Member Spotlight: GENIFER M

This month, we’re highlighting long-time NCIA Member and cannabis advocate Genifer Murray, who recently launched her line of luxury cannabis-themed jewelry, GENIFER M, with the aim and intention to “elevate the conversation about cannabis through artisan jewelry.”

Cannabis Industry Sector:
Accessories/Products

NCIA Member Since:
2012

Tell me a bit about your background and why you launched your company?

I launched GENIFER M to start the conversation about cannabis. With more than seven years of experience working in the cannabis industry, I have always been passionate about educating the public on the positive power and healing benefits of cannabis; GENIFER M is luxury cannabis inspired jewelry that aims to do just that through artisan jewelry.

My cannabis career started in 2010 when I co-founded one of the first cannabis testing labs in the U.S., CannLabs based in Colorado, where I was one of the first female CEOs in the cannabis industry. My passion and role as CEO became to be a champion for health and safety for patients. My mission with CannLabs was to provide safe and quality medicine to cannabis patients, which resulted in a bigger mission: to help others and the larger community that need this medicine through lobbying for its legalization. While lobbying, I wanted to better represent the cannabis industry and make a statement that illustrated cannabis in a non-threatening and elegant way. As a result, GENIFER M was born.

My dad, Glenn Murray, a technically trained and internationally recognized gemologist, made me a 2.5 carat diamond pave indica leaf lapel to wear with my suits while I was lobbying with NCIA and the Governor’s Task Force for Amendment 64 (ending marijuana prohibition). I wore the pin everywhere and could see it was not only changing minds, but starting conversations with people that traditionally wouldn’t openly discuss or inquire about cannabis. The pin created a movement, creating a non-threatening space for educating consumers about cannabis and its benefits. GENIFER M is an extension of that conversation and was launched to change the way people perceive, interact, and experience cannabis through luxe style and handcrafted quality jewelry.

What unique value does your company offer to the cannabis industry?

Our company is extremely unique in the fact that we are using a lifestyle to start the conversation about cannabis. GENIFER M creates luxury fashion that empowers, educates, and elevates the conversation about cannabis and what it means to each person who wears a leaf. Each GENIFER M cannabis inspired jewelry piece is designed to open discussions about topics of cannabis in a non-threatening way; we aim to create a space in which you can fully express your beliefs, hopes, and passion for the healing properties of cannabis with the mission to make a difference in people’s lives. It shatters traditional perceptions of cannabis to reverse 90 years of the propaganda in mainstream culture.

Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does your company help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?

As business owners in the cannabis industry, we each have a responsibility to move this industry forward in the best manner possible, which is why GENIFER M is the alternative to mass production and traditional cannabis perceptions. We believe in the higher side of purchasing power and style — and making a difference in people’s lives through cannabis inspired jewelry. At GENIFER M, we want to give you the power to share your story and lead you to a lifestyle that embraces what cannabis means to you while honoring the progression from “pot culture” to “cannabis couture.”

What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?

There are several challenges like no traditional banking, the 280E tax problem, and of course the stigma, which still has a lot to do with why people are hesitating in the decriminalization of marijuana. However, we need more science to overcome the myths and stigma surrounding cannabis! We need the studies, clinical trials, and research. Thankfully the U.S. is finally allowing some of that to take place. I also see pharma as a huge challenge. As a cannabis community we need to work together to help end the pharma era and provide people with natural and holistic medicine — not synthetically made or chemically compounded products. Ultimately, creating platforms for cannabis education is the key to overcoming the challenges this industry faces

Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?

I joined NCIA because we needed a national voice to be heard in D.C. I wanted to help educate lawmakers and the public about the issues challenging the industry, to help prepare for the issues that nobody knew about back in 2012. I also joined because the NCIA community and its members provided me support through my cannabis entrepreneurial journey; they knew exactly what I was going through and became a great network founded on the mentality of helping each other grow and succeed. We are all working together to pave the way for the industry.

For more information about GENIFER M, or to purchase its products and help start the conversation about cannabis, please visit www.geniferm.com.

CONTACT:
GENIFER M Facebook

NCIA Member Profile: CannLabs

NCIA Member Profile: CannLabs, Inc.

About: CannLabs, Inc., is a solutions provider with intellectual property, proprietary cloud-based analytics, and scientific methods to serve the cannabis industry. Through Carbon Bond Holdings Inc., CannLabs provides laboratories with the necessary business intelligence technology and other solutions required to serve the cannabis industry, and these include the first state-licensed laboratory in Denver, Colorado.

Cannabis Industry Sector: Analytical Testing

NCIA Member Since: 2011

Membership Status: Sustaining

Led by: Genifer Murray

How has CannLabs evolved since you founded the business?
CannLabs has made leaps and bounds since we founded the company in April 2010. I started in a lab space that was 150 square feet with one instrument. We recently moved into our new lab space that is 4000 square feet with 2500 square feet of office space. We currently have 20 employees and continue to rapidly grow. We just signed a lease in Connecticut and we’re excited about expanding our services there. Testing in Colorado is mandatory for adult-use only, and we were the first state-certified lab in the country. The industry is changing fast and I’m extremely happy at the way CannLabs is positioned to support it.

Why did you choose to go into cannabis testing, and how does testing and analysis fit into the future of the cannabis industry?
It was literally started on a napkin in Arizona when I was visiting my Dad at the beginning of 2010. My first business partner had the idea and after returning to Colorado I did my due diligence and absolutely loved the idea. I have a B.S. in Microbiology and I love science. It seemed like a perfect fit for me as it allowed me to bring together my business brain and my natural desire to do something different.

CannLabs started as a lab offering a full range of testing services, but we have found that our expertise, experience, and quality of our service has allowed us to be heavily involved in other areas beyond testing.

For example, if a grower finds that the quality of the product is not good during testing, we can advise them on how best to deal with the issue. This allows for improved quality of the product all around which means a better and safer product for the consumer. We also have medicinal chemists who research deep into cannabis and look for ways to reformulate for better products. The science and technology behind cannabis is an area we excel in at CannLabs.

We also have a proprietary, cloud-based technology that feeds real-time data via our web portal. This allows clients to post their test results instantly on our ‘Product Finder’ or our other partner sites (MJ Freeway and WeedMaps) which allows consumers to find CannLabs-tested and -certified products fast and easy. This not only gives customers reassurance that the products they are finding are certified by CannLabs, but it also drives traffic to the dispensaries we test for as it is a fabulous location-finder. We also offer statistics so our clients can push one button and see trends. For example, the Colorado MED process requests a 3-month average for potency. Our clients do not need to take the time to do that. Instead they simply push a button and our system does it for them. Whatever our customers want to see, we can customize it.

What was the licensing process like?
Comprehensive. The CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) was at our lab for about nine hours going through methods, SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures), testing our lab director and lab staff, and thoroughly going through the lab. Heather Despres, our lab director, was very prepared, so we were able to get our license without many changes. We were very happy to finally get certified, as I have been waiting for the opportunity for four years.

Why did you get involved with NCIA?
Why wouldn’t CannLabs? I remember in the very beginning of 2011 when it started, I wanted to join so badly but I was barely making enough to keep afloat. Once I could, I joined immediately; I believe at the end of 2011. It is very important to support the industry not only locally but nationally. NCIA is the ONLY one out there working for us. NCIA has been so wonderful to be a part of and you meet some amazing people leading the industry in this group. If only the entire industry felt this way, we might have banking issues solved by now.