Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mitch Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mitch, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My team and I originally came up with the idea for Millennial420 back in 2019. Cannabis was becoming a hot button issue as more people were using cannabis in medical and recreational states, but there was a lack of facts and information on how to use the various products available. Sure, you can smoke it or eat it, but if you aren’t smoking or eating the right strain, consuming the right dosage or using the right product, chances are you are not going to get your desired effect and you will give up, using the excuse that cannabis didn’t work. We witnessed this issue first hand and decided we wanted to educate people about this beneficial plant, so Millennial420 was born. Millennial420 is a curated health and wellness digital website that is dedicated to providing up-to-date educational information about hemp, CBD and cannabis.
In this day and age, people are stressed out, overworked, unhealthy and our endocannabinoid system can feel it. The stigma around cannabis and it’s ‘reefer madness’ has created a void of information surrounding this plant. People don’t know who to turn to or whom to ask when they’ve got questions. This is where we come in. We guide people in the right direction through our recommendations and education. At Millennial420, we believe hemp and cannabis can really help people. That’s not just marketing B.S. – that’s why we started this company. From sleep, pain and nausea to menstrual cramps and post-workout recovery, we have found cannabis can truly help enhance your wellness routine.
We are open to working with anyone 21+, but our ideal client is someone who is has never been into a legal, licensed dispensary and has no idea where to start. We want to help those who are curious and open-minded about cannabis; those who want to learn and are willing to try different cannabis products. This may be someone who is recently retired or is no longer threatened by drug testing at work. Or it may be someone who has medical issues and they are looking for a more holistic route, but their doctor isn’t willing to discuss cannabis as a medical option. Our mission is to help people achieve a positive experience using cannabis and CBD. We want to provide support for those responsible consumers looking for alternative healthcare.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a US Army Veteran, who became interested in emergency medicine after completing the Combat Lifesaver Training Program. From there, I became a paramedic for 22 years, with the last 17 years being a Professional Firefighter in one of the busiest departments in the nation.
In 2008, I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, where I was put on multiple heavy doses of anti-viral medications for the better part of a year. Unfortunately, these pharmaceuticals are known to cause drug-induced liver injuries (severe liver damage) and can make some people sick with side effects including nausea, body pain, loss of appetite and insomnia; I was one of those people. It was at this time I turned to medical cannabis for help. I was able to use the benefits of cannabis combined with my medical experience to significantly improve my quality of life.
A few years ago, I found out I have permanent liver damage (about 50% remaining) due to taking those anti-viral medications over a decade ago. I am now choosing to focus on my health and wellness including using cannabis and CBD as medicine while forgoing the use of all pharmaceuticals including Tylenol (because some medications can be very harmful to the liver.) I believe cannabis and hemp has so many medicinal benefits, but the stigma around this plant is keeping people from learning about its true therapeutic results, which is why in 2023 I completed my Master of Cannabis Certification from Cannabis Training University. Now I want to take my knowledge and share my story with the world, while helping anyone I can with this wonderful plant.
We’ve discussed the lack of information around cannabis, but more importantly, there is also a lack of assistance when it comes to people who are new to this market. I remember when I first used cannabis I didn’t have anyone telling me what worked best for pain or what worked best for sleep. I had to do the research, guess and try what strains and products worked best for me. I didn’t have anyone to turn to when I had questions, instead I had to figure it all out on my own (and let me tell you, that’s a lot of work and frustration.)
At Millennial420, we offer four different services. Our first service is education around cannabis, hemp and CBD. This includes various blogs and news articles, vocabulary terms, videos and webinars, links to community activism as well social media accounts of people we follow and more. We do our best to provide only accurate, up-to-date information and all this can be found on our website – www.millennial420.com.
Our second service is personalized cannabis coaching sessions. This is where I work directly with clients to help them take that first step to learn everything there is to know about using cannabis as medicine. I take the time to understand what their needs are and then I create and develop a CANNABIS RECOMMENDATION, a personalized consumption plan, which helps guide them in the right direction by providing them with recommended products, various routes of consumption and information to help them understand how cannabis helps with their specific wellness complaints. (For a limited time, these sessions are FREE. Please visit our website for more information.)
In addition, we offer EXCLUSIVE discounts and savings on high quality CBD, hemp and cannabis-related products including CBD edibles and oils, hemp shoes and clothing as well as smoking devices and growing supplies. We work with partners to help deliver the best deal possible to our clients. If you are a veteran/active military, healthcare worker, first responder, teacher, student, are disabled, on low income or unemployed, you may qualify for special savings from various CBD, hemp and cannabis-related brands. Reach out to us to start saving today!
Lastly, we sell fun specialized merchandise and souvenirs including coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, throw pillows, post-it notes, face masks and more! As a thank you for reading this article, use coupon code: MILLENNIAL420MAGAZINE to save 20% off your entire order!
Millennial420 is different from most brands, because we EDUCATE our clients, customers and followers. We aren’t selling them a product and wishing them luck with it. Instead, we are guiding people in the right direction through our recommendations. We are walking them through the steps of starting their cannabis journey.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Absolutely! So you’ve heard the story about why we started Millennial420, but what we didn’t tell you is all the struggles we have had to deal with over the last 5 years due to state and federal regulations and laws. We’ve been shadow-banned on social media several times and had our accounts deactivated. We’ve had multiple website hosting companies drop us because of our cannabis-related content. At one point, we were selling our merchandise on Etsy and had that account suspended. We have even had companies we work with and represent, close their doors due to the same battle of laws and regulations.
Did you know the United States has spent over 1 trillion dollars on the War on Drugs in the last 50 years, according to the University of Pennsylvania? And unfortunately, cannabis has been caught in the path; which is interesting, because in the early 1900s cannabis and hemp were legal. You could go down to any pharmacy/grocery store and purchase cannabis products right over the counter. Back in the 1800s, hemp was an important part of our culture and economy with some land owners required to grow the plant as it was used to make ropes, sails, clothing, animal feed and more. In 1776, the United States Constitution was written on hemp paper! And now, 70% of Americans say they want to see cannabis legalized and there are 46 states that have some version of legalized cannabis (medicinal, recreational, CBD only, etc.)
Basically, we are operating in a grey area, where it is legal in our state, but because it’s not federally legal, we are penalized for it, even though we are only providing information. But we keep pushing through. Why? Because I believe in this company, I believe in the message we are sharing, but more importantly, I believe in the medical benefits of cannabis.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I am an avid reader and I highly encourage those looking to get into an entrepreneurial or management-related career to READ. You can learn a lot from others who walked those steps before you. For example: ShoeDog is the entrepreneurial story of Phil Knight and how he took his idea and turned it into the global brand Nike.
I like to tell people, everything you need to know about cannabis is out there – you just have to find it. There is a lot of information in books and on blogs, in videos and on social media, but you have to disseminate it to figure out what is accurate and what is false. At Millennial420, we are trying to curate all that cannabis information into an easy-to-read- and-understand website; a place you can go to for reliable cannabis information.
We would like to thank those resources who have helped us build Millennial420 – Cannabis Training University for providing a wealth of information as I continue to pursue this passion; NORML for maintaining reliable-accurate news in the cannabis world; the Doctors for Drug Policy Reform for being a true activist for this herb and Cannigma for putting this plant under the microscope (literally) and dissecting true science-based facts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.millennial420.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millennial420team/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/millennial420team
Image Credits
Christina Smith, Glenn Inskeep, Joy Organics, Moon Mother Hemp, Happy Buddha Hemp, HempLucid, Papa & Barkley