Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

10:30 AM - 11:15 AM - Herscher Hall - Guerin B, Live Webcast

The Cannabis Wellness Culture: A Lifestyle of  Innovation - Healing, Beauty and Relaxation to Massage Therapy

Jessica Assaf, Founder, Cannabis Feminist, co-founder, Hempia

Varuni Palacios, Head of Growth, Miss Grass

Andrea Drummer, Food Editor, CannabisMD

Aaron Ramirez, founder, Bodywork by Aaron

Dan Braunstein, founder, Grassfed

Dean Waters, CEO, FLOWERTOWN

Dr. Jacqueline Nguyen, Founder, Dr. J’s Natural and Ensohara, Moderator

Dr. Jacqueline Nguyen, Founder, Dr. J's Natural and Ensohara: Vietnamese American Dr. Jacqueline Nguyen or Dr. J as she is affectionately known, is the founder and president of wellness and supplement company Dr. J’s Natural. She is a distinguished clinical pharmacist and a graduate of University of Southern California School of Pharmacy (USC). From working as a pharmacist for over a decade, she has learned that a successful clinical pharmacist needs to have certain essential attributes, including attention to detail, genuine care for patients, the ability to understand a patient’s desires, experience and continuing education to care for a patient’s overall health, and an uncompromising commitment to stay abreast with cutting-edge medical treatments and alternative natural treatments. Based on this understanding, Dr.

J incorporates all these elements into her daily practice and businesses. Dr. J recently launched her CBD oil product line under the Ensohara banner and serves as COO of QYKSonic. She appears regularly at on Saigon TV.

Dean Waters, CEO, FLOWERTOWN: Dean has been executing successful media/marketing strategies for a variety of Fortune 500 brands for over 30 years. After founding VIMBY, he forged a substantial alignment with Mark Burnett resulting in various nationally awarded creative campaigns. Last year, Dean founded The Flowertown Platform and The Flowertown Agency as a two-pronged approach designed to educate new consumers entering the marketplace and also to give cannabis brands the proper marketing tools for normalization.

Varuni Palacios is the Head of Growth for Miss Grass and oversees growth strategy and marketing initiatives to scale content, commerce, community and experiential platforms. Prior to Miss Grass, Varuni was the Director of Audience Development & Social Media at goop, a luxury lifestyle brand. Her experience spans 10+ years in media, entertainment and e-comm leadership at brands including Awesomeness, NBC Entertainment, WWE and HSN. Varuni is a certified professional coach and the founder of WNGWMN—leadership coaching and strategic partnership for driven women on a mission to succeed at work and thrive in life.

Jessica Assaf is an award-winning cannabis and women's health activist with a Harvard MBA. She started her career as a clean beauty activist at the age of fifteen and spent over a decade advocating for safer products and conscious consumerism. Jessica is the co-founder and Chief Education Officer of Prima, a cbd health and wellness platform, and Cannabis Feminist, a female-led cannabis community. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, New York Magazine, Huffington Post, MTV, VH1, Refinery29, Vogue, Stylecaster, Nylon, GOOD Magazine, High Times, Well+Good, MindBodyGreen, LA Weekly, Racked, and more. She has been nationally recognized for her creative activism and leadership in the clean beauty and cannabis industries.

Chef Andrea Drummer began her career, first as a youth advocate and anti-drug counselor with organizations like Planned Parenthood. Wanting to transition from non-profit to pursue her passion, she attended Le Cordon Bleu, Los Angeles. With an extreme shift in consciousness Chef Drummer has been a pioneering force in the culinary and cannabis industry, starting her cooperative, Elevation VIP in 2012. A staunch advocate for the legalization of marijuana, Chef Drummer has gained a wealth of knowledge working with local activists and allies while innovating edibles cuisine to access the full properties of the cannabis plant. Chef Drummer has appeared on two Netflix originals, displaying her expertise: Chelsea Does! & Cooking On High. She has been featured in Marie Claire Magazine, Vogue Online, Pop-Sugar, 60 Second Docs, ATTN and LA Times and was recently named 1 of 10 Top Cannabis Chefs in the Country. Chef Drummer is also the author of Cannabis Cuisine: Bud Pairings of a Born Again Chef.

Dan Braunstein, founder of Grassfed is an Israeli-American business professional with a music and business background. Dan is an avid cannabis enthusiast, an advocate, and a patient, using cannabis to help with treat PTSD related insomnia, as well as enhancing various activities & experiences. Grassfed, founded at the end of 2016, with the mission to help de-stigmatize cannabis by offering an innovative healthy and sophisticated approach to social cannabis consumption, and to foster a community of like minded individuals who believe in cannabis (along with music, food, and fitness) as a key to wellness and healthy lifestyle. His hobbies include running, live music, VR and immersive technology, as well as being goofy with his daughter. Dan lives in LA, happily married and a proud father to Ella.

Aaron Ramirez, founder, Bodywork by Aaron: Aaron Ramirez is a California State Certified Massage Therapist. With more than 10 years experience, he masters a variety of methods including: Myofascial, Swedish, Deep-tissue, Sports Prenatal Massage, Reflexology and Acupressure. Aaron is passionate about massage and its therapeutic nature. He is an advocate for holistic health; strongly upholding the belief that massage, when incorporated with other supportive therapies, can provide physical, emotional, spiritual and environmental balance for his clients. "From years of experience, I've been able to determine, that what my clients really need is a combination of therapies designed to fit their individual needs. That's why I developed the BWA Integrative Therapy. During these sessions, my clients enjoy the combined therapeutic and relaxing benefits of multiple types of massage, along with CBD enhanced oils, designed to create a custom experience that thoroughly addresses their needs." Aaron Ramirez