We recently connected with Morgan English and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Morgan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Back when I was in college, I used to smoke weed on my fire escape with my roommates, across from the campus gym. One time we decided to get high and go work out. Growing up, I received all the wrong messaging around body image, self worth, and what movement actually could be, so it was quite surprising when I hopped on the stationary bike and started to peddle that I felt at ease. I felt joy. I was happy to be there, in that moment. I wasn’t worried about how far or fast I could go, the person next to me, or what others thought. It was just me, connecting to myself, and finding joy in movement for the first time in my life.

Fast forward a few years, I was working as a lifestyle and branding photographer in the cannabis space and the idea for stoned+toned came to mind. My (now) husband and I registered domains and started thinking of what it could, but it took years before we had a clear vision and took the leap.

What got me most excited, and continues to bring me the most joy, is creating a community rooted in cannabis and movement. I felt like a fitness misfit hiding my vape or walking into a studio smelling like weed, only to get glares and feel unwelcomed. With stoned+toned, there’s no need to hide or make smaller any parts of who you are. Whether that be on the cannabis side or the fitness side.

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.

stoned+toned is an online community where cannabis meets cardio. We pair specific strains with specific workouts to deepen the mind body connection and bring joy back to movement. Although it may seem to some like an odd pairing, the truth is they go hand in hand. Cannabis not only helps with things such as anxiety, which allows you to be more focused, but it also aids with inflammation and mind body connection. This is why we believe it can be a powerful tool to use not just with working out, but with a wellness routine in general. Meditation and breath work are two other services we offer on our platform because they’re practices that can be deepened with the use of mindful consumption.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

One of my favorite things about stoned+toned is that I get to do it with my husband. We met back when I was 15 and he was 19. I had started a nonprofit and needed a designer, and that was when I was put in contact with him. Seven years later we started dating, then we got married, and a few months after that I told him it was time to bring stoned+toned to life.

While some may struggle working with their partners, we find it to be really enjoyable. We have different strengths, which allows us to divide and conquer or see things from other perspectives to make the overall experience better.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

We’ve been self funded from the beginning. At first we set a budget of what we could comfortably put into the business to make it happen. We looked at things we could do ourselves to limit what we needed to outsource and then we began to budget based on what was a crucial cost vs excessive cost.

To this day, we both still work outside of stoned+toned and continue to re-invest everything into the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stonedandtoned.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getstonedandtoned/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stonedandtoned