Kristen Taylor, 37, is still in disbelief that recreational marijuana is legal in Missouri and Illinois. "I can't believe it happened in my lifetime," she says.
Taylor has been smoking since before it was legal (don't tell her mom), and since she's allergic to alcohol, has a real appreciation for bud. But her excitement about adult-use being legal is not just for her enjoyment: It also opens the door to her expanding her business Mad World Edibles.
Taylor started thinking about entering the marijuana market in 2019 after Illinois legalized adult-use. She lived in Illinois at the time and thought it could be a way to help people.
"My best friend always had tons of health issues. She was carrying around giant bags full of Percocet, and she was getting robbed all the time," Taylor recalls. Taylor — who had worked at a bakery in O'Fallon, Illinois — was also going through a divorce and "needed something to do." She started tinkering in her kitchen with edibles.
She started with infused cake pops.
"I did a lot of research online and bought a lot of books," Taylor says. "I spent a lot of time on math to make sure everything is very safely dosed."
Taylor got her weed from people with caregiver licenses, private sellers who are licensed in Missouri to sell weed to a small number of medical marijuana patients. "It's nice to be able to buy from people you trust," Taylor says.
Taylor gave away her treats to taste testers found that everyone liked what they were tasting. She expanded her repertoire to cheesecake and gummy bears. Taylor ran into a issue though when she realized how difficult it was to get a license to sell her treats.
"This whole thing took off on its own before I had any real plans or anything," Taylor says. "I feel like I'm behind and ahead at the same time. Now, I'm scrambling to figure out how to go about it the right way."
Now, Taylor is working on building a public CBD and Delta-9 brand, substances she can sell without a license.
"I would love to have my own little coffee shop and bakery," says Taylor, who has quit her job to focus on Mad World Edibles full time. But she's worried she doesn't have enough capital to build her business.
"A friend of mine knew someone who had opened a dispensary in Las Vegas, and he was like, 'I just want you to know that your product is great, and you're a great person.' But he was basically like, 'Don't get your heartbroken when it doesn't happen the way you think it's going to happen. Like what I thought would be a $9 million [investment cost] turned into an $80 million thing.'"
Taylor does not have millions to invest in the marijuana game. So, for now, she's sticking with promoting her treats through giveaways to build her brand.
In addition to sweet confections, she makes at least four different flavors of gummies. The THC ones are dosed at five milligrams each and offer a giggly high that doesn't incapacitate. Taylor says it took her several tries to get to the right texture, but she nailed it as the gummies are not too gummy and full of vibrant flavor.
Her CBD products are in the works, and Joshua Grigaitis at Mighty Kind gave her some pointers on the cannabinoids.
"It made me realize how close these molecules are [in THC, CBD and Delta-9]," she says. "They're like the same thing when you abstract it. I'm definitely going to start there, where it's legal and more attainable."
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