In the mountain town of Denver, Colorado, which began allowing the recreational sale of cannabis in 2014, businesswomen and female entrepreneurs say that they are launching cannabis-centric businesses with the hope that they can avoid the glass ceiling – which some say prevented them from reaching their desired salaries and corner offices.
In the past several years, women have become a driving force in the growth of the cannabis industry here and across the United States. And the world is taking notice, as apparent by this magazine cover that recently proclaimed, “Legal marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry not dominated by men.”
But it’s not just magazine covers representing this trend, the numbers do too. According to Marijuana Business Daily, women make up roughly 36 percent of executives in the legal marijuana industry, compared to just 22 percent of senior executives in other industries and just 4.2 percent of CEO positions at S&P 500 companies.
This could be a great, new chance for women that have been in the corporate world who couldn’t get to the next level, or the desired level. The industry itself is breaking old traditions – so it makes sense it is more likely for women to break old gender traditions too.
“It’s a chance for women to break the rules”
Not only does this industry offer women the chance to break the glass ceiling, but it offers its workers more flexibility than the alternative – like finance. This gives women more time to spend with their family and friends.
Market Openings
Some women are also entering this industry because they see market openings and strategies that men seem to have overlooked. Take this cannabis product line as an example. They have introduced a luxury line, so women feel more comfortable using cannabis, from purchase to use. Another example is described in this podcast, where this female entrepreneur opened her own, low-calorie, “healthy” edibles line.
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