Monica Vialpando
The Power List 2021 – Inspirational Mentors
Founder and CEO, Via Innovations, San Francisco, USA
Motivation: To maximize the therapeutic potential of the cannabis plant. The myriad combinations of cannabinoid, terpene/terpenoid, and flavonoids enable a wide variety of medical product types for different indications. I constantly push my research boundaries and keep the end-consumer's needs and overall product-use experience in mind. I firmly believe that this is the true pathway to creating superior and new-in-class cannabis products.
Lessons learned: Work-life balance is critical to enduring the entrepreneurial marathon. Once I began to dedicate significant time for myself (and honor it), I immediately noticed an increase in productivity and mood. A solid break in the day from back to back meetings enables more focused thinking and quiet time increases my intuition. My creativity grows when I allow myself to step out of the "office" and into a new environment, even if it is just a walk. I adopted this lifestyle in Europe and now apply it to Via Innovations' company culture.
Nominator comment: “Monica has been a huge mentor for me in the past 2–3 years, although her career has been much longer and very influential. She continues to teach me lessons about product formulations and how to create new and inspiring cannabis products for safety, efficacy, and unique routes of administration. Over the years, I've learned so much from her conference talks and conversations. She has so much to contribute to the cannabis industry to help consumers get safe and effective options for their cannabis consumption.”
