'If Your Brand Doesn't Speak To Me, I'm Not Buying', Says Minorities For Medical Marijuana CEO

"Diversity is profitable. Black people buy weed. Brown people buy weed. We are selling weed. And it is a powerful plant," asserted Roz McCarthy, founder and CEO of Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM) at the recent Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami.

Providing an insight into her strategy for navigating the burgeoning industry, McCarthy's approach to business is characterized by frugality and precision, originating from a deep-rooted practice of resource management.

"Our mentality is not to spend in excess. You might think that that is a subset of culture but that is me as a businesswoman; that is not my mentality. My mentality is to work from scarcity and it shouldn’t be that way, but that’s the way that I was raised—to really penny pinch and figure out how to make it work," shared the owner of Black Buddha Cannabis (BBC), a social-equity-driven brand, which partnered with TILT Holdings TILT TLLTF last October.

This potent combination of fiscal discipline and diversity awareness has propelled her to the forefront of the cannabis industry, a sector she considers to be primed for diversity.

She stressed, "There will become a time in this industry that consumers will have a choice and they will want to know that if your brand does not represent me if your brand does not talk to me, if your brand does not speak to me, I ain’t buying it."

Her message is clear: she believes brands that fail to recognize the power of representation and inclusion will inevitably lose out to those that do. Her perspective on the issue was forcefully stated: "At the end of the day, we are selling. And it is a powerful plant."

This year, the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, which is set to return to Chicago on September 27 and 28, promises another vibrant discussion of the future of the industry. All information is available on bzcannabis.com