We recently connected with Charmaine Amey and have shared our conversation below.

Charmaine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

I love this question because it allows me to show appreciation for my family. It was a collective effort by many parents that helped me reach this point in my entrepreneurial journey. My biggest influencers are my mother and my maternal grandfather. They have instilled in me the spirit to make business happen with purpose.
My mother told me who I was and where I came from: I’m a first-generation Barbadian-New Yorker. It was, and still is, very common for my mom to talk about growing up in Barbados and share stories from her childhood. I learned about my relatives and what they did at home, in the community, and in trade. Her verbal storytelling often painted a picture of shopkeepers, tailors, cobblers, fishermen, and other makers. In my youth, I learned that business and commerce were inevitable for most of my relatives, especially the women in my family.
The significance of these stories only became clear to me as an adult. As a child, I filed them away as family history. My fifteenth summer was transformative – my mom took me to Barbados, and suddenly all the stories and history became real. It was a vacation that drastically expanded my world.
In my early development as an aspiring entrepreneur, I knew I had to carry these stories and weave them into my business. I ultimately decided to name my LLC after the neighborhood that shaped the lives and community of myself, my mom, and our family legacy. Being an entrepreneur is challenging, and on days when I want to give up, I’m reminded that my ancestors figured it out. Some of them were still offering their services well into their 80s and beyond. In the business world, this is often referred to as grit. Working in your zone of genius requires perseverance. Without my mother’s stories, I wouldn’t know that I come from a legacy of entrepreneurs.
My grandfather impacted me through his love of reading. He was one of my favorite teachers. A skilled tradesperson and carpenter (specifically a joiner), he would read anything with text: newspapers, magazines, brochures, pamphlets, the dictionary, and the Bible. Eventually, I started reading the dictionary just to explore the meaning of different words.
As I matured into my preteen years, he would engage with my thoughts about world events. While I don’t remember most of those conversations, one day he said, “You’re going to be in politics.” Perhaps our discussions were passionate, and I spoke earnestly about my beliefs. At the time, my understanding of politics didn’t inspire me to run for office. I was accustomed to proclaiming the type of work I wanted to do, and politics wasn’t my choice. Throughout primary and secondary school, I imagined myself in creative professions like interior design, science, culinary arts, and fashion design.
Teaching found me around 11th grade. I signed up to be a paid tutor, helping first and second graders learn to read after school, knowing it would enhance my college applications. Soon, I was moved by the connection of encouraging students’ progress in reading their sight words. I carried the same nurturing spirit for learning that my grandfather had into my teaching career.
Through teaching and education, I’ve made numerous connections to the broader world. I became aware of the larger systems and experiences of Black people, People of Color, LGBTQ+ individuals, women and girls, and disabled people. I was forced to acknowledge the systemic structures of America. My grandfather gave me the space to express my frustrations with these systems, which led me to community-based organizations and advocacy spaces during my undergraduate years and professionally. Thanks to our conversations, I’m now passionate about exposing the nuanced experiences of Black and Brown communities in America.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a Black woman born and raised within the state of New York. I am proud to make those the first things I mention because it brings context to the purpose in my work. My career as an educator spans 12 years with the bulk of it being an elementary school teacher. I’m currently entrenched in the cannabis industry of New York and shining light on the great benefits that aren’t talked about. It is one of the most powerful medicinal tools known to human existence. Of all of the ways I could have used my teaching skills – I would’ve never guessed that I’d apply them to cannabis education. My first cannabis experience began with a non-psychoactive tincture during the global pandemic, amid widespread social unrest and a politically charged election. I was also mourning the transition of my grandfather which occured in the year prior. Shortly at the top of 2020, I made the choice to slow down from overworking and got curious about cannabis after hearing an influencer talk openly about their experience.

The service I provide is practical consumption education. Simply: I teach people how to use cannabis responsibly, so they feel safe, informed, and in control. Most people are curious about cannabis but hesitate due to lingering questions and negative narratives. Typically, people’s understanding of cannabis consumption is limited to smoking and, more recently, edibles like brownies. There is an array of options beyond that that we’ve barely begun to explore. This is a good thing, because someone can tailor their regiment with several options. Stemming, literally and figuratively, from the plant. I teach about the various options, provide the steps to deciding where to begin, and designing a mindful routine that can be continued. Most importantly I provide the space to ask questions and feel safe in their choices guided by someone who has experienced where they and where they want to go.

My best and most favorite client testimonial comes from my mother. She still feels the results of a surgery over fifteen years ago and I watched her quality of life change with decreasing mobility. Some days she couldn’t get out of bed on her own and required assistance with repositioning, or walking with a cane. One evening, I shared my container of CBD cream with her for some pain and stiffness she was feeling. Her report back to me in the following days and weeks as she used the cream was so positive, she even started to tell our neighbors and family – she couldn’t stop talking about the pain subsiding and sleeping through the night without stiffness! She definitely inspired my passion for wanting to sit down with people that are looking for a reliable, relieving option.

I’m most proud of my ability to create space and listen to someone’s story about cannabis. Behind every cannabis story lies a complex narrative. I’ve witnessed both remarkable successes and deeply moving personal experiences. For a significant number of individuals that have invited cannabis as their choice of medicine or healing, it’s not something that’s talked about in the open. There are complex layers that come with recognizing how powerful of a plant it is, getting access to it, and so on. It’s very sensitive territory, and I have the patience to sit “in it” with clients. It informs my approach because not everyone is the same.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The most impactful book I’ve read to date on management and scaling is ‘We Should All Be Millionaires’ by Rachel Rogers. It demystified aspects of entrepreneurship, breaking them down into simple terms and sections that created the fuller picture I needed. The book also validated my experience as a Black woman navigating business landscapes.
I wouldn’t have progressed as quickly in my business without the urgency I felt to take charge after listening to it. The audiobook is part of my monthly rotation, and I find a detail or line in every chapter that speaks to a feeling, task, or challenge I’m currently facing. I still consider myself a novice because there’s mindset work and business structuring that I’m continuing to refine.
The best takeaways are insights into what a person can anticipate at each stage of business, identifying who’s needed to help along the way, and learning how to embrace the entrepreneurial journey as a woman or femme without shame or guilt about how you get started. It’s truly empowering.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m currently unlearning the belief that fear will accompany every new stage of business in the smallest ways. Hiring the first virtual assistant comes with fear, sharing a new offer comes with fear, stepping away from a role to make space for new things comes with fear. I don’t have any formal training in business; everything I know is from jumping in and trusting myself to ask questions and make informed decisions through research and available resources.
Lately, I have invested in some business training, and it’s helping me understand and explain the trepidations I have in certain aspects of growth. These fears can’t be avoided—and that’s a good thing because I’m learning about myself on a deeper level. It didn’t occur to me initially that business is something that begins in the mind. This means overcoming your own mental blocks and fears.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charmazinnng/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charmaineamey/

Image Credits

All images are my own.