Meet The Team
The Smoke Session Series
We sat down with the UNI team for a little smoke session. We wanted to go over some of their favorite things in our new Smoke Sessions Series, where we catch up with the team or team members and talk all things cannabis and canna-biz. Roll up and join us!
Meet The Team
Des, CEO and Chief Experience Officer for all things UNI hype.
Yanka, brand ambassador and UNI #1 fan.
Ari, Office Manager extraordinaire.
Fran, Social Media Maven and your favorite cannabis chef.
Conner, Special Events Assistant bringing the party every time.
Nene, getting the UNI goods where they need to go.
Rae, COO and the glue to UNI operations.
Question & Answer
How do you like to consume?
Des: Light it up!
Yanka: Smoke weed everyday!
Ari: Smoking and Edibles.
Fran: Smoking, papers only. Edibles if i’m feeling it or in good company.
Conner: Smoking.
Nene: Smoking, or eating edibles.
Rae: I like to smoke, edibles arent really my thing.
Savory or Sweet?
Des: Sweet, infused honey and sugar.
Yanka: Brownie me!
Ari: I like them all.
Fran: Savory all day. I do infused cooking, you can find me chef-ing it up.
Conner: Savory, infused Mac me please!
Nene: Sweet edibles for me.
Rae: If I had to choose, it would be sweet, but you can catch me smoking instead.
Blunts, bongs, dabs or joints?
Des: Spliff please, don't forget the grabba and a UNI paper.
Yanka: A nice spliff sprinkled with grabba.
Ari: Joints, please, no grabba.
Fran: Joints, but keep it extra light on the grabba.
Conner: Blunts. Backwoods Dark Stout.
Nene: Blunts, pass the Backwoods!
Rae: Joints; all grabba. Blunts when the situation calls for it.
Favorite strain for a night in?
Des: Anything GMO.
Yanka: Any hybrid or indica does the job for a lazy night in.
Ari: Slurricane.
Fran: Blue Zushi.
Conner: Runtz.
Nene: Anything Indica to mellow me out.
Rae: Anything high Indica!
Favorite strain for a weekend out?
Des: MAC 1 or Tropicana and I’m ready to go.
Yanka: Sativas that are sweet like candy.
Ari: Rainbow Belts.
Fran: Milly Meds ZOAP
Conner: Skittlez Cake.
Nene: Street Heat.
Rae: I love a blue zushi taste, I can go all weekend with something equally as tasty.
What keeps you coming back to cannabis?
Des: My ADHD is the most important reason. I don't take traditional medication so cannabis helps. My love of the plant medicinally, socially, and how it builds community by how it can bring us all together.
Yanka: Cannabis has helped me control my mental health. It helps me focus on my goals in a relaxed state of mind. For that, i’ll always come back to cannabis.
Ari: Because it grounds me, and helps me keep in tune with myself.
Fran: I take SSNRIs and the cannabis keeps some of the side effects and the need for a higher dosage at bay also with the more i learned i was able to get off sleeping medication and manage my insomnia
Conner: It allows me to wind down mentally, and relaxes my muscles.
Nene: Living and surviving with an eating disorder; cannabis has always helped me with anxiety and opening up my apetite.
Rae: I struggle with ADHD and have my entire life. I have taken prescription medication since I was a child and did not like how it made me feel. When I got older, I discovered cannabis helped me in so many ways. I was able to learn about self medicating in a way that worked for me.
Why is educating and elevating important to U(NI)?
Des: Because I feel like educating the youth about safe and accurate cannabis consumption information and usage is incredibly important. Honest education is not seen often in the social world or spoken about. Many youths are at risk of not being safe and are misinformed when it comes to cannabis use, so it is our job to educate and end the stigma so they don’t have to deal with what we have dealt with.
Yanka: Educating our people about the benefits of cannabis is essential for breaking the stigma. Most people still believe that cannabis is a gateway drug and that people who use cannabis are mostly unproductive.
When we study Cannabis, we find that it is a natural plant with many beneficial properties.
Ari: I want everyone to experience the amazing gifts this plant has to offer without being under the shadow of a stigma that demonizes the plant and the user.
Fran: Breaking the stigma is my main motivator because for a very long time, due to stigma, did not consume freely or without anxiety around my use. This entire brand is about breaking the stigma and educating people about misconceptions and how the plant does more good than what any fear-mongering ad we grew up with wants us to believe.
Conner: We can spread awareness about how weed isn't harmful and is a helpful medicine outside of heavy anti-depressant and opioids. Educating people is important to us because it isn't just about plant medicine or accessories; it's also showing the younger generation what a women-owned and run business looks like.
Nene: The conversation starts with U and I. Without bringing awareness to the plant that offers so many amazing benefits, we are stuck continually being labeled as “pot heads” and in the shadows.
Rae: It’s necessary for us to understand we have options for self-care and mental health. Not only is it important to change the stigma, but it is also important to have these conversations to normalize the right to alternative medicine. We are not drug addicts or gangsters for choosing to medicate differently. We are people who have seen and felt the positive effects of cannabis. We tasked ourselves with the job of elevating what the new narrative of cannabis culture looks like.
