051: Redefining Cannabis and Merging it with Jewish Humor: My Conversation with Tokin’ Jew

As someone who prefers to smoke my buzz, I am not surprised by how mainstream it's becoming.

Although still very much an uncomfortable or taboo subject, I would say that 90% of those in my inner sphere eat some dose of edible, have a favorite strain of Indica or Sativa, or even grow it.

This week on the podcast, I sit down with the CEO of Tokin Jew, a full-fledged loud and proud stoner who has found a beautiful and humourous way to merge Judaism and Cannabis.

We get candid about the stigma surrounding Cannabis and how we see that changing. With the conversations getting louder and louder around micro-dosing and other mind-altering options, Cannabis is becoming a topic of choice.

Because of that, Tokin' Jew is not only creating an incredibly creative line of products developed from a Jewish perspective, but their Instagram feed is worthy of serious "laugh out loud" moments. For that reason, he is creating a community of like-minded, engaged humans. This movement has grown from a few thousand on Instagram to over 37k in just under a year.

From a business strategist POV, that's some pretty incredible metrics.

Whether you are into Cannabis or not, I feel you will enjoy this episode. You will learn how one straight-A, very driven college student and D1-national soccer star tapped into his creative and entrepreneurial side from his dorm room and not only landed a tremendous mainstream job but is also building an unconventional business at the same time.

Highlights:
5:05|How to not be one dimensional and merge passion and play to create community.
5:45|Overcoming adversity and finding your identity.
7:15|Creating Token Jew as a community of half-stoners and half-Jews who have found the intersection between cannabis and Judaism.
9:58|Being in the flux of the changing perception of cannabis from a taboo subject to a normalized one.
13:01|How lighting a joint and then lighting the menorah led the founder and his buddy to the 3D lab where the first product was born.
16:38|How to embrace being a straight-A student, a D1 Soccer star, and a stoner.
18:12|The birth of being an entrepreneur started at age 10 with a rolling list of ideas.
24:41|Parents and grandparents are coming out of the closet and admitting to embracing the cannabis trends and helping to normalize it.
25:15|The stigma around cannabis, a plant that grows out of the ground compared to other plants like carrots and asparagus.
27:07|The benefits of having a side project that unlocks a different part of their brain, making their day-to-day work more accessible and more enjoyable.
29:01|Judaism is the religion of curiosity.
30:29 |Learning when to shut down and who to shut out in order to avoid burnout.
31:34|Don’t share your idea with anybody yet, some people love to detract people.
33:30|Without the community, Tokin Jew would not be Tokin Jew.
34:23|Taking Tokin Jew to this beautiful, modern brand that is rooted in community.
40:29|Fall back on your instincts.
44:07|Using your intuition, finding a loyal person, remain super loyal to them.

Links:
Tokin’ Jew Instagram here 
Tokin’ Jew Website here
Tokin’ Jew OneTable here

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