We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ishqa Hillman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ishqa below.
Hi Ishqa, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
Leaving my corporate career after nearly 20 years after helping my last company achieve significant success in a short amount of time was the best thing I ever could have done. Not just because I was leaving on a professional high, that high cost me my health, nearly lost me my daughter, and at 42 I was quickly feeling like half my life (if I was lucky) was gone.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my last job. It was exciting to be trusted to organize and grow a business that was really good at what they do, full of youthful exhuberance and techy enough to grow quickly and nimbly. What began merely answering phones I was able to quickly use my previous experience to help them job cost, create documented procedures to establish pricing and field time estimations, improve the client delivery experience while siultaneously increasing capacity for multi-state operations. From then we changed offices three times in only 5 years and the last time the buildng was purchased at the top of Pacific Coast Highway above the Traffic Circle and had a deck on the third story that gave a view of fireworks from Disneyland to Los Angeles. We spent months buildng out the second floor while becoming landlords for a local non-profit. I was made Director of Corporate Services because after having titles of Customer Service Manager, HR Manager and IT Manager I still had a variety of responsibilities and was leading a “Culture Committee” I had established by recruiting a few other new managers of our quickly growing company.
For 7 years I put all of my lifeforce into this job. I loved each and every person I worked with and genuinely loved developing and growing together but in my personal life I had been struggling to leave the house except to go to work for 4 years.
In 2018 my company decided to open a service hub in Utah. I weighed nearly 300lbs at the beginning of that year. I had been using cannabis at night for a few years and for the past had been working on an idea for a non-profit (which is now LBPECC.org) and struggling to get over my social anxiety. Work and my daughter were always my best motivators. What I didn’t know was both were about to force me to get over it. The calculations we had made of qualified candidates for our technical positions were a bit higher than was realistic in Utah at the time. This meant I spent 5 months flying to Utah nearly weekly (and another 3 months bi-weekly) in recruiting efforts that extended to Universities, Trade Schools, Community Colleges and even creating curriculum with them to help us assess ability earlier on. Meanwhile at home, my daughter joined the “Me Too” movement after being assaulted by her best friend’s brother. As a single mother it was the hardest thing in the world to leave my daughter but I had to work. I wasn’t aware of any other option than to get the job done to keep the roof over our head and her new doctor bills paid.
Utah was a far cry from the warm and diverse beach city I was used to but the people were friendly enough and being stretched out of my comfort zone week after week along with whatever cannabis edibles I could take with me eventually helped me remember I have always been resourceful and persevered and there is nothing I can’t do. It was like a spell had been lifted.
My social anxiety had been the result of childhood trauma – unstable parents which led to me being homeless off and on from 12-15 when I finally ended up in my last juvenile hall and group home. After another failed relationship as a single mother I didn’t want my inability to recognize healthy love to impair my daughter so I decided to focus on her and work. I did that for nearly a decade before I started to date again.
When I was finally done with my treks to Utah I was dreaming more and more of having my own company A Curated Culture where I could help other business owners scale using efficient operations, great hiring practices and create sustainability through a healthy, diverse and productive culture. In my free time I wanted to help juveniles understand what has happened to them up until now needs not have bearing on their future moving forward. There were so many things I needed an adult to tell me, teach me – about myself and the world around me. An adult who could listen and create safe space and now I was that adult. On July 10, 2019 I resigned from my last job after just KNOWING it was time. (I had no idea it was DAB DAY or even what that was) and after only two months of posting my thoughts to my stories on a daily basis, a challenge I gave myself the beginning of May 2019.
Eleven days later my life was forever changed when I went to The LBCA’s Hi-LBC educational networking event for the cannabis industry and learned we have an endocannabinoid system. In that moment I saw people locked in prisons and a gilded golden cage that felt like my corporate life up until that point – all the pressure to succeed, make more money, take on more responsibility and the burdens of others without the benefit. I thought of all the moments other mothers or coworkers would trade pharmaceuticals when all along this plant was all I had ever needed. I found ways to medicate in Utah or I would not have fared so well, I assure you.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
September 27, 2019 was my last day at my last job. I launched A Curated Culture and my first clients were women in the cannabis space who felt unheard and unsupported. Although I was new I found myself meeting and introducing others and uniting what is now an international network of Canna Boss Babes. A Curated Culture was quickly overrun by The Canna Boss Babes – an entrepreneurial support platform where we believe everyone is a babe! We value diversity and inclusivity because we see each perspective as the facet of a diamond and the more we have the more brilliant we become. We started bringing the community and brands together to educate and create safe spaces to build together and when the pandemic began we continued making those connections through interviews on Instagram Live until our page was taken nearly 2 years ago in November 2021 after our second nomination for best podcast and over 800 interviews worldwide.
While I still host my podcast on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, etc. it was hard to lost it all. Being in this industry though I can’t complain when I think of the people who invested all they had and then some only to have it stolen by competitors, thieves or bad government. Staying active in the conversations locally and on a state and federal level are important. My work now is mainly helping other business owners survive a challenging industry, educating consumers and sharing stories of the people and creating content that is truly representative of the community.
Because I have also lost over 100lbs with cannabis and everyone wants to know how, I recently launched a new safe space for others to learn how plant medicine can impact our ability to heal with Elevate & Transform: A Holistic Wellness Series & Support Group that meets every other Thursdy on zoom and that has a members ony section for continued support and guidance from our certified fitness trainers and nutrition coaches as well as other guest experts. I am excited to have Zalika Pringle of Kuro Lotuz Yoga and Diane McConahay of Just Four the Heath Of It as well as social media support from Andrew Ferris aka @the_lonely_stoner_show who has also lost over 100lbs with the assistance of plant medicine.
In early 2024 The Canna Boss Babes look forward to hosting more podcasts, online and in person events, and utilizing our production team to continue to share the stories and events that shape our community. We will see my non-profit LB PECC appear at more events as well as we have plans to provide trip tent services and also because cannabis people love giving back and helping our community.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When instagram removed our page @thecannabossbabes it was a shock to us all. We had so much content and our community was upset they didn’t know how to find us. I quickly transitioned the interviews to my page @ishqathebossbabe but even then I wanted to make sure our work couldn’t become lost again. I started making sure to download an upload to Spotify, Apple and our website each episode and I’m glad because really, that is where a podcast belongs.
It feels good to have a system that works and now a team whose expertise beats my own and so you can expect things to keep getting better.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I used to want to help everyone and that everyone deserves a second chance. I used to believe people only did what they knew and that when given an opportunity to do better always would. I have had to learn that there are people in the world who prefer to use others than do the work themselves and so I have had to learn how to step back and let those who are serious about their growth walk to me, rather than me walk to them. I am all about meeting halfway but have had a tendency to carry more than my share and it’s really important to grow with people who are serious about their own investments regardless of what I bring to the table.
I tell anyone who wants to work with me “I won’t chase you. You have to show up and show me you are ready to build.” and when they do that I get to show them that nothing is impossible and you only ever need a solid plan!
Contact Info:
- Website: thecannabossbabes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ishqathebossbabe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ishqa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishqahillman-thecannabossbabes/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cannabossbabes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFBhQKUh8rYsrt-2yLDHBGQ
Image Credits
Photography by Eleutheria Photogrpahy for The Canna Boss Babes Events