Om Edibles
San Francisco, California
Om Edibles wasn’t established with the idea of an all-woman collective in mind. But that’s what ended up happening when several women with different talents brought their abilities together to create a boutique line of medical marijuana products in California.
In an industry that tends to be dominated by men, Om Edibles is breaking the mold and showing that a woman’s touch can be the special ingredient, particularly when supplying patients with debilitating illnesses.
“We just happen to be a group of women who are good friends,” said Maya, founder of the collective (she requested her full name be omitted). “We’ve been celebrating the herb together for years and all of a sudden it becomes a career.”
Like so many people in the cannabis industry, Maya went through college and earned a degree, but rather than following through with her major, psychology, for her career path, she took a job at a dispensary.
Maya first started producing cannabis-infused products for California’s medical market about 10 years ago, she said. She only had one edible to start — take-and-bake cookie dough that proved to be immensely popular. Within a couple years, she formed Om Edibles and started developing a line of truffles that has become an award-winning product.
“All of a sudden, making a career out of cannabis started to become a reality and there was nothing else I’d rather do,” Maya said.
The collective features three main women who handles operations, manufacturing and cultivation.
All of the flowers are sun-grown by sister gardens and produced with organic methods in mind. Because the products are developed for medical patients suffering from ailments such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and seizures, it helps to know what additives, if any, are used during the grow. Some finished products are strain specific edible, while others use a full spectrum of THC- and CBD-rich cannabis.
Among the wide variety of edible products the collective creates are olive oil, raw chocolates, tinctures, truffles and hard candies.
“At the end of the day, we’re ultimately very happy to be serving the patients,” Maya said.
While the larger percentage of growers are traditionally men, increasingly favorable marijuana policies have allowed more women to come to the forefront as respected cultivators. Many are even second- and third-generation growers, keeping the institutional knowledge of cannabis cultivation alive, Maya said.
“If you ask any gardener, they’ll say that women have a special touch with the plant,” she said. “Not necessarily better or worse, but everybody’s going to agree that men and women garden differently.”
The combination of men and women growing together is where true magic happens, Maya said.
It’s also vital to note that some products might be more geared toward women, specifically, because everybody has different needs and interests.
“Cannabis is so personal, what affects one person one way might not affect another person the same way,” Maya said.
This individual approach for each person pushes Om Edibles to tailor its products for people’s needs and give patients a wide variety of options.
Maya said she sees the cannabis industry as more of a holistic approach to health and relaxation. She calls it “canna-pampering” and said while some people might utilize yoga or exercise to deal with stress and pressure, others seek cannabis products, which could include a variety of body oils and bath products in addition to the usual consumable products.
“It’s a complicated web of things working together in a beautifully abundant and wonderfully harmonious way,” she said.