Spotlight Series: Dankgals
This week we're chatting with Janice, founder of Dankgals which is an online retailer selling accessories for the cannabis lifestyle.
Dankgals is based out of California and offers everything from rigs, to snapbacks to CBD infused bath bombs (plus so much more) and now they have begun to do Self Care Sundays - real life events focused on restorative yoga with a cannabis twist.
We loved their products so much that we're offering a special giveaway this month! Visit our Instagram page to learn more about how you can win a handcrafted Rose Quartz pipe from Dankgals!
Dankgals is an online store offering a pretty cool variety of products from crystals to pipes to t-shirts. How did you get started? What was the inspiration for Dankgals?
When we created Dankgals, the initial inspiration came from everyday female stoners who are successful in their careers and wish to practice creative living. Dankgals promotes the use of cannabis responsibly, and strives for happier, healthier lives mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Kush Hemp Snapback available here
Image via Instagram
Peach Aventurine available here.
What is your background? Have you worked in the cannabis industry for long?
My educational background is in health and sciences, biology/psychology. Professionally, I was a behavioral therapist for children with developmental disorders such as autism, speech delay, Asperger syndrome, epilepsy, sensory integration dysfunction, with a specialization for children at the age 2 to 6 years old! My passion for cannabis and business came a decade ago from the study of cannabis use for autism. And I’ve been in the industry since then!
On your website, you have a page dedicated to pursuing collaborations, how important is it that brands work with other, similar brands? What kind of benefit do you see from that?
Collaborations are essential to the continuous growth of a company. I love to collaborate with other brands which demonstrate the same vision as Dankgals - incorporating positive, responsible use of cannabis in our every day lives. Collaborations offer a beautiful journey of endless learning and knowledge sharing for the involved organizations as it offers the consumers.
You’re based in California. Have you noticed an uptick in cannabis businesses lately?
Yes, definitely. I am seeing strong interests in the industry from both new businesses and consumers. We have all taken a huge step forward in the cannabis movement this year and it’s only the beginning!
Soon, you’ll be introducing a line of CBD body care products, tell us about those.
Roses and Champagne CBD bath Bomb from Dankgals
Yes! We will be launching both an organic line of CBD bath products as well as an all natural line of CBD skin care topicals.
We recently released our 50mg organic CBD bath bombs that work wonders! They completely sold out in San Francisco during the first weekend of its introduction. I’ve always loved skin care and I truly believe that a great bath should offer more than just simple relaxation! Skin is the largest organ of our body and it will absorb everything we apply on top of it, except water. So we only use the highest quality ingredients from natural plants, CBD, essential oils in our formulations. Aromatherapy is taken into concern as well. There is absolutely no unnatural fragrance or coloring added in any of our products. All products are made in small batches by hand, cruelty, and paraben free. We only test on humans!
What influenced your decision to begin creating bath products?
A few years ago, I took care of my father after his bypass surgery. Due to post surgery patients natural tendency to low immunity, he was not recommended to use regular skin care. I researched all ingredients of the food, bath, skin care products that we gave him during his recovery and realized the majority of what we eat/use is toxic to our health. Sparked by my inner nerdiness for science, I turned to a program in London and took courses on natural/organic skin care formulation and aromatherapy. Now, I have an award winning team of aromatherapists and chemists here in Southern California to formulate the best skin care for all skin types.
The Roses and Champagne bath bomb available here.
*Editor's Note - Look for an upcoming review of Dankgals' 50mg Roses & Champagne bath bomb
What is your vision for the future of Dankgals?
Dankgals will continue to grow as a women’s cannabis lifestyle brand introducing not only quality glass pieces and top of the line skin care products, but also executing creative events that spread the awareness of the positive use of cannabis (health & wellness awareness) to our communities.
What has been the most challenging aspect of running a cannabis based business?
2017 has been very friendly. However, the past few years were tough. The most challenging aspect of the business would have to be the limited marketing resources & merchant processors. Social media, Google, and other applications do not allow public display of ads for the cannabis businesses. Paypal, stripe, Squarespace, etc. do not work with cannabis related businesses. All the obstacles actually made our business community stronger. We have our own applications to process payments, a social media app dedicated to the plant- Massroots. Although the green life is becoming more mainstream now (Yay!), the challenges have already shaped the cannabis interests into a united, strong, and self-reliant movement.
What advice would you offer another woman who was interested in joining the cannabis industry?
It’s amazing to see the increasing number of women in the industry. A few years ago, there would only be a handful of females on the entire trade show floor, besides models! I would encourage women to join this creative and friendly community. Whether you are joining an amazing organization that shares the same love and vision as you do for the plant and people or starting your own cannabis business, you must have a burning passion for helping others. This industry is all about the power of the plant! The best advice I can give you as a beginner in the industry is to focus on choosing a category in which you have a strong passion for. Young women come to me for advice all the time and the first thing they would present is the number- calculations of how much they could make. They have it all wrong. It’s never about the numbers, until later on, of course. You absolutely need to be in love in order to create.
Finally, do you have a favorite strain or a cannabis ritual? What do you love about it?
Image via Instagram
Nowadays, we host cannabis yoga for Dankgals! So that’s my time to relax, inhale, and meditate with instructor and rest of our students. On Friday nights, it’s blue dream, CBD bath, and VR! Saturday nights, it’s wine & edibles! During that time of the month, you bet it’s Charlotte’s Web!! High in CBD content which I love! Experimenting and creating different experiences are what I love the most about cannabis, smoke it, eat it, apply it, drink it, it’s super creative and never a dull moment!