YANA Wellness, a women-owned and operated hashish model with a licensed dispensary in Washington, DC, formally makes historical past as the primary hemp-derived THC beverage line in all Whole Wine retail places throughout Virginia. Their e-commerce platform additionally reaches customers with their plant-based different drinks nationwide. This marks a serious milestone not just for YANA as a small, women-owned enterprise, however for all girls pioneering plant-based wellness merchandise for nationwide distribution.
The Founder and CEO of YANA, Ariana Fleishman, has made a blueprint for minority small enterprise homeowners to create accessible, compliant and community-driven merchandise. Fleishman makes use of her social media platforms to coach customers and enterprise homeowners alike.
“YANA stands for You Are Not Alone, and it is usually the nickname my mother gave me as a child. I’ve at all times needed to create a neighborhood round this mission. Psychological well being points are at an all-time with every little thing occurring on the planet as we speak. I really consider you’ll be able to’t change the world till you modify your personal neighborhood,” Fleishman says. “Adderall and alcohol—these are so normalized in as we speak’s society. My physician would prescribe me Adderall for the workday to fight my ADHD. Then at night time, bars and eating places solely have alcohol on the menu, which fully impairs my reminiscence and makes me really feel so sick the subsequent day. Why is that this way of life nonetheless so normalized? Why do we’ve got to be so quiet after we select to eat vegetation over poison?”
“Hashish and Mushrooms are already clinically confirmed to be an efficient medication and supply so many life-changing advantages when bought from lab-tested and credible sources,” she continues. “However nonetheless, the norm is to take extremely addictive medication prescribed by medical doctors and to drink alcohol to socialize with associates. My aim is to alter this stigma by offering plant-based options in mainstream settings.”
Breaking Down Prohibition Boundaries and Coming into the Mainstream Market
With hashish nonetheless beneath federal prohibition, Fleishman purposely developed a wide range of plant-based different blends in order that a minimum of one in all their drinks on the product line would meet all jurisdictional rules in each state. This was her technique for increasing the model and the plant-based options tradition into new markets whereas hashish legalization continues to be unsure nationwide.
Shoppers can now discover YANA drinks on restaurant menus within the DMV space and may discover the advantages of cannabinoids, purposeful mushrooms and adaptogens with out concern of the unfavorable stigma. YANA’s Rizzi Mushroom Elixir is a client favourite that incorporates no THC or CBD—only a federally authorized mix of nootropic and adaptogenic mushrooms. Rizzi Elixir is featured at premiere social golf equipment in DC, like Ciel Rooftop at Marriott’s Downtown Resort and Spark Social, DC’s first non-alcoholic social membership for the LGBTQ+ neighborhood. These mainstream venues showcase how plant-based different drinks might be a part of a holistic social wellness way of life—and it’s solely the start. Virginia can now legally promote hemp-derived THC drinks in bars and eating places with a hemp license as effectively. Study extra about their full product line and take a look at the place you should purchase YANA drinks close to you right here.
Girls Main the Way forward for Hashish
YANA’s success story symbolizes the perseverance of ladies who’ve navigated the hashish business’s difficult transition from prohibition to legitimacy. Fleishman and her crew have emerged from the “grey market” period in DC after 5 years within the business to now working a totally authorized, women-run hashish dispensary. The Chief Technique Officer of YANA Wellness Manufacturers, Hannah Clarke, a longtime hashish lobbyist and guide, emphasizes the importance of their achievements: “Girls should not simply taking part within the business anymore—we’re constructing it,” Clarke says. “That is about altering perceptions, coverage and the trail ahead for future generations of ladies in hashish.”
YANA prioritizes training, analysis and inclusion, integrating science, advocacy and entrepreneurship alternatives for his or her crew of younger girls getting into the workforce. Via wellness program collaborations with medical psychologist Dr.Vivid and college internship packages with American College and the College of Maryland, YANA Wellness affords college students the uncommon alternative to review the psychological results of hashish and mushrooms to correctly promote and promote these different medicines to aware customers.
“I’ve been concerned with psychology for some time, however I by no means imagined I’d discover an internship that focuses on the psychological results of hashish and mushrooms, a minimum of not so early in my profession,” stated Lucrezia Brody, a YANA psychology intern and pupil at American College. “The analysis we conduct isn’t simply filed away—it straight informs our sufferers and wellness consultants to assist enhance our neighborhood.”
Increasing Whereas Stimulating the Native Financial system
YANA is operated by a small crew of 10 girls, however their strategic partnerships with native, family-owned companies in Virginia are how YANA is scaling successfully and stimulating the native economic system. Fleishman is aware of that the hashish market is already dominated by MSOs (multi-state operators) in healthcare, largely owned by publicly traded firms and pharmaceutical companies, so she has devoted herself to working with native small companies in all components of the availability chain.
Pure Shenandoah is a family-owned hemp manufacturing enterprise that gives high-quality hashish extractions, and Brothers Craft Brewery is a family-owned brewery that YANA makes use of for canning their drinks. “It was crucial to me to stimulate the native economic system that I grew up in and maintain my mission of constructing neighborhood by way of plant medication options,” Fleishman states.
YANA additionally simply signed with Specialty Beverage, a family-owned beverage distribution firm identified for its large-scale deliveries to mainstream companies. This partnership will increase the accessibility of hemp-derived THC drinks to achieve retail places and restaurant menus that wish to present plant-based options to alcohol.
The Evolution of YANA
In 2019, Ariana Fleishman, often known as “Ari Tokes” on social media, based YANA Wellness as Hashish Creatives Collectives for the DC metropolitan space to attach with others by way of curated social experiences. Because the legal guidelines modified in DC, YANA advanced right into a Holistic Wellness Heart and Licensed Hashish Dispensary.
Fleishman concurrently spent two years creating the YANA drink line whereas opening the retail location so she might attain individuals nationwide with a wide range of plant-based different blends. Via their social media platforms, YANA continues to advocate for accountable, inclusive and research-backed hashish tradition nationwide. Keep tuned in on their social media for updates on neighborhood occasions, hashish information, and the tradition right here.
