The Village Green of Maplewood & South Orange
Jill Cohen and Wadeeha Jackson are pioneers.
Not only have they each started their own businesses, they have started businesses in cannabis, blazing a trail in a highly regulated but new and relatively uncharted world — and, in the process, shaping that world for other entrepreneurs, many of whom are also starting their own women- and/or Black-owned operations.
Partnering with fellow female entrepreneurs is a priority for Cohen, who founded CannaBossLady Boutique in Maplewood Village in February 2021 as a women-owned CBD shop, and expanded in 2023 with Elevated by The CannaBoss Lady Dispensary. She’s now branching out further with her own line of Sexy, Chic & Dope Preroll variety packs — which will be delivered by Jackson’s Directleaf service to customers’ doors within a 10-mile radius of the dispensary.
“I’m the first independently woman-owned cannabis dispensary owner to release a branded preroll variety pack!” said Cohen.
And Cohen is excited to have Directleaf delivering.
“Wadeeha was one of my first customers and we started to get to know each other and then, I think maybe after a year, she said, ‘I’m kind of thinking about getting in the cannabis business. Would you counsel me? Would you mentor me?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely!’”
Cohen then introduced Jackson to all her “people” — consultants and a lawyer to “guide her through the whole journey of it.”
With Cohen’s aid and her own expertise coming from an extensive banking and financial compliance career, Jackson became the first Black woman to obtain a delivery license in the state.
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