Episode 27 Inndica with Rick and Monique Fitzgerald

This week on the podcast, we were talking with Rick and Monique Fitzgerald of Inndica, and Lazy Turtle. We're talking about their 420 friendly travel guide, travelling in legal states, and more!
[00:00:03.650] - Elijah
And would you all like to talk a little bit how you each got into cannabis originally and maybe a little
about your origin stories and how you got to where you are.
[00:00:14.650] - Rick
Hi, I'm Rick Fitzgerald. I am originally from Virginia out in California for the past twelve years. I am the
CCA, the chief creative officer for lazy turtle group. I'm also the chief Design officer for Merchant
Boxes and I assist Monique and the graphic end for Indica.com.
[00:00:37.330] - Monique
Hi and I'm Monique Jackson Fitzgerald and I am the founder of Indica.com and we created a
cannabis travel and tourism website for people to explore and experience all things cannabis travel
related. So we are really excited about growing the community and coming together again.
[00:01:00.190] - Rick
Yeah, we moved to California from Virginia in 2010 and that's when I discovered the full on California
cannabis culture and community and realized quickly that it was a plant that I had used for my entire
life and enjoyed my entire life, but didn't realize how much more additional benefits I could get from it.
So when I came out to California in particular, jumped into it and really started to explore the
community, the plant learned a little bit more about what was going on in California on the medical
side and just found that this plant really just was good for me in so many ways, mentally and
physically, and really just dove into it and realized that it was going to be some interesting changes in
the world with California and some of the west coast states coming on board with cannabis. And then
have we seen it go across the country and become both medically and recreationally available to
folks in other states. It's really changing the tides. From that, I realized that there were some ways
that I could help the development of this emerging I guess we can call it an industry or this emerging
space with some of the skill sets that I had from my past, and in particular in branding and packaging,
realized that I could not only potentially make a little living, but also help folks figure out how to
launch their brands through a branding perspective, through their look, their logos, their corporate
identity, their story, and ultimately, their packaging and beyond.
[00:03:03.690] - Rick
So that was kind of my introduction and my stepping into that realm. I'll let Monique talk about her
beginnings in the space, which are completely different but very interesting.
[00:03:18.790] - Monique
Well, I think Rick said a lot of interesting stuff about it. It's interesting when you look back at the
history of the movement and even like when we stepped into it, everything was already mid progress
here in California when we moved here. But we were able to quickly see the benefits of cannabis as
plant medicine, but then also as a cultural aspect and then also as a community builder. So my
experience was a bit more limited in that I'd never really used cannabis before. I moved to California.
So I was an adult for all of my experiences. And so my viewpoint was more from a medicinal
standpoint, more from a lifestyle benefit standpoint, than just younger folks antics, if you will. And so
when we saw the opportunity in California, when things became legal, first in Colorado, and then
starting with California with the medical regulations, and then eventually the recreational side of
things, we really decided to take a look at our lives and how we were living and seeing the benefit that
cannabis had given us. We started brainstorming ideas for how we could use this moment in history,
really, to recreate our path, to forge a new path forward for our futures.
[00:04:44.440] - Monique
And so we really started thinking about what we wanted to do, what we wanted to see out of this new
cannabis community that was being created, and how we could impact it in a beneficial and positive
way. And so that's how we got to where we are today with Indica.
[00:05:02.550] - Elijah
And did either of you all have any trepidation when you first moved out? Or did you move to California,
then look at the cannabis space or move out to California for the cannabis space?
[00:05:14.650] - Monique
So we moved here for completely different reasons. We moved here for professional reasons only.
And so Rick was working as a creative director at a packaging company, and I was working as an
attorney and a litigation consultant. And so when we were using it personally and then when
legalization hit, we were, that's when we decided that these were the opportunities that we wanted to
pursue in the future.
[00:05:41.170] - Elijah
And was there any sort of AHA moment or was it a gradual you saw it, you heard about it, experienced
a little bit, or what was that catalyst to make you all decide to jump in?
[00:05:53.430] - Monique
It was when we saw that what was happening in Colorado with legalization and that it was going to
start here, what we did is, and this is really how Indica came about, is we took a trip to the desert. I
planned out a trip with a bunch of different activities, some mind expanding things for us to do. And
we went out there and we sat in the desert, we looked at the nature and experienced some pretty
impactful moments while we were together out there. And from that came the idea, this vision, if you
will, of creating a community, gathering space, a place for indica, is actually I know we all know the
term indica from cannabis, but the way we defined it and created it was indica with two ends.
Because we wanted this to be a place for lodging, entertainment and foolish talking. So it's a
combination of the word in and DickA. And so for us, it was about creating a place for people to come
and try to not to replicate our experience, but to find out what their experience was going to be, to find
something that spoke to them in the same way in the same way that they could envision a new future
for.
[00:07:12.450] - Elijah
And for our listeners. Is inndica a physical place. Is it a platform? What exactly is it?
[00:07:20.870] - Monique
Ultimately, indica is a state of mind, but in its current iteration, it's a platform. It's an online platform
for people to discover cannabis hotels, consumption lounges, venues and activities as a place for
lodging, entertainment, and foolish talking. We broke it out into what we felt were the most important
aspects of a trip, which was to stay, gather, play, and explore, right? So we want to feature something
from each of those areas so that people can have an entire experience, a whole experience versus
just parts and pieces of an adventure.
[00:08:05.970] - Rick
We started this indicate journey a number of years ago when all of this was kind of coming into the
realm of recreation and there wasn't a lot of information out there, places that you could go, stay that
were cannabis friendly. They were far and few in between. Sometimes you see a little article here and
there, but for the most part, these were little kind of separate satellites just floating around trying to
figure things out. So we wanted to really bring together something so that these places had a home to
reside in, so that folks could find out more about where to go to stay, gather, play, and explore in the
cannabis travel and tourism realm.
[00:08:49.820] - Monique
Yeah, so currently we're an online platform, and ultimately our goal eventually would be to have a
physical space for folks, whether it's a gathering space or an accommodation. I have a pretty broad
vision in my mind that I am trying to bring to life. And so everything that we've done up to this point is
just taking steps towards that to realizing that vision.
[00:09:15.770] - Elijah
And what exactly is that vision? If you could clarify that a little bit, what do you see this becoming for
you all and for the community?
[00:09:25.310] - Monique
For the community, we hope that this will become a place for people to come to share their
experiences and to also to plan out new adventures. The whole point of this is for information, right?
It's for you to find out where you're going to go, what activities you're going to indulge in, what
dispensaries are nearby you, what's the legal landscape and the place that you're visiting. So we really
want it to be a place that is a trusted advisor to the cannabis traveler, to the canecurious, all the way
up to the enthusiast, right? So that they know that they can find the experience that they need to have,
they can find the resources that they need to have, and they can have a safe and legal experience in
the state, whichever state that may be. Right now we have properties and activities listed in most of