For the first interview feature on Jane Dope, I had the honor of interviewing Iyana Edouard, the creator of Kush & Cute. If you’re in the cannabis industry and would like to be considered for a feature, email janedopeblog@gmail.com. Note: This post may contain affiliate links.
Q: How did you first get involved with the cannabis industry? What was your relationship with cannabis like before you saw it as a business opportunity?
A: I first got involved in the cannabis industry September 2016. I was a digital content manager for an online headshop/wholesale glass company in California. Prior to that job I was writing a lot about cannabis in college for a series of my senior year assignments & final papers. That’s pretty much when I knew I could and wanted to contribute something to the cannabis industry.
Before my interest in the industry, I was just using it recreationally in college, and I became really fascinated with the plant and all its medical uses. I have an anxiety disorder and have been recommended Xanax by doctors but I just didn’t like the idea of depending on pills, so I started smoking. In high school, I was so anti-weed which is so funny to think about now because it’s literally changed my life. I wouldn’t have been able to get through some of the things I’ve gone through and cope with my anxiety without it, I’d probably be on all kinds of meds right now. It’s just a magical plant and I want to help people understand its medicine needs to be 100% legalized and normalized in our society.
Q: When we first spoke, you told me about a time you went to a cannabis conference and were the only black woman there, which helped inspire the idea that you had to contribute something positive to the industry. What would you say to someone who might go into that same situation but instead of feeling inspired like you, feels let down and discouraged?
A: I would tell that person if you don’t see a reason why not to do or create something then just do it! My mom always tells me “Do it scared” and I go by that every time I have a big idea. I was scared shitless when I launched Kush & Cute, but here we are. I also am a big believer in listening to God & “the universe”. God & “the universe” will never give you an idea without the reality of it existing in some form. I truly believe that. If you have some big crazy idea and you just don’t know how it can even happen or exist…it already exists. You just have to put in the work for it to actually manifest into something.
Q: What do you think could improve within the cannabis industry to make it more accommodating to women and people of color?
A: One of the reasons I made a cannabis skincare brand is because whether you smoke or not, every woman enjoys skincare. Women of color, we especially we pride ourselves on having beautiful brown supple youthful skin. Most women of color I know and our customers prefer using all-natural stuff because that’s what we came from and we know how our skin is going to react to it. My mom looks like she could be my sister and my grandmother looks like she could be my mom because they’ve used natural products forever, and they have beautiful skin.
I’m also part Haitian, and in the Caribbean and of course parts of Africa and South America they use natural oils and ingredients from the ground of trees for most of their beauty needs, it’s been that way for thousands of years. I want to bring women back to that idea of using what nature gives us to heal ourselves. If you think about cannabis as the healing plant that it is and not this scary drug that media makes it out to be, it’s more accommodating and more women of color will be open to trying it.
Q: You do everything yourself at Kush & Cute, from product development to website design, which utilizes your knowledge of cannabis, beauty, skincare, business, internet marketing, and probably much more. Running a business takes a lot of skill, so it’s impressive that you’re doing all this yourself at 23. What parts of starting this business were easy for you and what came with the biggest learning curve?
A: There was no easy part! Being a small business owner, especially right out of college is not easy but I think that’s why I enjoy it. I like to challenge myself. If by easy you mean most enjoyable, I really like going to events as a vendor and talking to people in person about the products and getting their reaction firsthand. I also love when they see me, a small black young woman, running this whole thing. People are usually surprised because they know Kush & Cute but they don’t know who’s behind it.
I think my biggest learning curve has been learning how to market & brand. I went to school for digital journalism and we learned about social media marketing, but it’s totally different for cannabis brands because sites like Facebook won’t approve our ads or you can get reported on Instagram if someone finds something offensive. So I have to be really strategic about the type of content I make for the company and how I’m going to make our brand stand out.
Q: Having asked that, what would be the first task you’d outsource to an assistant to get off your plate? What about the last?
A: Wow, the thought of having an assistant is beautiful. I would probably give them the task of packaging & shipping items. It takes a lot of my time because I write personal little notes for each order and package everything as securely as possible. The last task I would give them is social media content & management, that’s my wheelhouse right there. It’s probably my favorite parts because that’s where I get to be the most creative.
Q: OK, enough business talk. Tell us about your CBD skincare products and what they’ll do for our skin.
A: I make CBD products in collaboration with La’Rues Touch Massage. We met at a local market while I was vending and we instantly knew we wanted to collab because I had the cannabis knowledge and she had the body knowledge. So we created these products together and she now offers CBD massages for clients with our products. Right now we sell all natural CBD bath bombs online and at events. They are the best thing ever for body aches, post-workout soreness, cramps, or if you’re just stressed and need to relax after a long day. People will buy one and come back and buy 6 because it’s such a relaxing experience. Most of the people who love our bath bombs actually don’t smoke, and like I mentioned normalizing cannabis and its healing properties is really important to me so it’s so cool to expose people to the benefits of CBD. I’m making a CBD version of our Wake & Bake Sugar Body Scrub and Wake & Bake Coffee Body Scrub next year as well.
Q: What’s your daily skincare routine look like?
A: Every morning I wash my face with either black African soap or the Soap & Glory Vitamin C gel cleanser (depending on what my skin is doing that day) and then tone with some DIY tea tree & rose water toner and moisturizer with a light sunscreen. No matter the weather I always wear sunscreen. At night I’ll remove makeup or dirt from the day with the Kush & Cute High Healthy Skin Beauty Oil and let it sit & soak into my skin for a few minutes. It literally removes everything and if I skip a day of using it my skin is nowhere near as radiant and healthy looking. I’ll rinse that off wash again with black African soap and use a little bit of the beauty oil again as an evening moisturizer. When I need to exfoliate I’ll use a pea size of Wake & Bake Sugar Body Scrub on my face as well. When I want to really give my skin some love I use those Korean skincare sheet mask, those are the bomb. I have extremely sensitive skin, and this combination of products has finally got my skin on point.
Q: What are your top 5 makeup products?
- L.A. Colors Browie Wowie brow pencil. It’s like $4 and reminds me of high-end quality brow pencils. I’m never using another brow pencil ever again if I don’t need to it’s amazing.
- Colourpop Amethyst Priming Setting Spray. It has actual amethyst crystal in it and it smells really good
- Colourpop highlighter in the color ‘Candyman’. Every time I put it on my face I say “ooooh” it’s so pretty and gives my skin this beautiful sheen and glow without obviously looking like I put on highlighter. But if I accidentally put on too much I look like the sun.
- Black Opal invisible oil blocking loose setting powder. I have super oily skin and this keeps me looking matte but not dry.
- Black Radiance true complexion contour palette. I’ve tried so many contour kits and the contour color is never quite right for my skin tone so when I bought one from a black-owned makeup company it worked perfectly. It’s not too gray, it makes me look warm instead of washed out which I love, and it comes with a contour, bronzer, and pretty gold highlighter so it’s great for traveling.
Q: What’s your favorite way to consume cannabis and with what kind of snack is it paired?
A: My favorite way to consume cannabis is will a hemp wrap blunt. Right now I really like the High Hemp wraps because they have CBD in them. I also like edibles, THC & CBD. If it’s a special occasion I’ll bring out my bong, whose name is Amethyst. My favorite snack, if I have it, is the Trader Joe’s chile dried mangos. I can eat a whole bag in one sitting. But if I don’t have those on hand it’s always flaming hot Cheetos and an Arizona green tea. Can never go wrong with that combo.
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