Episode Details

"Stop shaming my sex and drugs."

On this episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben Larson & AnnaRae Grabstein sit down with the incomparable Tanya Griffin, a multihyphenate entrepreneur who is rewriting the rulebook on what it means to be a "professional" in the cannabis industry. From building the first vertically integrated national franchise to navigating the "crash landing" of the Illinois social equity market, Tanya’s journey is a masterclass in resilience, systems-building, and radical honesty.

We dive deep into the brutal reality of the Illinois retail landscape—where MSOs use MSAs to bypass store caps—and explore Tanya’s provocative thesis: that "dropping into flow states" through cannabis, intimacy, and wellness isn't just a lifestyle choice, it’s a competitive advantage for scaling high-growth companies.

💡 What You’ll Learn:

• The Illinois "Muddled Mess": An inside look at the X2Vets LLC lawsuit and how MSOs are consolidating power in one of the country's most expensive markets.
• Franchising vs. Mom & Pop: Can a franchise model provide the operational backbone that social equity operators need to survive against giants like GTI and Cresco?
• Scaling Sexual Wellness: The "soup-to-nuts" journey of building oOYes, a brand at the intersection of women's health, cannabinoids, and dismantling sexual shame.
• The Power of Bootstrapping: Why Tanya owns 100% of her companies and her "Crawl, Walk, Run" advice for surviving a market with zero access to traditional capital.

🌟 Meet Tanya Griffin:

Tanya Griffin is the founder of Water and Trees, a growth management firm, and the visionary behind brands like oOYes and Uh huh Honey. With over 35 years of experience building retail companies (from midwifery clinics to dispensaries), she is a prominent deal-maker and consultant in the Illinois market. Tanya is also a fierce advocate for harm reduction through her nonprofit, Save My Life, which provides free Narcan throughout Illinois.

📅 Why Tune In?

This isn't your average business podcast. If you’re tired of the corporate "suit and tie" narrative in cannabis and want to hear how raw authenticity and lean operations can win against billion-dollar MSOs, this conversation with Tanya Griffin is required listening.

Have a question for us? Send us a text. We may answer it in the next show!

--
High Spirits is brought to you by Vertosa and Wolf Meyer.

Your hosts are Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein.

Follow High Spirits on LinkedIn.

We'd love to hear your thoughts. Who would you like to see on the show? What topics would you like to have us cover?

Visit our website www.highspiritspod.com and listen to all of our past shows.

THANK YOU to our audience. Your engagement encourages us to keep bringing you these thought-provoking conversations. 

Remember to always stay curious, stay informed, and most importantly, keep your spirits high.