When Joyce Hayne, our publisher here at Cannabis Retailer, was working as a cocktail waitress to pay her way through university, she likely didn’t expect that she would be the one publishing the industry’s trade magazine, but that’s exactly what happened.
“I never thought that I would be in publishing,” she says. “I have a degree in marketing, so I thought my career would be in that, but once I started working on the magazine I realized this is a lot of fun!”
Voice of the Industry
After graduating from university, Hayne began building EMC Executive Marketing Consultants Inc., her marketing and advertising agency, but when British Columbia’s Pub Owners’ Association (now the Alliance of Beverage Licensees) approached her to help with its publication, her previous experience in the industry tempted her to shift her path slightly. That publication was The Quarterly Pour, originally called The Publican, and is now distributed to every primary liquor licensee in British Columbia. Since then, Hayne started working with the British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA) to publish InnFocus, another industry magazine for hotel owners in British Columbia.
It was her connection to the hospitality industry that inspired Hayne to start Cannabis Retailer. Once cannabis legalization went from a rumour to reality, liquor stores in British Columbia and Alberta were hoping to co-sell cannabis alongside liquor, so licensed producers were attending conferences to get a jump on their networking. Hayne saw that there was an opportunity to create an industry magazine for cannabis retailers—so she did.
Confidence is Key
While Cannabis Retailer wasn’t the first publication created solely by EMC Publications (a division of EMC Executive Marketing Consultants Inc), striking out on her own is something that has always felt right to Hayne.
“When I first started, I was publishing magazines on contract with associations, but when I launched my own, that was a really exciting moment. I thought, ‘These are mine, I can make all the decisions myself and I like the flexibility to do what I want,” she laughs.
Having the confidence to do her own thing is something that Hayne credits as a secret to her success, especially as a woman in typically male-dominated industries. While she says she hasn’t experienced much overt sexism in her career, the lack of diversity is certainly noticeable.
“I think women have a different perspective on a lot of issues than men do, so having that voice is very important,” she says.
Things have changed a lot in the last 30 years, though, and in all the industries she works in more women are becoming executives and entrepreneurs.
Advice for Future Female Entrepreneurs
More and more women are tired of being an employee and want to be the boss, just like Hayne. What’s her advice? Have the strength to know that you can do it and don’t worry about being a working Mom.
“Don’t be afraid to do something new. Take on the challenge and just try it,” she says. “Have that courage to know that you can do it, because I think a lot of women say, ‘Oh, I couldn’t do that’, and then they don’t. Women are also worried about juggling a business and children, but we’re experts in multi-tasking! Whether it’s going for that next level of job or starting your own business, just have the strength to know that you can do it. Having that confidence in yourself—that’s the key.”