Seeing beauty from all angles.
“I think my younger self would be happy with where she is today. I mean.. I get to work amongst forward thinkers that are seeking to make a difference in an industry that has nothing but boundless opportunity ahead.” - Angela Cheng
As a young teen growing up in Toronto, Canada, the strong Asian women around me were my mother and her sisters, they were either entrepreneurs or Tiger Moms and from them, I learned how to navigate the world I was about to enter as an adult. When I entered the cannabis community, I looked for my “Tiger Women”, and I found only enough to count on one hand. Flash forward less than 5 years later, I am surrounded by Asian American (and Canadian) women that have carved stellar careers out in other industries, now posed to make their mark in cannabis. I am honored to have the women of cannabis here on AACE, today we have Angela Cheng of Raw Garden, a woman to know, and a force to reckon with. - Ophelia Chong
“I believe we have an opportunity to continue to grow Raw Garden’s near-term business by focusing on the early adopters of the category who are just now formulating brand preferences.”
Your career has taken you from coast to coast, from liquor to art to brands to now cannabis. You are coming into a nascent industry where you can make your mark and create messaging for new consumers, where do you see cannabis marketing in two years? Will the message be segmented like the alcohol industry is?
With how much momentum our industry is experiencing, two years is really difficult to predict. As the industry evolves closer to federal legalization…the marketing approach will also need to significantly evolve to reach what will then be a broader target audience. Whether or not that’s two years or more…no idea. But obviously, this would be a massive tipping point that would certainly see a shift to market segmentation to address the varying consumer motivations when seeking that broad of an addressable target.
Until then, I believe we have an opportunity to continue to grow Raw Garden’s near-term business by focusing on the early adopters of the category who are just now formulating brand preferences. These will be our brand “evangelists” once we are at federal legalization…whenever that might be. From Apple to Patagonia to Trader Joes…early adopters of brands that start niche and grow to wider adoption play a vital role in that journey.
I see a similar path for Raw Garden. Cannabis consumers, like most early adopters of products in emerging categories, are extremely savvy. They are here because they believe in the product. Therefore, I think that only brands with solid, consistent products will survive.
There are over 1,700 brands that exist in California today, of those brands only 230 had more than .1% market share, with Raw Garden owning 6.2% of the overall market share and 20% of the concentrate market.
One of our core beliefs is, “Cannabis for All’, what does that mean? We care about making quality products at an accessible price. While it’s not mandated, we always post our Lab Result COA's on each of our products online for full transparency.
So much can happen to our industry in 2 year’s time, but regardless of what happens from here relative to further legalization, I see increased consolidation, product innovation, and brands increasing their relationship with the consumer via digital, and in-person experiential engagement.
I have found that the cannabis industry is different from any other because of the connections and openness of the community and that my work and personal life have collided into this wonderful hybrid. How do you balance your work and personal life? How do you lead your team to have time to breathe and to work cohesively in this new industry?
As Confucious said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. In my case this is true, I think about ‘work’ 24/7 and will often come up with ideas at 3 am!
That said, as a relatively young category with as much opportunity and competitive pressure as ours it’s very easy to experience employee burnout, low morale, and the resulting employee turnover all of which make it difficult for any business to succeed. I’m mindful of this and to address this, I think there are two critical elements that need to be in place. First is to intentionally develop, and aggressively nurture, an environment defined by an open idea exchange. Having team members not feel confident or valued in sharing thoughts or ideas is a sure-fire way to minimize a positive work environment. Tactics need to be implemented that let every team member, regardless of title or seniority, believe their ideas are critical to the overall objectives. This is key in every department…but it’s the vital currency in a marketing group where ideas are our lifeblood. We may not have direct experience being a breeding director or a supply chain manager, but we are all consumers of products with varying points of view to draw on. I believe it’s incumbent for us to set the table for this to happen.
The other element I feel strongly about for team cohesion is to instill a belief in everyone that I care about their career advancement. One of the best ways to achieve this is to motivate and allow each person to do what they feel to be the best work of their career…that they are both growing and excelling. I want them to point to what they’re doing now at Raw Garden as something they’ll be proud of for the rest of their career. Clear goals…including a “reach goal” for everyone that they won’t be penalized if they don’t achieve can help to this end. Also, I find it incredibly valuable to openly share and elicit contributions from team members on a regular basis for things they find exceptional and are passionate about in their everyday life. Whether it’s a fantastic point-of-sale piece or an incredible work of art recently seen in a gallery or a perfectly made croissant…intentionally sharing and defining “what” and “why” you’re passionate about something is a powerful way to help to develop an evaluative creative muscles that will benefit both the team members and the company alike.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and with that how will you show the beauty of the I cannabis plant in marketing? For instance, we all appreciate an heirloom tomato but most of us aren’t schooled into what to look for in a rich deep terpene-filled bud, how will you convey the message of all the benefits from this green sticky bud?
I’m so glad you asked this, I believe education is vastly important and a big opportunity for Raw Garden to uniquely define the brand. Humans are inherently curious, we want information and we want to learn new things. The first person consumers encounter when searching for a product is at a legal dispensary is a budtender.
To that end, I am launching an education platform for budtenders. I believe we need to educate, empower and reward them for their depth of knowledge and the industry as a whole. We are launching the Raw Garden Society (RGS) which plans to train 5,000 budtenders in multiple cities in CA. RGS will include a comprehensive learning portal with video tutorials on the brand's products and cannabis in general, and as budtenders progress through the portal, they gain membership into the RGS where they can connect with their peers.
Members will receive invitations to our events, advanced training from Raw Garden's aroma team, and potentially an invitation to our farm in Santa Barbara County to visit our training grounds and learn more about our ‘farming first’ approach with our Head of Product, Khalid Al-Naser.
You go back in time and tell your 12-year-old self what you’ve been up to, how do you think your younger self will react?
I think my younger self would be happy with where she is today. I mean… I get to work amongst forward thinkers that are seeking to make a difference in an industry that has nothing but boundless opportunity ahead. As a Chinese immigrant, I was taught to say 'yes' and to ‘create your own work’. Both my parents came to N. America not speaking any English, they had no choice but to create their own jobs. I, myself learned English by watching Sesame Street! I love learning and in cannabis, I get to learn something new every day. I work with people and products that I'm incredibly proud of. The possibilities are endless.
We are grateful for Angela and the powerful women coming into the cannabis space. For the ones coming into the cannabis industry, it is so important to have “faces” that look like them. - AACE
Links:
Angela Cheng - Linkedin
