From Sandra to Sanja Ganja
THE MEDICAL CANNABIS PIONEER WHO WENT FROM FAMED BUDTENDER TO BOARDROOM BOSS
Her first time smoking ganja was at 13, out of an apple. Her friends would try it, and she quickly realized that, for lupus, it offered immense relief.
Plus, as she says, “If you have straight A’s, you’re good,” continuing that she has smoked weed ever since.
This was my first time hearing the origin story of Sanja Ganja, a medical cannabis pioneer who went from budtender to boardroom, her life paralleling the path of the maturing cannabis industry.
Having moved to Colorado in 2007 at the age of 17, Sanja was unfamiliar with the state of legal cannabis.
“I was couch hopping through Cherry Creek and Boulder with all the trustafarians and Boulderites,” she recalls. “This was when I was not Sanja Ganja; just Sandra."
A preschool teacher who made the switch to dispensary receptionist, Sandra soon transformed into Sanja Ganja.
She worked at a few dispensaries in Denver before the laws changed in 2011. Right as Sanja turned 21, Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) passed a new rule requiring cannabis staff to be 21 to get an industry badge.
"The evolution of cannabis has happened very quickly. I grew up as cannabis grew up. I was 18 when cannabis was medical only. When I turned 21, cannabis made the switch to be 21 to be badged. Then I was hopping high-rise to high-rise, dating 50 women, just like cannabis was. Legalizing here, there, everywhere. The evolution of Sanja Ganja happened at the same time as cannabis. "
Tom Pennington and Eric Roth, former owners of Denver Dispensary, recruited Sanja to work with them, and she credits them to this day for changing her life.
“They are the ones who changed my life; They recruited me, they helped me build such a following with patients,” Sanja explains.
One of her claims to fame was that she would tailor her recommendations specifically to Denver Dispensary’s patients based on what others had reported back to her, and convert some of the opposition in the process, something she still believes to be one of her biggest contributions to cannabis.
“I was making cannabis diets for people, recommending healthy foods and juicing, and then helping pick what strain works best,” she recalls.
Denver Dispensary was located in Commerce City, and was the closest dispensary to the airport at that time. When Colorado legalized adult-use (recreational), the dispensary’s audience exponentially increased thanks in no small part to SEO (“Denver Dispensary” is an exact match to one of the most popular searches). This gave Sanja a quantifiably-large sample size to begin to learn what products and genetics were preferred (and worked best) for certain needs.
"Sanja was the first person I saw applying the patient knowledge genuinely, tracking what worked,” recalls Colin Gordon. "She was the first person I saw putting that into play, accurately as well; she understood the different effects.”
“Medically, I made it a thing. I kept journals and would write people’s pains down,” Sanja begins. “I was seeing what worked for them…I became a ‘Wizard’ at helping patients, and that really put me on the map in Denver in general.”
"Being able to introduce and sway the minds of anti cannabis users when it meant the most, that means the most to me....That’s my contribution: I am living, walking, breathing proof that cannabis is the answer. I had a stroke at 23; I don't know why. All I know is my body hasn't been good. When I started implementing cannabis into my life, that’s when it changed. Not only my career, but my life...[Cannabis] is my life. It's everything...I'm lucky."
But before her Wizardry could play out, life threw her a curveball.
“I got really sick,” Sanja recalls. “I was in a wheelchair, and it was getting hectic for me to continue as the manager. It was time for a change. I needed something more remote.”
Before she took her leave, Sanja wound up in the grow one day while Colin Gordon and Loren Brazel were consulting.
“Colin saved our asses,” she laughs. “He came in and fixed the world, him and Loren actually. I learned a lot from him (and had a lot of wonderful debates about conspiracy theories).”
Seeking more remote opportunities for growth, Sanja’s focus turned to cannabis packaging.
She started working with her now-investor Paul Lufkin to create multiple companies under their collective for cannabis packaging. They offered a variety of automated labeling and systems management tools to help keep track of supplies and alert managers when packaging was running low.
"Paul became my mentor and coach. Once packaging evolved, we changed it up. He knew investors, and I used the Sanja Ganja name and brand to help build Unified Global, which has since become publicly traded.”
Unified’s mission is to help “mom and pop” shops like Denver Dispensary, that don’t have the money and that no one wants to invest in.
“It was the Good Old Boys Club, and I wanted a piece of it.”
For Sanja, it was an opportunity to be authentic and give voice to another side of the conversation.
“I’m a bi-racial female that’s gay. I’ve had dreads for the last decade. I have tattoos and piercings…I have everything your mother doesn’t want you to bring home,” she boasts. "I got to speak my mind.”
On top of all of that, Sanja had an unrivaled understanding of the market. Combined with Lufkin’s knowledge of mergers and acquisitions, the two began to build along with the industry at large.
It was around this time that Sanja was introduced to Krysta Jones, founder of the THC Girls.
The THC girls started in Denver as a temp agency that has since helped place hundreds of women in cannabis in high visibility gigs like budtending, giving out dabs at events, and modeling at afterparties. She was also regularly hosting her online show, The Sanja Ganja Show, where guests would consume and then talk through conspiracy theories, current events, and industry hot-takes.
While Sanja was focused on her show, packaging and retail expertise, Krysta was working as a trimmer in the Colorado industry. The two became best friends and business partners, and have been “full throttle” ever since.
"Anything we do, we do together as a duo or under THC.”
And, yes, that includes her show, Unified Global, and all collaborations with their large network.
At the time, Sanja had taken a pause with Paul’s efforts to find investors for Unified Global and went full time with THC and Krysta, consulting on a variety of projects, including one that would take her to Oregon at the end of 2017 to help build out one of the state's largest greenhouse cultivation facilities.
"Moving to Oregon was fucking amazing. We created a brand, built a greenhouse... Krysta built since day one [in Denver] and then moved me out to Oregon to build the THC Girls out there.”
Sanja took the knowledge she had gained in Denver and Oregon and began applying it as a consultant.
“I love formulas. I love sales. And I love retail,” she explains. “I figured out a formula to basically sell my weed before I grow it, and then rebranded and automated everything.”
In 2020, life took Sanja to Texas where she got involved in the hemp industry as well, working with brands like Mother Earth, a newly accredited cannabis university that also hosts large cannabis events, and Emjayze, a podcast, shop, and hemp apparel brand.
During COVID, the THC Girls and friends hunkered down, investing all of their time and resources into new business outlets during the pandemic.
"Krysta and my wife and her fiancé we all lived together, and we all worked our asses off,” she explains. “We started doing online coaching to expand the THC Girls a little more. We created THE HIGHLY CONNECTED APP. It was a bit premature [during the pandemic], but it is out now that COVID is over.”
After Texas, Sanja moved to Florida where she adopted a daughter and began expanding THC Girls in the sunshine state.
"Every state we move to, we create a headquarters for THC girls.”
Sanja and her partners are always on the hunt to buy profitable cultivation facilities and dispensaries, but even if they aren’t for sale, they offer THC Girls consultation to help build products and expand their reach.
"In Florida, one of the biggest things is to help consult with building a license, and Florida is a completely different ball game.”
Sanja's stay in Florida was short-lived though, and she moved back to Denver this past summer, while Krysta still spends half her time in Florida, half in Colorado. They are actively building, and are involved in Florida’s event scene, including Rolling Loud, one of the premier cannabis-focused festivals each year, and Miami Cannadelics.
Throughout her journey, Sanja’s focus has been on building—from her medical journals at Denver Dispensary to The Sanja Ganja Show to her role as a board member for both Unified Global and THC GIRLS.
THE SANJA GANJA SHOW
In 2014, Sanja’s first online claim to fame was her show, The Sanja Ganja Show, now back from an extended hiatus after the Great Shadow Bans of social media.
“I still have my show...because it means the world to me; when I was working in the dispensary, I had so many amazing stories, and I was publishing on Facebook before the Great Shadow Ban, getting 100s of 1000s of views. You can’t even find those episodes now.”
“I started the show because I thought, ‘How the fuck can I talk to the masses?’"
The premise of The Sanja Ganja Show was to host influential guests, get them “extremely high,” and discuss the world.
“I was originally with Stay Lit network. We had guests that were influential locally or in the cannabis community come join me, I’d get them extremely high, and then discuss the world around us, politics, conspiracies, and industry gossip. We’d play games like ‘Truth or Dab,’ things that these new cats are doing now on podcasts.”
After the heartache of regularly losing content and being banned on most platforms, Sanja took a break from the show to refocus, eventually reviving it mid-pandemic while living in Texas.
“We decided to revive it when we lived in Texas with Greenlab Production Company,” she begins. “They gave me a beautiful Season One refresh, and that’s what ended up on High Times TV. Now, we’re on CANNECTED TV on all streaming platforms, and you can download their app right to your phone. It’s ‘Weedtube.’”
Through these live conversations, Sanja became an example of a “productive pothead.”
“Being part of a publicly traded company [for me means] still wearing chucks and high as shit in board meetings. Talking about lots of money and people’s lives and business is a big deal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a productive pothead, and that has come full circle with THC and the show.”
The THC Girls allows Sanja to offer her knowledge in the form of a marketing service, and her shows gives her a platform to talk to and connect with her audience.
THC Girls even launched ‘The Highly Connected’ App this past year as an additional “middle finger to big corporations," like Facebook and Instagram who have censored them repeatedly.
“It’s exhilarating and exciting, and it’s a way to connect in this industry,” she explains. “When you are shadow banned on instagram, it’s very hard to advertise. Business makes you care when you get only a few hundred views instead of 100s of 1000s. It matters. It’s your livelihood. It’s your career. It’s about sharing messages [about cannabis] that can help people; it saved children while I was working in the dispensary.”
Instead of trying to twerk on TikTok, the THC Girls want you to connect with the industry on a platform that is cannabis-friendly from the jump.
GETTING INTO THE TEXAS HEMP INDUSTRY
As mentioned, the THC Girls moved to Texas mid pandemic, a state without legal access to cannabis, but heavily invested in hemp.
“I felt very appreciated down there. The Texas hemp industry is very welcoming to cannabis people; they want to learn,” she explains.
“There are dispensaries on every corner, but they are full of [hemp-derived] delta-9, -8, whatnot. At first I laughed at it and thought, ‘This is different.’ But every shop I went to, and I went to at least 100 in the state, was very welcoming and seemed very educated.
The eagerness of new markets is something Sanja says differentiates hemp and newly-legal industries from those that are maturing in states like Colorado and California.
"When you have a new market in a new state, you have everyone who is eager. They do their research. They do their due diligence. They are excited.”
New markets where ego has yet to develop are an opportunity for consultants like the THC Girls.
"I really appreciate new markets; the budtenders are really receptive...But, I have to keep it real real real right now, the industry needs to let go of their ego in these established markets (I.e. Colorado and California)... We have this problem of thinking we are better—which is really ironic when you think about what cannabis is and the type of people who have famously advocated for cannabis... Bob Marley, Willie Nelson...these are humble people. The friends of your dad's or the rasta that lent you water. When the industry started I felt like we remembered that."
These are the aspects that both Sanja and Gordon miss from the earlier years of the industry.
“That was the honeymoon phase of the industry that we will never get back," muses Gordon.
“In 2009, to be working at a dispensary—and that's your JOB—that was fucking dope. It was a cool place to be. People were doing it for the right reasons. It had a community vibe for a little while, maybe until 2012. That's the day the music died. The wave crashed...In those years, 2008-2010 especially, but even to 2012, I really feel people thought they were part of something special. And they were. It was cool to be a part of that."
"Right now, I feel like there is a lot of fake advocacy going on...Not saying what you are doing is wrong, but have a real purpose. Don't just be a chad. Don't just be a poser. Don't just get into the space because you have nothing else to do and you see the opportunity. Do it with positive will."
THE CURRENT STATE OF CANNABIS
The biggest issues that Sanja sees with the current state of the industry are a lack of education and appreciation for the culture of cannabis.
"That’s what's lacking in the industry... Corporate cannabis companies are not teaching culture."
While she was a budtender, it was common practice for management to teach staff to remember customer names, try products for themselves, and ask for feedback on product efficacy.
"Management styles are just not what they used to be...The industry’s authenticity is different. I hope it will change; that’s what I am here for."
When Sanja created Unified Global with Lufkin, she got called out by the California market for being a sellout. Someone had looked up Unified as a publicly traded company that also had shell companies, and accused them of Chinese ties and foreign investors who knew nothing about weed. "Little did they know, it was just little old me and KJ," laughs Sanja, "smoking weed that we were getting from people who love legacy growers and brands."
"I've been through it. Everyone is going through it. How are you going to make your mark on the industry?"
Sanja reminds hopeful entrants that the cannabis industry is not for the faint of heart.
"If you are entering the space, prepare to do the fucking work. Get ready to support people. You need a community. Mean what you say. Be eager. Get to fucking work."
"Just because we are all about peace and love doesn’t mean people are nice. It is very much a performance industry. You gotta do the work. You have to be fresh all the time. It is always changing."
As legalization spreads, trends repeat themselves, and newly legal markets are ripe with less-than-helpful cannabis content and education, something Sanja is working to overcome with the THC Girls as well as her efforts with Unified Global. She wishes that people who were capturing the attention were using it with purpose.
“It's cute, your little dab videos, but what are you going to do with it right now? You fucker with a cute butt and a dab video and you’re getting 20k views, and I’m getting 200, at least direct people to something that will help their health.”
Out of all of the major platforms, LinkedIn has proven to be the most permissive when it comes to cannabis. Facebook and Instagram's shadow bans, on the other hand, have forced many brands to consider cannabis-specific and group-chat platforms.
"My favorite part of all of this is that there are so many outlets to go through that did not exist when I had the first [Sanja Ganja] series on FB in 2014...I'm excited about how much more we are connected. There's more ways to interact; there's more ways to get involved."
Not only are there more ways to interact with the cannabis community than ever before, there's also a constant stream of innovation surrounding consumption, something Sanja sees as essential to the future of cannabis.
"All of the equipment to help people vaporize so we don’t have to smoke, I can see a 'no smoking' future... Your lungs hurt....Truly, my goal is to be off-grid, living completely off the earth but I can't be harming my lungs...The more and more tech gets better, the better options we have for medical issues and conditions."
LOOKING FORWARD
Now, as a mom, Sanja’s priorities and focuses have shifted to taking care of herself, her family and providing a sustainable future for her companies and daughter, part of what drove the decision to move back to Colorado.
As medical patients, Sanja and her wife both regularly need access to quality cannabis, as well as more permissive laws on psychedelics.
"Having good flower was our biggest reason to move back to Colorado. My wife has Sjögren's and I have Lupus, and psilocybin and weed are all I will ever do. Same with my wife as well.”
Plus, she missed Colorado’s mountains.
"Second to [medical access], the fucking mountains; I’m not a beach bum by any means. I loved Florida but their cannabis was not up to our health standards.”
Sanja’s focus for 2023 is on education and empowerment.
“You’re not a sellout, but if you get money, you gotta stay true to the culture.”
"My biggest thing for the next year is speaking at conventions about what I’m complaining about, because what happens in any industry is money comes in, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I want to talk to [industry professionals] and remind them, ‘You’re not a sellout, but if you get money, you gotta stay true to the culture,” a message that Unified Global continues to emphasize in their work within Wall Street and the industry.
"When we buy [a license], we don’t saturate the market and become Trulieve. Yes, we are an MSO, but Trulieve comes in and rebrands completely. [With us], you stay who you are; I make you better. Our badass team helps you. We give you sales formulas that have been successfully used in various dispensary and brand models.”
Sanja is quick to remind that, in order to stay relevant, you have to use the resources at your disposal.
“Cannabis is the lunch table. Can you sit with them or not? It is a popularity contest, and you have to stay above that [to succeed]...I’m consistent. I'm not up and down with my beliefs. You give respect where respect is due. If you do it, do it right. If you're already in the game, get rid of your ego–I even have to check myself every once in a blue moon."
Unlike many Multi-State Operators (MSOs), Sanja and her team have focused on practices that are socially conscious, referring to themselves as Economically and Socially Governed (ESG).
“We give stocks to our employees, something that is very hard to do in this industry, but you have to do it. I can’t tell you the deals I’ve been X’ed out of; it happens far too much and people don’t get what they earn.”
Additionally, Sanja's push to speak at conventions, trade shows, and public events helps amplify her collective efforts to normalize success in cannabis.
“There’s a huge [cannabis] stigma and shows don’t want to feature us because we look different,” she explains.
“I started from the bottom. I was a receptionist before I was a budtender before I was a GM.
I have literally touched every piece of the cannabis industry, but you don’t want to hire us. What, do I need a degree for you to listen to me? Instead of complaining, I bring these issues to the forefront.
I’ll wear a blazer, but I’m going to wear a weed shirt under it.”
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This article is featured in Vol. 5 of The ETHOS Magazine.
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