We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bridgette Cruz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bridgette below.
Alright, Bridgette thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge to profitability is understanding where your consumer may or may not have the best understanding/knowledge Cannabis which can help companies rise to the top or fall off. Many consumers have became a victim to seeing THC % being a reliable indicator of quality cannabis—which is sometimes the opposite. Cannabis with high terpene % is the way to go when you want a certain desired effect. Same with edibles—distillate vs. rosin edibles. The effects are different. Rosin has a high amount of terpenes and is extracted through ice water and pressed with high pressure and heat. Whereas distillate, during the process of extracting through a solvent, most of the plant’s chemicals compounds are stripped and is mostly THC. So knowledge definitely steers all cannabis consumers to different products for that reason. If more people knew this, they would stop investing in low quality products but value will always have a place in every industry. That’s inevitable but we can always make better efforts for people to become educated on cannabis to improve the health of all.
Bridgette, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My love for cannabis has been ongoing for 14 years. It has encouraged me to show the world my creativity and I was determined to do something with my creativity so I decided to start shooting art events in NY 2017. Sooner than later, I was shooting for Happy Munkey. I was intrigued by the science of cannabis and its ability to help so many variations of human well-being. So I began studying cannabis and began reading books like Cannabis Pharmacy to have a technical understanding of how humans are affected by cannabis. Through books and looking at my own life, I got to understand the history of the war on drugs and how that really affected my perception of cannabis prior to using it. It had me thinking about how will I be able to represent those in cannabis that are queer and Latine like myself? I had created Elevated333 in NYC that I’ve rebranded as Ultra Premium in Massachusetts. It’s a mission to represent Caribbean and Latino folk in the cannabis industry.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Behind my creativity, I know there is a mission and vision…and that’s to liberate my inner-child. Sports were always prioritized because I was good at them. My parents loved watching me play sports. But I had to realize—those weren’t my dreams. They were theirs. I’ve taught myself any instrument I’ve ever touched, I’ve wrote poetry since I was 12 and have always loved to express myself through anything I possible could. The vision is liberation and freedom and to not be defined what others think of me or think they know of me.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Something I had to unlearn in my creative journey is sharing so much about what I’’m going to do until it’s done. Not that I don’t want to share but not everyone supports you even when you think they do. Some folk may be envious of your energy, creations, achievements. Not everyone is clapping for you but not everyone is a hater, either. The backstory? Too many to divulge but I got through it all! Staying positive is key.
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