When it comes to cannabis, Jenny Wichman brings a welcome blend of hands-on experience and detached perspective. The former comes from the Nebraska-native’s role as founder of boutique cannabis lifestyle brand Yew Yew. The company produces a range of pipes and smoking accessories that reflect Wichman’s mission to destigmatize the plant with a playful and inviting approach – creating visually captivating things that users are “excited to display in their homes,” in her words.
But the perspective comes from living an ocean away in Berlin, where she has continued to develop Yew Yew while continuing her career as a prop stylist and still life photographer. Germany is also a hotspot for evolving cannabis policies in Europe. After picking up steam last year, Germany’s efforts towards opening up a legal, taxed adult recreational market on the continent have stalled, with home cultivation and marijuana “social clubs” now the focus rather than licensed retailers.
We spoke with Wichman earlier this month to hear about her experience so far as an ex-pat cannabis advocate in Germany, her take on bringing more women into the category, the evolution of cannabis CPG and breaking down stigmas. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
It’s interesting that you find yourself in Berlin, which is a great example of a place where we are seeing some of those old stigmas around cannabis break down.
Yeah, it’s funny because I started this business in 2017 and [back] then, people still really weren’t posting themselves smoking online. So I was feeling like I’ve already gone through this all once already, and I was like ‘do I have the energy to go through this again?’ And then in a new country? It’s really funny because nobody knows how to smoke from pipes here because nobody smokes from pipes or bongs. It’s all honestly all joints and so I was joking that I have to have a ‘how to smoke from a pipe’ seminar.
Do you see yourself and the company as having the same kind of mission or philosophy from when you started, or have things changed within the context of the world and yourself that you need to update or change it at all?
I think it has kind of evolved. I still definitely want to focus on destigmatizing; the way that I do that is by making smoking accessories that people are really excited to use and to display in their homes. Things that they cherish and that just kind of elevate the whole ritual around smoking to really just celebrate cannabis and how it really adds a lot to people’s lives, and my life specifically. So I just want to always continue to celebrate that and encourage people to really embrace cannabis in their lives. So I think it’ll definitely just continue on that same moving forward.
How much of a focus has bringing women into the category been for Yew Yew? How have you been able to effectively do that and really sort of make women and females feel like more included in the culture?
Yeah, I think that really happened unintentionally, because I was just designing things that I wanted to use. I knew that my [friends] would want to use [them too] so it just kind of happened naturally with like, my aesthetic being really feminine and leaning that way. And then yeah, it was really fun to just, I think, have fun with colors and simple shapes and things that look beautiful and women tend to be drawn to the aesthetic nature of things.
How do you see the cannabis edible and beverage space evolving? How do you see Yew Yew fitting into that context?
When I was in California, I definitely sampled and got to experience some of those canned beverages and they are amazing. And I think it’s one of the biggest mistakes, in my opinion, that Germany won’t be legalizing [edibles] like they are in the States. We’re not going to see that same advancement in options for consumption. And I think beverages and edibles are such a safe way for people to consume low-dose and just get into weed. I don’t think we’re gonna see that here so much but I’m a huge fan of the beverages – specifically Cann and also my friends that run Pure Beauty Cannabis. They have a really concentrated drink called LSD, or Little Strong Drink. That one is superb.
Is it important that there is fluidity between cannabis categories? Do you think that drinks lead to a general interest in cannabis or just in that format specifically?
Yeah, I think cannabis beverages speak to everyone from like this really high consumer who will consume cannabis in all any and all forms, but also people who would not smoke; for somebody who doesn’t quite feel comfortable or someone who doesn’t want to take a bong hit, it would be a really good. It’s definitely a good entry point to cannabis. So if they’re new to it, they can have this drink. It tastes amazing. They know there’s two milligrams per can and they’re not going to have too much and feel the negative side effects. So I think it speaks to everyone but definitely can draw in new consumers and people who aren’t so experienced.
An online community has developed amongst Yew Yew fans… What kinds of topics or issues are coming up in those discussions currently?
There’s honestly a lot of people who consume on a regular basis and are trying to stay mindful about their use and not overdo it. This is one of those things that there is a lot of stigma around and it’s a substance – it’s something that you can overdo. I’ve noticed a lot of people within the community kind of popping up and being like, how do you know when you need to take a break? How do you know when you’re overdoing it? We try to share and give little tidbits on that. So I was interested to hear that too. I think also cannabis use skyrocketed for most people during [the pandemic] lockdown. And so now that we’re through that, people are kind of taking a minute and being like, okay, is this good? Am I overdoing it?