ASHE SOCIETY
Elaine Lu
CEO
Elaine Lu, owner and operator of the licensed cannabis retail and delivery store ASHE, thrives amidst the male-dominated industry. With her 15+ years of corporate marketing and 5+ years of retail experience, she aims to serve new cannabis users seeking wellness and lifestyle alternatives and has found great success in doing so.
Despite opening in the middle of the pandemic with 29 other competitors, Lu achieved over $6 million in earnings during her first year due to ASHE’s several unique attributes: a welcoming design, extensive menu, and education-focused marketing strategies. Since then, ASHE has expanded to several locations throughout California in Pomona, Sacramento, West Hollywood, and Long Beach.
Discover how being a woman of color has impacted Lu’s career and how she plans to transform the cannabis industry.
There is often a lack of representation of women of color in executive and board rooms. When you find yourself in these situations, how do you ensure your voice is heard?
Prior to owning several cannabis companies, I worked for a big corporation where I often found myself being the only female in the room. To ensure that my voice is heard, I always come extremely prepared to the meeting. People respect hard work and I always made sure that my work showed in my preparation. I’m extremely proud of everything that I bring to the table and want people to remember me for what I had to say at those big important board meetings. Now that I’m involved in the cannabis industry, there is even less representation of females in leadership positions or for that matter, women of color. Being Chinese-American, I think people are excited to see a more dynamic and diverse group pushing the industry forward. I’m happy to be here and representing myself in a male-dominated industry!
What do you still want to accomplish?
There’s still so much to do in the cannabis industry. In general, changing the perception of cannabis is what needs to happen but we still have a long road ahead of us. I’m excited to increase the awareness and education of cannabis health benefits. My contribution to achieving this goal is creating an experience that provides a welcoming space for customers who are professionals, women, people over 30 and senior citizens. As ASHE expands to more retail stores in California, we will reach more people and really ‘normalize’ the way we purchase cannabis in the marketplace.
What is the most meaningful part of your job?
I love it when my employees tell me that working for ASHE has made a positive impact in their lives. I see a lot of opportunities for each of them to build a career in something that they are so passionate and invested in. It almost seems like a dream for them to be able to enjoy cannabis and get paid to work for a cannabis company. It is so meaningful that I am able to help people thrive in this opportunity with ASHE as their leader.
Where and how can people support your business?
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsheSocietyOC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theashesociety/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ashe-society-1
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theashesociety
Weedmaps: https://weedmaps.com/dispensaries/ashe-society
