The Entrepreneurial Spirit is Universal: Changing Perceptions on Cannabis, One Stash Bag at a Time

“Yes, we make beautiful products that are fashionable and work well,” says designer Marc Littlejohn of Littlejohn New York, “But this is a vehicle to other things, in terms of reaching out, giving back, and bringing other people with us.”

The Brooklyn-based designer has taken what cannabis users have called “The Stash Bag” for decades and reimagined it while adding a luxurious refinement to the concept.

Gone are the zip seal bags that turn heads in public as soon as the skunky waft of cannabis hits the air. Littlejohn New York offers The STOW Collection with luxurious bags, caddies, and totes, made with a proven 5-layer odor-proof technology, combined with supple, soft grain leather that keeps the contents of your stash completely discreet.

Once responsible for curating the tabletop, bags, and office essentials departments of some of the world’s most noted store brands, Littlejohn has now turned his talents to the cannabis industry, where he’s playing in active role in social equity and justice for those disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs.

A 23-Year Career in Design Leads to Cannabis 

If there’s anything you notice upon meeting Marc Littlejohn, it’s that he is a man of exquisite and refined tastes. He has a natural knack for pairing functionality with aesthetics, making him a sought-after designer and product developer.

Littlejohn spent 23 years flexing his penchant for design, product development, and product curation within some of the world’s most recognizable companies. He worked within tabletop giftware and houseware for AVON, traveling the world and seeing all the ins and outs of design and manufacturing.

An opportunity to work for the national bookstore Barnes & Noble offered Littlejohn a platform to explore the marriage of design and functionality. While running the Bags and Office Essentials department at Barnes & Noble, Littlejohn discovered where his focus was to lie: “I fell in love with things that you use,” says Littlejohn of his path to finding his passion for functional items that carry style and fashion.

Recognizing that there was an opportunity to take all he’d learned in his professional career into his own design ventures, Littlejohn turned his eye to entrepreneurship, and Littlejohn New York was born.

Pairing Functionality & Aesthetic

“I reassessed all the opportunities and where they’d lie,” said Littlejohn, initially thinking of a move to the home entertainment industry, “I realized there were a ton of other larger competitors, so I began to look at the cannabis industry.”

Littlejohn reimagined his business model and realized that he had found a niche within the cannabis industry that had not yet been filled: “No one had been producing upscale, stylized, luxury products to hold cannabis,” says Littlejohn, spurring him to imagine, design, and build what became Littlejohn New York’s signature pieces.

Within Littlejohn New York’s collection is The STOW Collection, a series of “stash bags” that combine luxury, discreet technology, and design for the everyday cannabis user. The Odor-Proof STOW Caddy offers a series of compartments and pockets for the cannabis user to hold their cannabis and accessories under lock and key – without having to worry about the waft of fresh cannabis or the odor of used smoking accessories making it into judgmental or stigma-holding noses.

Designed to slip into a pocket or a bag, the Odor-Proof STOW Long Case can hold cannabis, most vape kits, and accessories, while maintaining its odor-free technology via a rubber-lined zipper. All of the STOW Collection products are made with proven 5-layer odor-proof technology and soft grain leather, truly representing the intersection of where function meets luxury.

“The 23 years of experience I had in these areas was the catalyst that allowed me to do this, and to have my idea made,” says Littlejohn, “The connections from my past career and the knowledge I’d acquired was huge, and thus, my business grew very fast.”

Inspiring Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs

While Littlejohn worked hard to make his dreams of entrepreneurship come to fruition, he realized that he could inspire others, particularly black and brown youth. Littlejohn began working with Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs as a “Teaching Artist”, where he works alongside a dedicated group of young people determined to save the planet.

“My work involves instilling an entrepreneurial mindset,” says Littlejohn of his work with Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs, comprised of BIPOC students in Brooklyn. “My role is to instill that there is an opportunity for each person to use their skill sets and natural talents,” says Littlejohn, “I give them the understanding that they can do this and build long-term generational wealth.”

“The entrepreneurial spirit is universal,” Littlejohn adds.

A Passionate Advocate for Cannabis Justice

Littlejohn’s community contributions certainly don’t stop with his work with young entrepreneurs. “Littlejohn New York is built on the foundation of facilitating social justice and criminal justice relating to the cannabis industry,” he says, recognizing the disproportionate representation of BIPOC in the cannabis industry and the lasting criminalization of cannabis that weighs heavily on those affected by the War on Drugs.

Littlejohn New York is an avid supporter of the Last Prisoner Project, with Littlejohn using his social media platforms to urge more people to get involved. “Our constituents, many over 60 and many with underlying health conditions are imprisoned because of a plant which has now been deemed an ‘essential’ service by jurisdictions across the country during this time of crisis,” he writes.

Littlejohn is also the co-founder of Freedom Unshackled, a grassroots organization focused on addressing challenges of racial discrimination and gender inequity within the criminal justice system. The group focuses on seeking pardons, record expungements, and other issues that stem from the systematic inequities of the criminal justice system.

Littlejohn also advocates alongside VOCAL-NY, a statewide grassroots membership organization that builds power among low-income people directly impacted by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness. “The work of this organization is becoming nationally known,” Littlejohn notes.

Advice for Emerging Cannabis Entrepreneurs

“Find what your passion is”, said Marc Littlejohn when we asked his advice for BIPOC entrepreneurs considering entering the cannabis industry, “What do you want to do? What do you like to do? What do you do well?” he invites those inspired by cannabis to ponder.

“Look at that first and then step back and look at the broader picture,” advises Littlejohn, “Think of what it is you love and who’s going to need it and want it. Whose problem are you going to solve with your passions? Look for that need and that problem you can solve – it’s often about solving a problem.”

Littlejohn notes that creating his reimagined and redesigned cannabis stash bags was a solution to a problem. People were tired of the same old methods they’d been using to store their cannabis, and they needed something upscale, grown-up, functional, and most importantly, safe. “Whatever point of life you’re in,” says Littlejohn, “or if you have children, this is a much safer way to consume,” noting that many of his products come with a lock, with aesthetics pleasing to the refined eye, but uninteresting to children.

Hopes for the Future

While a fervent advocate for righting the wrongs of the criminal justice system when it comes to cannabis, Littlejohn is not optimistic that the country will see the federal legalization of the plant anytime soon. “The country now is way too polarized for cannabis to become legal,” he says, “I do have hope that we will get there, but until we’re there, we will need education and normalization. They go hand and hand.”

Littlejohn notes that stigma around cannabis still exists within the black community, with old myths like cannabis being a gateway drug still lingering. “We need a lot of education, with people really getting to understand the benefits,” he says. For Marc, it’s all about “the connections we make with people”.

“Normalization will happen so slowly that we won’t realize it’s happened,” he says with a glimmer of hope, “people will wake up one day and have a different perception.”

It’s fair to say that Marc Littlejohn and Littlejohn New York are considerable contributors to changing those perceptions, one luxury stash bag at a time.

More From This Category

“I Realized the War on Drugs was a War on Us.”

He was known as “Money Mike” on the streets, the cool guy with the weed, the girls, the money, and the hustle, but at night, he was the boy who would always be found with a book in his hand.

When you hear Michael Diaz-Rivera’s story as a Black man growing up in Colorado, you begin to recognize that his story is not unlike many other BIPOC individuals in the cannabis industry. Once criminalized for cannabis, Diaz-Rivera is now a license holder in the industry as a result of the Social Equity programs that support those who have been impacted by the War on Drugs to enter the industry.

From a Bookworm to Money Mike 

Born and raised in a single-parent home in Colorado Springs, CO, Michael Diaz-Rivera was designated “the man of the house” at an early age. The oldest of three children, Michael took an active role in raising his two siblings while his mother worked.

He achieved good grades in school and found comfort in literature and reading while dealing with the pressures at home, yet he soon found he needed to be someone different on the streets. As many kids have done before him, Michael fell into street life, “Money Mike” becoming his persona for protection. His mother soon grew tired of Money Mike, and kicked him out of the family home, citing that he was becoming a poor role model for his siblings.

“At 16, I was couch surfing, and I turned to selling weed to survive,” recalls Michael. Money Mike thrived under his new moniker until the day an encounter with the police put a stop to everything. On what seemed like a normal night riding around with friends, Michael was stopped by the police, guns drawn, where they conducted a search of the car. Because he’d been selling cannabis, the police found his stash, separated by different strains. “I got a felony for distribution at age 19,” Michael recounts.

Dropping the Money Mike Moniker

“I’ll never forget that night in jail,” recalls Michael, “I had always had goals and dreams, and now I felt as though I had burned all the bridges I’d been building. I had to call my Mom, and she bonded me out.”

After doing a bit of jail time, Michael was given the opportunity to participate in work release, where he’d work outside the correctional institute while serving his sentence. He had the chance to work in a family center where he developed a passion for kids and working with youth.

This was when things began to change for Michael. It was time to put Money Mike aside. Given the option by his Parole Officer to go to work or go to school, Michael realized it was time to go back to his passion for learning. Back to that kid who would spend his night times consumed in a book through his quest for knowledge.

Michael attended Pikes Peak College, where he got his Associate’s Degree in Psychology, later moving to the Metro State University of Denver to continue his psychology education.

Witnessing the Impact of the War on Drugs

At the time he was studying, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown had been victimized and murdered by race-based violence, and Michael saw the impacts of this kind of violence become clearer.

“It was in college that my love of activism woke up,” said Michael. His passion for liberation for BIPOC individuals who had been impacted by the War on Drugs fueled his involvement in various activism groups, including Students for Sensible Drug Policy. He began to learn that more people, like him, were carrying felonies for cannabis; a disproportionate amount of which were Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. “I realized the War on Drugs was a War on Us,” he says.

Michael continued his passion for working with kids and youth, recognizing the need for more minority male educators within the public school systems. He became determined to be the role model that he had failed to be for his siblings in the “Money Mike” days.

Through an alternative teachers’ licensing program and gaining experience in mentorship roles through community work, Michael received his teaching diploma. Leaning on his passion for reading and writing, he went on to teach these subjects, among others, to youth for seven years.

When Colorado put the call out for social equity applicants within the growing industry in the state, Michael recognized that perhaps it was time to close the loop of his story with cannabis, creating something positive from the hardships he’d faced because of his felony.

Entering the Cannabis Industry as a Social Equity Applicant

Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division enacted its social equity programs in January 2021. This program was launched to acknowledge the effects of decades of criminal enforcement of cannabis laws that disproportionately targeted communities of color.

An exclusive feature of this program are rules that maintain that only Social Equity Applicants may be licensed to conduct cannabis deliveries until 2024. Through this program, licensure application fees are waived for Social Equity Applicants. These applicants also have exclusive access to a number of licenses until 2027.

Michael was successful as a social equity applicant in securing a license to deliver cannabis in Denver and Aurora through his company Better Days Delivery.

“The programs have been helpful, but could be better,” says Michael, “If we’re talking about social equity, the amount of money I’ve had to spend [to get a Delivery License] has made me realize that this is not social equity at all.” Michael states that the expenses required to start up his delivery service have been enormous, calling into question just how well these programs financially support its applicants.

“I would like to see more grants and funding for the communities who were impacted or incarcerated because of the War on Drugs,” says Michael. He also hopes to see the timeline for social equity programs to be extended. “We know that these big corporations are just waiting for the social equity timeline to stop, and are just waiting us out,” he observes, “The deadline should be extended because the licensure process is so tough,” stating that since the beginning of the social equity program, many people aren’t getting very far in the process.

Mostly Michael hopes to see the social equity programs carried out with integrity, staying focused on what they are meant to do: “Social equity is a buzz word and people are trying to take advantage of it.”

Hopes for the Future

Michael says connecting to BIPOCANN has opened doors that he’d never been able to open himself. “Ernest has helped me connect with dispensary owners and stakeholders within the industry that are putting me in a position to win,” he says of his experience working with BIPOCANN.

He is hoping to establish Better Days Delivery as a national brand, if not international, someday. His dream is to have an integrated business where he can run operations from seed to stock.

Better Days Delivery is currently looking for a dispensary partner in the Denver and Aurora areas through which he can serve his community with quality cannabis. Working with a dispensary with a social equity mission is important to Michael, placing community engagement as a value he plans to weave through his company’s growth.

Michael welcomes dispensary partners from the BIPOCANN network in his area to connect with him to discuss a potential partnership.

“We Can Use Cannabis to Pilot Ways to Correct Historical Injustice”

“We won’t get it right the first time, but the best way we can do it is not to perpetuate harm while creating areas for opportunity,” said cannabis leader Ngiste Abebe when BIPOCANN caught up with her to talk about social equity in the industry, “For everything from agriculture to distribution, to criminal justice, to healthcare – we can use cannabis to pilot ways to correct historical injustice.”

Ngiste Abebe is determined to work alongside companies like BIPOCANN to increase the representation of BIPOC in the cannabis industry while helping restore the damage it caused towards targeted groups during the War on Drugs.

Abebe is the Vice President of Public Policy at Columbia Care, one of the largest vertically operated cannabis businesses in the world, covering 18 jurisdictions across the United States and European Union. It was recently announced that Abebe is the recipient of one of six Cannabis Conference 2021 Cannabis Leadership Awards, an honor well-deserved by this powerful cannabis industry changemaker.

A Career Deserving of Recognition

Abebe was meant to do the work that has helped her become the leader in cannabis that she is revered as today. She has a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, going on to study California’s Proposition 19 and why it failed as part of her master’s research at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management. She presented her findings to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.

After a five-year stretch at the U.S. Agency for International Development, Abebe again turned her attention to the cannabis industry, deeply concerned with the damage that prohibition was causing.

Although born in Boston, Abebe calls Richmond, Virginia home and has been actively engaged in the state’s path towards legalization with a keen eye towards how the state is rolling out its social equity programs. She was recently appointed to the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Board by Governor Northam. “Ngiste Abebe is one of the best things to happen not just for the cannabis industry in Virginia but the commonwealth as a whole”, says Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas of Abebe’s contributions, “Her presence here in the commonwealth has truly brought a breath of fresh air.”

Abebe also holds positions as a board member for Virginia’s chapter of NORML and a member of the state’s Medical Cannabis Coalition.

The Future of Social Equity in Cannabis

In cannabis, “you get to see and grasp many areas of policy,” says Abebe, which is why her career path fits so perfectly into the industry as it grows across the United States. Abebe dedicates her time and energies to influencing how social equity, economic, criminal justice, and health care policies can be created with an equitable lens.

“Doing social equity licensing is a challenging process,” Abebe acknowledges, “But we’re getting closer to doing it better and more effectively. Illinois was the first state to roll out [social equity licensing] to unprecedented challenges,” she says, “I’m hopeful that New York, New Jersey, and Virginia will learn from Illinois and continue to find justice for impacted populations.” She adds that it’s all about finding new solutions, acknowledging that there are things we haven’t even figured out yet.

One area that Abebe identifies as a way to advance social equity is to ensure that ancillary services are also included in programs that seek to increase BIPOC representation in cannabis while repairing the damage done by the War on Drugs. “We have done a great job of including social equity in plant-touching licenses,” she says, “but can we also include other businesses in the definitions of small and disadvantaged business.”

We asked Abebe about the additional steps that need to be taken to increase the efficacy of social equity programs and policies. “The first step is the expungement of criminal records due to a past cannabis conviction,” she is quick to say of the systemic shifts that need to be made for social equity to actually work, “Beyond that, we have to help people get into the cannabis economy through outreach,” she says, “One recurring theme in outreach is that the people who are supposed to benefit from these policies are the last to hear of them. We need more education campaigns to let social equity applicants know the opportunities are here.” She notes that partnering with businesses like BIPOCANN, which is directly involved with bringing the opportunities to the people through outreach, is crucial to actually achieve social equity.

Systemically, there is a lot more that can be improved. According to Abebe, reinvestment funds and direct licensing processes should not “build bureaucracies that create inherent inequity”. For instance, in Illinois, application fees were waived for social equity applicants. However, they were still required to invest thousands in architectural drawings, which makes people like Abebe question the validity of the programs. “We need to make sure the industry is fully accessible to all people while making sure people can actually navigate the process,” she says, “We can achieve equity by rethinking our systems with a more equitable lens and more inclusive strategies.”

Her Advice for Emerging BIPOC Cannabis Entrepreneurs

Abebe, having been recognized for her leadership through the Cannabis Conference 2021 Cannabis Leadership Awards, which BIPOCANN will be attending, is eager to pass on some advice to other BIPOC individuals considering entering cannabis.

“Resilience really is everything,” she begins, “This is a fast-changing, ever-evolving industry. For new entrepreneurs coming in, have the backup plan to the backup plan to the backup plan. Don’t let one step back turn you off the space entirely. Find your resilience ritual that helps you bust back.”

With her passion for cannabis policy, Abebe eagerly encourages all people in cannabis to get to know, and get involved in, the policies that govern the industry in their state. “Policy is fundamentally changing the cannabis industry,” she says, “All entrepreneurs should find who they should turn to for their policy advice, track elections, and realize that this has real-world consequences on their business.”

Abebe is honored to work with Columbia Care, especially grateful for the level of support she has received from all levels of leadership within the organization as she pursues various policy initiatives that improve patient access across multiple states. She takes pride in being part of a company that was started as one dispensary and now has won applications and opened dispensaries across the country.

We look forward to continuing to track this important cannabis leader’s journey. Thank you, Ngiste, for taking the time to speak with us at BIPOCANN!