things and not see the impact that you're making and you're just going kind of from one class to the next, one thing to the next. And 2023 for me is, is really taking a look at what, what has been created and, and enjoying it and supporting the people who come into our world the, the best that we possibly can. So I don't wanna do anything new. I just, I really wanna just, I just wanna be here for it, you know? Right.

Speaker 1 (00:42:27) - And I think that's totally fine because a lot of the times, you know, business owners, they work so hard on their businesses or in their businesses rather, they don't take that time to step back and look at the big picture and just have that intentionality about it. Right. And you've been working hard, so I think you are both. And our class crushing it,

Speaker 3 (00:42:46) - Our class of 2023 students who just joined us are amazing already. Like the stuff that they are already starting to think about and the dots they're starting to put together, the support they're giving each other, the breadth of talent and knowledge that they've brought into cci. Like, I'm excited for Kein to be able to like slow down and really be here with the students this time around because this class is gonna be on fire .

Speaker 1 (00:43:18) - That's very exciting. Well, you both have worked so hard and I think you can be very proud of your achievements, both of you. And I'm sure 2023 is going to be an amazing year for you both. So I just wanna say thank you for sharing your time with me today and sharing everything about what you are both doing in your lives and the Cannabis Coaching Institute and I encourage everyone to check it out.

Speaker 3 (00:43:39) - Well, I have been a big fan of yours for a long time, so this is like a dream come true for me as well. And thank you for everything that you're doing out there in this space and, and, um, allowing other people to see this plant for what it really is.

Speaker 1 (00:43:52) - Great, thank you. I am always inspired when I speak with cannabis entrepreneurs, especially when they show you that a career in cannabis can look a lot of different ways besides the traditional roots like commercial, edibles, cultivation or retail because that's out of reach for so many of us. I hope you enjoyed that conversation. Friends, please share with someone that you care about. As always, you'll find links to the Cannabis Coaching Institute, reveal Cannabis and the rest of the show notes on your podcast app and over on bitney podcast.com. And I think that's it for this week, my friends. Until next time, say hi.