Who Is LeVanna Vassau, Host Of The Bay Sesh?
LeVanna Vassau is a guerrilla marketer extraordinaire, an event marketing and promotion specialist, and a veteran of California’s cannabis industry in multiple roles throughout the entire seed-to-sale supply chain. Working and healing with the plant since the late 90s, she is without a doubt an OG ganja goddess. For the past five years, Vassau has been most recognizable to the public for The Bay Sesh, a radio show, podcast and YouTube channel which she began producing and hosting for 89.5FM KZCT Ozcat Radio in Vallejo. Through her ethos of compassion, environmentalism, and independence, there’s a lot to be gained from sitting on the dock with The Lady of The Bay.
LeVanna Vassau On Creating The Bay Sesh, Favorite Strains, And Cannabis Industry Insights
HONEYSUCKLE MAGAZINE: What inspired you to get into the cannabis industry and what is your mission in the space?
LEVANNA VASSAU: I was born and raised in Northern California. Around 1998 I became a medical marijuana patient and started growing in my grandma's backyard. I have been in love with the plant ever since.
20 years later, when California entered the Prop 64 recreational market, I was working with an awesome company doing contract labor in harvest tech, processing, packaging and distribution. I saw how difficult it was to get a cannabis license and I wanted to create an opportunity for myself in the cannabis space (and hopefully my friends!) to do what we love.
I started with a lifestyle brand @norcalflower, an IG page inspired by the Northern California cannabis culture about being a stoner, grower, and trimmer. A year later I was offered a time slot at a local radio station, 89.5FM KZCT in Vallejo. The Bay Sesh was born and I have been doing it for over five years now.
My mission is to promote and empower the Northern California cannabis culture, and inspire people to grow their own medicine.
What do you wish more people knew about your job?
The Bay Sesh isn’t a job, it's an FM radio show that I created from my heart.
What has been your biggest accomplishment in the cannabis space so far?
Creating a commercial free grassroots platform on FM radio for the Northern California cannabis community.
How do you think broadcasting and content creation are shaping the mainstream understanding of cannabis culture?
When it was illegal, people who were in the traditional market couldn’t talk about it openly. The only information was coming from authorities like law enforcement who really had no clue about the culture. Now it's quasi-legal and we can talk about the culture, share the history, and inform on the science.
What's your hope for the future of the cannabis industry?
I hope the cannabis culture of compassion, sustainability, and health and wellness can create thriving regenerative enterprises that inform and influence the industry into the future.
What are your favorite strains and products?
Some of my favorites are Mendo Dope Heady OG rosin, Dirty Arm Farm Zkittlez, Splash Solventless Papaya, Most High Melts Trop Cookies, Ridgeline Farms Lantz, Huckleberry Hill Farms Whithorne Rose and Space Gems edibles, Jade Nectar raw cannabis tinctures.
What's the best thing about being a woman in cannabis?
Everything. Women founders have paved the way in Northern California cannabis culture which was the epicenter of global culture, which has always been a source of inspiration for me. Most of the opportunities I have been given in the industry were given to me by women founders who created their own space within the industry, and wanted to empower me as a woman.
For more about LeVanna Vassau and The Bay Sesh, follow @thebaysesh on Instagram and check out The Bay Sesh YouTube channel.
*A version of this article originally appeared in Honeysuckle's 18th print edition. Click here to order and choose your element - Fire with Bun B or Ice with Queen P!
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Featured image: LeVanna Vassau, creator of THE BAY SESH (C) Klyce Studio @klycestudio
