Posh Green owner Reese Benton’s life lessons
Reese Benton opened the Posh Green Cannabis Boutique cannabis dispensary in San Francisco in 2020, cementing her place in history as the first black woman and first recipient of social justice to become the sole owner of a retail cannabis business. It only got harder from there: COVID, a lawsuit, safety issues, federal ban taxes, and more. SF’s 46-year-old cosmetics, fashion and retail connoisseur talks cannabis launch, nonconformity, dealing with haters and the future – as part of Leafly’s Black Voices series Lumen. We turned the interview into distilled wisdom, taking the idea from Esquire magazine’s What I Learned interview series.
I’m a hybrid indica girl, I am not interested in sativa. Females are sativa users, they like the smell. They’re lemonier, more floral. I need a gas candy. Plus, I’m already too hyped. I talk too much, I’m too excited. But I’ve really become a connoisseur over the years, particularly as an Emerald Cup flower judge. That gets you on your game.
I came out with my first full flight of flowers– a collaboration of Compound Genetics on pre-rolls of Glitter Bomb, Red Bullz and Gastro Pop. Just like when you book a bourbon or whiskey flight – so I’m excited. I want to be innovative.
These Chads who rule the world Don’t think anything of anyone – I don’t care what nationality you are, if you’re a woman they think you’re not smart enough. So you just have to show them better than you can tell them.
In case of non-conformity…
Because so many people need to be someone else To get where they want to go, many people want you to conform to everyone else. I refuse to be like this.
I was in high school [when I first smoked]. I didn’t like weed. All my friends smoked weed, I used to say stop smoking so much! I was that girl.
When I moved to Charlotte, NC in 2006 My dad kept saying, “Get caught on the wrong bridge, your butt won’t come back. They’re going to lynch you!” I was starting to get scared of driving and getting lost in Charlotte. So I had to find the weedman in a place where it wasn’t legal.
I just walk as I enter the room. I never despair. If the deal is going to go through, let it go through. And if not, I don’t push it because I never want to be involved in the wrong situation. That’s why a lot of people are now forming: the wrong partnerships.
On business in San Francisco…
When I first envisioned this project, I knew the stores were hitting 800-900 customers, a thousand patients a day. We don’t even do 1% of it. We don’t have anything to do [a grand opening] for nine months because of Covid. We couldn’t do demos [which] brought a lot of attention to other pharmacies. That really slowed the growth of the business, especially when we were shut down by the folks in the building due to an injunction.
I hear people don’t even make enough to pay for security in their places, so it’s not just me fighting. Post Covid I know a few people who have closed – at least eight to nine pharmacies.
Many people are afraid to come here. I thought, ‘I’m not afraid. It will be the best property in San Francisco for years to come.’
Bayview and Hunter’s Point– This is the last area where all the blacks are. I think we’re below 2% of the population here now. The only person who owns a shop here is Bob. He’s been there for 50 years and has a liquor store. He’s the first.
About dealing with other people…
people who look like me weren’t the biggest proponents either, because it’s a crab-in-a-bucket mentality. When you come from a place where you don’t see us, and you might see one of us all over the building or a person in power, think that when there are many positions, there is only one position.
Am I getting along with everyone? nope I don’t have to like you i will respect you And when we have to work together to get something done, I’m totally devastated. Then we don’t need to talk anymore afterwards.
I hear everything people say about me. But I’ll still smile and pretend I don’t because you know what? I do not go anywhere.
Related
Lumen: Black voices in cannabis
About her purpose in life…
Every time I want to give up, someone’s in my inbox or telling me how I inspired them. And it’s not just cannabis – people in general who are inspired to be independent and live their dreams.
Every time I reach a goal, I strive for another goal. [To] Step away to see what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved, the people I’ve inspired – hopefully one day I can see the greatness.
I do stuff like the Covid task force, that’s what I was called to do. I was the only cannabis [professional], the first black woman with all those big names. In 2019 I was asked to speak at Stanford and that was amazing because everyone had all those initials after their name.
“i do what i feel and what my purpose is in this industry and on this earth. This is something the universe brought me, something I fought for – for justice [program]for the people.”
The community supports us. We get older people, younger people, doctors, lawyers, IT, all walks of life. People care — especially African Americans, or people looking for black-owned, cross-state, or woke pharmacies — they come and support.
It’s a little joke: We know who went to Posh with the blue bag. [Customers are] like, ‘When I come home, my wife says, ‘You’ve been to Tiffany’s?’ “No, I’ve been to Tiffany’s of Cannabis. Don’t get excited.’
In the future …
It’s taller than me, so that keeps me going. Besides, that’s all I have. If that doesn’t work, I have no savings. That’s it.
If they give us that [federal tax code] 280-E [reform], we will finally be able to see some success stories. I don’t give a shit if they don’t [legal cannabis] Banking, just give me the 280-E. I will start my own bank.
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I know Once they build this park behind us—the most expensive park in town—we’re going to have so many customers. It’s going to be nice to be the waterfront dispensary I dreamed of, actually on the pier – Pier 90. It will be completed by 2025.
Hopefully some franchising [is in the future]do more products. [Outside Lands Festival] Wiesen, we will be there again this year. [My ultimate goal is] Being a philanthropist and a billionaire. I want Amazon to buy my license – Posh Green powered by Amazon.
Kaisha Dyan McMillan
Kaisha-Dyan McMillan has been writing for and about the cannabis industry since 2016 and has authored several articles focusing on the stories of BIPOC and social equity entrepreneurs in the industry. She currently serves as senior content manager for cannabis production platform AROYA and co-host of crop steering and cultivation podcast Office Hours. IG: @ahsiak
Check out Kaisha-Dyan McMillan’s articles
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