#364: JM Balbuena on empowering aspiring leaders in the legal cannabis industry

Navy veteran JM Balbuena is an author, filmmaker, advocate, and entrepreneur focused on empowering aspiring leaders in the rapidly growing legal cannabis space.

JM’s debut book, The Successful Canna-preneur, does exactly this, while awarding JM with “Cannabis Educator of the Year” by the 2021 Las Vegas Cannabis Awards and “100 Latinas Shaping The World” by The New Latina. JM received a Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal for her dedicated service as Aviation Electronics Tech in the United States Navy between 2010 to 2014. With a focus on business development, strategic planning, and execution, JM successfully runs BSW (Boycott Shitty Weed), promoting advocacy through fashion and muti-media including Web3 and blockchain integration. She also leads Synergy Studios, providing filmmaking, content creation, and executive production to leading brands in the cannabis industry.

JM currently serves as CMO for Prime Harvest Inc., a technology-focused full-service cannabis corporation horizontally diversified across various segments of the cannabis value chain including licensing acquisition and compliance management, direct-to-consumer operations, and parent company of Jaxx Cannabis, a San Diego based retailer. Additionally, JM is cofounder of Palenque Provisions, a family owned Latinx food manufacturer headquartered in New Jersey.