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