North Bay Woman

S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 | NORTH BAY WOMAN 37 whatever is best for them," says Gore. She noted that women love to host parties, and she settled on social gatherings as a way for them to find out more. "We want cannabis to be part of the same conversation as other things," she says, and for some women, private parties are more comfortable than dealing with a dispensary. "We pass out non-med- icated samples," she says, and then clients can place orders, which the Garden Society delivers to them. "We have a spectrum of how people use the Garden Society or how they buy," says Gore. "We want to be accessible to all of these women as they start their cannabis journey." Fostering new perspec- tives is also high on the pri- ority list, and "It's important to our company, because we really want to take a new, modern approach to canna- bis," says Gore, explaining that the business is at the core of disrupting the indus- try, because it offers prod- ucts that weren't available before. In addition, "We want to run a company that allows us to be moms," she says. It means putting family first, and "We make tough deci- sions, and it's easy because we're making them for the right reason." In addition, creating a purposeful company that contributes to local commu- nities and women's health is one of the company's pillars, and it donates to breast health organizations and initiatives serving wom- en's mental health needs. Among their personal efforts as volunteers, Gore is on the board of the Health- care Foundation of North- ern Sonoma County, and Warner is involved with the Petaluma Moms Club. In addition, Gore was involved in the founding of W Empowered and has organized events for women with Pamela Hadfield of HelloMD and Andrea Brooks of SAVA. She observes that it's difficult to have a prod- uct-based startup, and women needed a forum. The goal of W Empow- ered is to fill that void by providing peer-to-peer networking and support, focusing on what women who are professionals in the cannabis industry require as business owners. Meanwhile, the Garden Society is growing and plans to introduce three new prod- ucts this spring. One is Aztec dark chocolate with high CBD and low TPC. The others are pre-rolled can- nabis, half the size of the usual joint and designed for women. Gore enjoys seeing women have a positive experience with can- nabis — getting sleep and solace and using less alcohol and fewer prescription drugs — and is optimistic about the future. "It's working; it's grow- ing," she says. "We're really excited about building a compliant business." n Top and bottom: The confections use all natural ingredients, and to make it easy for busy women, each fruit gelée or chocolate is an individual dose, so it's not necessary to break off a piece and wonder if it's the right size; Inset photo: Company founder Erin Gore. – Photos provided by Garden Society

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