More Flowerful: Jen Seo

With her favorite strains being old school sativas like Trainwreck, Durban Poison, Island Sweet Skunk, you can see why Jen Seo is so energized towards the future of cannabis. A future full of hope and opportunity. “I like uppers. I like to be uplifted and energized. Some of those strains, when you take a fat rip, you go on a hike; yeah, it feels great,” laughs the self-proclaimed Sativa Diva as she discusses her time in the world of cannabis.

Jen Seo is the Director of Marketing and Partnerships at NABIS. NABIS is one of the biggest distributors in California. Their partners include Buddies, GRAV, and Traditional, just to name a few of their heavy hitters. Jen helps brands and partners with business development and growth. Her journey started at working in a dispensary way back in the California medical cannabis days. “I fell in love with the plant and got to work with a lot of great people. And the shop that I was at was pretty education based,” Seo says about the dispensary that gave her the foot into the cannabis industry door.

The cannabis game hasn’t been easy for Seo, but it has been rewarding. She’s seen many challenges along the way to becoming a Director at one of the biggest cannabis distros in the entire industry. Asked about challenges faced, the Director of Marketing responds “Like when you're a woman working in the industry? It's across the board [how women] are disrespected. There shouldn't be preconceived notions. If you're doing that, you're writing off potential talent, collaboration, partnership.” Continuing on the disrespect of women, Jen says “It's very much a feminine plant. It's very much a feminine thing to also smoke and do all these things. So I think there's a lot of opportunity for growth.”

In addition to helping brands build, Jen is also full of helpful stoner hacks. Her favorite one is using a kitchen knife to break down weed, versus a grinder. “If we don't have a grinder, you just pull out a kitchen knife and a board. It's actually better because when you use a grinder, [the flower] gets stuck in the little teeth.” The Director of Marketing also likes to mix Mezcal with a CANN or Artet, to get the best of both the alcoholic and cannabis beverage world. “It's so good. I like it. I know people are like, “Oh, I'm afraid of being crossed.” For me, like I’ve figured out my formula.”

Jen Seo’s idea of “more flowerful” is being more open as a human, like flowers blooming. “I can be defensive at times, or really hardheaded and stubborn; but a lot of my best experiences and even getting into cannabis, it was having an open heart, an open mind. It's led me to a lot of great things and meeting awesome people. And I think that's just something that you constantly have to remind yourself of,” she says. Jen’s most flowerful moments revolve around collaborating with other brands in the space. “I think this industry requires a lot of collaborative work. It's centralized around community.”

In the future, Jen sees full federal legalization across the board. She also hopes for more opportunities for beaten down people and communities. “I hope that there's more opportunity for a more equitable industry where there's more opportunity for BIPOC brands to thrive and succeed in this space. Cause it's extremely difficult with high taxes and everything.”

Follow Jen on Instagram here.

Credits:

• Photography: Jessica Miller
• Agent: Dara Siegel
• Hair & Makeup: Shideh Kafei
• Wardrobe: Ashley Guerzon
• Props Stylist: Shelby Kay
• Production: Shabnam Azadeh