Tune in to Episode 29 with Dorothy Colagiovanni, Vice President of Product Development at Verra Wellness located in Westminster, CO. Dot discusses Verra Wellnesses ups and downs when it comes to operating a successful cannabis business in the ever changing industry, as well as the science behind cannabis usage for chronic pain, and more!

Dorothy Colagiovanni

Dot Colagiovanni, Verra Wellness, Vice President of Product Development, realized just how powerful cannabis could be when she started benefiting from the effects herself. After Dot’s son was born, she learned that his liver wouldn’t continue functioning into adulthood.

At age 10 he was placed on the liver transplant list, and Dot and her family set about the tremendous task of trying to live normal lives while they watched their son dying. Dot was taking care of two kids. She was working as a pharmaceutical executive full time. And, naturally, she was experiencing situational depression and anxiety.

That is, until she used cannabis as medicine.

Dot developed a nightly ritual. After putting her kids to bed, she’d close her bathroom door, smoke a joint and finally feel her anxiety retreat and the weight of the world lessen just a little. With 20 years of experience in biotech, she knew that the relief she was getting from cannabis wasn’t like anything she could have gotten from a potentially addictive prescription drug. She wasn’t waking up groggy. She felt like herself every morning with a clear headed and ready to face the challenges ahead.

That knowledge was so powerful that it led Dot to quit her job in pursuit of making the natural benefits of cannabis more available to more people and hopefully more moms facing challenges of their own. She joined her close friends and colleagues, Marc Graboyes and Paul Johnson, and began working to formulate revolutionary cannabis products.