Julia Loni Turner, founder and CEO of Nekktar, has created a product that not only perfectly complements the growing cannabis market, it allows users to enjoy and find relief with the privacy they deserve.
You created the BuzzBoxx based on your own personal experiences as a counter towards the stigma that marijuana consumers face in some sectors of society. Please explain.
When I was still in high school, I suffered severe concussions as a multi-sport athlete and was trying to find ways to manage my daily pain. Growing up in Chicago, the medical marijuana program in Illinois had Post Concussion Syndrome as an applicable condition and I started micro-dosing cannabis daily. It was truly life changing for me but I quickly realized that it was hard to take my medicine with me; storage wasn’t designed to carry various forms of cannabis, it always smelled or got damaged, and I felt embarrassed consuming cannabis as medicine.
It’s such a great and useful product, tell us about some of its key features.
We’re proud to have packed so many features into such a small product; design took more than one and a half years and prototypes exchanged more than 100 hands before a final product was built. First off, it carries everything: pre-rolls, edibles, flower, nugs, cartridges, one-hitters – you name it. Secondly, it is built to eliminate odor, protect against damage (and water damage) and prolong product freshness. Lastly, it looks sleek and feels great, so it’s a product you really want to carry.
How do you feel about the shift in the overall attitude towards cannabis based products and accessories?
We first conceptualized BuzzBoxx in 2018 and even since then the change in attitude towards cannabis products and accessories has been quite dramatic – especially throughout the pandemic. The shift in attitude is positive for consumers, communities, and the industry but despite this shift, we are still seeing outlooks and approaches within and toward the industry that haven’t evolved and are frankly holding the industry back. The tax burdens and challenges faced by cannabis businesses make success and profitability a difficult journey, the reality that folks continue to be incarcerated for cannabis related convictions is unjust, the access to licenses and opportunities is unfairly distributed, and unfortunately the list goes on.
While the overall shift in consumer attitude is positive, there are concrete issues and measures that need to be addressed before this industry can truly move forward in the right direction.
Some conservative commentators are trying to connect the legalization of marijuana to the rise in violence across the country, what are your thoughts?
Those claims are wildly speculative and untrue. Unfortunately there is a long and racist history of anti-cannabis rhetoric linking cannabis use with violence. Those against cannabis will use scaremongering language to stir up their constituents, spout correlational fallacies to shine a negative light on legalization, and do just about anything to keep minorities down and out.
As a Black-owned business, Nekktar donates a percentage of its profits to fight issues that we face as community. Why is it so important that more businesses do the same?
As a minority building a business, those are some of the first things that come to mind. How can we support others? How can our business make a difference and impact? As a small business, it is hard to take on larger initiatives that will have the impact we want it to have, so we thought the next best thing would be to support the organizations that are doing the most incredible work.
One piece of advice that I’ve heard is as a small business, you can’t overextend yourself in ways that won’t help you grow. So when it comes to incorporating these measures into your business, be intentional about it, support as much as you can, and remember that you are trying to build a successful business that can do more of this so even the smallest contribution in the beginning is OKAY.
Facing discrimination on multiple fronts as a queer Black woman, who has been your biggest inspiration?
Since we all have such an individual and personal experience, I don’t look to just one person as inspiration. I find bits and pieces from various people, books, podcasts, and shows to truly find inspiration that feels important to me. One example would be reading Michelle Obama’s memoir; she grew up in Chicago just like me so that was very real. Now, I’ve started watching First Lady with Viola Davis, someone I’ve admired for a long time playing out the role of Michelle. I like making those connections, building that story, and finding inspiration through the things that hit home with me.
With the success of the BuzzBoxx, can you give us insight on products to come in the immediate future?
First I’d like to say while we have found success with BuzzBoxx, it has been hard and it will continue to be. As a Black, queer woman in the cannabis industry with limited access to capital or the same resources, it has been a grind to get here – but it makes that success all the more enjoyable.
Some insights, we have brand partnership deals in the works that consumers are going to be very excited about. We might be partnering with a brand they love, or dropping a new product that is going to transform their storage experience. Nekktar has so much to offer and being in the driver seat of where that goes is truly incredible.
Be’n Original
