We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diana Ramos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Diana , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.
I work in cannabis industry and I think what Corporate America doesn’t get is the community and the culture that come with the plant.
Diana , 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?
I started off as an activist for the plant collecting signatures for legalization and showing up to protests. I did some ghost writing for a few blogs before working with a few publications, like a low rider magazine and then a cannabis magazine. After working for the cannabis magazine I found myself saying wow that’s a great story or this would be great content, and saw that women, minorities, and small businesses didn’t have a platform or someone telling their story, so I created Fuego 4.20. We are an all women owned and operated team. We are all BIPOC women as well, and have other side hustles we do as well as being Moms. We create stories and content that tell about the brands, and people behind them. I wanted to mix documenting cannabis news, and highlighting woman owned business s, BIPOC businesses and other businesses and brands that don’t normally get the media attention they deserve. As a Latina incorporating my culture and education for Latin people is a priority.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
I wasn’t signing any sponsors, the whole team was investing in the dream while we worked to make it a reality. We were super close to launching and I just wasn’t sure how to gain the resources needed to make a hard copy magazine, and I wanted to quit . It just wasn’t fair to keep asking everyone to show up and keep believing in the dream, but the team rallied together, some tears were shed, some, laughs, and of course some joints and blunts were smoked. We came up with a way to make the dream a reality, went digital, with a blog to keep costs down,and kept pushing. The ladies on the team believing in my dream and helping it become a reality kept us pushing. It’s important to be upfront with your team not just about goals, but challenges the brainstorming of the team and Kai’s constant support and push got us to where we are today.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I stayed in alignment with my purpose and passion for cannabis, and helping normalize it and de stigmatize the plant by including it in my everyday life, some soccer moms drink wine I smoked pot. I think I just always kept it real. I showed to support events, and help whenever I can. I created Fuego to tell the stories behind some of the brands, when meeting with people i found the most successful brands had a passionate story of why they turned to the cannabis industry and I wanted to be able to tell those amazing stories and document events, and news along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fuego420magazine.com/feature-stories?blog=y
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/fuegomagazine4.20?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083287333397&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-ramos-154231204
Image Credits
Johnny Martinez Diana Ramos cover designs Addison Morris women cannabis chamber