Articles

From the spirited Hall of Flowers event in Santa Rosa, California, the clear trajectory of cannabis‘s influence in mainstream pop culture is increasingly evident. Yet, beneath the surface, many brands, particularly in California, are battling declining viability due to societal stigma and stringent advertising limitations. Resilient cannabis brands are fighting …

In the evolving landscape of the cannabis industry, it has become evident to me that a paradigm shift is needed to overcome the current struggles and capture new consumers. Traditional approaches that cater solely to long-time cannabis users are falling short in attracting potential consumers, particularly among baby boomers and …

There has never been a period in the history of humanity where a person’s expectations of the future are so incredibly murky and screwed up as they are today. Our world is marked by wicked problems — climate change, polarization, inequity, war, financial instability and AI — that threaten our …

There have been two main playersto date when it comes to consumer data protection, or, rather, the lack thereof. There are companies, largely Big Tech, that want to harvest and sell consumer data, and there’s the government which is attempting to regulate it. But there needs to be a third: …

Psilocybin — the main psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms — is the most famous and best-studied psychedelic substance. But beyond psilocybin, there are many other psychedelic compounds, some naturally occurring, some made in labs. Scientists, mental health professionals and individual psychonauts are exploring these alternate psychedelics for their psychological benefits, …

For decades, America’s Fortune 500 has been ruled by executives with a predictable pedigree: ambitious leaders who have cut their teeth in entrepreneurship or worked their way up to a top seat. It may be ironic then, that the advancement of technology through some of the brightest minds in business, …

I first heard the term “warm crypto” from former Time magazine president Keith Grossman during an NFT fundraiser he led on Twitter in 2022 for the charity New York Cares. (Full disclosure: Author donated to a past New York Cares charity NFT project.) Grossman used his media influence to raise …

Talk is cheap; actions speak. Storytelling is paramount to a brand’s narrative. But marketing’s emphasis on this single facet neglects a fundamental human reality: People must live a story for it to matter to them. Your target audience needs more than to hear your narrative; they need to lose themselves …

I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life, successfully selling two companies by the time I was 26. Today, I’ve helped over 4,500 brands soar with a revolutionary marketing model at a brand I founded called Hawke Media. There have been different iterations of my entrepreneurial endeavors, but not one company …

We must promote higher standards for education in the U.S. An overemphasis on memorized, regurgitated data and test-based curricula has driven the deterioration of the American education system. The ability to question, think freely, and consider varying viewpoints has been squashed. In the 1960s and 1970s, American education was a …