In March, Miss Grass founder Kate Miller and her team announced a rebrand aimed at helping equip cannabis consumers with the means to make conscious decisions about their use of plant medicine. The chic colorful design is easy on the eyes, too!
About Kate Miller and Miss Grass
Kate Miller is the co-founder and CEO of Miss Grass, a women-owned, sustainably-grown cannabis brand, and a pioneer in the cannabis industry. Miller's decade-long career in entertainment eventually led her to the cannabis space.
Officially launched in 2018 with co-founder Anna Duckworth, Miss Grass seeks to fill in gaps of representation in the industry, all while equipping consumers with the type of education to help them build a more intentional relationship with plant medicine. Miss Grass' overall mission is to "help the world get good at weed." They have a bevy of signature THC and CBD products that are all featured on their intentionally curated online smoke shop, which is an upgrade from the headshops stoners know so well. The company is a female-founded, and community-driven cannabis brand. A major pillar of its mission is providing education that helps cannabis users become more discerning about the cannabis products they use. They offer their customers the latest innovations in cannabis products, alongside educational resources about the history, science, and culture of cannabis. Its mission is to inspire conscious consumption of cannabis, all while working to eradicate the stigma that still lingers over the plant.
Miss Grass Rebrand
The Rebranding Process
Last March, in tandem with Women's History Month, Miss Grass announced a full-fledged rebrand, designed particularly with women in mind, as their specific needs and desires in the cannabis industry are often overlooked and underserved. The new packaging is intentionally colorful, chic, and sustainable! The new packaging incorporates a "color-coded system that signifies Miss Grass' carefully selected strains and the emotions and effects they elicit", along with detailed stickers with specific terpene and strain info to further equip consumers to make confident and informed decisions for their well-being.
In an effort to continue to work towards a more equitable cannabis industry, Miss Grass collaborated with the Women's Prison Association, donating $1 from every Minis and Flower purchase to their organization for the month of March. The new SKUs featured in the rebrand launch include Slims (.5g pre-rolls), Sparks (.3g pre-rolls), Miss Grass's first-ever infused products with THCA diamonds, and a new, true 1:1 THC: CBD product.
"As educated and helpful as budtenders can be, it is important for consumers to be able to advocate for their individual health and well-being, particularly women who are often overlooked,” said Kate Miller. “Through a mix of informative packaging and color psychology, our rebrand reflects Miss Grass’ mission to educate, equip and empower our community with resources that help them live vibrantly and consume consciously.”
Honeysuckle Chats with Miss Grass Founder Kate Miller
HONEYSUCKLE MAGAZINE: How did you begin your personal journey into the cannabis industry?
KATE MILLER: I was born and raised in New Jersey and that was my first foray into cannabis; not necessarily in the industry, but as a personal consumer. It always worked for me from the very first, or I should say, the second blunt I ever smoked. It was always something that I really enjoyed, though more socially at that time. I have an older brother who's two years older than me. In his senior year, he got arrested for cannabis distribution, manufacturing, and possession, and got expelled from school. That was the first moment that, as someone that is a consumer, I stopped to think about how the consumption of this plant and the stigma around it is way more complex than I've ever put consciousness to.
I moved out west to attend university in Los Angeles. California had a medical cannabis program at the time. Cannabis was almost celebrated, and it was so integrated into California culture. It was such a juxtaposition between what I experienced growing up and what happened to my brother. As a personal consumer, it was the first time that I had choices. I tried a cannabis topical for my psoriasis. It was something that has completely transformed my skin, to this day. I just became more educated at that time, because there was a legal cannabis program. There was more education that was accessible to me and I just drove into anything that I could get my hands on. I ended up working as a budtender during my junior and senior years of college. So that was my first foray into the industry, working at a downtown dispensary in Los Angeles. I bought the URL for Missgrass.com back then in 2008, just because at that time, the industry was so different than it is today. I felt there wasn't a brand, a product, or a service that authentically represented how I or so many people around me were interacting with this plant. Our approach was a bit more intentional than how it was portrayed in media and pop culture, and even in the cannabis industry at that time. I would go to work and I would learn how to roll a cross blunt. The industry leaned into that super stoner bro stigma that we all know so well. I graduated and worked in entertainment for a decade before ultimately coming back to Miss Grass and launching as what you see today, back in January of 2018.
Miss Grass recently launched a rebrand along with new color-coded products! Can you explain more about the changes you made?
We recently did a full-scale brand refresh across all of our brand channels, including packaging. The brand refresh included a whole new color palette and a new brand copy for our packaging, which is what inspired the color palette for the overall brand that we wanted to tap into. Our Head of Creative, Priyanka Pulijal, is really who shepherded the full-scale brand refresh. She is an incredible designer and has studied a lot about color psychology, so she used that to help inform the color palette for us. Shopping for the right product is still somewhat of a complex experience for a lot of people, so we wanted to make sure that the colors helped to elicit the effect that the high was going to make you feel. Our Fast Times, for instance, is this really vibrant, energetic blood orange and it has the energy of being really uplifting and cerebral. It’s our Sativa-leaning strain from the new SKUs.
In addition to the color palette, we also introduced a new brand copy that was more descriptive. We have Fast Times, Quiet Times, and All Times, and then we added in copy that describes the high that the consumer is going to feel. We really focus on terpene profiles at Miss Grass. Whether you’re getting our Fast Times in Massachusetts or California, it’s going to have the same terp profile.
Which of your products is your personal favorite?
Fast Times, which is labeled with the blood orange color I spoke about. My favorite high is a Mad Scientist or cerebral, uplifting, creative high, and Fast Times is the perfect high for me. It really elicits those feelings. In my opinion, there’s a time and place for all of our SKUs, but if I had to pick a favorite it’d be that one.
Miss Grass partnered with the Women’s Prison Association for Women’s History Month in correlation with your rebrand. Can you tell me more about that collaboration and any ongoing philanthropy projects you have?
We had a long-term relationship with the organization over the past four years. For the month of March, which is when we rebranded, we donated a dollar from every Miss Grass Minis and Miss Grass Flower purchase across the three states that we’re in, to the Women’s Prison Association. They are an incredible organization that has been around for a long time. They are run by and in support of women. They support women who have been incarcerated and their families. They do a lot of work with career opportunities, affordable housing, and healthcare. They aren’t specifically aimed at the cannabis industry, but a big cohort of the women that they work with are in prison for nonviolent cannabis crimes. We've also worked with them in the past across a number of different campaigns. Last 4/20, we had a text-a-thon, where we had thought leaders from different areas of the cannabis industry answer any questions our community texted in. That led to them being sent to donate to the Women’s Prison Association.
Are there other organizations you partner with to work towards building a more equitable industry?
Cage-Free Cannabis is another organization we partnered with. We supported them in translating their expungement toolkits into Spanish. We've also had partnerships with the Last Prisoner Project. They're an organization that supports the over 40,000 people in prison today for nonviolent cannabis crimes. They do a lot as it relates to expungement and helping lower recidivism rates. We have ongoing partnerships with organizations that are doing incredible work. We're donating monetarily, but we also are supporting specific actions, like the translation of expungement toolkits. We also do a lot on the educational front. It’s mainly geared towards B2B, but it's also useful for consumers. We truly believe that we can equip consumers with the resources that they need to be conscious in this space. That way they can show up demanding action, and vote with their dollars by supporting the brands that are equitable. Brands that are diverse, and run by minorities and people impacted by the war on drugs. That's how we can shape the future of this industry.
Sustainability appears to be an important pillar of your company. How are you working that into this rebrand?
That was actually one of the catalysts for the rebrand. We were looking at our packaging, which was mylar bags for flower, and we found it wasteful. The majority of brands use mylar bags, so this isn’t shade towards other brands that do. They're just so harmful to the environment. This industry is definitely not one. I don't think that we can pride ourselves on being the most sustainable industry, in part due to the regulations in this industry just being so difficult to navigate. It’s can be difficult to find packaging that meets all the criteria. For the rebrand, we changed all our mylar bags to glass jars. We recently did a campaign around Earth Day promoting the upcycling of our glass jars. We worked with different florists, who used our half-ounce glass jars to make some beautiful bouquets. We were just showing and encouraging our communities to keep their glass jars and recycle them. I have one in my bathroom holding my toothbrush! There are so many applications for them.
Do you have any advice for prospective cannabis entrepreneurs or new consumers?
In terms of entrepreneurs, I would say, just do it. It is still so early in this space and there's so much opportunity. Speaking from the perspective of someone looking to hire new people, talent can bring you a lot of opportunities in this industry. If you’re talented in different fields, that is applicable in the cannabis space. There are so many companies like Miss Grass, looking for talented people. I'm always a fan of like going in somewhere and getting the skill set before you go off and do your own thing. If you do start off doing your own thing, I also think there's a lot of opportunities there. It's still early days and I think that it's a really exciting opportunity to get into the cannabis industry now, pre-federal legalization, where you can really help shape the future of the space.
Find out more on social: Get Involved with Miss Grass
Miss Grass products are available in California, Nevada, and Massachusetts. For more information, visit missgrass.com.
