As two Asian women who had success in tech and found it unfulfilling, we wanted to transition into work that celebrated our femininity, spirituality, business skills, ancestral roots, and community so we decided to build that for and with each other.
I had the honor of chatting with Cynthia Boedhardjo and Jessica Sharp of Nouera when they approached me about assisting them for EAZE’s celebration of the forthcoming Chinese New Year of the Ox (Feb. 12th of this year). Cynthia and Jessica just completed the Eaze Momentum accelerator program which was created to support and empower underrepresented founders of cannabis companies. The program is a combination of funding, training, mentorship, and the wide support a company like EAZE can give. Also part of this program is the seed funding of $50K to each company, of which Cynthia and Jessica used to build their cannabis company Nouera The best way to describe Nouera is this from their site “…pairing premium cannanbis products with engaging entertainment since 2017”. These two super-charged, intelligent, ambitious and hardworking women are my superheroes. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.
Thank you Cynthia and Jessica for being at the forefront of cannabis education for our Asian American community. - Ophelia Chong
How have your views on cannabis changed? And what was the impetus to that change?
Cynthia: I grew up in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, so the selection of cannabis my friends had given me wasn’t great. When I came to California and tried the weed here, I was floored by how strong the cannabis was. It wasn’t until 2017 that I finally got my CA medical cannabis card and started experimenting with all the different varieties available. The more research I did on the different strains, terpenes, and form factors that it came in did I finally learn how to dial in which product worked best for me. Having used cannabis in my meditation practice for the past couple of years has allowed me to tap more deeply into my emotions, body and has allowed me to feel more grounded and connected to my surroundings.
Jessica: I grew up in Northern Utah in Mormon culture where cannabis was taught as a scary and destruction substance. I was afraid of cannabis until I was 28 years old and tried a joint a friend offered after sharing that I was dealing with a lot of emotional pain following a divorce. After a lifetime struggling with insomnia and trying every prescription pill available, I was so relieved to find something that could help me relax and sleep better without the horrible side effects of the sleeping pills available in the prescription and over-the-counter medicine market. I found the more I was able to find the right cannabis products for me, the deeper I could self-nourish and show up better for myself and others.
Tell us how Nouera came to being?
We met through a mutual friend who produced events at Cynthia’s community hub she built in the Mission district of San Francisco called The Laundry. We instantly connected over our shared love for community building, plant medicine, and fostering meaningful relationships and spiritually driven lives. As two Asian women who had success in tech and found it unfulfilling, we wanted to transition into work that celebrated our femininity, spirituality, business skills, ancestral roots, and community so we decided to build that for and with each other.
How has the experience of creating a brand and having EAZE support you both in your goals?
Our business has always been about sharing nourishing experiences in wellness focused containers to foster community and connection. Nouera has been running conscious entertainment events since 2017 and last year we were fortunate to be selected and complete the Eaze Momentum accelerator program as its first cohort. When the world turned upside down in 2020 and we could no longer host in-person events (and it became clear it was going to be a while until that could happen again) we knew we needed to pivot. Because we had the relationships and knowledge from working with amazing partners including SF Roots, Locals Equity Distro, and through the Eaze program and marketing so many great cannabis brands in the Bay Area from our events, we saw an opportunity in the market to provide a product that we knew our community would love - joints in small manageable sizes for a feel-good functional high to pair with experiences (now offered online) It has been our pleasure bringing Smallz to the market. We use recyclable hemp plastic for the container and natural hemp paper in the cones - honoring mother nature in our creations is very important to us. Having all these great partners and community is what has allowed us to bring this product to life.
How does your family feel about your cannabis businesses?
Jessica: My father is a western medical doctor (Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry) and since I have started this business he tells me he is proud of my business persistence but he also still carries many stigmatized beliefs about cannabis. My mother and siblings have been supportive. Moving into cannabis has been a difficult transition but also deeply fulfilling in finding my own path, which ultimately my family has always been in support of me doing. My father comes from a lineage of Mormon pioneers and my mother immigrated from Korea-her family really struggled after the Japanese Occupation and Korean War. She moved to the US to start a family here with my father and start fresh. When my mother left Korea, she really left Korea behind so we really identified as “American” growing up disconnected from the Asian community.
Cynthia: Coming from a traditional Indonesian-Chinese family, I was hesitant to tell my parents at first but when I shared with my older brother my growing passion in the industry, he was the first one to support my endeavours. Surprisingly, my parents shortly followed suit after first confirming that it was legal to conduct cannabis business in CA. Having experienced the mindfulness that comes when pairing cannabis with a guided experience that helps you connect to yourself, I knew there was a way for Nouera to usher a more conscious way of imbibing cannabis.
Cynthia, how has your diverse background added to your foray into the cannabis industry? Are you an outlier? Do you use your culture to think differently when it comes to marketing? Your strengths is outreach and thinking ahead (how to do things better in a new way), how will you take all of that to push Nouera? How did your “walkabout” after Google set you on the path you are on now?
Cynthia: I question what led me on this healing journey with cannabis, and if it wasn’t for my upbringing in Indonesia from a mixed household where my father was Catholic and my mom was Muslim - in a country where marrying outside your religion is forbidden - it’s led me to believe that my journey here was to provide a voice for those that may not have one. Coming from one of the most underdeveloped nations in the world and given the opportunity to be educated in the US and work for one of the most coveted companies in the world, Google, and to have left it for building interactive experiences with cannabis sounds insane to people, but I can say it’s been one of the most rewarding type of work for my soul. Every job I’ve ever taken was a step to leading me to where I am today. The two years I spent building community through art and connection at The Laundry helped me tap into my creative self to see how I could be of service to the artist community. Being able to create a beautiful, safe, and brave container for artists and healers to share their work brought me immense joy. When I produced large live stream events for YouTube, that experience gave me the foundation for how to scale events, and garner the most engagements from our attendees. At first I didn’t know how all these experiences would lead me to where I am today, but after taking a hiatus from the corporate world to travel and just be, I realized through different plant medicine ceremonies that path is to shed light on the healing properties of plants, and how to re-engage ourselves back to nature.
It’s truly been an honor to work with the cannabis plant. Given how prevalent this plant is around the world, it has a strong connection to our evolution as human beings. It has the power to heal, connect, soothe, and uplift each of us. All that’s needed to open ourselves up to new possibilities is to be fully accepting of ourselves, each other and it.
What is the most frequent question you are asked about cannabis?
Cynthia: People always ask me what product they should get and I always respond first with, “how do you want to feel?” and go from there. Since cannabis affects people differently, I think it’s best to first see how people want to feel when they imbibe it, and from there I can usually provide a recommendation based on their previous experiences, consumption preferences and how they want to feel when they’re on it.
Jessica: Where can I get what you are talking about?? I love talking about my favorite products and why I think they are so great (edibles, tinctures, sublinguals, topicals, dabs, etc). I do workshops on meditation techniques and cannabis lube to heal epigenetic womb-trauma and many women enjoy discussing this topic with me.
What is your favorite way of ingesting cannabis?
Cynthia: Definitely in its purest form as a flower and smoking flower harvested from a regenerative farm.
Jessica: I love them all! I am known to always be carrying around a bunch of little joints. I enjoy the process of smoking.
Find them here:
Cynthia Boedihardjo Linkedin
Jessica Sharp Linkedin
