Q. What is your name and what did you do prior to being in the cannabis industry?

Down to the Roots: My name is Andrea (Andi) Goldman, and I am the CEO of Down to the Roots, Vermont’s Destination Dispensary™. I have been involved in the legal cannabis industry since 2014 as an angel investor, cannabis investment fund manager, entrepreneur, and advisor. I am a retired corporate lawyer, private equity underwriter and portfolio manager, Chartered Financial Analyst®, and banker to healthcare companies.

Green Leaf Central: Joe Verga here, owner of Green Leaf Central. In a former life I was a roadie, entrepreneur, and business owner.

Magic Mann: I’m Meredith Mann, CEO and co-founder of Magic Mann Cannabis. I have a degree in art, and love community organizing. I was the gallery manager at a Vermont State Craft Center for many years, where I was responsible for the livelihood of Vermont artists, helping them to be successful and believing in their work. I feel being a dispensary owner and plant caretaker is very similar. I feel the breadth of responsibility I have daily, to my cultivator and canna community, to do my best for all.

 Q. A dispensary is a big undertaking, with regulations and guidelines, initial investment needed, and so forth. How do you feel about the state’s cannabis business thus far?

Down to the Roots: Overall, we feel pretty confident about the long-term view of the cannabis market in Vermont, but short term, we’re experiencing a lot of pain due to oversaturation of adult-use cannabis retail stores clustered near each other and onerous advertising rules that are especially hard on legal cannabis businesses in Vermont. The bottom line is if we’re unable to find reasonable solutions to problems like these, many legal businesses will foreseeably fail.We truly enjoy providing quality products and exceptional customer service to our clientele for whatever reasons they are consuming it safely and look forward to do so for a long time to come.

Green Leaf Central: I believe this is a healthy and promising landscape—an incredible opportunity for the state as it embraces the legalization of marijuana. With a young, vibrant community of students and millions of visitors each year, we’re proud to contribute something meaningful—just like the maple syrup and craft beer Vermont is known for.

Magic Mann: We have a long way to go, but I am grateful to be serving our community and the cannabis plant by bringing education and responsible cannabis use to the forefront. This is vital to getting rid of the cannabis plant stigma.

Q. We’ve witnessed the variety of customers that come through the doors at a dispensary. Can you touch on the breadth of customers you see by age and according to specific needs?

Down to the Roots: We happily host a variety of customers and a wide range of ages, from twenty-one through senior citizens, from newbies to micro-dosers to legacy consumers. We also serve the “canna-curious” and those who volunteer to us that they consume cannabis because they wish to get away from traditional medications (or they just don’t work for them) to help better control or mitigate their pain, sleep, or anxiety issues (among many other examples)—whether or not they have a Vermont medical card.

Green Leaf Central: We see an incredibly diverse group of people come through our doors, from college students to older adults to seasoned cannabis connoisseurs in search of the best Vermont-grown flower—we welcome people from all walks of life.

Magic Mann: We like to believe we are inclusive and compassionate at Magic Mann, and to that end, we welcome daily people of all ages, from twenty-one-year-olds on their birthdays to ninety-plus-year-old regulars. We see people looking for relief, fun, sleep, mental health, socializing, you name it. Our community is using cannabis both medicinally and recreationally. We like to say you don’t need a reason, if it makes you happy.

Q. What do you tell someone who’s never shopped at a dispensary and feels a bit overwhelmed with the choices or the process?

Down to the Roots: We help first-time consumers each and every day in a welcoming, friendly, and relaxed environment that is conducive to learning about our comprehensive menu of craft-grown and manufactured products. We have also invested in extensive budtender training, with emphasis on listening to our clients’ questions and concerns to best match the desired effect with the right product for them. Our most important advice: 1) Ask questions. 2)Start low (for THC content) and go slow. 3) Not every edible is alike and not every flower, so try not to generalize one experience in another state with what Vermont has to offer. 4) When you like a product, get to know it better, including the terpenes, so that you can find those same terpenes in other products that may also work for you. 5) When it comes to edibles, make sure you know if it’s fast-acting or not, so that you wait an appropriate amount of time before consuming more. 6) If you accidentally feel too high, try CBD (without THC) or peppercorns, both of which help many people feel less high.

Green Leaf Central: There’s a whole new vocabulary, dozens of strains, and different ways to consume. Our team is here to make it easy. We love helping first-timers feel comfortable. We ask a few simple questions about what they’re looking for—whether it’s better sleep, more focus, or just a fun time—and take it from there.

Magic Mann: My favorite thing to do is welcome new customers and new cannabis users, in general. Our motto is “Cannabis Education with No Intimidation.” We want our customers to feel empowered by their choices and know they can trust us and the selective products we offer in our dispensary.

Q. What do you enjoy most about your career?

Down to the Roots: Helping people is truly the best part of our jobs. Seeing happy faces in our shop is a close second. Knowing that we are making a difference in our community by offering high-quality, tested, Vermont products and supporting local charities and fundraising events makes us feel tremendously proud as an accepted business partner in Southern Vermont writ large and in the more local Okemo Valley region.

Green Leaf Central: I genuinely love cannabis, especially being able to work with the plant every day, talk about it, learn from others, and share that knowledge with our customers. Watching someone discover a strain that really works for them, or getting to introduce someone to high-quality, Vermont-grown flower for the first time—that never gets old.

Magic Mann: I like connecting to other humans and sharing my knowledge and passion for the cannabis plant. Also, helping people and seeing cannabis change people’s lives is the most rewarding part of the job.

Q. What do you do in your free time and what do you enjoy about living here?

Down to the Roots: I love all things outdoors—skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, and in the warmer months, I enjoy paddleboarding, biking, golfing, and hiking. Vermont has a certain mystical quality that is both nature and nurture inspired, with her lush, green-covered mountains and legacy strains thriving in her nutrient-dense soil for generations. Nothing beats a real organic outdoor life in Vermont!

Green Leaf Central: I’m a big fan of all that Vermont has to offer. I love getting outside, checking out the local food scene, catching live music, and supporting Vermont’s amazing small businesses.

Magic Mann: In my free time, I enjoy my family, clay (throwing pots), and I love traveling and learning about cannabis in other cultures and regions of the world.I am a cannabis science geek and love staying up to date on the ever-evolving industry.