In this episode of The Women in CannaBusiness Podcast, host Olivia Castaldy sits down with Jenna Star, COO of Lucky Elk, whose path into the cannabis industry looks nothing like the typical origin story. Raised in rural Colorado within a conservative ranching family, Jenna’s early life was grounded in tradition, resilience, and survival — far from dispensaries, cultivation, or cannabis culture.

Her journey eventually led her across the country, through Denver, Harlem, San Francisco, and Portland, where new environments, perspectives, and lived experiences challenged everything she thought she knew. From anthropology lectures that shifted her worldview to her first introduction to cannabis in Humboldt County, “the Wild West” of cultivation, Jenna describes a learning process that was slow, humbling, and transformative.

Today, as COO of Lucky Elk, she brings that lived wisdom into leadership, operations, and storytelling, honoring the plant’s legacy while helping shape legal cannabis with intention, ethics, and humanity.

✨ In this episode:

• Growing up in rural Colorado & navigating cultural shifts

• Humboldt County’s cultivation scene — chaos, beauty & learning

• How exposure, empathy & curiosity reshape belief systems

• The evolution of cannabis culture across regions

• Finding identity, purpose & resilience through change

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🌿 Season 4 Gold Sponsor: Lucky Elk Support our sponsor at ⁠luckyelk.com⁠ and enjoy 15% off your purchase with code WiCB15.