In The Press: Hakuna Supply Featured on The Hemp Revolution Podcast

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Ilan Freeman is the founder and CEO of Hakuna Supply, an award-winning lifestyle brand focused on creating high-quality products using sustainable materials. Hakuna Supply offers an eclectic collection of cannabis storage solutions and accessories, CBD consumables and beverages.

In this podcast episode, Ilan shares his jump from the children's toys business to the cannabis space, the challenges in marketing CBD and how he's managing his social and personal life with this profession. Learn how to build and keep a really solid team that you can trust.

Listen and Subscribe on Apple iTunes: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11627025/young-entrepreneurs-success-in-the-hemp-

Listen and Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3YJg1AgEHcb8Zjw6E4wji0

Listen and Subscribe on Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+Sikpi6Vvc

You can even Download The Episode Companion For This Episode

More About The Hemp Revolution Podcast

The cannabis industry is on the rise for its medical, commercial, and industrial uses. For people wanting to join the green rush and be in the business, for patients who are being changed by the plant and other relative medicines, or for those who simply want to engage in the conversation around cannabis and hemp and the business being driven by it, you wouldn’t want to miss the Hemp Revolution podcast hosted by James Brinkerhoff and Sonia Gomez. With collectively 30 years plus in the industry, Sonia and James give you the lowdown and the insider’s scoop to what’s happening in the industry. Join our fun and informative conversation every week to be in the know about everything and anything cannabis here on the Hemp Revolution podcast. To learn more visit our website https://theemeraldcircle.com. We don’t just give you the aerial view. As pioneers and innovators in the industry, James and Sonia bring real, raw, and dependable content in every episode. Get unfiltered information from the people on the ground as they bring in result-oriented people and guests who have put blood, sweat, and tears into the industry and are putting up serious numbers. Learn from the best of the best as they talk about their stories, share their struggles, and give the keys to success that they have learned through their own experience. Get to hear from the patients whose lives are being transformed by the products that are available in the marketplace. More importantly, discover key connections, direction, and growth strategies that you can implement right away with your own team. Coming from two different facets, James and Sonia became experts in the industry through opposite channels – with James building a profitable business in the space and Sonia being a patient. From soil all the way to sales, James has worked every single process associated with cultivating and creating some of the world's top products. Following his passion for organic gardening, sustainable living, and natural health, he found himself in the mecca of all of those things in Garberville, California while attending the Heartwood Institute in the early 90s. At the peak of his own business, James built and scaled an entire systematized model to help families enter into the green rush and build legacy-type businesses for themselves and their families. In 2009, he started to look at the Colorado market and supported the development of the foundational legislation that would legalize cannabis for a for-profit medical model in the state. Coming from the patient side, Sonia was 16 when she got involved in a near-fatal surfing accident that triggered a whole syndrome in her that was never officially diagnosed. After several years and tens of thousands of dollars and hours with failed medical treatments through the hospital systems, she finally came across a holistic neurologist who introduced her to the endocannabinoid system. She has since become a part of the movement of the legalization of cannabis and a powerful representative and voice for the patients whose lives were changed using this incredible plant medicine. Together, James and Sonia founded one of the first licensed cannabis companies in the world and served over 10,000 patients during their time there. They also helped develop the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, which is now the governing agency in Colorado with a model that is being duplicated across the United States. Out of their passion and experience, one of the largest, most viral, and hyper-engaged consumer-based education platform - Legalize It, Don’t Criticize It - was built. Be the top dog in the conversation. Consume the best information, guidance, and education from the trusted voice and liaison between companies and consumers.

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What Is Media Training?

Media training is a specialized form of communications training that helps media-facing individuals to anticipate reporter behavior, avoid common traps, and confidently focus on their messaging.

It is NOT about lying to the press and others but rather preps the interviewee to maintain poise, calm and anticipate important questions.

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A little media training goes a long way, and is something you should consider as an investment in yourself and your brand(s).

In the meantime, here are 5 tips for your next interview that will leave the best impression with the media and help ensure that the final interview whether it be in print, audio, podcast and/film be beneficial for your brand.

1) Make a plan for your interview. What would you like to see in the resulting media coverage? What two or three key messages do you want to relay? If you go into an interview and just answer the questions you’re asked without a thought for what it is you want the audience to know, you are yielding total control of the interview to the journalist. You need to be prepared by knowing in advance what your own goals are for the interview.

2) Be aggressive and make sure the question you want to be asked is asked, even if you have to ask it yourself. Don’t wait until the reporter asks you the question you want to answer. The question might never come. Instead, use another question to segue into the topic you want to discuss. For example, “What really matters is ____.” Or “The most important issue is ______,” or “The more interesting question is______.”

3) Stick to what a reporter asks and what you want to say. There’s no need to volunteer additional information. This goes back to planning what your goals are for the interview. You should know what it is that you’d like to communicate from the start, and stick to that information as much as possible. More is not better. Answer questions briefly. Long-winded answers give the power to the journalist to choose what parts of what you said to use and what to omit.

4) If you don’t know the answer to a question, just say so. There’s nothing wrong with saying you don’t know, that there hasn’t been a decision yet, or that you aren’t sure of the answer and need to check and will get back to the journalist.

5) But also don’t answer “No comment.” There are very few exceptions to this rule. When you say “no comment,” it almost always makes you look like you have something to hide. You should realize in advance that difficult questions come up and anticipate them, and plan in advance how to answer in a way that won’t hurt you. Advance preparation of likely questions and possible answers is the job of your PR team, with your input, of course.

BONUS: Don’t ask whether you can approve the story before it’s published. This will make you look unprofessional. Leave the follow up tasks to your PR team, or if you do not have one, at least wait until you send a thank you email/letter to inquire about a publication date. Journalists (especially in the traditional trade media) will sometimes provide information to you for fact-checking, so you can volunteer to be available for any further questions or for fact-checking if the journalist wishes.

Improve your news interview skills with a customized media training program, email us today at hello@elyagency.com to schedule a consultation.