Happy Birthday to Our Magical CEO!

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37 was an epic year for me. I had opportunities bigger than the dreams I dreamed growing up. I grew as a leader in ways I didn’t know I had the capacity for. I expanded my heart with more empathy and kindness than I thought I had. I laughed more, listened deeper, and experienced more joy than a younger me could have imagined. This life I lead every day is a gift that exceeds my expectations.

Today I turn 38. I find myself in board rooms with my team feeling older and wiser than ever before, but there’s one piece of wisdom I learned in the last year that shines bright in my mind. It comes from my one on one chat with Whoopi Goldberg: “Birthdays are great. I celebrate them for all of my friends who didn’t get to have one.” Read more →

Women Grow: Skills for the Modern Business Woman Recap

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We kicked off Women’s History Month at our Social Media Unicorn headquarters with our monthly Women Grow event. This month we focused on ‘Skills for the Modern Business Woman: Taxes, Staffing and Power Brows. The intimate affair led to great conversation between the guest and the speakers, while the power brows tutorial was a huge hit amongst everyone in the crowd!

What We Learned

Our first speaker was Natalie Rasmussen, tax senior manager at California Cannabis CPA. She provided us with a brief and informative discussion about the new tax code for cannabis companies and even reminded all of us about the upcoming filing deadline. Thanks for the reminder, Natalie! Next, we dived into the world of staffing with Valery Godina, owner of Full Moon Harvest. She gave us a breakdown on licensing, and knowing how to pick the right candidate. (Hint, it’s not always about looking good on paper.)

Finally, makeup artist Angel Bello treated us to a tutorial on how to create the perfect “power brows’ for your face. Altitude Products Director of Nevada, Melissa Romero volunteered to be the eyebrow model. Angel also answered numerous questions from the audience and taught us that our eyebrows were sisters, not twins. As the tutorial came to end, members of the audience were also able to get their eyebrows done by the magical makeup unicorn.

Similar to every Women Grow event, the evening included light mingling and snacks. In addition to networking opportunities and crudités, guests were treated to a complimentary gift from Bella’s ultra premium CBD infused bath line. We hope our visitors ended the night with their relaxing Bella bath bomb, bath salts and body cream.

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3…2…1…ICYMI: How to Build Rocket ships

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When Krista Whitley first took on the Las Vegas Chapter of Women Grow she had her work cut out for her.  However, if you have been around Krista you know there’s no problem too big for her to solve. Passionate about re-igniting a flame in Las Vegas, her mission as a Market Leader was to build a thriving community. Fast forward a year; here we are with Altitude Products very own CEO, Krista, speaking at the Woman Grow 2018 Leadership Summit. Krista and her Unicorns are now on a rocket ship gaining more and more altitude. Check out a recap of Krista’s Speech and learn how to build a rocket ship with her three secrets below.

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Four Sparkling Gems Becoming a Unicorn has Taught Me

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Hello everyone! It is officially halfway through the first month of the year. I have a feeling that 2018 is going to be yet another busy year. How was your 2017? I know that mine was a bit turbulent. This year, I am committed to making the most of my year; I plan to make it as productive and insightful as possible. Hold me accountable, okay? With that being said, I promised myself that this year is going to be the year that I start learning again.

Starting a new job and career path is definitely helping me to achieve this goal. The past few years after graduating from university I have been relatively stagnant, but thanks to my role here at Social Media Unicorn, I am constantly applying myself and learning important lessons, both from a business perspective and general life lessons. Here are 4 things that I may have known, but only really realized in the past two months.

1. There Is a Learning Curve. Things have always come easily to me; I never had to work in school to understand concepts. This makes starting a new path that you have very little experience in difficult at times as an adult. I didn’t think I could “get it” the first two weeks, at all. I was genuinely worried. However, everyone kept telling me to stop stressing and understand that it’s going to take a moment for it to set in. I’m not accustomed to a learning curve – I know it exists, however, I never really experienced it to the full degree until recently. So with that being said, don’t be like me. Don’t stress out when you don’t understand something right away. Keep trying, eventually, chances are it will make sense.

2. Collaboration is Key. Enough said. When you get stuck, don’t let your ego get the best of you. Ask for help, trust in others, believe in the process. We can travel so much farther and accomplish exponentially more when we work as a team rather than struggling along by ourselves. (Read about my experience with this lesson… here!)

3. Mistakes Happen. I sort of pride myself on being a perfectionist. I either apply myself all the way or not at all. When I do apply myself and I make a mistake, I tend to take it a little hard. I came from a pretty intense household and you don’t make mistakes, so much to my surprise, when I made a mistake here… it wasn’t the end of the world, for once! The main key is owning up to your mistakes. In doing so, I was able to receive the criticism I needed to reevaluate and move forward; I was able to “let it go” at a much faster rate than I would normally for making mistakes. This ties back to my previous discussions about support systems. It is so crucial to surround yourself with people who want to build you up, and not tear you down.

4. Open Up More.  Sometimes it is difficult to open up to others because the feeling of rejection really does sting. Even in a work setting, opening up with your ideas can be scary because you worry that your ideas are going to be discarded. No one likes these feelings. However, if you don’t face your fears, you will never know what sort of collaboration can come from it. Opening up has allowed for me and my colleagues to bounce ideas off of one another and create some really interesting concepts!

I know these seem like simple concepts, but the more you really set your intentions on them and incorporate them into your day, you’ll be surprised at how differently your days flow! What are your thoughts? Do you struggle with any of these issues like me? Let’s connect in the comments! 💕

Collaboration Really is Key

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Hi all! I’m back and ready for another installment full of encouragement! I notice that when we discuss our journeys, especially our trials and tribulations, we as humans are able to connect and relate to one another on a different level. Vulnerability is difficult. New avenues are difficult. Navigating this world, in general, is definitely difficult. However, it’s evident that when we band together, often through sharing some of these obstacles and moments of weakness, we not only recognize similarities between individuals but are also able to understand and relate to one another better.

As a relatively new unicorn and a definite novice when it comes to marketing, I have encountered my fair share of obstacles within the past month trying to navigate my new career path. With anything new, there will more likely than not be a learning curve. I definitely hit a learning curve about two weeks ago.

Everything was moving along just fine; I was starting to get the hang of what social media managing entailed and finding a rhythm in my work. We decided to do something amazing and make an extension of our convenient, educational, and resourceful “The Weekend Box” into a CBD line! (Check it out, its my baby!) Amazing stuff right?! Well, with this came a great new responsibility for me: building a brand from the ground up.

Enter: roadblock. I hadn’t felt this overwhelmed and defeated since college! I knew the content that I was producing was mediocre, but I genuinely felt as if though I had no clue how to make it better. I gathered with my fellow unicorns and expressed my frustration. I voiced how I felt like I was failing and that I didn’t know what to do.

“Pump. The. Breaks.” Our great and fearless leader, Krista Whitley, said to me, “Let’s brainstorm.”

Literally, within 10 minutes I had a game plan, deleted my old content, had a week’s worth of content and ideas panned out, a vision, and most importantly: my confidence renewed. All it took was asking for some help, and within moments my supportive team, who know that through bouncing ideas off of one another and gathering other perspectives will lead to success, brought me back up. Surrounding yourself with people who believe in you is so crucial; they will inspire you and help direct you when you are lost. Always remember, when all else fails… collaboration is key.

Have you had moments where you felt stuck? Did you find that collaborating with others helped solve some of those issues? Leave me some of your thoughts in the comments!

A Krista Concept to Live By

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““Do your best… then do better.””

Immersing myself into the wonderful world of Social Media Unicorn and joining the phenomenal team earlier this month, I already can see that my wish has come true. Allow me to preface you with some back story:

For some time now, as in the last six years, I have had developed some sort mental block when it comes to social media. I found myself putting out content then wanting for my audience to engage, and yet when they did finally engage, I would freeze and fail to respond. Numerous times I have found myself wanting to strengthen friendships, establish new contacts through networking, or participate in an event; however, after making initial contact, I would fizzle off after a message or two.

This behavior has been bothering me for some time. I have been completely unsure of what the root of my social (media) anxiety is, but I knew that I didn’t’t want to keep it up anymore. This even reached to the bounds of my e-mailbox, where I had a clutter of over a thousand emails.

I started with little steps: Deleting old emails. Unsubscribing. Combing through Facebook messages to organize the messages that are just filler and those that need responding. One step at a time. Above all, I was manifesting, telling myself that I would get over these anxieties and become a more productive person… and then Krista happened to me.

Through stepping out of my comfort zones, I corresponded with an old friend from college, was then connected with Krista, and a unicorn was born. Synchronicity occurred full force when sitting in a meeting, I heard Krista say, “”do your best, and then do better.”” For a while now I felt like I was doing my best, but only recently I realized I was doing the best with what I could at the time, but my situation could be better. I needed to push myself. I needed a new environment so that I could, “”do better”.” I now have a job, nay —— a career, where I am forcing myself to achieve those goals of facing anxiety, empowering myself, and growing. The concept that I have been envisioning was verbalized the other day in that meeting room —— my eureka moment —— and everything came full-circle.

Do you suffer from social anxiety or other weird hang ups too? Lets talk about them and how to  “be better!” Comment bellow, lets work on excellence together!

Love,
Mina 💕

Ho, Ho, Women Grow!

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December’s Women Grow hosted by Social Media Unicorn was an all together magical experience! The growing entrepreneurial community was in full force to mix, mingle, and help collect unwrapped toys for That Adopted Girl, a charity benefiting children in the foster care system. The Holiday Spirit was in the air!

The enchanted evening started with drinks and hor d’oeuvres, (can’t forget to mention the best brownies ever tasted) while guests chatted the night away. Our special guest Juliana Whitney, Founder of That Adopted Girl, educated peers and shared more about her incredible charity. Based in Las Vegas, this passionate, empowered non-for-profit was created to inspire and improve the lives of the foster children in America. Their value T.H.R.I.V.E. (Transparency, Honor, Responsibility, Initiative, Validation, and Enthusiasm) had introduced an outstanding kind of entrepreneurial leadership, thousands have loved supporting.

 

As the festive night continued, a special surprise guest walked through the door shortly after the party began. Can you guess who it was? SANTA! Good Old Saint Nick posed for pictures, judged our Ugly Sweater Contest, and spread holiday cheer all around Wayne Newton’s Casa De Shenandoah Visitors Center!

 

The ugly sweater contest winner was provided a stocking full of goodies for their impressive Hanukkah sweater, and a raffle was held for those who provided a gift to That Adopted Girl where another gift was given to one lucky guest who gave back. The spirit of giving is the most precious gift of all. The joy that filled the room was captivating and contagious.

 

Laughter and smiles from cheek to cheek were had by all.  

 

Just leaves curiosity of, what will January be like?


Ultra Violet, Pantone’s 2018 Color of the Year

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Pantone, the world-renowned authority on color, recently announced the 2018 color of the year as Ultra Violet, Pantone code 18-3838. Ultra Violet is the fruition of melding the opposing colors blue and red into a harmonious and mystifying color. The color is said to invoke thought and imagination, something necessary in today’s busy and noisy environment. Ultra Violet peacefully suggests imagery of the celestial cosmos, the infinite night sky, and emotionally  conjures deep visionary thought.

In musical pop-culture the color was seen as a main identifier of the late Prince, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix. These iconic leaders of counterculture were symbols for pushing boundaries of imagination through mesmerizing art. It’s also been a symbol of royalty and wisdom. The seventh chakra, Sahasrara, the Crown Chakra, is depicted in Ultra Violet, and is known to be the source of creation, pure light, and connection to divinity.

“The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.” – Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute.

You can use the color to communicate your brand’s individuality and visionary. Use it to display your brand’s appeal to the future and desire to realize a greater vision. Knowledge of colors and their symbolic archetypes will help you more effectively project your strategic branding efforts. Find a series of colors in line with your strategy, learn what they communicate and tailor your content to the message you want customers to feel.

 

Social Media Unicorn’s Top 5 Can’t Miss Cannabis Industry Parties

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Social Media Unicorn’s Top 5 Can’t Miss Cannabis Industry Parties

It’s a big week in the Las Vegas cannabis industry – with both ArcView *and* Marijuana Business Daily Conferences there is a slew of wonderful weed-filled events! Here are our Top-5-Can’t-Miss-Parties if you’re looking to connect with cannabis industry hot-shots from far and wide!

 

  • C-LAB Las Vegas Chapter Launch Party (11.14.17 @ 6 p.m.)

You can’t find a cooler party in Las Vegas than one at Wayne Newton’s house! The official launch of C-LAB’s Las Vegas chapter will be at Wayne Newton’s Casa De Shenandoah, hosted by The ArcView Group, NewFrontier, and C-LAB themselves. This over-the-top party is also backed by powerhouse sponsors like The Weekend Box, Electrum Partners and Caviar Gold so you know it’ll be a fun time!

 

  • DOPE Magazine Golden Ticket Party (11.16.17 @ 8 p.m.)

DOPE Magazine’s party is known as one of the industry’s most coveted VIP after-parties, and this year’s is no different. The Golden Ticket Party will be held at The Venue in Downtown Las Vegas – party-goers can expect to connect with elite industry pros and many other marijuana-movers-and-shakers.

 

  • Marijuana Business Daily Shanghai Nights After Party (11.16.17 @ 7 p.m.)

There will be no great walls in sight at the Shanghai Nights After Party. Marijuana Business Daily and Sensi Magazine are partnering up to host the official MJBizCon after party. Being held at the new premier Las Vegas event space, Enclave, you can expect a truly one-of-a-kind experience.

 

  • Budtender Fight Club: Cannabis Education (11.19.17 @ 1 p.m.)

Contrary to popular belief, we *want* you to talk about this Fight Club! Budtender Fight Club allows you to upgrade your budtender skills with this specially-curated cannabis education course. Dive into the basics on how to be a cannabis connoisseur, and you’ll even receive a certificate upon completion!

 

  • Healthy Honeys Women, Weed, and Wellness Party (11.16.17 @ 5 p.m.)

Let Healthy Honeys pamper you with a well deserved break from the conference. Their CBD products combine with scrubs and massages for a unique mini-spa treatment. Treat yourself to Healthy Honeys new CBD line specifically designed for women.

 

5 Ways Cannabis Changed My Life

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5 Ways Cannabis Changed My Life 

1. Cannabis improved my grades.

It was never my intention to get high before doing homework. But one day I forgot to do a discussion post and had already indulged in my nightly toke, so I had to write it high since it was due that hour. It was the first discussion post that scored 100%! I thought this could not be a coincidence. Cannabis got me an A! I realized it was not hard to do my homework high, it was actually easier! It killed my writing anxiety and replaced it with curiosity and enjoyment. I stopped procrastinating. If I was high, I was working on something. Cannabis inspired me to figure out what I could achieve. 

2. Cannabis made me more creative in school and at home.

I became interested in classes I never thought I would like before. Philosophy class was truly inspiring. I never liked English, but somehow I enjoyed reading and writing about the often lame required subject. I found that I wanted to express myself with art, something I had not liked since elementary school. Cannabis enabled me to fill my room with hand painted canvases.  

3. Cannabis helps me connect with myself and others.

I’ve never wanted to spend more time with myself than when I started smoking cannabis. When I started spending more time with myself, I found it easier to be around others as well. I have more patience and more understanding for people. Cannabis helps me honor my time with myself and with others. It slows time down and makes me appreciate the time we have here.

4. Cannabis makes boring life chores fun.

No one likes washing the dishes or doing laundry, but I smoke and enjoy myself while doing all my chores. It makes me curious like a kid again. Cannabis keeps me present and helps me focus. I am more productive at home and cannabis gives me the desire to live life more efficiently. 

5. Cannabis gave me a career.

I studied psychology and social work in college so I knew I always wanted to help people. Cannabis became a passion of mine throughout college, but I never thought I would make a career of it. After I graduated University and I found out a lot of jobs drug test their potential employees. I would never pass a drug test and I refused to give up my cannabis. Soon I was exclusively applying to jobs in the cannabis industry. Getting involved in the industry has inspired me tremendously, I never thought I would love working so much. I work with cannabis brands and talk about cannabis all day. It is a dream come true that I get to help connect people with cannabis daily. 

I believe everyone is a patient of the earth and this is our medicine. Cannabis changed my life, has it changed yours?