On June 15th Washington, DC hosted Women EmpowerX, an expo geared towards female leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives. I was able to attend one panel discussion on Women in Canna-Biz

Moderator: Sacha Cohen- my publicist. Sacha is an award-winning communications executive and the founder of Grassfed Media. Throughout her career, she has worked with such high-profile organizations as AARP, Hilton, the U.S. Mint, and National Geographic to develop effective PR, content, and social media strategies and launch highly successful online marketing campaigns. 

Panelist:

Dr. Manisha Singal, an internist in Washington, District of Columbia and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including BridgePoint Hospital Capitol Hill and BridgePoint Hospital National Harbor. She received her medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Elana Frankel, founder of Indigo and Haze. In 2015 Elana Frankel, fractured her skull. One second she was chatting with girlfriends; the next, she was having a CAT scan. Her Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) left her bedridden with a swollen brain and loss of senses – smell and taste. The traditional solution for TBIs, did not work for her lifestyle. When her husband found research being done in Israel using CBD to treat soldiers with head injuries, she told him that she was not going to smoke pot. “I could barely string a sentence together.” He explained CBD is the non-psychoactive plant extract that has anti-inflammatory properties. She changed her tune.

As she began to heal and slowly return to the world (faster than expected), she wanted to take the knowledge and create a place for others. It needed to be a place that reflected her aesthetic, a “high thread count hippie lifestyle,” and with product that has great design.

She partnered with the best CFO, COO and business development people she could find (guys) and built a team to execute the vision. Thus, Indigo and Haze was born.

Ebony Panye is a 2011 graduate of Potomac Massage Training Institute with over 7 years of experience as a licensed massage therapist, specializing in myofascial therapy. She began studying traditional herbal medicine in 2013 at the Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism with clinical herbalists including Claudia Joy Wingo, the director of the three year program.