Life Conversations with a Twist
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Life Conversations with a Twist
The Healing Plant: Cannabis Myths vs. Medical Miracles with Aspen Noonan
"If you just get the check mark of done, you just beat out a lot of people. And if you just do that every single day- one more check mark- by 27 you're the CEO of a telemedicine company." —Aspen Noonan
Modern medicine has a dirty secret: sometimes, the cure is worse than the condition. What if there was a natural alternative that could manage pain, reduce anxiety, and improve quality of life without a pharmacy's worth of side effects?
Cannabis is proving to be that game-changing solution. Cannabis has been shrouded in stigma for decades, but now, scientific research reveals that this plant isn't just a recreational drug—it's a sophisticated medical tool with the potential to transform healthcare.
Aspen Noonan turned her journey with ADHD into a mission to revolutionize medical cannabis access. As the CEO of Elevate Holistics, she's helping patients discover holistic healing through personalized, legal cannabis recommendations.
Tune in as Heather and Aspen dive deep into the world of medical cannabis, revealing jaw-dropping patient success stories, demystifying THC and CBD, and exploring how this plant is challenging everything we thought we knew about modern medicine.
Connect with Heather:
Episode Highlights:
01:12 From ADHD Meds to Cannabis Entrepreneur
10:07 Cannabis Market: Evolving Landscapes
15:38 Beyond Getting High: Cannabis as Medicine
17:11 Cannabis vs Pharmaceuticals
21:52 Cannabis and ADHD: A Holistic Approach
24:30 Psychedelic Healing
27:15 Cannabinoid Science: How It Works
32:51 Entrepreneurial Tenacity: Success Secrets
Connect with Aspen:
Aspen Noonan is the CEO of Elevate Holistics, a leading telehealth platform specializing in medical marijuana recommendations. At just 27, she has rapidly advanced from support roles to executive leadership, taking the helm in June 2024. With a passion for holistic health sparked by her personal experience with ADHD, Aspen has been instrumental in expanding the company's reach to 18 states. Her mission is to increase medical cannabis accessibility, helping patients find alternative treatments through personalized, online consultations. A strong advocate for patient-centered care, Aspen continues to drive Elevate Holistics' vision of transforming medical cannabis access nationwide.
Heather Nelson: Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's Life Conversations With a Twist. I have the honor of having Aspen on my podcast today. We just met again. This is probably like my new thing, meeting all these amazing women all over the world. And that's what I really like about these conversations. It's really organic, because I don't know anything about you, and so it's like real talk of learning your story, your journey and everything you have going on. So welcome to the podcast.
Aspen Noonan: Thank you. I am so excited. I was telling you before, this is my first podcast, first time talking all about myself and the things that I've gone through, and how it's gotten me to where I am today. I am so excited to have this organic conversation, and just learn about each other. And hopefully, inspire people along the way.
Heather Nelson: Tell everyone a little bit about who you are? Where do you live, and your family life? And then we'll just dive right into your story.
Aspen Noonan: Okay, perfect. My name is Aspen. I am 27 and living in south Tampa. So I'm in Florida. I soak in the sunshine every day. It's like my vitamins. I think that everyone should just be outside enjoying nature, breathing in a little oxygen, and getting off of our phones. I think that that's huge for self care. And that's what I do. I'm also a mom to a little one year old girl who is my entire world. She inspires me every day to work hard and create a legacy for her, really. So that's why I do what I do. I love that.
Heather Nelson: Where in Florida are you?
Aspen Noonan: I'm south of Tampa. So it's a little town called Safety Harbor, and it's tucked away in clear water, which is a major tourist attraction. But there's a little town called Safety Harbor. It's a very homey one, main street, and we love it.
Heather Nelson: What is your full time job? What is it that you do every single day besides being a mom?
Aspen Noonan: Being a mom is so full time. Like we were saying, I am the CEO of a telemedicine company, and our telemedicine connects doctors with patients for medical marijuana cards. So we are completely cannabis focused. We don't have appointments for anything else at this time besides medical marijuana cards. And we basically help patients educate them on what it means to get legal, why they should get legal? Where can they get legal online?And I run a team of mostly women, and we have support marketing operations, all the things that make us one of the best in the country.
Heather Nelson: I love that. I'm curious why I have this question. I'm sure other people do. Why do you need a cannabis card to get cannabis?
Aspen Noonan: So federally, cannabis is still illegal. So if you are in the medical state or we can even go recreational, medical cannabis is where you can only get cannabis legally with a medical card. Recreational cannabis in a state like Colorado or California, that's very popular. You can just buy it without a medical card. So in many states, let's say Louisiana for example, you can't just go buy cannabis. You do need a medical card. And every single state operates differently. So there is a different set of medical conditions, there is a different state application process, there's a different doctor process, whether you can do it online or not. We live in 18 states, and no two are the same.
Heather Nelson: Interesting. We have to be able to pivot, because laws also change very quickly, and you have to probably stay on top of that knowing what each state is doing at each time.
Aspen Noonan: Yeah, absolutely. You want to keep track of like, okay, are they about to go recreational? People think they might not need a medical marijuana card anymore. Is this state no longer going to have tax savings for patients that have medical cards? And is that really going to affect the market? What should we do in that situation? For example in Arkansas, the first time you get a medical card, you have to go in person. But every single renewal after that, you can go online. So it's just these little caveats of like, okay, are we operating legally? Are we doing it correctly? Are we following what's the most up to date thing on these state laws? Because there's not one uniform platform where you can find every single most up to date cannabis law. It's like a research R&D all the time. Constant R&D.
Heather Nelson: In California, I do remember years ago that if you wanted to have marijuana, you had to get a card. So it was like a thing right now. Literally right down the street from my office, we have cannabis stores all over, and they're popping up all over. And I actually have a friend who owns one in one of our local towns that I want her to come on because she made so many moves, especially being a woman that owned a cannabis store. It's really cool. It's interesting to see because I'm like, literally, you could drive down the street and someone's smoking. I mean, edibles are easy to access. You can get CBD drinks now at your local grocery store, so it's wild to think that there's other states that you can't do that.
Aspen Noonan: It's so crazy. You're in one state and it's like, okay, is this an Apple Store? Are they selling iPads or weed here? What's going on? And then the next is if you smell it, don't let the cops see you. And I'm like, okay, you really have to be able to pivot, and you can't go across state lines with it. Even though it could be legal in both Missouri and Illinois, you can't cross state lines with cannabis. It's federally illegal. So that's where that medical card comes into play. It's great for tax savings. It's great for people that are on parole and getting drug tested. You can say, okay, I have an actual reason to be doing this. And medical conditions can be up to you and the provider. It doesn't always have to be. I have cancer, I'm dying. I have chronic pain, so I can't sleep. Cannabis helps a lot more than just the mainstream reasons.
Heather Nelson: And I definitely want to dive into that whole conversation about cannabis versus medicine and pharmacy, all the pharmaceutical drugs. But I do want to ask you, how did you even get to this? How did you start this business? It's not something you wake up and you're like, I am going to help people get access to cannabis. So how did you get here?
Aspen Noonan: It's so specific. And I think it's so cool. Every time you hear a success story, it's like, how did you pick such a specific thing and really go after it? So like a lot of people, I kind of fell into it. Life experiences and who I met and made connections with brought me to tears. But when I was 8, 9 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD. Within a year, put on ADHD medication like Concerta, Adderall, Vyvanse. I had been through all of them. I was taking the max allotment, if you will, of all of those as well by the time I was 18. And then at 18, I went off to college, and many people discovered cannabis. But what I hadn't realized is that whenever I consumed cannabis, I did not need my ADHD medic. Slowly weaning from vyvanse to cannabis, I was realizing I might not need it at all. A lot of side effects I didn't realize were affecting me. On the day to day, we're going away. And I thought that that was very cool. I had this newfound interest in holistic health and medicine, and avoiding food dyes. So it kind of felt natural that I was going to go toward this holistic path. And at the time, I was going to be a dietitian in college, so I was looking into diet and all of those things. And then I was just like, there's no way that if I just have ADHD, I'm just neurodivergent. People are going through way more serious things, and cannabis could help a lot of people. So I joined my local normal organization. It's called The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. It's a long name, but it's very easy to join. There are chapters all across the country in every single city and state, which is very cool.
And within six months of joining, I became the president in my town of the normal convention. We had events, we had speakers, and I was able to make a ton of connections in the industry. And I eventually started opening dispensaries with a group of men in Kansas City. I had just networked, and they needed a position filled. I obviously was graduating college and filling that position. I'm there writing SOPs. I think I just really was looking for more out of my personal life, because I was in Missouri. I love Missouri. I grew up there, but there's no sunshine every day. It's not just this beautiful place where you look out the window and feel inspired. I don't think I saw a Porsche in my hometown growing up anywhere. Now I can look out the window and see G wagons driving by, and it's just very inspiring. And people do very well. And so I was like, how can I work from home, and be in the cannabis industry? What's the mix? And that was telemedicine. So I started taking support calls at the company I'm currently the CEO of. I helped patients do forms. I did literally support calls, and eventually became the Director of Operations. Eventually oversaw our finances. And then when our CEO stepped down, he was like, there's no one better. No one knows this company the way that you do, every single state, every caveat, every process that we have. Go ahead and put your spin on it. And we've grown 20% in the past year. We're doing pretty tough.
Heather Nelson: Good job. So all of that from being like that, starting your job to that, how many years was that? How old are you now? You said you're 27.
Aspen Noonan: 27. It's been three years. I've been at Elevate Holistics since I graduated. I guess I wasn't right away. I've been at this company for five years. I've been in the cannabis industry since 19 when I started.
Heather Nelson: Wow, good job. I love that. It's so interesting because everyone always says like you start businesses later in life, right? Like 30s, 40s, or your career directory just takes off then. And now, here you are. You know what I mean? At like 20 years old being able to have that success, so that's so cool.
Aspen Noonan: I agree. And one day, I realized that no one's coming. There is no invitation. No one's going to start. No one's going to work hard for me. There's no one coming, and that was my thing. And so I started doing everything myself. And I was a perfectionist. I wanted everything to be perfect. The needle wasn't moving. Things weren't happening because everything was so perfect all the time. And so I thought, okay, let's just do as much as humanly possible with grit in our soft skills. And what we have and done became better than perfect. And now, we're able to move the needle a little bit every day. I love to be the best in the industry within two years. I would love to be the biggest telehealth provider for medical cards.
Heather Nelson: How many businesses do this? Is it like a saturated market? Is there only a few? Do you have a lot of competitors?
Aspen Noonan: At the beginning we were one of five. It was not very popular. Now, there are probably 100 doctors across the country that are seeing patients, calling them over the phone, doing stuff with them. When it comes to full blown companies that have multiple providers, HIPAA Compliant Forms support phone numbers for you to call and get help. Less than 10.
Heather Nelson: Oh, and you're one of them, one of 10.
Aspen Noonan: Yeah.
Heather Nelson: Wow. How many are on your team?
Aspen Noonan: We have a team of 50 people, and the hack there is that only five are in-house. So we contract our providers, we contract help, and I think that really creates nice levers for me to crank things up, or pull them down as needed, because the in-house team is so small. We can really focus on trying different things to see what works.
Heather Nelson: That's so cool. You've been in the cannabis world for a long time. And to me, that feels like a long time. How have you seen that industry change? I think it's definitely making a huge change and shift in our world now. Can you talk about some of the changes and what you've experienced in your time in cannabis?
Aspen Noonan: Absolutely. When I first entered the cannabis space, it was so medical focused, so patient focused, so education focused, which is great. That was my passion, and that was so exciting to be able to teach people about cannabinoids, strains and terpenes. It doesn't have to be a bad experience, and really educating people. And I thought that was so cool. And then you saw waves of states going medically legal. Because at that point, okay, we might not need to unleash it to the public. But if you have a serious ailment, people should be able to get a medical card. And that's happened. At least 10 states have gone medical since I've entered the industry. And then what happened about three, four years ago was the big recreational push. So Missouri went recreational. New Jersey basically did. Their medical program when they went recreational, a lot of people started losing the education kind of just going price like a race to the bottom. Like, I just want the cheapest weed. I want to be able to get high. Don't care if it's legal. I don't care if it's a medical card, all of these things. And so now, this past year, the circles coming back to medicine are like, okay, people are having bad experiences. People are consuming too much. People are not happy with their product. The industry is losing money, and so it's refocusing on, hey, tax savings with a medical marijuana card. You don't have to pay an 18% tax. They have cannabis in Arizona, which is literally wild. By getting a medical card, you can add two purchases and pay it off in savings. It's astronomical for recreational cannabis versus medical. And so it's kind of coming back around.
People are like, well, I've been smoking weed for years now. But I'm really interested in the terpenes, the cannabinoids and what can help me in particular. I want to focus. We're kind of seeing this come back like, hey, medical is important, and medical cards are important. And even though in Pennsylvania, they might go recreational soon. Partners and dispensaries are really focused on helping the medical patients, and making sure people are staying legal. And if you need more allotment, let us help you get it. And that way, when you hit the state's allotment, you don't have to go to the street for the rest. So it's really, really been full circle and fun to watch, especially being in such a medical space. I'm like, yes, let's stay on the medical side. I think caffeine can be abused. Cannabis is, obviously, a plant, but it's a drug too. Cocaine is technically a plant, if we want to get that into it, and that's not very good for you either. Yeah. So I think that there's this balance of like, there should be education, there should be cards, there should be a doctor guiding your process. But also people should have access to it.
Heather Nelson: Absolutely. In my experience, especially here, I mentioned that we have a lot of cannabis dispensaries. But you go in there and you're like, I just want something that's going to help me sleep. I don't want to be high. I just want to be relaxed. Or you go in and be like, I want to get high as hell and pass out. There's so many products now, and it's very overwhelming, but they help you to find the right product that is going to get you what you need.
Aspen Noonan: And 15 years ago, it's like, listen, we have weed. I don't know what it's going to do for you.
Heather Nelson: I'm going to age myself. I'm 43. And back then when cannabis was a thing, I was like, wait, you got a bong and you had a joint, and that's how you consumed cannabis. And now it's like, we have edibles. We have drinks. It's crazy how it's changed. Lotion and.
Aspen Noonan: It kind of works. If you've ever had a sore muscle and put cannabis lotion on. I obviously consume cannabis. I already believe in it, and I'm still amazed by it sometimes. I'm like, oh, my gosh, my neck doesn't hurt anymore. How exciting.
Heather Nelson: So you are in the medical world. You get to help all these patients who come in with all these medical issues saying, I need help. What are some of the success stories that you've seen with people consuming a lot of pharmaceutical drugs, and now have converted over to cannabis for relief and to feel better? What has your experience been? And are there any really cool stories that you've seen change for people?
Aspen Noonan: The most standout story I have is someone I know. Grandmother has Alzheimer's, and they sundown. That's a term where at night, it's very discombobulating the memories, or are just not coming back. And it's so funny because this same grandma is so against cannabis. If she knew the family was giving her cannabis, she'd be like, the heck. Of course, she's not smoking it. And so they give her a tincture under her tongue, and within 30 minutes, she is on her iPad playing games and ready for bed. And I feel like I even get choked up talking about it because people's personalities can change from a little bit of oil, and I feel like the fact that people don't access it or are scared to access it, is so life changing for this woman. And aging can be so scary. I feel for her. I can't imagine not understanding the people taking care of you, and for a little bit of oil to save her every single night without fail, I think is so cool.
There was another guy when I was doing support, when I first started at Elevate, and I was taking calls. Full time, people would call me back after trying cannabis for the first time because medical cards were newer. This was five years ago. It wasn't like, I'm renewing. Or I've tried it before, and I want to try it again. But now, just legally, they were saying, I wouldn't convince people, but thanks for convincing me to try this. I'm so happy that I tried this. I've been on opioids for 10, 15, years. The guy I'm thinking of in particular was in a motorcycle accident, and so he was just always in pain from, obviously, the crash. But he said he was on opioids. He went to some clinic, and he completely detoxed from opioids, and they allowed him to have cannabis the entire time. He was telling me that while the opioids interact with these addictive receptors, the cannabis would fill those same receptors, but it's not addictive, obviously. But it still kind of nourishes those pain receptors. And I thought that that was really cool. It decreases inflammation. It made him more relaxed. And so even if he was in pain, it's like, okay, well, he would just care less. I'm not sure if you're aware of the opioids and what they can do for you, but this guy was basically like, I am having regular bowel movements. I feel like I can eat meals without getting up and having to stretch. And those little things are what make life worth living. In every meal, you had to get up and help your leg every single time, and you were just trying to sleep. It's those little things that just make living not worth it sometimes. And so if a little cannabis can help this guy, he's going to call me back. Someone taking phone calls, just to tell me how much? He appreciated it. That's really, really cool to me.
Heather Nelson: So interesting. I look back before we started recording, I was saying that I'm in Wine Country, so we drink a lot of wine. And I'm in the hospitality industry, so we really drink a lot of wine. But there's this whole conversation now about, hey, let's take a gummy or have a CBD drink. Just try different ways because you're not hungover, and you feel like crap usually. And I think back to some of my very fond memories of sitting with a group of girlfriends, just laughing our asses off and like, it's so much fun. And when you drink wine, half the time, you don't remember because wine, alcohol mess with you. But I don't know. I've been trying to change that narrative for people, and it's been really cool. And some really cool memories have evolved because of it.
Aspen Noonan: I love that so much. Obviously, I love wine too. I don't discriminate, but I'll actually do both together. I think I find that very relaxing. But what's fun about cannabis is if you're using it recreationally and you want to lose control a little bit, it's such a happy loss of control. You're giggling uncontrollably. Or you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm literally going to pass out on this couch with all of my friends, and they're just going to be laughing because I cannot keep my eyes open. And I think that that form of losing control is way healthier than jumping into a lake. It's like, okay, we're losing control. We're having fun. We're letting loose, but in a mature way. It feels elevated.
Heather Nelson: Absolutely. I'm curious about this ADHD. Because obviously, cannabis has helped you through this, and I'm sure you hear more and more like it's being more diagnosed probably now than ever, especially in young adults, kids and stuff. Do you see cannabis being one of the biggest changes to help people with ADHD?
Aspen Noonan: I think anytime that the first solution is pharmaceutical drugs, we should question our providers. Why are we not changing our diet and removing bread? Why are we not introducing CBD? An element that does not get you high at all. It can't get you high. There's no THC in it, and it's going to help relax a child and help them focus on their schoolwork for a little bit. I think that it was very, very life changing for me, and I think it's worth a try. There's literally no harm in it. You can always go back. But I don't think that we should jump to pills as the first line of defense when we find a problem with someone or something that's just a little bit different with people. Let's try to use the earth and these holistic treatments to change things first. And if that doesn't work, okay, cool. Science, we've got it.
Heather Nelson: I have always been a pill popper, not because that sounds really bad. But I've always gone to the doctor when I have a headache, and I'll pop a Tylenol or ibuprofen. It's always been something we've grown up doing. You're sick, you have a symptom, let's treat it. And now doing my retreats and kind of getting into this spiritual world, and like cannabis, and people are talking about mushrooms, the medical world is changing so much. So many people are now like, I don't want to go to the doctor because all they're going to do is prescribe me some pills. And there's very little limited holistic doctors, like you guys who are providing them in another way.
Aspen Noonan: Exactly. And especially for the right price. If you go to a holistic doctor, they don't take insurance. You're paying out of pocket for that kind of thing. So finding a doctor that's like, okay, am I going to get this for a good price? Is this going to be a good opinion? What kind of vitamins and supplements are they going to be recommending to me? You just want to look into reviews. I think reviews are so huge because if you're getting your money's worth, has this doctor worked for other people? Has this regimen helped people? I grew up the exact same way. You're sick, you take medicine and it works. And being someone that is super into holistic medicine, I'm always going to go back to that if the holistic route is not working. Because it works for a reason. I believe in science. We can try other things first before jumping to it.
Heather Nelson: What are your thoughts around mushrooms? I know that's a new thing too that is emerging as a way to help people, ways to go get people through trauma. Do you know much about it? Do you travel there? What is your take on that?
Aspen Noonan: We actually looked into telehealth psilocybin appointments for people like veterans, to try psilocybin and go on retreats and legally consume. I am a huge fan of mushrooms, honestly. I think that they can be a window into this kind of hippie-dippie. I think it's kind of a window into your soul, and you just get to let the reality fog away for a minute and go back to what truly matters to you. And I think that if people get to experience that, they call them, I know in college they called it a trip, a journey, or an experience, something like that. We'll call it a journey, but going on like this eight hour fully inundating experience where you aren't in reality, you are in your own world, and you get to experience thoughts that may not have come up, and you have realizations that feel very intense and very real, I think that it's very, very life changing. I have heard from a lot of people, a lot of veterans, actually in particular, because there's a retreat in Colorado. They do them all the time for veterans. They rent out an Airbnb, and they all go on this journey together. And it's life changing for people. People feel connected to themselves. They feel like they have purpose. And I think that's so important. If you don't have a purpose, what are you doing?
Heather Nelson: Absolutely. I've seen people go through some of these experiences, get through some real heavy trauma and be a better person. On the other hand, I haven't done it. But it's coming up more and more. It's been interesting.
Aspen Noonan: It is very cool. I am also a fan of Guided Journeys. Maybe don't do it alone because like I said, reality goes away.
Heather Nelson: I just had a girl recently on my podcast that did that, and so it's cool. She's like, sometimes you should, but you're not ready yet. And I'm like, okay, I'm not ready. I'll wait. That's fair enough.
Aspen Noonan: It's so weird, but you'll know when you're ready, and even after you do it. I take two years in between each journey. I think that I need full time to compromise what happened, implement the things that I learned from my higher self, and then, okay, I'll be ready again. It is intense.
Heather Nelson: Talk to me and educate my listeners a little bit about THC and CBD, because I think people are always kind of confused by the two. I think there's another type, but I feel like those are the two main ones. What are the differences, and what do you think each one does in the medical world? When you prescribe something for somebody, why would you do THC over CBD?
Aspen Noonan: Yeah. Great question. But we're talking about cannabinoids, so CBD, THC, CBN, THCA, they are all keys. And we have locks in our bodies, and they're called cannabinoid receptors within our endocannabinoid system. Everyone has one. It's not talked about within schools, or at least wasn't when I was there. But a lot more information is coming out about it now. So we all have these locks that are ready to be opened with these keys. So whenever you have CBD, this is just going to go to that exact receptor. That receptor is not going to get you high. There is no euphoric sensation with CBD. However, there is anti inflammatory. I don't know the exact term, but just like anti anxiety within the CBD. So it's more calming, more anti-inflammatory, but absolutely zero euphoria. If you need something a little bit stronger, you're in actual pain, you have full on anxiety attacks, that's where the THC Delta-9 is the one you're looking for. It is going to unlock, and you are going to feel euphoric. And you're also going to get those other benefits of anti-inflammatory, anti anxiety, but you're also going to get more of a push. It's more like all at once. They all unlock at the same time. Whereas CBD, it's going to be a slow release. And then you have CBN, you have CBD and CBG, they all do something different. And so depending on your body, you just want the right concoction. I personally don't want CBG because I think it's too relaxing. I don't want to be tired pretty much ever. I would love to stay up all day and live life.
Heather Nelson: Me too.
Aspen Noonan: But then, yay, it could be very energizing, and someone wants that in their concoction every single day. So different cannabinoids unlock different receptors, and so which ones are right for you? I would never give a child THC, for example, why? They can have all the benefits without--
Heather Nelson: I like THC, but sometimes I'm like, man, I'm not functional.
Aspen Noonan: Yes. And then the percentages too. So some CBD, you'll see has .03% THC, that is just something they put in there to create the entourage effect and ensure that what the entourage effect is every single receptor is being stimulated, so that will have at least .03 of every single cannabinoid we know of. And so that's why they put that little THC in there. It's possible that you could drug test positive, but that amount of THC would never get you high. So that's kind of what they call full spectrum is getting it all. And that's great, too. We can go all into the terpenes, the taste and the smells, fun stuff.
Heather Nelson: It's wild. When someone gets drug tested, if they only drug test for the THD, will CBD get picked up too? Or No?
Aspen Noonan: So CBD, no. If you have a pure 100% CBD tincture, you will not fail a drug test. But if you have full spectrum CBD, which is the full cannabinoid spectrum even though it's called CBD, it does have trace amounts of THC which no matter how much there is, the test is going to pick it up.
Heather Nelson: Okay. Huh, interesting. Who are your clients? Who are your people? If somebody likes to work with you, who's your ideal client?
Aspen Noonan: I help people that are looking to try a new holistic treatment like cannabis. Or people that have had cannabis before and want to get it legally or legally again. So a ton of our clients call us and say, oh, I had cannabis 20, 30 years ago. It was super fun. But now, my knees hurt. What can I do? And I'm like, perfect. Talk to one of our providers. It's going to take literally five minutes, and then you can get a medical card and be at a dispensary within a few days.What's nice about that is everyone has a different experience, and every single person talks to the doctor so you're going to get a good opinion on what you should do, how much you should try, what kind you should try, and unique consultation. So anyone that's interested in cannabis or is re interested is my client.
Heather Nelson: Okay. I love it. Is there anything we didn't talk about? You said you could go into all the different strands. But is there anything like overarching that you've learned along the way, or that you want to leave the listeners with?
Aspen Noonan: I love that. We did a lot between life and doing things young, not caring what people think. And all this cannabis industry knowledge, my favorite quote at this time is, done is better than perfect. If you are starting a new business or an entrepreneur interested in learning things about cannabis, whatever you're doing doesn't have to be perfect, because 99% of people won't even try. So if you just get the check mark done, you just feed out a lot of people. And if you just do that every single day one more check mark, by 27, you're the CEO of a telemedicine company.
Heather Nelson: So good. Such a great reminder every day. I love that. I love that. And you are so inspiring. Like I said, so young and so ambitious. I think a lot of people don't take any of those leaps till later in life. And then even people my age are still like, oh, when is the next journey for us? So it's really cool to see someone so young being so ambitious. Continue to inspire that generation, because I think we need more of it, for sure.
Aspen Noonan: Thank you. And I think a lot of people get the same trust fund that I do, and that's the trust fund of tenacity. People don't always get cash, and that's fine. And neither did I. But if you work hard and you're down to put in some grit, you can do it. Every single day, people become millionaires and do not come from money, so that's what I remind myself.
Heather Nelson: I love it. I'm so glad we got connected. I definitely want to follow your journey. I know cannabis is definitely getting juicier and juicier, so I think there's so much opportunity for you to grow, and I can't wait to continue to watch you. So thank you for being on the show today.
Aspen Noonan: Thank you for having me. This was so much fun. This is the beginning. People keep reminding me that I'm young, and I feel like I've been at it forever. I'm like, there's so much more to do. I'm only in 18 out of 50 states. I'm only in one out of many countries. I took American history. I'm just ready to take on the world. Who wants to do it with me?
Heather Nelson: Me. I'm here with you. I'm way ahead of you, but that's where I'm at. I love them, just do instead of wanting it to be perfect, because I think we all want it to be perfect. And if we just do the things and start doing it, that's what moves the needle. So I love that reminder. This is why I love my Friday podcast interviews because I'm like, it's so inspiring after such a long weekend, going into the weekend that I'm like, yes, we can do this.
Aspen Noonan: This is inspiring. Because sometimes, I get defeated, I get down. I'm like, oh, the creator of Snapchat is 20, and he just made 50 million. We can do things badly, but we still did them, and that's better than the rest of the population. So it's all about moving the needle.
Heather Nelson: Well, I have no doubt you're going to get there, so keep doing it. Let's definitely stay connected. We'll put in the show note how everyone can find you, how they can work with you, follow you, all the things.
Aspen Noonan: Thank you so much. This was so fun. I wish I looked closer to you. I'm gonna go to Wine Country.