How Tamu and Zia Stolbie are trailblazing in the field of weed education
Claire Brnjac // Arts and Culture Editor
While Vancouver has a reputation of being stoner-friendly—especially since cannabis was legalized across Canada in 2018—the basics of it might be confusing to newbies.
The Calgary native Stolbie sisters moved to Vancouver in 2009 and have dedicated over a decade to creating innovative business development in their fields of advertising, advising and awareness. The Stolbie’s bread and butter, and the reason behind their titular nickname “Witches of Grasstown,” is their focus on education around the business, consumption and benefits of cannabis. “Cannabis Consulting” is focused on educating the public on the benefits of plant-based medicine, as well as sharing how it has affected their lives for the better.
The ‘a-ha’ moment behind the inception of Cannabis Consulting came when a friend of Tamu Stolbie’s, her partner in, “The Coven Club,” went onto Craig Ex’s cannabis-themed talk show “Expert Joints Live!” to discuss equality, diversity, and the legalization of marijuana in Canada. Zia Stolbie says this experience re-ignited her interest in cannabis as an educator, “I saw a great opportunity for us to help pave the way… in the domains that our skill sets, expertise and interests already laid, with regards to media & production, marketing, content creation, events, [and] business development.”
This came at a very opportune moment. The Stolbie sisters had experience from creating the GG Media Lab, a creative/talent agency, in 2018 and were willing to put their experience to use for a good cause. As they are trying to facilitate change in the cannabis industry, they are focusing on the future. “We are always working towards more equality and diversity in the entrepreneurial landscape. [They want to] provide more clarity, educated understanding, and resources for the public, the canna-curious, and those looking to begin their journey with cannabis and plant medicines,” says Zia.
They’re planning on facilitating this change in cannabis education through social media. The sisters have already done two web series with Vancouver-based newspaper Daily Hive; one called Smart Stoner, where they go into the basics around marijuana and decode the mystery behind the drug for newbies, and Cannadished, where they show how to make excellent cannabis-based meals and snacks.
My final question was asking on how they did it all, considering it’s in the middle of a pandemic and they have many other ventures under their belt. “We usually break out [of] our schedule during the day with a healthy mix of taking meetings/calls, content creation, having snacks, and trying to get outdoors in some capacity,” they tell me. “Balance is key!”
Check out the Stolbie Sisters at @stolbiesisters on Instagram, or at their website stolbiesisters.com.