In February, Leeann Mata became the first Black woman to own a dispensary in her native Brooklyn with the opening of Matawana on 14th Street and Fifth Avenue in Park Slope (Mayor Eric Adams appeared at the ribbon cutting). It was the realization of a long-held dream for Mata, whose father and brothers had been charged with marijuana possession in the past. She also overcame several hurdles to open the business lovingly named for her late mother, who suffered from chronic pain and used cannabis to overcome an opioid addiction. Injunctions blocking the disbursement of licenses in some areas of New York kept Mata in limbo for more than 18 months after she completed the arduous paperwork. Not one to sit on her hands, she wrote and self-published Money & Marijuana, a comprehensive guide to growing and processing in New York City, to help other aspiring dispensary owners navigate the considerable red tape.
Mata previously worked as a pre-K teacher and public-health educator before first getting her CBD license. She then wanted to take her quest to educate consumers about the healing properties of cannabis to the next level. To learn to grow and cultivate the plant, Mata, who holds two master’s degrees in business and education, took to what she calls “YouTube college.” She corresponded with influential growers who shared inside tips and mined Facebook groups with other aspiring growers for nuggets of intel. Eventually, she began teaching people how to grow on Zoom and developed CBD products she made and sold herself. “I did 100,000 units in the first six months,” she says.
As a small-business owner and single mom of three, Mata wears several hats. From dawn ’til dusk, she’s mentoring employees, cultivating vendor relationships, networking with other local businesses, and even prepping orders when necessary. She had to duck out of the dispensary and into her car to take our call in peace. She lives in Ridgewood with her 18-year-old son and 5-year-old twins. Here’s how she gets it done.
On what inspired her to open a dispensary:
My mother passed away in June. That was devastating for me. Her bones were rubbing together in her back and they just gave her opioids freely. She would get her pain medicine in the middle of the month and end up in the hospital because she took a month’s supply in three days. I introduced her to cannabis — I started putting it in pill form. She was used to popping the pills, so the action was still there, but the feeling sick, not eating, and passing out was gone.
On why she advocates for legal weed and got her cannabis sales license:
My father was walking out of a store and he had a joint in his ear. He’s old-school, you know, in the ’60s, ’70s, they smoked. He was in his late 50s and was tackled, hospitalized, and locked up for four days for having a joint in his ear. He had a sprain and diabetes. They gave him the wrong medicine while they locked him up, so he ended up hospitalized. He actually had a big lawsuit but passed in the midst of switching lawyers, so he didn’t even get to see the whole thing through. Out of my five brothers, three of them have weed charges, where they were locked up for days at a time for having a little dime bag on them.
But the reason I got my license was my brother. At the time he was raising us, I was 17 and he was 22. He was working in a bodega, got stopped and frisked, and had a box cutter and some weed on him — it was probably like a dime or a 20. They arrested him for five days and he lost his job. We almost lost our place. He had to plead out to the weed charge. It was difficult because we were all at Medgar Evers College. I wasn’t even smoking at the time; he has anxiety and was smoking just to get the edge off and pass his classes. They wanted to give my brother all this anxiety medicine, but the only thing that worked for him and still works for him is cannabis.
On the sacrifices her family made to open the business:
It’s just me and my three kids. My 18-year-old is amazing. He’s in his first year in college and works in the day care where the twins go. A little backstory is, I got my dispensary license as he graduated high school. So I went to him and said, “Listen, I saved up for your college fund, but I want to invest this in my dispensary.” He got accepted to Hofstra with a partial scholarship, but he agreed to go to community college instead so I could open. Then, they had the injunction. I was heartbroken because I took his money. I told him he would only have to do six months in a community college, and in January he’d be able to go to Hofstra. Because of the injunction and everything, I wasn’t able to open until February 29, so he’s still in community college. I have to buy him a condo one day.
On competing with illegal dispensaries:
A lot of dispensaries are not selling the way they should, because they believe “build it and they will come.” That’s not the case when you’re competing with illegal shops with neon signs that would draw anybody in. My customer base is 50- to 80-year-olds, and we do over 100 sales a day. How do I get those young people, who are still committed to going into the smoke shops that have eighths for $10? That’s the biggest thing — since they legalized cannabis, it’s literally an illegal shop on every block. I could go right now into the deli and get a chopped cheese and an eighth. I see zero progress because I’m sitting here looking at one right on Fifth Avenue and 9th Street. They’re closing them down, and they open right back up.
On getting more women into the cannabis business:
In my process of going for my license, I realized that we make up only one percent of cannabis-business owners in the world. The biggest stigma is against moms. I think one of the big reasons women don’t go into the business is it’s not fully legal on a federal level, and none of us would ever want to jeopardize being there for our kids. Once it’s legal on the federal level, more women will be inclined to join the space. My goal is to get women in cannabis from one percent to at least 20 percent. I had a woman come in my shop today who wants to do this. I told her to take my number so I could send her the Office of Cannabis Management email, so she could get a license. It’s about giving women the tools and education they need to step into the cannabis field.
On what she wishes people knew about cannabis:
It’s not just about smoking the plant. I’m making sure people understand this is medicine. We have edibles, we have pain rub. It’s literally saving lives. I deal with so many cancer patients on the daily. They come to my shop and say, “I need help eating.” It also helps them sleep. If you understand how to use the plant, it won’t be abused. You’re not just smoking to smoke.
On her morning routine:
I’m normally startled out of my sleep. I have toddlers, 5-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. They’re usually smacking me or jumping on my bed. We get our teeth brushed, comb our hair, pick out outfits, and we’re usually out of the house by 8:30. Thank God the day care is really close to my home. So I drop them at school, jump in my car, and take a 30- to 35-minute drive to my dispensary on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope from the border of Queens and Brooklyn.
On what a day at the shop looks like:
As soon as I get in, it’s always something. Three people called out today, so I’m cleaning the store, making sure all of the registers are open and have cash, asking the budtenders if they have any questions. Then we do a morning chat to make sure the staff and customers are happy. We talk about the product of the day to market to the customer. We had one register open and a delivery, so the manager is dealing with the delivery, the budtender is on the register, and I had to go in the back and prepare the orders. As I’m preparing the orders, another cardholder who just got his license and is getting ready to open up came in. He’s in Brooklyn, too. Collaboration over competition, that’s my motto. I wanted to give him a walk-through to help him with his products and make sure that he has what he needs to open. Today we’re doing one-on-ones. We’re going over the budtenders’ sales numbers individually, seeing how we could grow and making sure that I’m fostering what they need to be the best possible. After I do that, I have to run and figure out dinner.
On her evening routine:
My 18-year-old is a homebody — he cooks and everything. If I can’t make it to pick the twins up, he brings them home. If he didn’t cook, I’ll pick up dinner, grab the twins, read to them, do their homework, bathe them, and play with them until around eightish. Then, from eight to nine, I’m usually answering emails and ordering supplies. Sometimes it spills over to 10 or 11, making sure I get whatever I didn’t get done in the store done at home.
On what she does for exercise:
I walk to all of the local businesses and build relationships. Today, I walked up and down Fifth Avenue for an hour to meet and talk with local businesses. My watch is telling me how many calories I’m burning, how many steps I’m taking, and I’m working at the same time. In Park Slope, we got a slew of businesses, and Prospect Park is right there. So I’m walking and always engaging with customers and small-business owners.
On how she stays grounded and manages stress:
If I want to unwind, I’ll light a joint and play my Xbox. I like Call of Duty because I get to dominate, and I can’t dominate how I want in real life. I stay grounded through weed and prayers. We get a lot of free samples, and if I don’t smoke it, I don’t sell it. I know great quality, so I’m testing my products for my store. I’m very spiritual, but I have no denomination. I just believe in energy and our ancestors. I believe in a higher power. I believe in being who you are and the energy that you put out there. I always help people in need, making sure my neighbors are good. Doing good and giving back, that’s all a part of any religion to me.
On ambition:
I consider myself an ambitious person. I also consider myself a trendsetter. I always wanted to be different, to push the envelope. When weed becomes legal, how can I make sure more people are educated? How can I make sure I’m one of the first? I fought every day to be one of the first in Brooklyn. I don’t have self-doubt because when you come from humble beginnings, there’s no going back. It’s about showing up every day. You don’t even think about failure because you’re so busy just pushing forward.
Vivian Manning-Schaffel , 2024-04-15 13:00:56
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