Mona Buds is the feature of our next industry spotlight, she’s a friendly face in the Calgary Cannabis community! Mona is active on social media, sharing informative videos about using Cannabis successfully with her growing audience. She has recently started creating high-quality, one-of-a-kind, glass pieces in her free time and it is quickly becoming a growing passion of hers.
Read about this and more in the interview below:
- Start by telling our readers about your history working in the Cannabis industry.
My past in the Cannabis industry began when I started working for a local head shop. This job gave me the foundation towards my passion, the knowledge and experience to know-how to serve each individual need of the customers I saw daily. It also allowed me to help others navigate the medical Cannabis industry and help them to find out just how one plant could better their lives.
- Your Instagram bio mentions that you use medical Cannabis, in what ways has Cannabis effected your life? What advice can you give others who also suffer from PTSD?
Cannabis has been my saving grace, without this plant I don’t think I could live a functioning life. Cannabis has allowed me to live in the present and take the day to day anxiety from my post-traumatic stress disorder to a point where it’s manageable. My advice to anyone with PTSD is: Cannabis can’t change your life! You just have to experiment until you find the right THC, CBD level and terpenes profiles that work best for you.
- How do you personally try to address the ongoing stigma surrounding Cannabis consumption that still exists in society?
I try to address the stigma regarding Cannabis by being a living example and breaking out from the box so many people have put me in from using this herb. Also, I try to educate anyone who is curious or wants to learn from my experiences.
- Learning to melt glass is an interest of yours, tell us about your art and how you got into this?
Although this is something I’m so incredibly new at its quickly becoming a huge passion of mine! I love learning to work with molten glass and seeing the way it changes and forms. I owe everything I’ve learned so far to Cory and Lauren from Notorious glassworks. In time I’ll be making pipes rigs and sculptures along with pendants and other glass odds and ends.
- Do you still have the first piece of glass you blew?
I do yes! It’s the derpy little pendant. It’s quite abstract and has dots and lines all over it. Cory showed me a demo then told me to replicate it. I went crazy with what I added onto the pendant because I really wanted to explore the way the glass melted together!
- Describe your studio space and how this space influences your work.
Right now, I’m working in a garage of my new home I recently moved into. I’m still a few pieces away from having a real shop, but it’s slowly coming together. It influences my art because I’m starting from nothing and aiming for the stars. It’s inspiring me to grow and for my glass to grow with it!
- How will the legalization of recreational Cannabis affect your career? What are your future plans?
I can’t wait to see legalization happen for Canada. It’s going to open the door for many new people to discover Cannabis and how it can change their life. It’s going to be my home base, the Cannabis community is where my future is. Whether it’s blowing glass, helping people in the recreational or medical field, or starting up my own operation and company. Good things are coming for the future of Cannabis.
For inspiring Cannabis education and to see more heady art, follow Mona on Instagram!
Photo credit to HOPKINS IMAGERY, follow them on Facebook to see their portfolio.