Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leona Latrese Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Leona Latrese, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
I was raised to do well in school, obtain a degree, secure a well-paying job and work that job until I retire. My parents did it; my grandparents did it. The thought of being an entrepreneur didn’t happen until I met my husband. Before that, I considered doing things like writing books; I blogged occasionally but hadn’t considered making those “hobbies” part of my career. I didn’t identify entrepreneurship as something that could sustain me, not realizing that it would give me the flexibility, as challenging as it has been, to be the type of woman I had dreamed of, one who was unapologetic about doing life HER way.
When the opportunity came to start a cannabis business after 14 years in corporate America, I knew the financial and emotional risks we would take. Our first location of ReLeaf Health was based in Portland, Oregon, literally on the opposite side of where our primary home is. It was risky to sacrifice time away from my children, which morphed into my husband primarily being away so I could raise our children as we found out we were pregnant with our third child; shortly after opening our business. Financially it was a significant risk because Black entrepreneurs are severely underfunded. When you layer that with entering the cannabis industry and zero accessibility to federal lending, you have us entering a multi-BILLION dollar industry with our family’s assets. RISKY!
Business soared for us during the pandemic but with the isolation and being home with three children for almost two years; I felt a void. So, I wanted to start another business to help Black women like me. That is when I launched Unapologetically Living With Trese (ulwithtrese). This was another risk because it caused me to step out of people’s perceptions of me and start walking boldly and LOUDLY for issues near and dear to my heart about the Black community.
From ReLeaf Health and Ulwithtrese, I have been able to impact my community in such a significant way and be a more present woman for my family, and because of that, the risk has been worth it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Leona Latrese, a wife, mom, daughter, friend, entrepreneur, and advocate. Two of my primary businesses are ReLeaf Health and Unapologetically Living with Trese.
ReLeaf Health is a cannabis company that combines the education and the accessibility of cannabis with emerging technology to support its growth (through our own homegrown POS system, Emisha Innovations.) Our motto is “Premium Products At Affordable Prices.” We saw an opportunity to work with small grows that provided an excellent product at a price that could fit the range of budgets. We offer something for everyone without having to compromise on the quality.
In addition to being considerate of our consumers’ pockets, we also provide them with online and in-store knowledge that helps them select the best products for their specific needs. Our team is always available to answer questions on our social platforms and through email, and our budtenders, as reviewed on Google, are the best! They supply our customers with the education our ReLeafers need to align them with the correct product for the desired feel or ailment.
In addition, we created ReLeaf Assist at the beginning of the new wave of social unrest in our community to help with bail/bond assistance and general financial aid. We were able to help with housing expenses, food shortages, and teacher supply lists.
Through my other brand Unapologetically Living With Trese, I offer consulting services to the community to help them tap into new passions and next chapters. For example, I offer a session that speaks directly to entering the cannabis industry as I realized that people only limited themselves to opening a dispensary or becoming growers/producers (which are both expensive avenues depending on your state) and hadn’t considered all the many other creative services we need in the industry such as photography, social media management, website design, etc.
Through A & L Pitch, which was co-founded with my partner, Alicia Holliday, we have been able to fundraise money for small Black woman-owned businesses as we have experienced firsthand the lack of financial resources available to our demographic.
At my core, I am a Christian who is all about being of service to others.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During the pandemic, ReLeaf Health quickly learned that we needed a way for people to feel safe obtaining their cannabis products without risking coming into the store to get them. So, we promptly pivoted our focus from in-store sales and pick-up to our delivery model, which is growing daily. We can discretely deliver to our ReLeafers throughout the city of Portland, and we also offer curbside pick-up where they can call us as they are pulling up, and we will bring it out to them.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
The struggle has been real in building our audience for ReLeaf Health. We have had our FB page blocked twice and had to restart our Instagram page 4 times. Some of this comes with learning the business of social media (which is why I say we need more social media consultants specifically for cannabis) and also understanding that, federally, cannabis is still considered illegal regardless if it’s legal in your particular state, the governing social sites adhere to federal regulations. There are so many words and phrases we can’t use, we cannot have an integrated ordering site, and we aren’t able to use specific pictures.
So, we have had to be flexible with social media, and we heavily rely on our email list when we are shadow banned or altogether blocked. I do believe there is additional censorship that happens because we are Black-owned.
With Unapologetically Living with Trese, I’ve learned to be consistent, and my audience looks to me for authentic views and opinions on various things in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.releafhealth.green and www.ulwithtrese.com
- Instagram: @releafhealthcannabis__88 and @unapologetically_trese
- Facebook: @releafhealth
- Twitter: @Releaf_Health
Image Credits
Fli Social & ReLeaf Health