The Cannabis Cutie Origin Story
Listen in as Tammy traverses everything from her childhood upbringing, to her college career, and the start of the Cannabis Cutie—culminating in a life-changing meeting with Snoop Dogg.
Q: Tell me the origin story of The Cannabis Cutie. When did cannabis come into your life & how did you decide you wanted to do more than just use it—but also educate about it?
A: It all started at the beginning of my use, my freshman year of college. My first semester I got a 0.8 GPA after being a model student my entire life. Meanwhile, the kid on my floor that always smelled like a pound of weed made the Honor Roll.
And I was like, wait a minute, the D.A.R.E. Program told me this should be the opposite of what’s happening. That was the first time I became curious and started considering using cannabis.
Once I used it, I liked it, and so I continued. I noticed that incrementally I was becoming a much better person.
I was much more patient, I could focus. My anxiety & stress was being reduced. I was actually able to be in the moment in a way I could never do before.
That was the beginning for me. And then I continued using cannabis during my entire education into grad school.
Q: What was the reason for having a .8 GPA when you were a straight A student before?
A: I came from a neighborhood that was very diverse, Oklahoma City. 75% of my high school were undocumented students, and the rest were Native American, Asian, and Black. When I went to Oklahoma State for college, that was the first time I had ever seen that many white people in real life.
It was such a culture shock for me. I didn’t understand my environment, and they definitely didn’t understand me. The courses were much harder. The school I was going to didn’t graduate students often, let alone have them go off to university.
So I was just not academically prepared, and that spiraled into depression and me not wanting to leave my dorm room or do anything.
Q: So what was it about cannabis that got the grades back up and got you more focused?
A: It helped me to take this sense of dread that I had lived with my entire life, and that I thought was normal, and put it to the side. I was able to understand that I can fix this, and it’s not the end of the world.
Because the University’s response was academic probation and then therapy. And then my Sophomore year they put me on anti-anxiety medication, which felt similar to cannabis but I wasn’t able to retain any information.
So I went back to smoking cannabis, and I was able to regulate those issues very well with cannabis and still have motivation and hope. And it really gave me that sense of hope that things were going to be okay.
Q: You mentioned having PTSD from growing up. Is there anything specifically you were struggling with?
A: As a person of color, I had a person of color upbringing. Family members that had been shot or imprisoned, and affected by the War on Drugs.
You basically live in a minimum security prison in your neighborhood because you’e constantly patrolled by police. They’re just waiting for you to mess up.
So I would say the PTSD that I have is very common to what a lot of people of color have. You only have one parent in the home, and the other is either working and/or dealing with a substance abuse issue, like my mother was.
It was just such a stressful, traumatic life—and you don’t even realize how not normal it is until you’re out of that situation and doing better.
So it was just that state of constant anxiety, and to this day when I see a police officer, I still cringe because of what my brothers went through.
I had to unlearn all of that and learn how to live a normal, safe life.
Q: Okay, so back to 20-year-old Tammy, you end up getting your grades back up and going to graduate school. What did you study?
A: I got an Executive MBA where I learned how to run foundations and be a head honcho. It was a program for NFL athletes and their spouses, so the academic schedule worked around the NFL schedule—which was ideal for me at the time.
Q: Right, so you were married to an NFL athlete & you’re now divorced? Was that stressful?
A: Yes, I’m now divorced since 2017. And a big part of what I advocate for today is helping these athlete’s families. So much focus is on the players, as it should be, but the women also leave their home to go to a new city to bet on someone else’s dream. And you feel the weight of what’s being said in the media, and by the fans.
And you still have all the weight of being not just a wife, but a mother and the keeper of your household. And if he gets traded you have to immediately pack up that house, because he has to report in 24 hours.
You have to coordinate with the schools, enrolling your children. You’re moving twice a year anyway.
People have this idea that it’s glorious and glamorous, but it’s a very stressful job. Even as a stay-at-home Mom.
I just felt like the mothers needed support from cannabis, and a lot of players could benefit from an alternative therapy.
So I gave them an example of a functional person on the team that was using cannabis and showing them it could be okay.
Q: So when did you decide to grow this from just privately consulting and helping people to going bigger and public? What was the birth of The Cannabis Cutie?
A: When I got to grad school, pretty much every project that I could possibly make about cannabis, I did make about cannabis. And I was successfully helping a lot of people start using it.
So I decided I better start learning more about it and getting involved in the industry, since obviously I was good at it. That was the a-ha moment of realizing people didn’t know the science behind cannabis, and the information couldn’t be found anywhere in an easy-to-understand format.
I started making Instagram videos, with no plan and not knowing what I was going to do with my life. It did not hit me at the time that this would be it.
And I did not know how I was going to monetize it when I started either. I was just doing what I loved.
Q: So at what point did you realize that you could make money off of this?
A: I think when I started getting so many DMs and people wanting my opinion and advice. So I decided to grow into online courses and consulting, and use the MBA that I paid for! But I love the media aspect most, I just love talking about it.
So me as a media personality is really what I want to cultivate.
Q: At what point did Snoop come into your life?
A: He sent me a DM! I was doing an Instagram Live for a cannabis media platform I used to work with, and I saw that Snoop commented. Then he sent a DM to me personally!
He had actually seen my content prior to that from another rapper, Problem. And then he came across my IG. It quickly turned into a life-changing meeting.
I remember in college thinking I wanted to smoke a blunt with Snoop Dogg one day, and to now actually be working with him to affect change is a dream come true.
In our first meeting, we got down to business right away discussing how we can get this information out there. Because it needs to be heard.
And the way I explain it is in a way he’s never heard before. I think he appreciates the artistry with which I explain things, and my unique communication skills. I believe one of my gifts is taking really complex things and making them super simple.
He’s in a place in his life where he’s wanting to help a lot of people, especially people of color, to excel.
He had to work really hard to get where he’s gotten, so now he wants to help as many people as he can.
Q: What is the cannabis question you get asked the most?
A: One of the most common questions I get from women is can I used cannabis while I’m pregnant or breast feeding? And I believe a mother should be able to choose what’s right for her and her baby.
If you were to get into a car accident while pregnant or nursing, you’d probably be given opiate pain killers like Vicodin in the hospital, and therefore your baby gets it too.
So it should be up to the mom to decide what’s best.
And moreover, cannabinoids also naturally occur in breast milk, because your baby also has an endocannabinoid system to receive these compounds.
Q: So this show you’re working on with Snoop, what’s that going to be like?
A: It’s going to be cannabis culture, like a fun stoner show. But we’re also going to make sure that you’re learning. So we’ll have a Word of the Day segment, a history segment, and of course a munchies segment for fun.
I’ll also share what I’m smoking on and teach why things like THC content and strain names don’t matter when selecting your bud.
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