A Dominican Republic transplant now based in San Diego, JM Balbuena inherited a drive for entrepreneurship from her parents that would have propelled her to success anywhere.
“I am a person who is driven by achievements — I like to achieve, I like to express myself creatively and I love to make money,” Balbuena says. “Both my parents owned their own businesses. My mom started working at a beauty salon at 16, bought it by the time she was 18. So that tells you where I come from.”
Balbuena is a textbook overachiever in both academics and business. She has bachelor’s degrees in science marketing and media production and master’s degrees in business administration marketing and information systems management.
In business, Balbuena is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of the tech-focused cannabis company Prime Harvest, which includes a 10,000-square-foot cannabis manufacturing facility and its flagship San Diego dispensary Jaxx Cannabis. She is also the owner of the cannabis-focused media company Synergy Studios, which includes her Boycott Shitty Weed brand of advocacy apparel, the co-founder of the e-commerce site for medical mushrooms Divana Mushrooms, and a co-owner of the Latinx food producer Palenque Provisions. In addition to those accomplishments, Balbuena is the author of the Amazon bestselling book, “The Successful Canna-Preneur,” as well as a decorated Navy veteran — which is where she suffered a traumatic brain injury that ultimately set her on the path to the cannabis industry.
“I love cannabis and I would even go as far as saying that it saved my life,” Balbuena says. “I had no idea that you can actually build a business from this and help a lot of people while you’re doing it.”