JM Balbuena

“This was an arduous three-year process, which taught me and my team many lessons including patience, resiliency, tenacity and honing our vision,” she says. “Only a handful of cannabis companies have been able to achieve this objective, and even fewer are minority-owned and women-led.”

Balbuena also owns Synergy Studios, a cannabis-focused media company most famous for its “Boycott Shitty Weed” line of advocacy apparel, and she is the co-founder Divana Mushrooms, an e-commerce site for medical mushrooms. Outside of cannabis she is the co-owner of the Latinx food producer Palenque Provisions and a decorated Navy veteran.

“In my experience, to stay in business one must view the landscape from an objective stance, identify and cancel the noise, followed by ascertaining the opportunity within the challenge, and finally taking action to make things happen,” she says.

Q&A

You do a lot in the industry and seem to be able to successfully jump from one segment to another – What is the most important skill that has aided your success?

From an operator standpoint, the skill that helped me to succeed is having creative vision: “the ability to recognize opportunities and take action to benefit from them” — as defined by Napoleon Hill. This industry is dynamic, ever-changing, and challenging. The strategies that worked last year, are not the ones that work this year. In my experience, to stay in business one must view the landscape from an objective stance, identify and cancel the noise, followed by ascertaining the opportunity within the challenge, and finally taking action to make things happen. That’s the process my team and I exercise to reach each milestone.

If you could go back to a certain point in your career and give yourself some advice, what point would it be and what advice would you give?  

I’d go back to when I started looking for partnerships for media production under Synergy Studios. Despite having the education and experience, I doubted that people would take me seriously because I didn’t have a huge portfolio. I believe my lack of confidence was evident, and for that reason, most partnerships took longer to develop. Fortunately, I didn’t give up or let that stop me. However, if I could go back in time I would advise myself to not play small and to be confident in my worth from the beginning. It’s important not to underestimate your capabilities because others will perceive you in the way you present yourself. If you undervalue yourself, it’s only natural for others to undervalue you. But if you lead with the high level of self-value you know you have, others will likely follow suit. Be confident in your abilities and don’t be afraid to ask for more.

If you could pick one thing to change or add to the industry what would it be and why?

There are many things I would change about the industry in California. To narrow it down to one, I would change the need for dual license with the city/county and state. Dual licensing creates several downfalls for businesses operating in the legal market. For one, the regulatory process for obtaining licenses and approvals becomes extensive, unnecessarily costly, and time-consuming due to the involvement of both city and state regulations, causing significant delays and expenses for businesses trying to get licensed. Secondly, the requirements for the application process and compliance management can vary between the city and state levels creating confusion, potential conflicts between regulation, additional expenses, and further adding to the complexity of the regulatory process.

What is the biggest milestone you’ve hit so far in your career?

The biggest milestone in my career thus far has been spearheading the approval and qualification process with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for Prime Harvest Inc. to raise capital under Regulation A+, which allowed us to launch our campaign Weed4ThePeople.com. This was an arduous three-year process, which taught me and my team many lessons including patience, resiliency, tenacity, and honing our vision. Only a handful of cannabis companies have been able to achieve this objective, and even fewer are minority-owned and women-led.