Event planning is a beast. There are so many moving parts to consider, but they are wonderful for bringing people together, especially in the cannabis industry. You just have to be prepared, be knowledgeable, and most of all, be flexible.
In this episode, I do a live coaching call with my friend, Raeven Duckett, a cannabis equity activist and co-founder of Community Gardens in Oakland, California. I answer her questions about the logistics of planning a cannabis event and share my advice from past event experiences. We chat about promoters, vendors, security, sponsorships, and most importantly, event budgets.
To execute a successful cannabis event, you have to know your numbers and have a plan ready. Don’t bury your head in the sand about what things will cost because events can get expensive very quickly if you’re not prepared.
If you’re a DIY cannabis hustler who is just getting into the industry, make sure to subscribe to my podcast, High Class, where I help you move past the frustration, hurdles, and red tape of the cannabis industry.
In this episode, you’ll learn…
- [03:28] I catch up with my friend, Raeven, on what she’s been up to
- [05:35] Raeven asks for my advice about events for 2024, what makes a good cannabis event, and the logistics behind setting it all up
- [14:44] The ins and outs of promoters for cannabis events
- [18:23] Finding food trucks for your event, and the importance of having an event map
- [22:36] We chat about security, booking local talent, corporate sponsorship, and event budgets
If you want to know more about planning a cannabis event, be sure to tune into this episode:
About Raeven
Raeven Duckett is co-founder of Community Gardens, a licensed cannabis non-storefront retail and distribution company in Oakland, California — the first in the city to earn a license to sell edibles, tinctures and cannabis buds to people over 21. She is a cannabis equity activist and leader within the industry.
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Transcript for “Cannabis Events 101: The Logistics Behind a Successful Cannabis Event with Raeven Duckett“:
[00:00:39] Salwa Are you thinking about getting into the cannabis industry but aren’t really sure how? I’m Salwa Ibrahim, your cannabis auntie and I’m here to help you find accelerated success in your cannabis business. And I’m sharing all the details on how to get there. So get comfy as we dive in. Hello classmates and welcome to another episode of High Class podcast. I am so excited today because we are going to do a friend catch up and a coaching call with Miss Raeven Duckett. So to give you a little bit of background of how Raeven and I connected, I heard about Raeven for years and years and years because a woman by the name of Bianca, who was very close to me, who read our books at our first dispensary, would always tell me about her friend Raeven and how she was so inspiring because she’s such a go getter and she wanted to be in the cannabis industry and she went for her licensing and she won and she like built her business. And so I always had this beautiful background about Raeven. And so when we first connected, I was like, Oh yeah, this makes total sense. So we became friends over the years and we tap in every once in a while. But this time, when we decided to connect, we decided to record it for everybody to share. So, Miss raeven, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
[00:02:04] Raeven Thank you so much. And the feeling is super mutual. Like Bianca, I love her. I just went to her son’s fourth birthday party on Saturday. I know I remember when there were no gigs. So it was very mutual. Like I always thought about Salwa, she’s so cool, like, she’s so tight. I like to go out with her. She’s the boss. She’s also really cool. Like, I was so excited to meet you. It was so awesome to connect with you. And when I met you, I mean, you know, I’ve been in the cannabis industry since, like, 2017, and so it’s been a few years at this point. And it’s like some people you just connect with. Some people just get it, you know what I’m saying? And I feel like when we connected, I was like, Yeah, it’s like, really gets it, you know, which is always like really helpful. And being able to call you a friend and a mentor and someone to call and get advice because it’s like everyone wants to give you advice, but not everyone you should take advice from. And it’s like, I was just really excited to be connected with you and and actually have somebody that I’m like, okay, I can actually take advice from her. Like, awesome. So.
[00:03:03] Salwa Oh, that makes me feel really good and makes me feel really special. And, you know, I’m in a season of my life where mentorship means a lot to me. And like if there’s even a little bit of guidance of being like, Oh, hey, I fell into that hole and I hit my head the whole way down. So don’t go this way. You know, if I can, like, steer people in that sort of direction, happy to do it. But we have so much to catch up on. What have you been doing? What’s going on?
[00:03:32] Raeven Okay. What’s going on there? Still community gardens, our social equity company. Right now, we have a delivery license, distribution license. And we just received our event organization license from the state right there. Yeah. So now delivery is trucks on demand, Delivery is really shop. We do like scheduled deliveries, a lot of like marketing support. And so we’re really excited about tapping into events. Right. And like large scale of it since so going through this event licensing process has been one of the most difficult licensing processes. As someone who has gotten, like I said, a delivery license, a distribution license or manufacturing license at one point because there’s so many steps. Right. And so right now we have the event organization license from the state. Right. And then then a little background for all the listeners and stuff like that. Community Gardens won a grant from the City of Oakland to host a cannabis event that supports social equity. Right. The capital that we’re working with and going to be talking about the event thing is all coming from the city of Oakland. Something to mention and something that might not be surprising to you, Salwa, and I mentioned in email, we are still waiting to receive those funds, right? I think we won the grant back in maybe like November. I think we got updated or something like that. So we were going through the closing process. The city was like cyber attacked or something like that. So that pushed all checks being issued for like at least a couple of months or something like that. So that happened. But it was our goal to host this event in August, right? That was no longer our goal because we are not going to rush ourselves. So one of the things that I want to talk to you about today and get your opinion on is for 2024.
[00:05:20] Salwa That’s so funny. As you were telling me that, I was like, okay, what month are we in? I was like, okay, we’re in May. And then I started doing the math. I was like, Okay, August, we got summer, we got this, we got that. And I was like, She should do 4/20 next year. That’s so funny. Okay, It’s a Saturday. Perfect.
[00:05:35] Raeven Okay. I literally just thought about that this morning. She was like, Wait, I’m not going to rush myself to do that. So, I mean, at this point, my process and like my next steps in my life now that for 4/20/24 it feels right to everybody, is that I’m going to wait till the city give them the money to like give anything, obviously, because, you know, we know how that goes, but we’ll have a little lead time. But I don’t have any experience like booking like vendors and food trucks and like all this kind of stuff. And I’m like willing to like, get to an event planner or something like that. But I guess, like, my question is, what are your thoughts? Because I feel like for 4/20/24, we have the possibility of getting city hall, which I think would be really cool. We also have the possibility of working with the people to get something smaller and things like that. But like in terms of just like general feelings and thoughts, like what makes a good event that people are going to want to come to and like support and things like that, knowing that it’s a 4/20 event, in Oakland, things like that.
[00:06:36] Salwa I have a lot of thoughts on this. But before we dive into that, are you still doing your theme of picture me rolling?
[00:06:44] Raeven Yes and no.
[00:06:44] Salwa Sorry for the listeners benefit, can you please describe what that original theme was?
[00:06:49] Raeven Yeah. So the original theme was Picture Me Rolling, which was a rolling competition where people would participate in three different rounds of like rolling papers, maybe some sort of pimp like Swisher like situation, and then maybe some like weed situation, the winner would get something fun, like a gift card or something like that. So we are into that. But I really have been feeling I wanted to be more music focused, right? But that was for the August event when it was like it would be like summer festival time. So I’m really like honestly very fluid in terms of what the theme is. I want it to be a place, especially if it’s 4/20, I want it to mirror Hippie Hill a little bit, right? Where in terms of the fact that people just come and chill right and like smoke. So it’s like what’s kind of happening? Something needs to be happening. But what’s happening, I’m kind of open to I don’t know.
[00:07:40] Salwa Okay, a handful of things. Number one, you were talking about having an event planner. I would avoid that if you can. Okay. If you could get, like, part time help or a little bit of help here and there, because with the budget that you have. Am I allowed to say the budget on air? So Raeven has $50,000 that’s available to her to throw this event, which sounds like a ton of money. But unfortunately, once you start getting into it, it gets chipped away at really quick. So my role, I feel like for Raeven right now is to make sure that she’s protecting every single dollar that she can. Right. Because it’s going to get eaten away with all sorts of things between insurance and porta potties and security and this and that. All the things bracelets, rentals of tables and chairs, like all those things, are going to start chipping away at it. And so I’m here to just draw the line up like free. Free. Free, free. Like, try to get everything you can for free. So start it with city property and expecting the city, since it’s their grant to not charge you for it, I think is a fair request. I think it’s important to kind of negotiate that process now, even if you don’t have the money. Right. So sit down with. I don’t know who’s running the event department right now. In the past, it was a woman by the name of Sammie Roberts. But I don’t. She left the city, I believe. And I don’t know who took her place. I think his name is Jim.
[00:09:04] Raeven Yes, I’ve been talking with Jim.
[00:09:06] Salwa Jim McElveen.
[00:09:07] Raeven Yes. Okay. He is the guy he so nice, been very helpful.
[00:09:11] Salwa The nicest human.
[00:09:13] Raeven So so nice. Very helpful. He gave me a whole, like, planning guide and stuff like that. So it doesn’t seem like they’re wanting to charge me. I only talked to him about City Hall. I do want to talk to him about smaller places that might be free as well.
[00:09:24] Salwa So I’m going to give you a task. Okay. Write this down. Get an appointment with Jim.
[00:09:29] Raeven Okay.
[00:09:30] Salwa And sit down with him like face to face and explain to him, like, hey, like, my 50 grand is going to get eaten up really, really fast. I want a free venue. Can you show me my options and then guide him as to what you’re trying to do? Try to say like you want minimal spend on extra resources. So if there’s a park with bathrooms, great. If there’s a park that has power and water that you could draw from, great. If there’s this that like, you know what I mean? And start calling all of your options. Okay? And then go from there because that will determine what your budget will overall be. And Raeven, I can send you one of my old budgets for an event so you could get all the line items, but don’t be scared. It’s a lot.
[00:10:18] Raeven I’ll just send it back to you if it’s too much.
[00:10:19] Salwa Yeah. You’re like, rejected.
[00:10:21] Raeven No, I’m used to it. Okay. So I have had a little bit of conversation with Rebecca Kaplan’s team, so the overall feel of that conversation felt like they are interested in making Oakland feel like the place that weed things happen again, right? Because I feel like it used to be the place, right? Big thing for people like you.
[00:10:41] Salwa For the benefit of the listeners, she’s talking about our council member, Rebecca Kaplan. And so Rebecca Kaplan has in the past championed the cannabis industry. So it’s very fitting that she feels that way.
[00:10:52] Raeven Yeah, like she wants to do it, like they want it to be a place again, right? They are very interested in an event, and so they were having a conversation, I believe like Amber and Cheney or something like that. And they had mentioned that I was doing an event in Oakland, so I had a conversation with her team. They have expressed interest in supporting the event, in particular in terms of the budget, perhaps supporting more for the security, providing financial support for that, and then also some potential partnerships like visit Oakland and things like that. So that kind of happening on the side. They also talk about one thing that was important because they talked about how City Hall was a place that they wanted to activate, but they also talked about the Oakland Arena, Oakland Coliseum being a place that they want to activate. We are not obviously ready for that, but I thought it was cool that that was something they were mentioning. What I thought of.
[00:11:38] Salwa The only thing with a place like that where it stops kind of making sense is that look like your audience is participating in 4/20, like they want to go do other stuff that day, and so they’re going to swing by your event, do the thing and then continue on. But having it downtown is great because then they can hit up Bloom and then they can hit up Cookies and they can head up like whatever. And it’s just they could go to Berkeley, they could go wherever and they could hop on BART and go to the city. Like it starts making sense. Once you start going like further out, it’s going to get a little bit more difficult for people to weave it into their flow further east.
[00:12:13] Raeven Once you get like, yeah, I agree.
[00:12:15] Salwa The only other thing and I’m only saying this because just based off of experience, the things that I would count on Rebecca Kaplan of Visit Oakland of those things for is promotion I would asterisk it in your light item like hey maybe Rebecca’s team can help with security but expecting a financial contribution from them is going to be a tall order. It’s just I wouldn’t plan on it.
[00:12:41] Raeven I feel it. So you’re going to send me your budget. But I feel like the security is like the line item that I am most, like, stressed out about a little bit because I feel like if it correct to say that there are requirements around that, if I would have it at a place like City Hall, like do they have a required number of security people we need to have or they have to have a gun or something like that or not have a gun.
[00:13:04] Salwa So will you do me a favor in your notes with talking to Jim? Ask him what the requirements are, because it could very well be volunteers in a security shirt that are coordinated and have walkie talkies, or if they have to be like licensed and whatever, or can you do a mishmash of like, okay, you need licensed security guards at these entry points, But like overall, you could just have your own volunteer security throughout the event. I don’t know what the answer to that is, but Jim would.
[00:13:37] Raeven Okay.
[00:13:38] Salwa The only other thing when you were talking about Raeven is you were talking about I like to have my events have a hook of some sort. I like there to be a theme and I like there to be like a reason why. Because if you’re just another smoke out on 4/20 competing with all the other things, it starts becoming less attractive because you’re just getting mishmashed in the shuffle of everybody else. That’s why I liked it when you were like, Oh, picture me rolling. I was like, Oh, that’s so cute. I love that. And like, Hey, you’ve got a little bit of a budget. Like maybe it’s 500 bucks for the winner, or maybe it’s like, who can roll the biggest joint? You know what I mean? But you’ve got a lot of creative leeway there. And I know I said this to you before, and I’m sorry if because, like, I feel like you don’t like this idea, but I love this idea. If I would if you had do it at City Hall, get people to come up and show up with their, like, classic cars and it matches the theme. It’s picture me rolling, rolling in with a low rider, like it matches to me. And then you have another hook of bringing people in because they’re not just coming for the weed or the competition, they’re coming to look at cars.
[00:14:44] Raeven So my question to you, because what that made me think of and what we ultimately ended up figuring out we need to do is definitely work with some sort of promotion team. There are a number of promotion teams like that in my circle. People like go to their parties in Oakland. There’s like traps all there’s like wine and bow ties, There’s all these people. Have you worked with promoters for any of your event? Because I feel like regular industry, like alcohol industry, right? If you have a club you work with promoters, they might get the door and they might get some of the bar right.
[00:15:14] Salwa Yeah.
[00:15:15] Raeven I can’t give them the bar. I can give them my weed sales because that’s illegal. So like I’ve worked with them before, like promoters or anything like that or way around just working with general promoters and stuff like that.
[00:15:26] Salwa Yeah. So back in 2010 I did the first ever and this is lost in history now, but I promise it’s true and you could Google it. We did the first ever cannabis street fair at Oakland City Hall and we blocked off like the whole road around. And that’s a used sticker farmer who wasn’t a sticker farmer. He was an independent printer and a sign printer. And what our deal was is that he was basically doing a street team and, you know, those like little expo signs that you see all over, they’re like pinned up on street signs or pinned up on telephone poles. And I hired him to do that. And then I asked him to print me a billboard. And at the time, I knew an owner who had a building that like abutted the 880, which is a major freeway here in California, and I basically put it on his building. I makeshifted a billboard. So yeah, budget conscious, and that was my first ever promoter that I ever hired and it was fruitful. It worked really well. After that. The other things that I did was I tested out other billboards and I tested out radio. And the way I did this was I did billboard first and I let it run for a couple weeks and I watched the ticket sales and nothing happened. And then I ran radio, which I know people are like radio’s dead, who listens to radio? But then I ran radio and then my traffic came in and then I can actually quantifiably see that okay, people do still listen to radio. So I did do a radio ad.
[00:17:12] Raeven My question is for the promoter. Did you pay him a flat fee or did you pay him a rate based on some sort of like performance metric or something like that?
[00:17:22] Salwa Oh, God. This is like 13 years ago now. I think I paid him a fee, but I also don’t think he was advancing them out.
[00:17:29] Raeven Okay. And then radio, I like radio.
[00:17:30] Salwa Yeah. Radio’s. It could be, like, less expensive than you think. Especially if you come in with your own audio. And, like we all know people in the Bay Area who could crank out a radio message for you, right? And then do it that way. But like, the best way I would say is to always co-promote with people, co-promote with the brands that you carry, co-promote with people who do a lowrider event, co-promote with like whatever and just bring as many people in as possible and ask them to help push it.
[00:18:02] Raeven Okay. So that’s helpful right now. I think being creative around promotion is important. I really like the idea of radio before I. Within the cannabis industry, I worked at Pandora Radio. Right. So it’s all of radio, even digital. But you know, you. Okay, So then my question is, when we were talking about event planners, right. You probably shouldn’t get one because out money, you don’t got a lot of it. But then what is your experience like booking like food trucks and stuff like that? Like, do you just call them, do you just wing it?
[00:18:31] Salwa Once you sit down with Jim and you have a defined area, that’s when you start plotting and mapping out like where things are going to be. What attractions do you want to have? Do you want to have a stage? How much space do you get? And from there can really dictate how many spots you have. Do you have places for four food trucks? Is a three food trucks? Is it like a whole row of food trucks, like all of these things? Right. And I just straight up cold called once I had it and I pitched them, I’d just be like, Hey, it’s 420. You know what that means? We all get the munchies. And who doesn’t love a taco? But I only have two spots and I’m looking for Mexican food. I’m looking for, like, a fried chicken sandwich. So, like, wah wah wah. You know, and I just, like, pitch them. And people are cool. They know what’s up. They know that, like, it’s in their best interest. I know Habana hibachi. It’s so funny. It’s like we have this relationship with them, which for the listeners benefit. Habana Hibachi is like a Benihana on wheels, and I own obviously Cookies Oakland. And so whenever we have a promotion or a thing that day or whatever, they’re watching our social media feeds and so they’re pulling up every time we have something. So like they’re totally taking advantage of it. But it’s great because their food is so delicious that they draw their own crowd. So it becomes this like mutual beneficial relationship. So they’re downtown all the time. Another way to think about it too, is the city of Oakland has a list of all the different food trucks because they all have to pull permits. And so if you talk to Nancy, who’s awesome, so Nancy Marcus with the City of Oakland deals with the cannabis businesses, but she also deals with the food trucks. So if you sit down with her like, hey, this is what I’m planning on doing, are there any really good mom and pop ones? Do you think that would benefit from this? Can you put in a good word or you know, who’s the easiest to deal with? Like she’ll be able to guide you.
[00:20:31] Raeven Okay, dope. And then, yeah, that about Habana Hibachi. My husband can’t come home from, like, a drink out with his friends without having that rice, so.
[00:20:40] Salwa It’s so good. The garlic butter is just like they’re like, Oh, what do you want? I was like, I just want a thing to put the garlic butter on. Like, I don’t care what it is. Okay, cool.
[00:20:49] Raeven So it’s food trucks. It was security. It was promotion.
[00:20:55] Salwa So the one thing I would spend a little bit of money on is drawing out your maps, like getting a very good and clear map together I think is very critical. And I think it’s actually required by the state. So you’re going to need to like, do and submit that. And so trying to find somebody that can help you with that, ask Jim because I bet he has like files that like you don’t have to recreate the wheel. It’s like you could probably like just give it to somebody like move some stuff around.
[00:21:24] Raeven You know, he’s given the PDF version, but is it a graphic designer? It’s not like an architect. Or what kind of skilled person would you say?
[00:21:33] Salwa A drafter.
[00:21:34] Raeven A drafter. Okay.
[00:21:36] Salwa Yeah. So it’s somebody who’s familiar with AutoCAD and likely events like I think you could find somebody. If you can’t find somebody, let me know. I’ve got a friend that I’m sure I can hook you up with. But yeah, it’s just like a drafter, like a guy who knows how to do AutoCAD because it’s everything’s just scale, right? So all pop ups are ten by ten. So it’s like you start kind of plotting out where things are going to go and then you can figure out where your porta potties are, where your stage is. If you want to have the cars and if you want to have a table for rolling, if you want to have like any entertainment. But I like the idea of having a theme and having a hook. Why should somebody go off of their regular 4/20 trick or treating trail to come to downtown Oakland.
[00:22:18] Raeven Will come hang out with us like it definitely needs some sort of look, this is helpful, right? I think the biggest thing I need to do is number one, obviously wait for Oakland. In the meantime, meeting with Jim is going to be my natural next step because he’s going to really dictate not only where it’s going to be, but like what’s covered and things like that. Because the next step is really security, you know, talking about the budget, like, I need to get down with the budget.
[00:22:44] Salwa Yes and no. I think that one of the things you need to do is figure out what you want to do. Right? Because if your footprint is this large, then you’re going to need way more security. If your footprint is right in front of city hall, you need way less security. So like, you have to start deciding on kind of what you want to have happen, what your vision is.
[00:23:08] Raeven Oh, question. So one vision is picture me rolling, one vision is like a music performance situation. So what is your experience with booking talent and especially like local talent, right? Like one of the rappers that I really love to come is Lil Kayla. So what’s been your experience working with the cannabis events and working with like artists and approaching them and all that kind of stuff?
[00:23:31] Salwa You know, I’ve been fortunate enough to like have friends that kind of do it for me or like, for instance, Outside Lands, like they get everybody. So it’s like, I didn’t even have to think about anything. But I do not. But do you have a mutual friend? Do you have somebody that like, does book talent, that type of a thing or honestly, like just hit them up, Just be like, Hey, I have a budget. I think like that’s the major thing. Like everybody’s down to do stuff if they know they’re going to get paid. So it’s like a matter of just like trying to negotiate with them. The thing is, is like the more people you put in the middle, the like more it’s eating out your budget. So if you could just like drop in her DMs, see her at a show, like you’ve got so much time, like try to, like, be like, hey, like, I want a grant. Like I got this money to do this thing. Like, I really want you to be a part of it. What’s your fee? Like, can we book you for 4/20?
[00:24:24] Raeven Yes. Tell the story.
[00:24:26] Salwa Tell the story. Because it’s one thing where you’re like, Hey, I’m Raeven. Like, you don’t know who I am. I was thinking about doing a thing that she’s going, Hey, whatever. But if you come out, it being like, Oh, hey, I’m not wasting your time, I can actually afford to have you. Like, what’s your fee? Like, we really want to do this thing for the community. Are you down? That’s a different narrative.
[00:24:43] Raeven Mm hmm. And I totally agree. And it’s. Yeah, it’s definitely coming at it like that. Then I think now that it’s 4/20, we have more time, like you said, to find the talent, because that’s what I’m debating between. And I don’t think they need to be mutually exclusive. Right. It might be like a rolling competition if I can only afford one performer. So it’ll be like one performer.
[00:25:00] Salwa Yeah. I don’t see them as mutually exclusive. I see them, like, coexisting also, too. Like, regardless of the event, you have to have music. Like you’re going to need some sort of a DJ or playlist or sound system or something. List for Jim. Okay, ask what the sound system is that he has that you can pull from and like how much it is, but like pressure him that you’re assuming it’s free, right? And then stage, tables, chairs, anything like that that the city has. And then in addition asked Jim how he books talent because they have to book for the jazz festival and pride I think they book for pride so like they do have connections.
[00:25:40] Raeven Yeah they probably mix together. So yeah, probably things are all in competition. Local artist situation like for sure.
[00:25:49] Salwa Totally. And then that’s the other thing too. And this is where it starts to get a little difficult is like at a certain point you’re going to need tables or need chairs, or you need something that sets a vibe. You’re going to need decor, you’re going to need all that type of stuff, which unfortunately is like expensive and can get expensive.
[00:26:06] Raeven Yeah, I mean, I’m hoping that when we talked about like sponsorships and stuff like that and like how to get those together and how to frame that. And I think I mean, obviously we’re not in the season of pitch 4/20 sponsorships for 2024, so I have a little bit of time to think about it. But just talking about how to like, frame the story, like, you know, help me cover the talent or sponsors or say my background in advertising and stuff like that. That was the biggest thing as well, because. I have agreed to allow social equity brands to participate in this event because we’ll be selling that actually. But I don’t have to offer that space at no cost to other brands that want to participate. So I’m hoping that we can pull in a little bit more to cover talent and all that thing.
[00:26:48] Salwa Yeah, and I think like what’s beautiful about that is that like, voices are stronger together, right? So when you have all of these social equity brands who are like all, hey, like we’re coming together and we want to do this event, hey, bigger brand, hey, bigger, whatever. Like we want your support here and we want you to support social equity in this space or in this way, it becomes a little bit more difficult for them to say no when like all the brands are kind of banded together.
[00:27:16] Raeven Well, yeah, I agree. And it’s not a lot of times you get, you know, tangible ways to support social equity.
[00:27:22] Salwa Yeah. The only thing that I want to make sure you understand is that most brands decide what their budget is for the following year at around Q3 of the year before. If you’re not having these conversations, like Kiva is financially disciplined. They have a budget, they stick to it. If you’re not on their agenda the year prior, it’s not going to happen.
[00:27:53] Raeven Oh, okay. That makes sense.
[00:27:55] Salwa Especially like the bigger companies that like have corporate governance and like have a board that approves a budget and things like that. So you really want to start networking. And I think always the best place to start is what brands do you sell, what brands you have a relationship with? I would also try to figure out through your network what brands outside of California want to get into California and offer your event as a way to participate. I would ask Headset and BDS if you have a contact over there, if they have suggestions on what brands are doing really well and they have that raw data because it might not be who we think it is, right? It might be a totally different brand that’s quiet, but they’re crushing it. Like, to me, Raw Garden has always been quiet, but like their numbers are just like through the roof. Right? That’s a different pitch than somebody else. So you know what I mean?
[00:28:54] Raeven Thank you. Okay, that makes sense. I’ll wait. So when you come up with pricing or new deals and partnerships and stuff like that, is it arbitrary, like are you comparing it to like an event that’s the size of your event, maybe like it costs $2,000 to get a space or are you like, but I’m kind of pulling that out of the air. So it’s like.
[00:29:15] Salwa It’s funny you say that because I actually like just finished. It took me two months to write this one podcast episode. It was like how to calculate your hourly rate, which is like, I know not what you’re asking, but I think it’s kind of the same school of thought where you need to be guided by exactly how much money you need. You need to figure out what do you need to pull this off? What is the bare frickin minimum in order for you to pull this off and then start making moves from there, and then you could start being like, Okay, well, what if I make a 5% profit or 10% profit? Okay, look at my math. This is how much real estate I have to give. I could do one key presenter here. I could do one thing here. I could do one thing here. So you’re not just like arbitrarily be like, Oh, I need five people at ten grand when you don’t. And unless you do that math. Let’s say somebody is like, okay, so I’m going to give you $2,000, $5,000 or $7,000, and then all of a sudden you realize, Oh, I covered my expenses so I can move forward. But until I know my expenses that I like, it’s either you’re going to kill it or you’re going to make it. So it’s like you’ve got to start with mission number one is figure out what you want to do, what your hook is like, what’s going to be this fun thing, like how this event is going to stand out in the sea of events at 4/20, number one. Number two, you meet with Jim and figure out how much stuff you could get for free. And then from there, figure out what your footprint is. So then you could start charting your expenses like security and all the things that you need. Then once you have a budget, then you realize you’re like, okay, I absolutely need $70,000. The city is giving me 50, I’ve got to raise 20 or else this event’s dead, you know what I mean? And then you start lasering in on, okay, I’ve got to cover that 20. And then if you make a little bit more than that, great. And you could save it for next year, you know what I mean? And if you don’t and you know, you’ve got decisions to make because too, nothing’s worse than convincing one brand like, hey, like be my key sponsor. And they’re like, okay. And they give you that ten grand, but no one else signs on and you can’t do the event and you spent their money, you know what I mean? Then you can’t come back to them again. So you got to be a really good steward of that investment and you got to be a really good steward of that money. But the only way to do it, girl, is you gotta know your expenses. You got to figure out how much it’s going to cost. That’s a total pain.
[00:31:46] Raeven Well, that’s the scariest part of everything, right? How much does it really cost? Okay. I feel like this should be a part one, I feel like actually a miniseries. Because I’m definitely going to need to.
[00:31:56] Salwa Of course.
[00:31:57] Raeven Talk to Jim and get my costs. I’m going to want to talk real numbers for sure. And kind of like their feedback on, you know, just making sure that city hall is the place to have it, which is like, I really like it. You’re talking about why it’s okay, I like it, but if it’s not going to work, but we have the budget and stuff like that. So yeah.
[00:32:15] Salwa I think it can be totally great. I think it’d be super great. I think you could make a really cool event on the grass right there. They’ve got like auditorium. And the best thing about doing it there is I think they have additional resources, like a sound system, like tables, chairs, like these things. But you need to figure out from him like what it is you could tap into and ask him his security requirements and things like that. But absolutely like happy to help. And it’s really funny because in this podcast episode that like, Oh my gosh, I almost like threw out the whole podcast because I couldn’t get through writing it, but like, I had to, like, finish it, you know, And actually I wanted to record it today. I was like, there’s something about us as creatives that makes it really uncomfortable to look at the money part and really dissect it and really like just confront it head on. But if and when you do, there’s so much power in knowing because then you can negotiate. And if somebody is like, oh, seven grand’s too much, I could do five. You can know, no, you cannot, because I don’t have room or yes, absolutely because I’m covering it here and I’m going to be fine here and this is going to be fine. So there’s so much power in going through that exercise.
[00:33:30] Raeven I agree. I think like even like in my personal life and stuff and like, there’s just so much shame around money and like, anxiety and stuff. And so it’s like you don’t want to know. You just kind of want to hope it’s there, you know, or whatever. So it’s just like, I think like, yeah, like looking at the number, even though it’s very overwhelming, even being like, Yeah, I need $85,000 or less of it. I only have 50. I need 35,000. Sounds crazy to me, but it’s like, at least I know now. Right. And now I know. And I’m not wasting people’s money. I’m not burning relationships. I’m not, you know, because I didn’t want to look at the numbers. So, yeah, it’s tough, but it’s important.
[00:34:04] Salwa I hear you. Trust me, I’m like, sitting here going like, Yes, look at the numbers. But it’s scary for me, too, in my own life and what I do and like my personal stuff. It’s like I’d rather go to the dentist forever than, like, have to deal with accounting and budgeting. But it’s like this literally like the knowledge sets you free.
[00:34:22] Raeven Yeah. Especially as the business owner.
[00:34:25] Salwa Oh, my gosh. Thank you, Raeven, for allowing me to be a part of this journey. I cannot wait to see the type of event you throw. I can’t wait to hear more. You are absolutely more than welcome to come back with you. We can talk about anything you want. Just holler when you’re ready. Can’t wait for the next steps.
[00:34:44] Raeven I’m so excited. Thank you so much for talking to me and just giving me all of your advice and just guidance. It’s helpful. We’re just starting out with this and you know, I will be calling you.
[00:34:53] Salwa So absolutely, I’m here to talk. So this is literally what I’m focusing on in my next season of my career is like literally helping people full time. So I’m here.
[00:35:03] Raeven Congratulations on the podcast and killing it. There’s so many cannabis podcasts, which is cool. Like, I think I should be a lot, but I think yours is, like I said, from someone who actually like can give advice, right? There’s a lot of people giving advice and good about bad, whatever, but like your podcast and like really actionable stuff for people who are in the industry, people who have known what’s going on. So I think it’s awesome and fabulous.
[00:35:24] Salwa Thank you. That means a lot. I really appreciate it. All right. Well, I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day. Thank you, classmates, for joining us for another episode of the High Class podcast. Until next time, keep on pursuing the high life. Thank you for listening to High Class. Please be sure to share the podcast and leave a review. If you’re ready to build a cannabis business that you can be proud of, start here today and head over to highsalwa.com to sign up for my newsletter. See you there.
