Pricilla Vilchis, Ceo - Premium Produce & Reina Cannabis Brand by Sharon Letts
First Latina women in US to acquire cannabis cultivation licenses in California and Nevada
In the middle of a pandemic, cannabis entrepreneur Pricilla Vilchis is expanding her business into the State of California, in addition to the niche she created for herself in Nevada.
Firsts are not new to Vilchis, who is the first Latina woman granted cannabis cultivation licenses, first in Las Vegas, Nevada, and now in Lynwood, in Los Angeles County, California.
According to Insider.com (April, 2020), 80 to 90 percent of all cannabis business owners in the U.S. are white (predominantly male).
With more than 600,000 people in the U.S. charged for possession of cannabis in 2018 alone (emphasis on possession, not large-scale illicit market operations noted), blacks and Latinos made up for nearly half of arrests, while only making up 31 percent of the population.
The numbers for both business owners and those incarcerated demonstrate the glaring discrepancies found among minorities in the States. The situation also highlights Vilcich’s accomplishments, earning her a special place in the space.
Cannabis in Solidarity
Even though success followed, entering into the cannabis industry was not easy for Vilchis, whose old-school Catholic, Mexican-American family initially rejected her choices.
“My upbringing was strict Catholic, so I was warned that I would die if I used cannabis,” she explained. “I really never even wanted to even try it.”
Her point of view changed at the age of 23, when a friend was contemplating medicating with cannabis for symptoms of breast cancer treatments, namely the nausea, body aches, and lack of appetite, referred to as waste away, from chemotherapy.
“I had heard that it would help my friend with chemo, so I did it with her in solidarity,” she shared. “It helped her a lot, and it opened a door for me to be open about the plant.”
Vilich said she progressed to using CBD oil and ingesting medibles on a daily basis after a traumatic car crash a few years ago took the life of her fiancé.
“I used cannabis to help with sleep issues and cope with anxiety,” she said. “It helped decrease my stress levels. I was also diagnosed with Thyroid Disease and cannabis also helps with many symptoms.”
Thyroid Disease is a hormonal disorder, not unlike menopause, with as many as 35 symptoms that seemingly come and go, affecting many biological systems; including emotion, digestive issues, weight gain, body temperature - sensitivity to hot and cold, and much more, with many cannabis patients reporting help for myriad issues.
“I felt better physically, but my mood definitely changed when I began ingesting cannabis for Thyroid Disease,” she said. “My family noticed that it calmed me down, and made me a kinder person.”
From Mainstream Healthcare to Alternative Medicine
Vilchis said she dropped out of studying business management at college to pursue a career in healthcare, managing some of Southern California’s premier physicians - specialists in their fields of surgery and more. She did this while creating multi-million dollar businesses at a very young age.
Being close to medical professionals and all that implies, Vilchis said she witnessed, first hand, the devastating impact the opioid epidemic had on patients, making it the number one reason she left mainstream healthcare for the cannabis industry.
In 2014, at 28 years of age, Vilchis sold her mainstream medical management companies and invested in cultivating cannabis.
“My own attorney advised me against going into the cannabis industry,” she said. “My family was concerned, my mom thought the worst - that I would be incarcerated. But, in the end, they trusted my judgment.”
Out of 500 applications, Vilchis was the first and youngest female minority CEO to be awarded two of the highly sought after licenses for processing and manufacturing.
Many who have been in the cannabis industry for decades fear corporations taking over. Vilchis was up against applicants such as Arnie Morton, owner of the Morton Steakhouse chain, and the owner of the Tropicana casino on the strip, to name just two entities with a great deal of cash stepping up to the table.
But, even in the face of millionaires and billionaires, it was her ability to have the wherewithal to orchestrate such a move, from mainstream healthcare to cannabis on the fringe.
After she acquired the licenses the Las Vegas Sun newspaper dubbed her “Pricilla, Queen of the Desert,” making reference to a movie title, firmly establishing her place in the Nevada cannabis market.
The moniker was not lost on Vilchis, who was painfully aware of the accolades, without having grown one seedling of cannabis prior.
Today, her highly successful six million dollar Las Vegas cultivation facility and manufacturing laboratory boasts 25,000 square feet of working space, with a custom-made environmental control system, a Failsafe CO2 delivery system and a reverse osmosis water filtration system - using condensed water from air conditioners.
The facility also has an in-house testing protocol, where all products are tested for potency and contamination before they leave the building.
Her brand, Reina, includes an edible line, a vape pen line, “Kiss Meh” THC lip balm, and many CBD products. Premium Produce showcases a variety of top shelf cannabis flower and infused products for patients and those who medicate to recreate.
The 11,000 square foot California facility is being built now. In addition to cultivation, processing and distribution of products to dispensaries, Vilcichs added delivery to the mix, as many conservative cities in California have banned retail shops, with need, supply, and demand still very real in the region.
Pre-COVID, Vilcichs said she enjoyed speaking at conferences and events about her journey into the cannabis industry, touching on diversity and inclusion as a Latina woman.
One of her pet projects is advocating for insurance companies to make cannabis reimbursable. But her day-to-day work involves negotiating with dispensary owners, and working in every aspect of the business, with the help of her once hesitant family.
“My mom and dad work with me now,” she laughed. “We’ve all been known to sit down at the trimming table. It’s become a true family business that I’m extremely proud of - and so is my family. Everyone wanted me to succeed. If I hadn’t taken a leap of faith, none of this would have been possible.”
For more information on Premium Produce visit, https://premiumproducenv.com/
Written and Published By Sharon Letts in Weed World Magazine issue 150
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