Women to Watch: Adelia Fakhri

Adelia Fakhri: EventHi came from a problem I experienced firsthand. Before EventHi, I founded DCN, a digital media company covering cannabis technology, entrepreneurship and the founders building this industry. We also hosted B2B events. One of those events was shut down by a mainstream ticketing platform, and it took months to get our funds back.

Ali and I started asking whether other organizers were dealing with the same thing. They were. We spoke with event hosts and payment platforms and dug into why cannabis events were being flagged or shut down. That work led us to build EventHi from the ground up. We own 100% of our code and built a compliant ticketing and sponsorship platform specifically for this space. Now we work with event hosts across the U.S., from large festivals to intimate gatherings, and have more than 197,000 active eventgoers on the platform. It’s incredible to look back at one event being shut down and see what grew from it.

Blunt Brunch started with a different need. When I moved to Arizona, my friend Parisa Mansouri-Rad and I brought a few women in cannabis together for brunch. The conversation was honest, funny and refreshingly unguarded. We knew we needed to keep making room for that. What began around one table has grown into a national community where women can connect, speak openly about leadership and create opportunities together.

One company builds the infrastructure for people to gather. The other shows what can happen when the right people get in the room.

MV: What keeps you passionate about the cannabis space — and what about hosting Blunt Brunch events do you find fulfilling?

Fakhri: I first came to cannabis as a medicinal patient. This plant helped me personally, so my connection to the industry has always been deeper than business. Years later, what keeps me passionate is still the human side of it: people finding relief, founders building something they believe in, and communities finding ways to come together around a plant that has meant so much to so many.

I’ve also been here long enough to see the barriers people face when they try to build in this space. There’s still room to shape what this industry becomes, and I care about who gets the opportunity to shape it, especially the women doing extraordinary work who deserve more visibility and influence.

At Blunt Brunch, the most fulfilling moments often happen after the program ends. Two women who met at an event start working together. A founder walks in feeling alone and leaves with people she can call. Someone finally asks for the introduction she’s been afraid to request. Those moments remind me why we bring people into a room in the first place. Connection can change what someone believes is possible for herself.

MV: How has EventHi evolved since its launch?

Fakhri: EventHi began as a solution to a ticketing problem, but our community has shaped what it’s become. We started with a way for organizers to create events and sell tickets. As we worked alongside them, we saw that they also needed better ways to connect with sponsors, grow their events and reach the people looking for those experiences. That led us to expand into sponsorships, and it continues to guide what we build.

Our technology keeps evolving because we stay close to the people using it. We’re founders from this community, and we believe in both the industry and the plant. We want event hosts to have a voice in the platform they rely on, and we want eventgoers to keep discovering experiences and communities they might never have found otherwise.

Now we’re gearing up for the next version of EventHi, with more useful data, a better user experience, and new features shaped by what our organizers and eventgoers have told us they need. As the platform has grown, the community around it has grown with us. That’s the part I’m proudest of.

MV: Any particular milestones, goals, new plans you can share about either EventHi or Blunt Brunch?

Fakhri: For EventHi, reaching more than 197,000 active eventgoers and working with organizers across the U.S. has been a meaningful milestone. We’re preparing the next version of the platform with better data, a smoother user experience, and more tools for event hosts.

Our immediate goal is to scale: reach more eventgoers, work with more organizers, and build relationships with local cities. I want cities to see these events as more than dates on a calendar. People travel for them, stay in hotels, eat at local restaurants and spend money with nearby businesses. Event hosts create real value for their communities, and better data can help tell that story. We have a vision for EventHi to go global when regulations make that possible. Until then, there is a lot of opportunity to keep growing and serving organizers here in the U.S.

With Blunt Brunch, I still think about that first table of women in Phoenix. We’ve grown into a national community hosting in-person events across the U.S., and we’re expanding Blunt Brunch Connect, our online membership, so relationships can continue between events. We’re also working with more conferences, including NECANN, IgniteIt, and, of course, MJBizCon, to bring these conversations into rooms across the industry.

On December 1, we’ll host our sixth Blunt Brunch Nationals in Las Vegas. This year’s theme, Women on Fire, celebrates the women who are building businesses, leading in their communities and bringing others with them. I’m proud that we can meet women where they are, whether that’s at a local gathering, a major conference, or online.