How Women Navigate Cannabis Industry Barriers, According to Kim Sanchez Rael

The cannabis industry has spent the past decade positioning itself as a modern, innovative sector, but the progress hasn’t translated evenly across its workforce. Women continue to face barriers to leadership and ownership, even as more enter the field and build careers across cultivation, manufacturing, retail, science, and finance. Data from MJBizDaily illustrates the gap: women held 39% of executive roles in 2023, while only 16% of cannabis businesses were owned by women. The numbers reflect a broader pattern of uneven access to opportunity, one that persists even in industries that see themselves as forward‑thinking.

That context shaped my conversation with Kim Sanchez Rael, CEO of cannabis infusions specialist Azuca, during last week’s IgniteIt Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago. Sanchez Rael, who built her career in tech and finance before entering the cannabis industry, said the challenges facing women in this industry look familiar to anyone who has worked in other male‑dominated sectors.

“The cannabis industry is not unlike other industries that are traditionally male-dominated,” she told me. “One of the big constraints is access to capital. It is just statistically much harder for women, who are equally capable, to raise investment capital in the cannabis industry, just like it is in the tech industry, the venture capital industry.”

Why Women Face Additional Barriers

Sanchez Rael noted that the obstacles extend beyond funding. Many women balance professional responsibilities with unpaid labor at home, a dynamic that affects career mobility. 

“Women tend to juggle a lot of balls in their professional and personal lives, and do a lot of unpaid work in their families that usually men aren’t expected to do,” she said. “So women tend to be pulled in a lot more directions, to generalize, than men do, so it is a heavy weight for women in business.”

Hiring patterns reinforce the imbalance. 

“Statistically, people tend to hire people that look and feel and sound like them,” Sanchez Rael said. “So, if you have the executives being predominantly male, that flows through.”

How Industry Events Can Help

Despite the structural barriers, Sanchez Rael said events like those from IgniteIt can help women build visibility and expand their networks. 

“It’s a great opportunity for women to be out there, to be on panels, to show their thought leadership, to do things like the product demonstrations we’re doing here,” she said.

But the most meaningful opportunities often come from unplanned interactions. Sanchez Rael shared the story of a success that emerged from what initially seemed like a typical networking lunch. 

“The person who became our largest account over the last seven or eight years was someone who I randomly sat down with at a conference,” said Sanchez Rael.

To encourage those moments, Sanchez Rael has a simple rule for her team at events like IgniteIt. 

“If you are at an event like IgniteIt, you’re not allowed to sit next to one of us,” she said. “You need to go sit by someone you don’t know. It’s work to go sit down next to that stranger and have that conversation, but it’s also where new relationships come from.”

Her point underscored a broader theme: while the industry still has a long way to go, intentional networking and greater visibility can help women push past barriers that have persisted across generations and sectors.