Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karen Fromel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Karen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

My full-time job is in the non-profit world working in fundraising so donating a percentage of sales or profits just makes sense to me. When I launched the Texas Hemp Awards I already knew that it was going to be a fundraiser for Last Prisoner Project (LPP). Their mission is focused on the injustices of America’s policy of cannabis prohibition: LPP believes that no one should remain incarcerated for cannabis offenses. I founded the awards in 2019 about the same time that LPP was launching. I met with the executive director and began volunteering immediately. The first awards were in January 2020 a few months after I started volunteering, I was already donating my time and expertise before I ever wrote them a check. We are now in our 4th year of the awards and I am proud to say that we have raised over $2000 for Last Prisoner Project.

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?

A few years ago, my oldest daughter was diagnosed with a uterine anomaly and endometriosis. Endometriosis causes severe pain and can even lead to infertility, one in ten women have it yet most are never diagnosed. As we prepared for the first of her surgeries, we learned that she was also born with a single kidney which prevented her from using standard pain-relieving medicine. After seeing her crying in the fetal position on the couch trying to get some relief from a heating pad, I started to look for alternative remedies to help her. As I began to educate myself about the medical benefits of cannabis and how it could help my family, I learned that Texas didn’t have a very robust medical cannabis program. Launching in 2015, the Texas Compassionate Use Program or T.CUP only had intractable epilepsy as a qualifying condition.

In 2019, my daughter testified at the Capitol in support of the expansion of T.CUP to include chronic pain. Unfortunately, it didn’t get included in the rewriting of the program but thankfully several other conditions were added. In addition to the expansion of T.CUP, another bill passed authorizing the use of hemp crops and products allowing individuals to purchase hemp-derived CBD products without a prescription. Unlike cannabis, hemp contains low levels of THC. This opened a whole new industry in the state, just think about all the CBD products you see readily available.

During our time at the Capital, we met so many amazing advocates fighting for medical expansion and full legalization of cannabis. I decided I needed to recognize these warriors so I launched the Texas Hemp Awards. It was my way of giving back to everyone that had been fighting for years to legalize the use of cannabis both medicinally and recreationally here in Texas.

The first year we had the awards it was only for a few categories since hemp was not yet grown in Texas. I called it the Texas Hemp Community Achievement Awards. The following year we were able to expand it more and have Texas hemp products submitted for our board of judges to review. The awards are divided into two sections, one is for public nominations and voting and the other is for the submission of products for the panel to review. All winners receive a “Super Bowl” ring.

I love offering a platform for small businesses to get the recognition that they might not otherwise get. Their business name, logo, website, and/or social media handles are shared with the voting public. Last year’s voting form was viewed over 5000 times, which is free advertising to these Texas hemp businesses.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We don’t have a large social media presence but we are slowly building it with the help of nominees. If a person or a company gets a nomination under one of the categories, it is in their best interest to share the voting page with their supporters and followers. Sometimes those shares translate into followers on our social media. Unfortunately, both Facebook and Instagram like to sensor posts about cannabis and even shut down pages. I have seen many pages that lost their entire following and have to try to rebuild their presence.

I am sure if I had time to create more content we would have a larger following. I do this as a side gig and with limited time to spend on it. I try to tag my friends and colleagues in posts and add hashtags to get more exposure. I have paid for boosts a few times on Facebook when it is time to nominate or vote. If you do not pay for your posts you can be limited by the algorithms which can be frustrating. I have made unboosted posts that have only reached 50 people yet other unboosted posts will have reached 1000 with no rhyme or reason.

I held a contest with a giveaway, entries require you to follow our page and a partner’s page but I am not really sure if those really have a good ROI.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

In 2018 I was invited to an awesome Women’s Empowerment Clinic at Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue in CA. We did wild horse gentling, yoga, meditation, and created vision boards. I arrived at the event already knowing that I wanted to work in cannabis, not sure how or in what capacity but I just knew I wanted to be around the plant somehow. I filled my vision board with text and pictures from magazines and did a presentation on my board. I honestly think putting it on cardboard and sharing it with the group allowed me to manifest a future for myself within the community that I desired to be in. It was less than a year later that I was volunteering with Last Prisoner Project and launching the Texas Hemp Awards. I cannot explain it but I just knew that cannabis was in my future. I still have that vision board in my office and pull it out from time to time and smile.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.texashempawards.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texashempawards/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/txhempawards
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-fromel/

Image Credits
Happy Karma Hemp, Laran Snyder Three Muses photography, Melissa Madden