{"id":87660,"date":"2024-08-28T09:31:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/tj-stouder-reimagining-cannabis-consumption-with-myhi\/"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:31:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:31:01","slug":"tj-stouder-reimagining-cannabis-consumption-with-myhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/tj-stouder-reimagining-cannabis-consumption-with-myhi\/","title":{"rendered":"TJ Stouder: Reimagining Cannabis Consumption with MyHi"},"content":{"rendered":"

As cannabis becomes more and more ubiquitous in social circles and even in public spaces, it\u2019s important for new cannabis products to collectively drive the industry\u2019s innovation and acceptance by more mainstream audiences. MyHi<\/a> is especially in tune with that fact as a company and has dedicated a significant portion of its launch and brand identity to centering the conversation about social and convenient cannabis use.<\/p>\n

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, our host TG Branfalt connects with MyHi\u2019s founder and CEO TJ Stouder to discuss the inspiration behind MyHi\u2019s patented stir STIKs, the benefits of being able to add its fast-acting and nano emulsified THC powder to any beverage, and how the product is changing perceptions of social cannabis use and the role cannabis should play in social drinking circles. The pair also discuss emerging cannabis markets and trends from around the country, strategies for building a brand in the whirlwind cannabis industry, tips for entrepreneurs who are considering their own cannabis venture, and more!<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview below. You can also scroll further down to find a transcript of the interview.<\/p>\n

Listen to the podcast:<\/h3>\n\n
Ganjapreneur<\/a> \u00b7 TJ Stouder: Reimagining Cannabis Consumption with MyHi<\/a><\/div>\n

Read the transcript:<\/h3>\n

Commercial: This episode of the Ganjapreneur Podcast is made possible by AROYA, a comprehensive cannabis production platform for commercial growers. If you are a commercial cannabis grower, you can use AROYA to level up your production workflow, featuring a combination of precision instruments and powerful software that help you intelligently cultivate, dry, and process cannabis. The AROYA cannabis production platform is your ticket to greater yields and consistent quality. Request a quote today online at aroya.io. That\u2019s A-R-O-Y-A.io.<\/p>\n

Cara Wietstock: Hi, I\u2019m Cara Wietstock, culture editor at Ganjapreneur and host of our YouTube show, Fresh Cut. The best way to understand cannabis business is to speak directly to those who work within it, and Fresh Cut was created to shine recognition on the people who fill these roles.<\/p>\n

In this interview series, we focus on those with their hands in the dirt, both literally and figuratively, from cultivators to budtenders, educators to advocates, activists to lobbyists. We aim to illuminate the workers who keep this industry thriving. Enjoy one-on-one conversations with me and guests by watching along on the Ganjapreneur YouTube channel, and follow our social channels to keep up with the latest episodes. Have a great day.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Hey, there, I\u2019m your host, TG Branfalt, and thank you for listening to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today, I\u2019m joined by TJ Stouder, he\u2019s the founder and CEO of MyHi, a line of water-soluble calorie- and sugar-free THC powder stir STIKs.<\/p>\n

This is a product that I\u2019m really excited about as somebody who doesn\u2019t really consume much alcohol and have used many different products to try to bridge that non-drinker gap with my drinking friends. I\u2019m really excited to have TJ on the show to let me know more about himself and this product. How you doing this afternoon, man?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Very well, TG, TJ, thanks for having me. This is going to be fun.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Hey, and I\u2019m screwing it up already.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: I\u2019m really stoked to have you on the show, as I said at the top and as we were talking about before, I don\u2019t really drink that much, so to have a product that is water-soluble, it can be mixed with most anything. But before we get into all that, man, let me know about yourself. You have a really interesting background.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. In a nutshell, I was a kid born in Indiana that was a cannabis consumer for most of my life. I like to call it the home of the stigma to put it simply. Not a good place to be a cannabis consumer. Left Indiana, grew up professionally at Procter & Gamble working on a myriad of big brands and kind of around the world on different budgets, brands and marketing of building consumer products.<\/p>\n

I learned one big insight throughout that entire experience, which brand consumer connections go a lot deeper than a point of sale purchase. I like to use the example of throughout quarantine we still wash our clothes with Tide because it\u2019s part of who we are, not how we wash our clothes. That\u2019s how P&G thought about building a brand and really how, let\u2019s call it, I grew up thinking about brands.<\/p>\n

Left P&G on a mission to find something closer to home, a product or something that would work closer for me. As I said, long-term cannabis consumer, didn\u2019t think that was the answer, believe it or not, despite the green rush and everybody going that way. I ran into some close family issues that needed CBD and\/or any form of cannabis that they could get into and saw light basically in my mom\u2019s eyes that she needed a root, like a brand, like what I just discussed, to open up that world of cannabis to her.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s, as I said, the home of the stigma. It runs very deep and people are afraid of this plant. That nice branding, that approachability, the product design for your life has really become crucial to people discovering this plant and really what I dedicated myself to and all of my skills, and now I\u2019m in cannabis for the last three years. Super excited to be here.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: You talked about your time at Proctor & Gamble, can you tell me a little bit about moving from the more corporate culture at a multinational company to the cannabis space and what some of your challenges were?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Definitely. It was a fun journey. I\u2019ll say it\u2019s not as far as it would seem apart. The biggest challenge is really \u2026 it\u2019s been built bottoms up on how corporate structure works. However, it works really well. It\u2019s just \u2026 Let\u2019s call it, P&G they call it proctoids and you learn exactly how to be a P&Ger from day one to the end, which is impressive and it works and good teams, strong teams. You get brilliant people across all their roles.<\/p>\n

Stepping out of that, we walk into cannabis where it\u2019s a very differently trained environment of corporate world, however motivated, ambitious, sticking to the things that work and really focusing on blocking and tackling of getting stuff done. You see a lot of parallels. I\u2019d say biggest challenge is timeliness of meetings. You ask what I\u2019m doing today, I have no idea.<\/p>\n

I hope I have at least 10 important meetings coming up after this, but it\u2019s always fluid and you got to adapt. I think we share an awesome passion for wellness for consumers that drives us all to work 24\/7, work harder than any industry I\u2019ve ever worked in. Again, super excited about the momentum of cannabis, but some of the blocking and tackling we\u2019ll still have to work on.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: You had said too that going from Proctor & Gamble you didn\u2019t exactly see yourself going into cannabis. You mentioned briefly your personal story. Was there something personally that you saw preventing you from getting into the space or what was your thinking at that time?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Good question. I\u2019ve never answered that one. I\u2019d say honestly, I never worked on spirits for a reason. I believed in the products I worked on and that they truly brought wellness or some better good to the consumer\u2019s life. I saw cannabis like I saw spirits. It\u2019s recreationally okay to go out and exit work, throw out some stress, have a party on a weekend, go to a concert, whatever it might be, but it\u2019s not a way of life.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t drink alcohol as part of who I am. It\u2019s not something I do as you said, as a non-drinker. We evolve from our college days of how much can I drink? Versus, okay, I\u2019ll have a social beverage with a friend or a business meeting, something like that. I think what I learned through my family members and my mom\u2019s wellness journey was there\u2019s a lot more to this plant. I was a recreational consumer that didn\u2019t see the downside of it.<\/p>\n

I was more than excited to consume cannabis myself, but I didn\u2019t see the upside and how in important that can be as a product to consumers and really bringing this product into their everyday life. That\u2019s where I really saw it as a career when I learned about the wellness upside of this plant and frankly, the recreational side is wellness.<\/p>\n

As I watch states look at medical<\/a> versus rec<\/a>, it\u2019s a happy hour is wellness for a consumer. It\u2019s stepping out of your stresses from the day and getting ready to go into your evening and hopefully enjoy your family time, whatever that may mean. It\u2019s more than getting as drunk as you can get at a bar.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Yeah. I mean, that\u2019s something that during my tenure covering this industry, I realized that yeah, I consumed recreationally. I never had an interest in getting a medical card, but then realized, \u201cWell, I\u2019ve been medicating this whole time.\u201d To your point, I mean, I think even for people who have consumed cannabis for a long time, that we end up there in that thinking, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

I want to talk to you about MyHi. When I first saw this product, the first thing I went to personally as a guy who really loves candy and sugar was Pixy Stix, man, just THC Pixy Stix, and that excited me. Then obviously I started reading a bit more and I was like, \u201cWow, this is sort of a game-changer in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because as a non-drinker, I go to the bar, I order a soda and then I have to go outside, smoke a joint, or rip a vape or eat 30\/40 milligrams of edibles before I get in there. It was something that excited me. Tell me and the listeners a little bit more about MyHi and what really differentiates it from other edibles in the space.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Well, and thank you for telling a bit of the story through your own experience, because it\u2019s exactly MyHi, how you said it. We like to say MyHi, my way. I am a cannabis consumer who finds a lot of points in my day that are tough to consume. Products don\u2019t fit, as you just explained. I\u2019m out with my friends for a drink and stepping outside to smoke a joint takes me away from my friends.<\/p>\n

I miss a couple of toasts. I miss some news update, friend\u2019s pregnant, et cetera. I\u2019m outside smoking a joint. I take that edible before I go in. I\u2019m not high when I get to the bar, an hour later I\u2019m too high and it\u2019s managing that experience. For me, it\u2019s a product that fits in between all the others for those moments where you can\u2019t consume for the cannabis consumer.<\/p>\n

Secondly, and as you get to Pixy Stix, it\u2019s that experience for a consumer that differentiates our product and bringing it back to like a cocktail, mixing up a drink at the table when your friends are having an alcoholic cocktail or elevating your alcoholic cocktail as you prefer. It\u2019s that experience of stirring it in that makes cannabis cool to everybody at the table and you don\u2019t have to separate to smoke.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to eat the gummy under the table. You\u2019re back in the middle. Lastly is that nanoemulsified powder is crucial to that experience. I choose flower as a consumer because it\u2019s manageable, controllable. I know exactly where I\u2019m going to go and how far. That\u2019s why I like flower and I find with other discrete products, it\u2019s often tough to manage some of that curve. With the nanoemulsion, it hits in we say 15 minutes conservatively.<\/p>\n

Some of our consumers come back with faster, really like a cocktail would. You can have one every 30\/45 minutes as you\u2019re out or have one quickly on the go and you know exactly how far you\u2019re going to go. Really MyHi, my way puts that experience back in the consumer\u2019s hands to enjoy the product at their pace out and about.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Well, I mean, as most people know and you know, and I know, is the average edible, I mean takes 45 minutes to an hour, especially somebody my size, 6\u20193\u2033, over 200 pounds, it can take a while. What type of cannabis consumer is MyHi aimed at? I know you say MyHi, my way, but for older consumers generally we say start low, go slow. Start with little 2.5, five milligram edible, if you\u2019re going to go there. You talked at the top about marketing<\/a> and brands, who is the end-user in your opinion for MyHi?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Awesome. A lot of people, I think. I like to say America drinks and I want to make that mean something different.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Interesting.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: I mean, right now I have three beverages in front of me on my table that fits into my routine. It\u2019s a water, a coffee and a juice from my breakfast that\u2019s sitting here ready to be infused. I think the target demographic is really somewhere between the non-canna curious and I\u2019ll explain what that means to me, and what we obviously know, the canna curious.<\/p>\n

Non-canna curious to me is I live in Colorado and 75 to 90% of my friends don\u2019t go to a dispensary more than once a year. That\u2019s concerning for me as a category participant, investor and believer in the growth numbers behind this category. A developed market like Colorado, and I have a pretty good group of friends, that don\u2019t see the need to go into a dispensary.<\/p>\n

That for me, we get super excited about the current cannabis consumer. We all have friends that say, \u201cI don\u2019t smoke, or, eh, I had an edible one time and I was glued to the couch for the next three days. I\u2019m not trying that.\u201d I think encouraging that non-canna curious, who\u2019s seen so many barriers about why to go in dispensary or really the intimidation about the products there, it\u2019s approachable, it\u2019s branded, it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something they can do that\u2019s more like other things they consume in a beverage and a cocktail. I think that differentiator for the non-canna curious is most important for all of us to share what we believe are the upsides of this category with the new consumer. However, again, the flower I buy announced, and I don\u2019t look at any other products.<\/p>\n

I believe this stick elevates that experience in a way that me, as nearly that consumer, I put one of the sticks in the water, and enjoy a bowl or a joint next to it, really elevating that high to another level from an experience standpoint and because of that nanoemulsion, fast-acting, getting the high more elevated than it would\u2019ve been on just a joint.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t even get to the caffeine element, which I should mention, but we do 30 milligrams of green coffee bean extract that truly elevate the experience versus I think many disappointments with sativa.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Yeah, and we are going to talk about the recipe a little bit later on, but I do want to just touch onto your point that I\u2019m one of those people, I mean, I live in New York. We don\u2019t have dispensaries. When I go to dispensaries, I\u2019m primarily looking for edibles, metered-dose edibles so I know what I\u2019m going to get.<\/p>\n

So to have a drinkable product which are not \u2026 or a product that can be mixed with drinks, in an immature markets such as Massachusetts that doesn\u2019t have a strong canna beverage presence, I think is something that I personally, a long-time consumer who really does like edibles would gravitate toward to that product. To your point about the non-canna curious, how overall does your product fit into the canna beverage market, which I said is mature some places, immature other places?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Super excited for canna beverages across the board. I think the category speaks to a lot of what I\u2019m looking to \u2026 excited about on our product and how it hits the demographic. A lot of them are ready-to-drink beverages, which I think for a consumer has a place and a time and you know what you want to drink. I\u2019m at a convenience store in a normal beverage, I pick my favorite juice and I\u2019m ready to go.<\/p>\n

What our product provides is the ease and convenience of infusing whatever you\u2019re drinking, wherever you\u2019re drinking, which I think the biggest benefit for consumers is it doesn\u2019t have calories and it doesn\u2019t have sugar. If I put it in a water, it\u2019s a refreshing water that gives me my dose without anything else. If I want to make a hightail, I can get creative and make whatever I want.<\/p>\n

I think as I look across the beverage markets, a lot of them are ready to drink and exciting and I think we\u2019ll have a great place in that consumer\u2019s refrigerator. We\u2019re hopeful to be in every pocket, in their hats, behind your ear, easy, ready to go, convenient because our consumers are on the go. They live multitasking lives everywhere they go.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: I\u2019ve never heard the term hightail before.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: That\u2019s new. We\u2019re working on coining it. The thought is replacement for a cocktail or elevating another mocktail and really MyHi-tail.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: I like that too. What do you anticipate or expect the beverage market to look like when it\u2019s fully mature?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Great question. I think full spectrum, the markets we look at today, beverage is small and growing rapidly. The rationale for that in my mind is they\u2019re nascent markets with consumers like me that are hard to convince to change their product. I have my flower in my cabinet. I\u2019ll check something else out here and there but I know my routine at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

I think the emerging markets are super exciting from Las Vegas to New York, let\u2019s call that the emerging side of the country, not fully developed, where new consumers aren\u2019t used to smoking flower. They don\u2019t understand concentrates. They\u2019re a bit more connoisseur, whatever it might be. I think the new products and especially beverage are going to have a big way.<\/p>\n

Then lastly, as I mentioned, markets like that, social lounges will be game-changers for cannabis. It\u2019s the fact that happy hour at a cannabis type bar with no alcohol is going to be a new concept that I\u2019ve experimented a lot with, but I know most of the country has not.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the most exciting part for me, because waking up the next day at 5:00 AM to run and go to work is a new feeling for an alcohol drinker himself when you\u2019ve had a long night out. I think that\u2019s the growth market and I think it\u2019s going to be a much larger portion of the national category split.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Well, and if I\u2019m not mistaken, Colorado just recently passed social use<\/a> legislation, is that accurate?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Correct. But it\u2019s small and there\u2019s a few licenses. Again, in a nascent market, I know how to consume at home. It\u2019s bringing me out into the \u2026 And again, look where alcohol is. It\u2019s everywhere from the ballgame to the park, to the kid classes on the weekend, alcohol has found its way to be our social life. Cannabis is not there in any market with social use. It\u2019s separate from what everybody else is doing.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Have you had any potential social use licensees reach out to you yet?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Not yet. We\u2019ve talked to a few that are working on plans for the back half of this year in California<\/a>. We\u2019ve only launched in California to date, but writing\u2019s on the wall coming very soon. We are talking to some people in New York<\/a> that are \u2026 It sounds like they\u2019re going to aggressively move to the lead in social use. I think things are going to come in 2022 for sure.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: I have to ask you this question and recently there\u2019s been other products that have gotten a little bit targeted for their marketing practices we shall say. I\u2019m not going to name names here, but what your product is essentially, it is a powder. Do you anticipate, or have you experienced any pushback for a powdered cannabis product?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: It\u2019s a great question and nowhere you see the risks of powders and I know why some of these companies are receiving backlash, at least in my opinion. We try to tailor our entire experience around that beverage delivery and it all starts with our stick itself, which is it\u2019s designed off the Mai Tai umbrella. MyHi, you start to see ordering a bar and a drink, it sits nicely on top and looks like an umbrella in your drink.<\/p>\n

Really everything we communicate is about infusing safely above 21, 18 with a medical card, beverages and really even we stay away from alcohol trying to manage that experience. As you said, with microdosers, learn how you infuse four ounces of water, learn how that 15 to 30 minutes goes and really learn how it works with your body first.<\/p>\n

Really again, we\u2019re a wellness-focused company that sees a recreational high as part of a wellness routine and everything we do in our product follows that nature. I\u2019ve seen some of the others that are going different roots with powders that frankly, again, because I believe in cannabis as a category, I believe in the wellness nature, I think we need to be overly cautious with everything we do ensuring that people are consuming safely.<\/p>\n

As a company, we believe in that. We continue to push. I\u2019d say the biggest backlash we receive is really from buyers and dispensaries<\/a> that are learning the category and new formats and how the science behind the actual pattern itself delivers to the consumer that is an educational curve for the category that we think we can get around with great marketing, a great delivery device that really differentiates versus that crowd.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: In the three years that you had said that you\u2019ve been in this space, how much of that has been focused on educating people about your product?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: A lot. We do it very simply because we do it via trial. We sell all of our products in one, singles. So you can try it first and assume it works for you. Biggest for us is check this out. We do it as cleanly, safely and with this technology<\/a> very transparently as possible, give it a shot. It\u2019s a lot of people, like you said, are exploring beverages in the early days, even the more connoisseur consumers, but it might be the first beverage they\u2019ve ever tried.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really experiencing that first stick is what we try to get everybody a chance to do via everything from events to sampling. Education is transparency in my book because I think the category in total is learning by the day. We give that consumer promise that we\u2019re going to stay ahead of the curve and really vet the right technologies and ensure your experience is top notch.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Talking about the experience, we spoke briefly about the recipe earlier. Tell me about the process of coming up with that recipe, which includes green coffee bean extract, L-theanine, theanine. I\u2019m not a science, man, and monk fruit, which I think is very interesting. Your background isn\u2019t necessarily in food, beverage, so tell me about your experience coming up with the recipe and what that process was like.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Number one is transparency and know your lane. I never try to be smarter than I am and I find somebody smarter than me when you need something like formulation. However, it started with an insight and as I mentioned earlier, better than a sativa. I\u2019m disappointed by sativas and I think we all know the \u2026 or at least the more experienced cannabis will know the seeds aren\u2019t what they used to be and sativas and indicas are mostly a myth.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s mostly hybrids available and the mix of terpenes<\/a> on that plant will greatly affect your experience, especially state to state, et cetera. A lot of those challenges of flower. Sativa, I always find myself grabbing a coffee next to a sativa to actually give myself energy, \u201cThat\u2019s not what you promised sativa,\u201d is what I say as a consumer.<\/p>\n

Really what we did, we picked a hybrid extract to really capture the essence of that THC nanoemulsion that goes into your bloodstream faster, really delivering a more elevated experience naturally. Then green coffee bean extract, which is pure all-natural green coffee bean, 30 milligrams. That\u2019s about a third a cup of coffee. It gives you a nice social awake high next to your THC and it\u2019s really energizing, productive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny, the influencer is coming back to us when they run out of samples saying, \u201cI got so much stuff done while I have my MyHi.\u201d It\u2019s a new category of high. We\u2019re saying that kind of asking people to prove us wrong, but it\u2019s a different experience versus other products we personally have tried. It\u2019s energetic, it\u2019s awake, it\u2019s social and it\u2019s buildable as you have a couple of them next to each other.<\/p>\n

Green coffee beans, the core that you\u2019re actually going to feel, the next one is L-theanine which really is anything negative anyone gets from coffee, jitters, drowsiness coming down, things like that, L-theanine kind of balances that out and really L-theanine means balance, focus in general, an all-natural let\u2019s call it brain supplement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a nice next to that caffeine and THC, keeps you balanced and focused, which a lot are feeling, especially on those longer evenings of enjoying MyHi. Lastly, monk fruit is critical for the no sugar piece and no added artificial sugars, et cetera. Monk fruit \u2026 I don\u2019t know how it was discovered recently.<\/p>\n

I just wanted to learn more about monk fruit myself, but I\u2019ve been using it in everything and anything I can. It\u2019s all-natural sugar. It doesn\u2019t spike your sugars for diabetes. It is a super fruit that we\u2019ve been missing to sweeten nicely. It\u2019s only 10 milligrams, but it gives a nice little sweet refreshing edge on the end and keeping that no sugar, no artificials.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Interesting.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: I didn\u2019t actually answer your question. I got all that from Google. I started with literally the insight and I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the best way to naturally do this stuff?\u201d I think it\u2019s funny that we work so hard in a lab to come up with complex long formula cards that the consumer can\u2019t understand, and that\u2019s how the consumer actually finds wellness.<\/p>\n

For us, we\u2019re starting very simple. THC is at the center of our product. Everything else is to help that feeling along, but innovation path is strong and we\u2019re planning on doing minor cannabinoids, other formulas, terpenes, et cetera, to really bring different moods, different taste profiles and whatnot to MyHi. It\u2019s just a start, let\u2019s start with energy.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Is there a particular terpene that you\u2019re more excited to work with or a specific cannabinoid? I mean, you seem like you\u2019ve done a whole of thinking about this.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Lots and lots. I\u2019m excited for cannabis. I mean, what we don\u2019t know is what I\u2019m most excited for. I\u2019ll give you an example on the terpene front. We study about 40 terpenes out of over \u2026 I\u2019m not even going to quote a number. I\u2019ve heard over a hundred thousand as the safest number I\u2019d say known terpenes on the planet, most concentrated in cannabis as a plant.<\/p>\n

For me, what was destroyed over years of stigmatization and prohibition of cannabis is too sad to think about and what\u2019s yet to be discovered because we\u2019ve only really started researching the depth of this plant is too much to dream of. Really crafting that experience with some of the scientists who actually do the work behind me being a googler with insights, there\u2019s huge upside.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just really tailoring that experience up to fast-acting and long-releasing that can do it 15 minutes by 15 minutes where you\u2019re going to go all via this stick.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Again, I hate to harp on it, but it\u2019s one of these products and you\u2019re just so interesting in the way that you present it, that a lot of times I don\u2019t really get to \u2026 What\u2019s the word I\u2019m \u2026 I don\u2019t want to say excited again, but I\u2019m normally not super stoked on these things. Now that New York\u2019s legal, I do hope that it is something I am able to find on the East eventually.<\/p>\n

What states are you most excited about entering? You said that you\u2019re right now only in California, what\u2019s the future look like?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: We have a small team that\u2019s very focused. California\u2019s the largest market with the most brands, frankly, is why we\u2019re starting there. We want to prove it against the big guys and again, that we can grow a cannabis consumer\u2019s basket size, the guy who\u2019s buying flower concentrates and edibles<\/a> already, plus a MyHi.<\/p>\n

As well as drive new traffic into every one of those stores to look at cannabis for the first time, because they saw a product like this or see that\u2019s something that might be approachable to their world. We believe after proving that in California, looking at a multi-state operator that has multiple states quickly, three to five to 15. We provide a unique standard operating procedure that gets up and running quite quickly.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the patented delivery device of the stick itself, the consumer brand that\u2019s ready to plug and play into any market and really hit that demographic provides a differentiator versus cannabis. There\u2019s, as you say, kind of \u2026 And I don\u2019t know how to put this in the nicest way. I\u2019m a consumer that loves going into dispensary and I see the excitement of every consumer in there. The products we got to step it up.<\/p>\n

As I look at the counter and I see one after another of things that look a lot alike and don\u2019t motivate me to consume it, it\u2019s \u2026 I love cannabis. I\u2019m happy to buy it because it\u2019s something there, but how do I find which product\u2019s going to change my life? How do I find the one that if I\u2019m going into quarantine, I need to stock up for a year and a half because there\u2019s no chance I\u2019m running out of this product?<\/p>\n

I think we, as a category need to continue to push ourselves that just because the consumer\u2019s willing to buy it, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s our best effort. We got to push for better and better and better and more innovative. I get excited about as more states come on board, as federal legalization looms, better and better products are coming.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s exciting to see the innovation for me as a consumer, beyond our product, and I say this to all of us as motivation. It\u2019s exciting to see new products, new consumption, new consumers.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: I mean, I really appreciate your insight. Your background\u2019s very different than a lot of people who enter the space, and you\u2019ve obviously chosen a very successful team. One that shares your vision, which you\u2019ve clearly stated and I think is very worthwhile in this space at the very least. What advice would do you have for other entrepreneurs<\/a> looking to enter the cannabis space?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Excellent. I think number one is find what you do best and find how to do it in cannabis. I think the world we see in cannabis today is a very small portion of what it will be in the future. I talked about things like social lounges and hospitality. They don\u2019t exist yet in cannabis. I get a lot of people that come and they do something completely different from what cannabis today looks like, which I felt like that person.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a consumer brander that came from P&G and worked on fine fragrances down to detergent and it\u2019s, how do I play a role in cannabis? There\u2019s no brands, there\u2019s no scaled consumer products, et cetera. Ah, this is a consumer product that we need to scale and the industry needs you with your well-meaning mission to come aboard.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s finding how cannabis grows into the world you live in because it\u2019s going to, as legalization comes in, as more consumers come on board as part of their daily routine. Find what that is and put your all into it. You really want in, there is plenty of space to grow this category.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Finally, my man, where can people find out more about MyHi and maybe find out more about you?<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Awesome, getmyhi.com<\/a>, G-E-T-M-Y-H-I.com, that\u2019ll be in the show notes, is the best place, check it out. Now, all of our information my team\u2019s done a phenomenal job with the website in our early days of launch. There\u2019s plenty there.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: The marketing is really something special.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: That\u2019s where we start obviously, and then come to California. We\u2019re starting there, but hey, get out there this summer. It\u2019s the summer of \u201921. People are traveling again. I think we\u2019re hopefully past this pandemic. Check us out in California. Would love to hear your thoughts if you get some product. If not, ask your local budtenders, write to your governor wherever you are in cannabis. We\u2019ll come to your state hopefully soon.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: Brilliant. That\u2019s TJ Stouder. He\u2019s the founder and CEO of MyHi, a line of water-soluble, calorie- and sugar-free THC powder stir STIKs. Thank you so much my good man for being on the show and I really look forward to one day finding MyHi in New York or Massachusetts, or basically anywhere on the East Coast now that we are opening up. Thank you so much for being on the show.<\/p>\n

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Thanks TG.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast in the podcast section of ganjapreneur.com on Spotify and in the Apple iTunes Store. On the ganjapreneur.com website, you will find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast. You can also download the ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Trim Media House. I\u2019ve been your host, TG Branfalt.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As cannabis becomes more and more ubiquitous in social circles and even in public spaces, it\u2019s important for new cannabis products to collectively drive the industry\u2019s innovation and acceptance by more mainstream audiences. MyHi is especially in tune with that fact as a company and has dedicated a significant portion of its launch and brand identity to centering the conversation about social and convenient cannabis use. In this episode of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, our host TG Branfalt connects with MyHi\u2019s founder and CEO TJ Stouder to discuss the inspiration behind MyHi\u2019s patented stir STIKs, the benefits of being able to add its fast-acting and nano emulsified THC powder to any beverage, and how the product is changing perceptions of social cannabis use and the role cannabis should play in social drinking circles. The pair also discuss emerging cannabis markets and trends from around the country, strategies for building a brand in the whirlwind cannabis industry, tips for entrepreneurs who are considering their own cannabis venture, and more! Listen to the full interview below. You can also scroll further down to find a transcript of the interview. Listen to the podcast: Ganjapreneur \u00b7 TJ Stouder: Reimagining Cannabis Consumption with MyHi Read the transcript: Commercial: This episode of the Ganjapreneur Podcast is made possible by AROYA, a comprehensive cannabis production platform for commercial growers. If you are a commercial cannabis grower, you can use AROYA to level up your production workflow, featuring a combination of precision instruments and powerful software that help you intelligently cultivate, dry, and process cannabis. The AROYA cannabis production platform is your ticket to greater yields and consistent quality. Request a quote today online at aroya.io. That\u2019s A-R-O-Y-A.io. Cara Wietstock: Hi, I\u2019m Cara Wietstock, culture editor at Ganjapreneur and host of our YouTube show, Fresh Cut. The best way to understand cannabis business is to speak directly to those who work within it, and Fresh Cut was created to shine recognition on the people who fill these roles. In this interview series, we focus on those with their hands in the dirt, both literally and figuratively, from cultivators to budtenders, educators to advocates, activists to lobbyists. We aim to illuminate the workers who keep this industry thriving. Enjoy one-on-one conversations with me and guests by watching along on the Ganjapreneur YouTube channel, and follow our social channels to keep up with the latest episodes. Have a great day. TG Branfalt: Hey, there, I\u2019m your host, TG Branfalt, and thank you for listening to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today, I\u2019m joined by TJ Stouder, he\u2019s the founder and CEO of MyHi, a line of water-soluble calorie- and sugar-free THC powder stir STIKs. This is a product that I\u2019m really excited about as somebody who doesn\u2019t really consume much alcohol and have used many different products to try to bridge that non-drinker gap with my drinking friends. I\u2019m really excited to have TJ on the show to let me know more about himself and this product. How you doing this afternoon, man? TJ Stouder: Very well, TG, TJ, thanks for having me. This is going to be fun. TG Branfalt: Hey, and I\u2019m screwing it up already. TJ Stouder: That\u2019s great. TG Branfalt: I\u2019m really stoked to have you on the show, as I said at the top and as we were talking about before, I don\u2019t really drink that much, so to have a product that is water-soluble, it can be mixed with most anything. But before we get into all that, man, let me know about yourself. You have a really interesting background. TJ Stouder: Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. In a nutshell, I was a kid born in Indiana that was a cannabis consumer for most of my life. I like to call it the home of the stigma to put it simply. Not a good place to be a cannabis consumer. Left Indiana, grew up professionally at Procter & Gamble working on a myriad of big brands and kind of around the world on different budgets, brands and marketing of building consumer products. I learned one big insight throughout that entire experience, which brand consumer connections go a lot deeper than a point of sale purchase. I like to use the example of throughout quarantine we still wash our clothes with Tide because it\u2019s part of who we are, not how we wash our clothes. That\u2019s how P&G thought about building a brand and really how, let\u2019s call it, I grew up thinking about brands. Left P&G on a mission to find something closer to home, a product or something that would work closer for me. As I said, long-term cannabis consumer, didn\u2019t think that was the answer, believe it or not, despite the green rush and everybody going that way. I ran into some close family issues that needed CBD and\/or any form of cannabis that they could get into and saw light basically in my mom\u2019s eyes that she needed a root, like a brand, like what I just discussed, to open up that world of cannabis to her. It\u2019s, as I said, the home of the stigma. It runs very deep and people are afraid of this plant. That nice branding, that approachability, the product design for your life has really become crucial to people discovering this plant and really what I dedicated myself to and all of my skills, and now I\u2019m in cannabis for the last three years. Super excited to be here. TG Branfalt: You talked about your time at Proctor & Gamble, can you tell me a little bit about moving from the more corporate culture at a multinational company to the cannabis space and what some of your challenges were? TJ Stouder: Definitely. It was a fun journey. I\u2019ll say it\u2019s not as far as it would seem apart. The biggest challenge is really \u2026 it\u2019s been built bottoms up on how corporate structure works. However, it works really well. It\u2019s just \u2026 Let\u2019s call it, P&G they call it proctoids and you learn exactly how to be a P&Ger from day one to the end, which is impressive and it works and good teams, strong teams. You get brilliant people across all their roles. Stepping out of that, we walk into cannabis where it\u2019s a very differently trained environment of corporate world, however motivated, ambitious, sticking to the things that work and really focusing on blocking and tackling of getting stuff done. You see a lot of parallels. I\u2019d say biggest challenge is timeliness of meetings. You ask what I\u2019m doing today, I have no idea. I hope I have at least 10 important meetings coming up after this, but it\u2019s always fluid and you got to adapt. I think we share an awesome passion for wellness for consumers that drives us all to work 24\/7, work harder than any industry I\u2019ve ever worked in. Again, super excited about the momentum of cannabis, but some of the blocking and tackling we\u2019ll still have to work on. TG Branfalt: You had said too that going from Proctor & Gamble you didn\u2019t exactly see yourself going into cannabis. You mentioned briefly your personal story. Was there something personally that you saw preventing you from getting into the space or what was your thinking at that time? TJ Stouder: Good question. I\u2019ve never answered that one. I\u2019d say honestly, I never worked on spirits for a reason. I believed in the products I worked on and that they truly brought wellness or some better good to the consumer\u2019s life. I saw cannabis like I saw spirits. It\u2019s recreationally okay to go out and exit work, throw out some stress, have a party on a weekend, go to a concert, whatever it might be, but it\u2019s not a way of life. I don\u2019t drink alcohol as part of who I am. It\u2019s not something I do as you said, as a non-drinker. We evolve from our college days of how much can I drink? Versus, okay, I\u2019ll have a social beverage with a friend or a business meeting, something like that. I think what I learned through my family members and my mom\u2019s wellness journey was there\u2019s a lot more to this plant. I was a recreational consumer that didn\u2019t see the downside of it. I was more than excited to consume cannabis myself, but I didn\u2019t see the upside and how in important that can be as a product to consumers and really bringing this product into their everyday life. That\u2019s where I really saw it as a career when I learned about the wellness upside of this plant and frankly, the recreational side is wellness. As I watch states look at medical versus rec, it\u2019s a happy hour is wellness for a consumer. It\u2019s stepping out of your stresses from the day and getting ready to go into your evening and hopefully enjoy your family time, whatever that may mean. It\u2019s more than getting as drunk as you can get at a bar. TG Branfalt: Yeah. I mean, that\u2019s something that during my tenure covering this industry, I realized that yeah, I consumed recreationally. I never had an interest in getting a medical card, but then realized, \u201cWell, I\u2019ve been medicating this whole time.\u201d To your point, I mean, I think even for people who have consumed cannabis for a long time, that we end up there in that thinking, if you know what I mean. I want to talk to you about MyHi. When I first saw this product, the first thing I went to personally as a guy who really loves candy and sugar was Pixy Stix, man, just THC Pixy Stix, and that excited me. Then obviously I started reading a bit more and I was like, \u201cWow, this is sort of a game-changer in many ways.\u201d Because as a non-drinker, I go to the bar, I order a soda and then I have to go outside, smoke a joint, or rip a vape or eat 30\/40 milligrams of edibles before I get in there. It was something that excited me. Tell me and the listeners a little bit more about MyHi and what really differentiates it from other edibles in the space. TJ Stouder: Awesome. Well, and thank you for telling a bit of the story through your own experience, because it\u2019s exactly MyHi, how you said it. We like to say MyHi, my way. I am a cannabis consumer who finds a lot of points in my day that are tough to consume. Products don\u2019t fit, as you just explained. I\u2019m out with my friends for a drink and stepping outside to smoke a joint takes me away from my friends. I miss a couple of toasts. I miss some news update, friend\u2019s pregnant, et cetera. I\u2019m outside smoking a joint. I take that edible before I go in. I\u2019m not high when I get to the bar, an hour later I\u2019m too high and it\u2019s managing that experience. For me, it\u2019s a product that fits in between all the others for those moments where you can\u2019t consume for the cannabis consumer. Secondly, and as you get to Pixy Stix, it\u2019s that experience for a consumer that differentiates our product and bringing it back to like a cocktail, mixing up a drink at the table when your friends are having an alcoholic cocktail or elevating your alcoholic cocktail as you prefer. It\u2019s that experience of stirring it in that makes cannabis cool to everybody at the table and you don\u2019t have to separate to smoke. You don\u2019t have to eat the gummy under the table. You\u2019re back in the middle. Lastly is that nanoemulsified powder is crucial to that experience. I choose flower as a consumer because it\u2019s manageable, controllable. I know exactly where I\u2019m going to go and how far. 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