HappyMunkey Podcast

Welcome back to the Happy Munkey Podcast! In this comeback episode, join Ramon, Vlad, and David as they share their candid experiences and lessons learned over a transformative two-year break. Get an insider's look into how Happy Munkey has navigated the shifting tides of the cannabis industry, from its legacy roots to the modern legal market. This episode is a treasure trove of stories about resilience, adaptability, and the profound influence of cannabis on culture and community. Highlights of this episode: The rebranding and evolution of Happy Munkey in a changing regulatory environment Insights into the challenges and adaptations during the pandemic Experiences and reflections from the world of hip-hop and public speaking engagements Engaging listener interactions in our Q&A segment on the latest in cannabis trends Tune in for an episode rich with personal stories, industry insights, and a deep dive into the cultural fabric of the cannabis community. Subscribe to our podcast for more episodes where cannabis meets culture and community.

This week Ramon & Vlad give you a glimpse behind the minds of New York's largest exhibit 3D projection exhibit, Immersive Van Gogh, as we partner up to bring together high end cannabis and art in one experience. Dosha gives us some deep art history behind Van Gogh's legendary work and how it influenced the now global immersive experience. We even get Steve to break down some of the technology they use for the 3D projection and gives a hint at what the future hold for interactive art experiences. We then get to touch on some of the details of our Cannabis lounge experience and how we're taking Van Gogh to a new “High!”

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This week Ramon and Vlad come to you straight from a secret location to sit down with the Father of the Legal Cannabis Industry and Co-founder of Harborside inc., Steve DeAngelo, fresh off the New York Cannabis Day parade. He gives us some weed history which provides some context on the war on cannabis and how it has impacted minority communities. He also gives us a glimpse at his first time at the Cannabis Day parade back in the 70s and how different the city has become since then. He then drops some gems about how to be a cannabis activist and how to push the cause for federal legalization . He gets a chance to reflect on what the next steps for New York in this new legal market and how similar it feels to the old Cali. And most importantly we got to hear how he the legend got started on his love affair with cannabis.

This week Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the boulevard with an old Happy Munkey Family friend, International P, Founder of International Goods, actor and all round powerhouse. They get to chop it up about the origins of HappyMunkeyTV, and how it helped to get the guys to do the podcast. we also get a glimpse of P's acting life as he tells us how he got his start working at the young age of 13, which lead to his hosting roll on MTV2's Fight Club. then P gets a chance to share some more about his new shop, International Goods, which is the first 24 hour Luxury clothing and sneaker with an exotic candy shop just to satisfy all tastes.

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Justin Johnson, founder and CEO of Budsfeed, to talk about his jump from Washington to New York to be come a big city ad man. He tells us how he parlayed his work in music and entertainment advertising into a his own personal cannabis corner on the web. He gives us a glimpse of how he curated a cannabis community and how it has lead to many partnerships such as the Chill Bong one of the most Innovative bongs on the market. He even tells us about some of his mentors and how he has a connection to the legendary Air Jordan 1.

This week Ramon & Vlad take it straight to the boulevard with Wanda James, CEO of Simply pure Dispensary, to talk about her journey of how she became the first African American Dispensary owner in the country. We get to hear about her growing up with a father in the Air Force and how it took her all over the globe. She then takes us through her days in the navy and how it lead right into a world of politics and and advocacy. She then talks about her transition into cannabis and how she brought it back to her community in Denver while still advocating for veterans. She also to talks about the importance of putting in the work now and how that is the key to more women and people of color in the industry. She then had a chance to share some of her her thoughts and hopes for the new adult use market in New York, and how it makes us a huge step closer to the federal goal line.

This week we go straight to the boulevard with The Dank Duchess, Hash Queen and cannabis cultivator, to tell us how she found herself learning the art of making hash, as she breaks down what exactly hash is and gives some history of the process. She also brought the guys a new way to smoke and brought along some dope vibes. Then she takes us through her journey with psychedelics and had some advice for beginners and how to microdose the right way. She even gets to share her experience when she came through to HappyMunkey’s 4/20 Farewell to Prohibition in New York.

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This week Ramon & Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Liz Gehl, Founder & Chief Recruiter for Gehl Search Partners , to give us a glimpse of how Cannabis is crossing over into wine country. She takes us through her journey in Sonoma county and her work in the wine industry and how it lead her to another plant growing right in her own back yard. with her expertise as a recruiter she gives us some hot tips on how to find work in the industry. She also paints a picture of what she thinks federal legalization looks like and how it might mirror post prohibition with alcohol.

This week Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the boulevard to talk us through the exciting news of New York cannabis legalization. They breakdown some of the details of the new cannabis bill, explaining aspects such as home grow to social consumption spaces. They also get a chance to reflect on their personal experiences with cannabis and how their struggles during the war on cannabis, won’t be passed on to a new generation of consumers. And they stress most of all, how the fight for fair and equitable cannabis is still on going and we must keep our eye on the ball for legalized cannabis use.

This week Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the boulevard Jessica Lilga, Business Strategist for LeafWork Inc., to give us her journey from a young plant & health conscious girl from Utah to becoming the business strategist in the now blooming cannabis industry. she also tells us about how she made her transition from the Legacy cannabis Business to a traditional business and gives some advise to new entrepreneurs curious about entering the space. she also sheds some light on some misconceptions about the industry as she shares some stories from her travels around the world

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This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Christine de la Rosa, CEO & Co-founder of The People’s Dispensary, to take us from south Texas where she was raised in by a revolutionary mom to her move to the Bay Area where she bringing a piece of the cannabis pie to the people in her community. She tells us about the healing power of cannabis and how it put her on the road to breaking the stigma and even how she got her mom and others in her family to be more open to cannabis. She tells us her story of moving from the traditional market to the legal market and how it help her community gain ownership over a business that was once a part of the war on drugs that affected them disproportionately. Then she helps us shed some light on some NY legalization news, as she discusses Two auctions (CRTA&MRTA) proposed, that would box out POC & small businesses from cannabis and she urges people to have your voice heard and Not Sell Out NY Cannabis.

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the Boulevard with Robert N. Tankson III, the co-founder & COO of Prestodoctor, to take us through his transition from working with big tech company’s like Google to co-founding a revolutionary company that gives people access to cannabis-friendly doctors in order to get their Medical Marijuana Cards! Robert also talks about one of his new favorite resources, ClubHouse, to stay tapped into all things cannabis-related. Like a true Renaissance Man, Robert also drops some knowledge for all those eager to jump into the stock market, especially when it comes to investing in cannabis. Lastly, we even get into some more psychedelic talk for the second weeks in a row! Looks like we might have a new trend on our hands!!!

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Salam Diri and Estefania Valencia, co-founders of Sanna Ohana Wellness, on a psychedelic journey of healing and how they discovered the endocannabinoid system. they tell us their tale of personal healing and how it lead them to Yoga and how they incorporate THC & CBD into their classes. then they give us some tips and encouraging words for beginners who might be hesitant to jump into yoga. 0:00:50 intro 0:04:20 what is the endocannabinoid system? 0:06:20 ways to handle addiction 0:16:00 Start of Sanna Ohana Wellness 0:24:30 tips and advise for yoga beginners 0:31:00 Micro-dosing mushrooms and how its better than you think 0:35:00 decriminalization 0:41: Endocannabinoid system Pt.2 0:49:00 wellness advise 0:51:00 Endocannabinoid system Pt.3 0:56:00 Yoga on the Happy Munkey Yacht party

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the Boulevard with Ryan Rapaport and Andrew Farrior, managing partners of Digital Ventures Partners, to talk about what they call “Portfolio Branding” and how to use different platforms to create value for your brand! They also discuss some of the cannabis companies that they think are doing branding right, as well as highlight some of the signs that a brand might need some tweaking to reach its full potential. They also stress the importance of embracing cannabis culture and the lifestyle before trying to crossover to mainstream audiences. Lastly, they hit home the importance of collaboration and how more collaborative efforts in the cannabis industry will raise the tide for everyone.

This week the Vlad and Ramon are back on the boulevard chopping it up about Gov. Cuomo announcing cannabis is being added to the NYS Budget. they also have a chance to talk about what New Years was like pre Covid and how that compared to their experience this year. and they even give us a glimpse of what Happy Munkey has in store for 4/20 and beyond.

This week on the boulevard we’ve got Vlad giving you all a glimpse behind the Happy Munkey curtain, as he chops it up with some of the team that bring you all this HM content. As co-host we have, comedian and actress, Black Rose to tell us her journey in comedy and how she met the guys way before the whole vibe took off. Then we have Arian “Tech King” Walker our in house photographer and king of all things tech to give us his Origin story and some of his experiences on his 3 year ride with the munkey. We also have Jose Rozay , our first brand embassabor and official poster boy for the “we outside” vibe to tell us about the first HM party and some legendary adventures to Albany

This week Ramon and Vlad take a Vacation day as the Executive producer, Rafael, takes you through his favorite clips of the past year and gives some behind the scenes tidbits from interviews with Hawk Newsome, Freeway Rick ross, Maria Hinojosa and a few more .

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Sjk171 & Henry161, two graffiti forefathers and neighborhood legends, to tell us about old New York and how Washington heights, the neighborhood that birthed HappyMunkey, came to be. They gave us a glimpse of the graffiti lifestyle and how intertwined it was with the weed and drug culture of the 1970s. Then they tell us tales of the grimy streets of the city and how it lead to wall writing as an outlet for the local kids. They even get a chance to talk about some of their highlights as members of United Graffiti Artist.

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with, Elise McRoberts, CMO of Doc Green’s Health Collective, to give us a glimpse of what marketing looks like in a legal cannabis state. She also gives us a peak behind the curtain of what it’s like to be a High Times Cannabis Cup judge and how that experience lead to her appearance on the show “Bong Appetit.” She also talks about some of the benefits of micro-dosing cannabis and psychedelic drugs and how the peripheral effects have been used to help with overall well-being .

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Laura Lagano, co-founder of The Holistic Cannabis Academy and author of The Cannabis oil miracle, to tell us about her journey of becoming a nutritionist to then adding cannabis into her holistic practice and educating others on its healing properties. she discusses how she used cannabis to help treat her family and some of the troubles of convincing people who may not be believers in CBD. She also gives us a glimpse of what growing up in Brooklyn was like and how New York was a freer place before they cellphone. She then gives us some advice on how to spice up your diet with cannabis and even how to help prevent the munchies.

This week Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the boulevard with Cimone Casson, financial planner for Cannas Capital, LLC and President of Michigan’s chapter of Minorities for Medical Marijuana , to give us a road map on how to invest in the cannabis Industry in the stock market and gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of Michigan’s local stock exchange. She tells us how she made her transition from financial advising to returning to Michigan and insuring cannabis companies. She discuss what Social Equity programs could look like in Michigan and how that’s a path that leads to generational wealth in communities that have been affected by the war on drugs. Then she talks about her edible experience and the aftermath of her first infused dinner.

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This week Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the Boulevard with Gia Morón, president of Women Grow and founder and CEO of GVM Communications inc., to take us through her journey from corporate public relations to educating and advocating for cannabis. She discusses some of the issues with defining social equity and the need for more action from legislators and advocates to include marginalized communities in the industry from the start. Then she talks about Women Grow’s transition during covid, from an event company to an online educational resource and media platform for Women and POCs. She also discusses the desire for statewide cannabis education at accredited schools and universities to ensure the benefits of legalization actually reach the people most affected by the war on drugs.

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the Boulevard with Adriel Ortiz, co-founder of NewYork NewYork and US marketing director for Privilege, to take us through his journey from throwing parties and cultivating the culture to Marketing and managing multiple Fashion brands such as Lafayette NYC.  Adriel us a glimpse of the New York Nightlife and how promoting parties led him to managing his long-time friend Action Bronson and then marketing for fashion brands such as pro keds. Adriel also discusses how NY streetwear has evolved into high fashion and how diversity & counter culture played a big role in making hypebeast brands more of a household name.    Lastly Adriel gets into what it was like to hunt down the best weed in the hood and how the NY weed culture has changed from times of nicks, dime & dubs!

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with legendary wall writer and forefather of New York graffiti, Mike171, to discuss his journey from the grimly streets of New York to joining up with the United Graffiti Artists and bringing Graph to a whole new audience. He brings us way back to the days of smoking brick weed and hustling the streets of uptown during his high school days, and also gave us a glimpse of Washington heights’ history and gave us some context on how the neighborhood we grew up in came to be. He talks about how he rekindled his love for graffiti after serving in the military and how weed became his NY hustle for survival. He also tells us how he joined up with the “beyond the streets” graffiti museum and how he’s passing on the art to the next generation.

This Monday at 4:20pm, Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the boulevard with George Martorano, Owner of Philadelphia’s Hip Hemp Cafe, to talk about his journey from the traditional market to serving the city of philly with the powerful medicine of CBD. He gets a chance to talk about his time in prison serving 32 years for cannabis related charges and how he advocated for education and prisoner reform. He also gets to share some of his plans for expanding the Hip Hemp Cafe globally and gives us his take on the future of the cannabis industry will be post COVID. He even gives us a glimpse of what old school philly was like when he was in his hay day.

This Week, PM Ramon and Vlad celebrate their year anniversary of chopping it up on the boulevard by giving us a deep dive into the inception of the podcast from the events to the airwaves. Then, they give us some of their personal highlights from the past year as they reminisce about the many wonderful guest we had a chance to have on and give us a sneak peek of who is to come. They also give us a look ahead as they begin their search for the perfect HappyMunkey cannabis strain and the launch of our new merch.

This week on Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the boulevard with Shanel Lindsay, founder and CEO of Ardent Cannabis, to tell us how she went from a lawyer doing part time research on cannabis to launching the industry’s leading device for cannabis decarboxylation. She takes us through how she “Frankensteined” together the first Ardent Nova after years of research and some of the barriers she faced when convincing the community of the value of decarbing. She also discusses an incident she had with Massachusetts police that spark her mission to correct the broken cannabis laws and seek social equity and benefits for the people most effected by the war on drugs. She even gives us a brief history of the Massachusetts cannabis act and her predictions for a more diverse industry in the future.

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the Boulevard with Mary Pryor, Co-founder of Cannaculsive and CMO of Tonic CBD, to discuss how she went from treating her Crohn’s disease with cannabis to a flourishing career in the industry.  Mary puts us on to some vital information on how to break into the cannabis industry! As well as the breakdown on Cannaclusive’s Accountability list and their mission for more people of color in the cannabis industry in positions of power. Whether it be CEO, CMO, CFOs, etc… not just bud tenders and trimmers.  Lastly, Mary shares her thoughts on how important social equity is for federal legalization and making certain those affected by the War On Drugs have a place in the budding Green Rush.

This week Ramon and Vlad go straight to the Boulevard with Youth Soul Love, an amazing musician out of Houston, to chop it up about the cannabis and music scene in Texas. YSL bring us through the behind the scenes to recording his third studio album, “Smoke and Grow Rich”. Then puts us on to his fashion influences and aspirations to make his own clothing line in the future. At the end YSL even graces us with a few A cappella bars for all our YSL fans & Hip-Hop lovers!

This week Ramon and Vlad take it straight to the Boulevard with Stormy Simon, former president of Overstock.com and Former CEO of High Times, to discuss her journey from single mother to leading Overstock.com , and then making the jump to the cannabis industry and heading High Times magazine.  Stormy shares her thoughts on the cannabis industry slowly growing in Utah and how she plans to help the marginalized voices of Utah with her current bid for Utah House of Representatives, proudly representing District 21. Truly stressing the importance of voting in the upcoming 2020 election!  Lastly, Stormy gives us her post COVID predictions for the cannabis industry from an online retailers perspective and explains how brick & mortar might be a skipped step as far as distribution.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Jessica F. Gonzalez, Esq. AKA "The Cannabogada" to talk about mobilizing the people of New Jersey to vote "Yes" to the "New Jersey Marijuana Legalization Amendment" this coming election day! Tune in as the "Cannabogada" gives us her take on the impact adult-use cannabis legalization will have on New Jersey, and some of the barriers we face on the road to federal legalization Lastly "The Cannabogada" gives us encouraging advice on how to enter the cannabis industry, and some extremely valuable tips on protecting your intellectual property.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with The Joint Cheefs, a Hip-Hop group hailing straight from the Bronx, to talk about their come up in music and how they’re trying to put the world on to New York cannabis scene. We also get a chance to go through their musical process and a few of their favorite munchies that fuel them in the studio. We even catch a few bars from the trio to set off the boulevard right.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Leo Bridgewater, the co-founder of Leaf launch holdings and board member of Minorities For Medical Marijuana, to discuss how he went from war veteran to cannabis activists. He sheds some light on how cannabis helps veterans that suffer with injuries and PTSD, and gives us a better understanding through his own personal journey. He also has a chance to share his new strain “Bridge H2O” and tells us how he got his face onto jars in New Jersey medical dispensaries. We even get his perspective on New York’s legalization efforts and what gears need to be moved to get there!

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Big LSD, musical artist and battle rapper, gives a view of the underground hip-hop scene from the 90s to current day. He gets to share some stories from the road and tales of smoking out artist across the country. Also he tells his tale of how cannabis has been his second outlet after music and kept him from the street life.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Big Gipp of the Goodie Mob and founder of Gipp Goodies, to give us his high history and how cannabis influenced the music. also he tells us how he went from bringing a new style to the Atlanta music scene to making a CBD company based out of his home state. He even drops a few hints of a new Goodie mob album along side the Dungeon Family.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Tracee McAfee and Greg Baughman of Cyro Cure for our first sit down with a cultivator. We're talking about the industry from the grower perspective. They discuss some of the misconceptions about cannabis strains and how the word “Cultivar” better explains the differences between cannabis plants. They get into how they created a curing machine that can take the plant from the ground to smokable in less than 24 hours, they also shed some light on what the cannabis scene looks like and what’s on the horizon with the upcoming innovation coming out of the midwest.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Pounds 448. The legendary Rochester New York rapper and cannabis connoisseur, to talk about his come up in the upstate underground hip-hop scene. How his long lasting love of weed led to creating his own strain and he even breaks down the new wave of designer weed and phenotype hunting. He also gives us some incite on what he means when he says “there is no mafia” and walks us through some of his history growing up in the tough streets of Rochester, New York.

This week Ramon and Vlad discus New York opening up for the summer post-covid, the weed drought in the city and some recap of the HappyMunkey shenanigans the team has been up to. While on the boulevard, we have Jason Beck, founder of Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce and California’s oldest cannabis license holder, to give us some incite on the federal landscape of legal cannabis, how he turned to cannabis to helped with his cerebral palsy, and how the industry has changed since the start of legalization.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Miguel Trinidad, co-owner of the 99th floor and judge on viceland’s Bong Appetit, to discuss cooking with cannabis and his start in high end cannabis dinning. We get a chance to find out some of his cooking inspirations from good old mama love and her specialties and his desire to open a Resturant that highlights Dominican culture. He also tells us how he got onto viceland and how to properly cook with weed without knocking out your dinner guests.

This week Ramon and Vlad chop it up about the New York City Dutch Master drought and the hunt for fresh dutches, they also get into the city jumping to open up for the summer during corona, they even get into the plastic bag ban and diversity in the cannabis industry. While on The boulevard we call up John Kagia, Chief Knowledge Officer of New Frontier Data, in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss how the share culture of cannabis has change since Covid-19, the future of cannabis and public consumption, the globalization of cannabis and how it can florish in South America and Africa, and how diversity in the industry is the key to understanding an overlooked audience.

In this episode Vlad and Ramon take it straight to the boulevard with Jane West, Founder of Women Grow and Janewest.com, To talk about the origin of women Grown and how it become a nation wide monthly event, she also gets a chance to discuss some of the issues with licensing, such as transparency and the stigma of cannabis within the community. we also launched a new segment The Happy Munkey Basement as an homage to all the freestyle cyphers that were had on the actual boulevard.

This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Nico Marley, Founder of Lion X Wellness, to talk about his transition from playing college football and playing for the Washington Red Skins to starting his own CBD company. We dive into what it was like to grow up as a Marley, and how that lead to his future in the cannabis industry. We also get a chance to reflect on the past week of protesting as we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement.

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This week, Ramon And Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Wilson Chandler of the Brooklyn Nets and cannabis entrepreneurs, to touch base with the different sides of Wilson chandler, as we discuss his love for art, his time playing basketball in China and his start in the cannabis industry with Viola. We even get to reminisce about how the guys met chandler during our event throwing days for the Last Prisoner Project.

This week, Ramon and Vlad go straight to the boulevard with Antuanette Gomez, of Pleasure Peaks, to discuss how cannabis can help improve your sex life. She has a chance to take us through her holistic studies and how she stumbled onto cannabis, and she talks about some of the benefits of cannabis as both as an aphrodisiac and as a mood/body stimulant, and how it leads to more intimacy.