Brooke Westlake has enjoyed a 20-year healthcare career and had her own photography company for over 10 years before she ventured into the cannabis industry. She holds an Associates of Arts from Truckee Meadows Community College, and bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in criminal justice from the University of Nevada, Reno.

After the business plan of her cannabis testing lab was put together and accepted, she realized an expo for women in the cannabis industry was missing. Westlake began piecing it together in 2020. When she is not working on her business ventures, Westlake spends time with her two sons, her golden retriever, and cat. She enjoys summertime at Lake Tahoe and is dedicated to raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.

Area Code 420 (AC 420): What was your involvement in the cannabis industry prior to starting Women in Cannabis Expo?

Brooke Westlake: My professional career prior to entering the cannabis industry was spent working in healthcare. My experience included working for neurosurgeons, a pharmaceutical company, and operation surgical tech. And I spent the last 10 years of my healthcare career conducting medical sales for telehealth kiosks.

I was then accepted to graduate school and learned I was pregnant with my second child. So, I completed my master’s degree in criminal justice in 2019, and a week later I was in Las Vegas for MJ Biz Con to meet individuals within the cannabis industry and to head into my new chapters and career path.

AC 420: How much has your organization grown since its launch four years ago? How many members do you have?

Westlake: We launched Women in Cannabis Expo (WICE) in January 2020 to have our first event set for September 2020. However, we then had to move our first WICE to September 2021. We used that time to promote what would be the first WICE event 18 months later. We knew the first event would be great, and it was.

In 2022, we decided to host four WICE events around the U.S. (Atlantic City, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco). Having WICE around the country allowed women nationwide to join us. For 2023, we are working on two shows. While we were hoping to do one on the east coast, we decided to host our two shows in Nevada: Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas. We don’t have members. WICE has sponsors, speakers, exhibitors, and attendees. We doubled our numbers from 2021 to 2022, and I believe the same will happen this year. Only time will tell.

AC 420: Is there a large contingent of women in the cannabis arena?

Westlake: Unfortunately, no. Women in the cannabis industry are not reflected in large numbers. In 2019, roughly 36.8% of C-level positions in the cannabis industry were held by women. However, in 2022, the number went down to 23.1%.

Many women would like to be in the cannabis industry because of their passion for the plant, either working for companies or having their own companies. However, the industry is male dominated and there is a high turnover rate, thus creating a deterrent for women in C-level roles. If we want a larger group of women seeking a business development role, then we must help encourage and support women coming into the cannabis industry.

AC 420: The cannabis marketplace appears to have its good and bad days. Where do you envision the most growth?

Westlake: The most area for potential growth could be more women entering the industry. Also, potential growth would happen—and I really think this goes without saying—if cannabis was federally legal in the U.S. Cannabis would also have greater growth if it wasn’t overtaxed and had more advertising opportunities.

As cannabis, CBD, and nutraceutical companies are no doubt aware, we cannot conduct marketing and advertising on television, radio, and on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube). WICE lost two Instagram pages with 14K followers due to the stringency around cannabis, even though our company is not plant-touching. Twitter and Elon Musk came out with a statement that they will not be censoring cannabis or cannabis ads.

The only other opportunities for cannabis companies to advertise is on billboards, which also come with stringent regulations. Some states don’t even allow that. Dispensaries do better by collecting individual emails and sending promotions or updates, and that is what WICE has had to lean into. Also, there are groups on LinkedIn that are cannabis-friendly where companies can share updates, deals and promotions, but again, no company is allowed to buy ad space on LinkedIn.

Cannabis companies are treated much differently from any other company. Even alcohol and tobacco companies do not have as much red tape around them. The truth is, cannabis companies have been set up to fail state-to-state. They gladly collect the high taxes and look the other way when individuals have poured their life savings into having a cannabis brand or company.

Those cannabis companies that rise to the challenge of overcoming the red tape do so with the understanding that no stone must be left unturned for creativity, passion, and dedication. Officially, growth will not happen with the extreme stigmas that have been placed on cannabis. While there are good days for cannabis because no doctor will write you a prescription for alcohol, they can for cannabis. Until all these heavy barriers are overcome, the bad days will truly outweigh the good days. As a business owner we must advocate for changing all the barriers in front of us.

AC 420: Do you feel celebrity endorsement, female or male, as a brand marketing initiative works? If so, who has created the best sales approach?

Westlake: Celebrities have endorsed cannabis brands and some celebrities have even made their own brands, but again, you do not hear about them too often due to heavy regulations against advertising and the federal restrictions on cannabis in the U.S.

Some celebrities have jumped in full force into the cannabis space and then left. Some have stayed, many have white labeled products as an extension of their name and their brand. Some have created their own brand and products from the ground up.

Former boxer Mike Tyson’s brand has done quite well and is known for its products within the industry. Cookies by Berner have also done well. Jay-Z shut down part of his cannabis brand, which was a delivery service in California, due to losing millions of dollars and being overtaxed; but he maintains other parts of his brand.

A few other celebrities who have started their own brands include Willie Nelson, Bob Marley, Jane Fonda, Martha Stewart, and John Legend. Ironically, mostly well-known singers. Celebrities could find more success than the average entrepreneur who starts a cannabis brand because they have one thing that a general person starting a brand doesn’t have: name recognition. The other thing that could help with celebrities starting brands or endorsing them would be to help break the barriers surrounding the stigmas associated with cannabis. They can create normalcy around the brands they create and endorse.

AC 420: How do your trade shows differ from other industry events within a crowded market?

Westlake: WICE differs in many ways. Our mission statement reads: “Providing a place for women to come together to network to their fullest potential in the cannabis industry. Let’s connect, inspire, and learn together.”

WICE differs in many ways. We are a one-day event with both speakers and exhibitors. Toward the end of the day, we do panel discussions for everyone on the main stage. We then conclude our day-long event with an award ceremony and cocktail network mixer. During this ceremony we recognize women and their acts of service within the cannabis industry.

We have three levels of awards, nominated and voted for online, plaque awards, and recognition awards. Plaque awards are decided on by our panel. Recognition awards go to those who have participated in a WICE panel discussion. We also give out raffle prizes and, in the future, we would love to provide scholarships for women in the cannabis business and to those who would like to go into the cannabis industry. We have added to our event and brand four digital online publications and women cannabis queen advocates.

AC 420: What are the parameters around participating in your organization? Is it women only?

Westlake: Anyone can come to the WICE shows. They would either simply purchase a day pass or reach out to me directly to become a speaker, sponsor, or exhibitor. Thank you for asking if we only allow women. I get asked this several times throughout the year. We do allow men to attend our shows, and we even had several men speak and receive a WICE award.

I tell men to please come and support WICE and the women who are part of our expos because we need men to help uplift us as we continue to grow together. Their support is both meaningful and helpful. I believe the key to continued growth is to always try to come together. There is power in numbers and power in teamwork.

If a woman would like to be a WICE Canna Queen, she can do so by visiting our website to apply. We have national and state canna queen title holders. If a woman would like to be featured in our online publication or considered to be a speaker, our website is the place to apply. There’s an easy online submission form.