In Midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks from the diplomatic gridlock of the United Nations, Christopher-Wallace Louie is living a life that feels suspended between two worlds—legacy and legal, New York and Colorado, family and the fiercely disciplined path of Shaolin Kung Fu. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like the origin story of a luxury cannagar empire. But like most things in Louie’s universe, appearances only tell the first layer.
Today, Made In Xiaolin is one of the most recognizable cannagar brands in the regulated market—known for meticulous craftsmanship, premium flower and concentrates, and the unmistakable shimmer of 24-karat gold rolling paper. But the story began long before the shelves or the hype, long before the High Council ambassador program or the expansion plans. It started with a moment of profound transition: the birth of Louie’s son.
In 2016, as Colorado’s market matured and New York’s legalization lingered on the horizon, Louie and his wife were expecting their first child. He wanted to celebrate the birth with something singular—something worthy of marking a new lineage. So he crafted a cigar-style cannabis piece unlike anything he’d smoked before: dense, slow-burning, aromatic, indulgent. “I wanted an experience,” he says. “Not just a product.”
That desire—to elevate a moment—would become the foundation of everything Made In Xiaolin would stand for.
From Midtown to the Mountains
Louie grew up in New York, but his entry into the cannabis world happened across state lines. Before founding Made In Xiaolin, he worked in insurance—a profession that offered stability, but not connection. Selling cannabis, even in its earliest legacy form, revealed something radically different. Customers were happy. Conversations were meaningful. The transaction felt more like a bridge than a barrier.
“That feeling of making someone’s day better—it stayed with me,” Louie reflects.
When Colorado opened its legal doors, he saw an opportunity: gain the experience New York wouldn’t permit until years later. He stepped into cultivation, processing, operations—and learned firsthand how wildly different regulated markets could be. The transition wasn’t simple, especially after his wife became pregnant. But it pushed him toward creativity, craftsmanship, and the spark of what would become the first Made In Xiaolin cannagars.
The Most Expensive Item on the Shelf—and the Most Misunderstood
In a dispensary landscape driven by discounts and potency numbers, Made In Xiaolin occupies a rebellious lane. Their products are often the highest-priced items in the store—beautiful, heavy, fragrant pieces dressed in edible gold. But Louie quickly learned that “luxury” can’t lean on price alone. It has to be taught.
“The hardest part isn’t production,” he says. “It’s education. Budtenders need to know why a cannagar matters before a customer will.”
That insight led to one of the most innovative marketing structures in cannabis today: The High Council.
Part training program, part community, part ambassador network, the High Council is a curriculum Louie created for budtenders across Colorado and—soon—New York. Participants attend a series of courses covering the brand’s story, product knowledge, and consumer engagement. They learn how to explain craftsmanship, how to guide a celebratory purchase, how to position a cannagar as more than a novelty.
And yes—they get to smoke.
“It’s experiential learning,” Louie laughs. “If you’re going to talk about the burn, you need to feel the burn.”
Craftsmanship as Combat Discipline
If the branding hints at martial arts mystique, the ethos behind Made In Xiaolin is fully rooted in Louie’s real practice. He trains under a Shi Yan Ming who is a 34th-generation Shaolin monk. The discipline of Shaolin—precision, intention, repetition until mastery—shapes every aspect of the rolling room.
A cannagar takes hours to make. The team sources flower for flavor, not THC percentages. Concentrates are chosen for terpene expression. Rolling is done slowly, methodically, by people who understand they are shaping an experience, not manufacturing a commodity.
The gold paper, which sparks flakes of gold as it burns, is emblematic of that fusion: luxury meeting ritual, art meeting precision.
There is a parallel too with “creative rolling,” a subculture of sculptural joints and elaborate burn paths that has produced its own small universe of competitions. Louie respects the craft but stays grounded in philosophy.
“Shaolin teaches that mastery isn’t about performance—it’s about devotion,” he says.
Pain, Healing, and the Defiant Choice Not to Numb
Louie’s bond with cannabis isn’t just entrepreneurial. Years ago, he was shot—an experience that introduced him to opiates, and then to the foggy, disconnected state they created. Recovery became a turning point. He chose the plant.
“Cannabis gave me my mind back,” he says quietly. “It made the pain something I could live with, not run from. And it let me stay present.”
That clarity, ironically, drove him deeper into the world of creating joy for others. “If I can give someone a moment—relief, celebration, connection—that means everything.”
Building a New York Footprint—and Beyond
Now based temporarily with his parents in Midtown, Louie is watching New York’s legal market unfold. He already has his eye on key retailers: Can of Dreams, New Amsterdam, Gotham, Planet Nug, Happy Days, Torches. But he’s thinking bigger too.
Las Vegas. Los Angeles. And Europe—where the luxury positioning lands differently, more naturally. “It’s a product built for celebration,” he says. “And Europe knows how to celebrate.”
In fact, Made In Xiaolin has already done custom wedding bundles—groom’s party cannagars, ceremonial pieces, even branded gift boxes. The future, Louie believes, sits in hospitality. Lounges. Resorts. Spa-style retreats.
“We don’t sell flower,” he says. “We sell experiences.”
A Family Growing Beside the Brand
At home, cannabis is not a secret. Louie and his wife consume. Their two children, nine and six, understand the business. They know it’s a plant. They know their parents built something brave at a time when the federal government still said “no.”
“When they’re older, if they want to try cannabis, I want to guide them,” he says. “I want them to feel proud that their parents did something meaningful.”
A Celebration Waiting to Be Lit
Made In Xiaolin was born from a desire to honor a beginning—the birth of a child. Nearly a decade later, the brand stands at the intersection of luxury, ritual, and deep personal truth. Louie remains the bridge between worlds: the New Yorker, the martial artist, the father, the craftsman.
And in every cannagar, there is a spark of that journey—rolled tight, wrapped in gold, waiting for flame.
