A Ripple in Stillwater: A Chat with GM Coree Schmitz
There is no shortage of gummy, chocolate, concentrate, and vape pen companies here in Colorado, and it takes a special company to make something truly unique in the oversaturated market. Stillwater, and their aptly named sub-brand Ripple, did just that with their natural, low-dose, fast-acting gummies and their dissolvable powder.
They also run a diverse company where queer folks and women are given a voice. We chatted with Coree Schmitz, general manager at Ripple, about her journey so far with the company and the future of the cannabis industry.
How did you initially get into the cannabis industry?
I grew up mostly in Colorado and Wyoming, and in those Mountain West areas, I feel like cannabis didn’t carry the stigma the way it did in other parts of the country. I had moved back to Colorado in 2011 after getting my master’s, and cannabis as part of the employment industry in Denver was really starting to grow.
For someone like me who both loves a challenge and was really supportive of the plant, I wanted to get in on it. I mean, how many times in your career does an entire, legal industry appear overnight? For me, that was just something that was so motivating, so exciting. It’s a challenge every day; an industry that’s brand-new and has no precedent, which means you’re working through a lot of really challenging things, but for me, getting into cannabis was just the pillar of being able to be part of something that’s growing. Colorado continues to lead the charge in legal cannabis.
How do you feel the industry is for women and queer people?
So far, I’ve had a really great experience. As a member of the queer community, my experience getting into the industry was that I was hired on merit. I’m also very proud to say that our Stillwater team has roughly 20 percent representation of the queer community. It’s something that we see in our organization overall and that we were proud of, and we think we’ve gotten great diversity of opinions because of the different people that we get to have on staff. We get to see true representation of the Colorado community based on our staff.
What advice do you have for someone trying to break into the industry now?
I’m a natural extrovert, and I got out there and tried to talk to as many companies as I could to see who was doing what and adding value. I think the cannabis space is changing every day, and the needs for both conventional and creative backgrounds will continue to be in high demand.
So, if you’re looking to get into this industry, step one would be to go to your local dispensary, see what products are on the shelves, talk to the budtenders who interact with all facets of the industry every day, and find where you fit best. Figure out what you would want to add to the community; find your perfect job, and then start honing in on those types of companies.
Talk to the different companies that live and breathe this industry every day; ask them for advice. I know very few people who wouldn’t take a 30-minute coffee to help move the industry forward.
What makes Stillwater special or different?
Clearly, this will come from a biased lens because I’m really proud of the things that we do, but we make a product that people eat, and I will always take that very seriously. So, we abide by all of the most stringent regulations that we can for ourselves, above and beyond what is required of the cannabis industry.
We’re a small company; we can offer things to our employees. We’re still able to celebrate everybody’s birthday as a company. We are proud of the people we hire and the things they get excited about.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
We always want to make sure we’re communicating that we’re really excited to be part of the community every day. We’re excited to hire people from the community, as well as from other marginalized communities. That’s the value that we hold, that everyone should be judged on their merit. The product is also based on merit, and we’re proud of that.
Photos provided by Stillwater Brands
