Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your ethnicity? What is your profession? How did you end up involved in the cannabis industry?
A: My name is Britni Tantalo and I am a wife, mom, and minority woman business owner. I am a proud Asian American with my mother’s origins from South Korea and my father from America. I co-founded and currently run multiple ancillary businesses in cannabis, a manufacturing and distribution company of indoor grow equipment and supplies called MetaVega Corporation, as well as a brick-and-mortar hydroponic grow store called Flower City Hydroponics. I am a New York State CAURD (Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary) & SEE (Social & Economic Equity) applicant, Flower City Dispensary and I am co-founder/President of the New York Cannabis Retail Association (NYCRA). NYCRA is the largest cannabis retail trade organization in New York State. I am honestly not shocked that I ended up in the cannabis space because I’ve been a consumer since I was a teenager using it as medicine to help cope with anxiety and stress. I sold cannabis and also grew commercially with my husband Jayson in the legacy market for years. After college and my years in the financial corporate world, I decided that I wanted to leave to pursue my own business, for something that I had a passion for and that gave me the freedom to control my own success and time. Both my husband Jayson and I carry the same philosophy, culture, history, and love for cannabis, so we decided to enter it legally through the ancillary space. We took our knowledge of cannabis cultivation and business and started MetaVega Corporation in July 2014.
Q: Why is being an AANHPI so important to you, especially within the cannabis industry?
A: Being a part of the AANHPI community means so much to me because it represents the part of me that is my mother. Losing her unexpectedly 2 years ago changed my life forever. Much of my pursuit for a legal cannabis retail dispensary comes from her because of the impact that cannabis and me being an Asian American had on all of our lives. I am a New York State CAURD applicant and I have a cannabis conviction which unfortunately was derived from racial adversity and racial profiling. Growing up in a community of people who were 95% white, I experienced the trauma of being targeted, charged, and shamed for my involvement with cannabis. This impacted not only me but my family as well. Due to the strong stigmas against cannabis in the Asian culture, this caused my mom to feel an immense amount of embarrassment and judgment by the community in which we lived and brought shame to my family. Being able to represent what I look like, where my heritage is from, and through cannabis is truly a full-circle moment. It’s a way for me to honor my mother and turn what once was such a shameful and harmful moment of my life and hers into something positive that helps others. It shows the AANHPI community in cannabis that there is a place for us and that our stories and strife with the plant are just as pivotal and important to the culture as anyone else. Representation of who I am and what I come from is the greatest part of my mother’s legacy that I can leave behind. She is and will always be the greatest part of what makes me who I am.
Q: Tell us about an incident where you've faced negative stigma or sentiment and how you overcame the adversity.
It’s difficult to name just one incident in which I experienced negative stigma or sentiment because there are just too many. Unfortunately, most are tied to what I look like. From being called racial slurs by people from my own community to constantly being targeted driving to the store or down the street and then stopped and searched, to having racial slurs written on our lockers in high school, to being publicly shamed, to having to physically protect myself from other people because they didn’t like or respect what I looked like or came from, to being charged with a cannabis conviction and having it published in the county newspaper to be made an example of and the list goes on. How did I overcome all of this? The answer is I truly didn’t overcome it, I had to live through it and then constantly fight for it to be different for others and myself. I had to disassociate and move away from that community to a more diverse area where I went to college and was truly able to find myself and my community. Instead of attacking back by force, I decided to pivot and empower myself and others who come from diverse backgrounds. Giving my time and energy to this movement of change is how I continue to overcome this type of negative sentiment and adversity that still exists out there today.
We must educate ourselves so that we can be our own voices through advocacy for change and by placing ourselves in positions to actually change it. Overcoming these types of negative stigmas or sentiments is an ongoing battle that truly can never be overcome without being the change that you want to see and putting action behind it! Be proud of who you are and what you come from and make sure to always represent that ❤️
Q: What is a message that personally motivates and inspires you that you'd like to share to the world?
A: “Success is never owned, it’s rented and the rent is DUE EVERYDAY”.
Q: How would you encourage other AANHPI's to get involved with the cannabis industry?
A: I would encourage others within the AANHPI to get involved with the cannabis industry through organizations such as the Asian Cannabis Roundtable (ACR) and the New York Cannabis Retail Association (NYCRA). Both organizations hold a large AANHPI presence and provide a ton of support. Attend community cannabis events throughout the state to expand your network and meet others within the community. Whether you are looking to be a cultivator, processor, retailer, micro business, or ancillary in cannabis there is access and resources out there for the AANHPI community to obtain.
Q: How can people reach you if they want to connect?
A: You can reach me on LinkedIn HERE.
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