Maggie Connors, Founder of Besito

Ellen Lee Scanlon (00:00):

This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over. Welcome to How to Do the Pot, a podcast demystifying cannabis for women. I’m Ellen Scanlon. And today, I have a cough and cold, so bear with me and my voice. We know that buying weed can still be an intimidating thing. And I hope that these stories give you that boost of confidence that comes from having a friend to help you out with all you need to know before you go. And we would love to hear your story. You can send us a voice memo with your three to five minute story. Send it to hi, that’s H-I, @dothepot.com. And can’t wait to hear it.

Ellen Lee Scanlon (00:43):

Have you ever found that some of the most memorable experiences are when your well laid plans don’t actually work out? Today, Maggie Connors, the California based founder of Besito, shares how persistence paid off when she faced complicated regulations in the early days of California’s medical market. And we just finished up a series called Legalization 101, which can help you out if you’re living in a state with a legal medical market and looking for guidance on how to buy cannabis.

Maggie Connors (01:16):

Oh, my gosh. It was memorable. It was kind of a bust. So I moved to California from New York in 2014. And so pretty quickly, I caught on to the cannabis medical industry. And this, of course, was in the last few years of the medical market when it was quite mature. And heard from a friend about how simple it is to get a medical card. A friend and I did that. We did it through Ease MD. And we were roommates, and we scheduled our appointments with the doctor online, back to back. And it was funny because he used the same jokes, but we could hear each other’s medical appointment. And so that was fascinating. And just I always zoom out of this industry and think, “What a moment I’m living,” and made me think of alcohol prohibition and doctors’ notes to consume. And here I was, getting my weed card.

Maggie Connors (02:20):

Anyways, they emailed something. Maybe it was the state letter. And my friend and I rushed. We were in Palo Alto in business school at Stanford. And we drove to the nearest dispensary an hour away in traffic, which was San Jose. We showed up and they were like, “You can’t come in. You need the actual letter sealed from the state.” And so we drove the hour home deflated. But you can tell we were very eager. And so my first order ended up being over Ease. And throughout the years, I had Ease delivered on campus. Once, I left class to pick up the order. One time, I was golfing. So it was incredible. I mean, to go from growing up on the East Coast, loving weed since high school, but it being pretty inaccessible for me to ordering online and having it delivered was really mind-blowing and a privilege, and certainly the beginning of my passion for the legal cannabis industry.

Ellen Lee Scanlon (03:33):

Thanks for listening to this episode of How to Do the Pot. If you’d like to share your story about the first time you bought legal weed, please send a voice memo to hi@dothepot.com or DM us at @dothepot. For lots more information and past episodes, visit dothepot.com. And that’s also where you can sign up for How to Do the Pot’s newsletter, which comes out every other Friday. And if you like How to Do the Pot, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps more people find the show. Thanks to Madi Fair, our brand manager, and our producer, Nick Patri. I’m Ellen Scanlon, and we’ll be back soon with more of How to Do the Pot.