Q&A
NANCY
WHITEMAN
Founder of Wana Brands
17
ABOUT NANCY
Nancy is CEO and co-founder of Wana Brands, a premium cannabis-infused brand based in Colorado.
With a career in sales & marketing, Nancy wasn't looking to start a cannabis business. Still, fate had other plans when she connected with a neighbour developing a marijuana-infused beverage.
Ten years and lots of experimentation later, Wana Brands is now a leader in the medical and recreational cannabis edibles market with revenues over £25m per year.
There was no road map to follow in such a new industry, and Nancy had to figure out how to implement each element of her business from scratch, including selecting producers, manufacturers and building partnerships with distributors in each US state.
From the start, she focused on the quality and consistency of her products, and this approach has served her business well resulting in long term trusted relationships with dispensary partners and customer loyalty.
Although she didn't know much about medical cannabis when Nancy started, customer feedback about her products' efficacy for pain, anxiety and stress has fueled her perseverance to keep growing Wana Brands and widen its reach to a broader audience including expansion to Canada in the near future. A real pioneer in an emerging industry.
Photo credit: Green Earth Photography
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
01
bootstrap funding
Nancy self-funded Wana Brands and she feels this has given her
tremendous freedom in making decisions about the future and growth of her business. Working as a part-time consultant helped her to support herself in the early days while getting the new business going.
The accidental cannabis entrepreneur
02
constant innovation
The cannabis industry is still young and scientific understanding of the plant, and possible use cases are evolving all the time. This constant innovation and learning curve has been a core source of energy and interest for Nancy.
It's a constant learning curve
03
partner investment
The team at Wana Brands has worked hard to establish strong relationships with their dispensary partners and aim to deliver value over and above being a supplier. For Nancy being good citizens within the cannabis industry is integral to Wana Brands culture and key to their success.
We want to be good citizens
04
be persistant
Nancy has had the tenacity to figure out each next step in growing her business and credits persistence as an essential quality to deal with the inevitable setbacks and wrong turns that every young business faces.
You need to be resilient & persistant
05
customer clarity
Market data reveals a shift from a young male profile to an older female customer as medical and adult-use cannabis edibles become more mainstream, and grassroots awareness grows.