This week, Larissa speaks with Lauren Yoshiko, the cannabis author and journalist.
Lauren Yoshiko is a cannabis journalist who just published her first book, Green Scenes: A Guide to Legal Cannabis Destinations, in the US. Lauren got her start writing about weed under a fake name at Portland alt-weekly Willamette Week in 2014. Lauren was afraid she would lose her finance day job if anyone found out. After weed was legalized in Oregon, Lauren was on the front lines of reporting about weed before it was mainstream and went on to cover all facets of legal cannabis. She has been published in Forbes, Rolling Stone, Condé Nast, Thrillist, and Broccoli Magazine.
Larissa & Lauren chat:
- Growing up in a small town playing dress up with her little sister and needing to create your own fun
- Being 5th generation Japanese American in a majority white small town
- Lauren wanted to be "popular" in student body government, ran for homecoming queen
- Having friends with different political views taught Lauren not to be afraid of having disagreements with friends and respecting her friend's different POVs
- The feeling of being culturally "white" with zero sense of Asian identity outside of the bi-annual trip to an Asian food store
- Smoking weed, allowed Lauren to be more introspective
- Moving out of Roseburg to Santa Cruz for college and feeling so un-asian for the first time and wanting to fit in to the western expectations of beauty and be blonde
- Lauren lived with her Grandma after college, and realizing she has a legacy of Japanese American life in Portland, OR
- Labels and nationalism are overrated and create division
- Lauren recounts how scary it is to be a woman who is outspoken about the weed industry; a lot of women don't talk about smoking weed
- Lauren has bonded more with people because of shared interests & and not solely shared heritage
- In 2014, Lauren shared writing about weed under a fake name for Willamette Week while still working a day job
- The mentorship & master class in editing Lauren received at Broccoli Mag and the evolution of Sticky Bits News
- The red tape around cannabis advertising and marketing
- Lauren's book Green Scenes, the first-ever travel guide to cool, ethically-operated legal cannabis destinations across the US
- Lauren talks about the reward of telling people's stories, from family weed lounges in Boston to horse healing and weed
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Original music by Haile Meirow “inside your tears”
Talent Advisor Serena Board
