The cannabis industry isn’t always inclusive, but this Black woman is working to change that one dispensary at a time. Founder Ariane Kirkpatrick built Harvest of Ohio to help improve the lives of others through the use of cannabis. After a conversation with one of her sons who used the plant to cope with anxiety, she knew that they could help others reap the benefits of a resource that has been equipped with a negative connotation within the Black community for decades. “I didn’t think that they would allow someone like me to be in this business, and they didn’t,” said Kirkpatrick during an exclusive interview with AfroTech. Eventually, Kirkpatrick was able to kick down the door. Now, she is the only Black woman in the state of Ohio to be vertically integrated within the industry. What this means is that she holds all three licenses to grow, dispense and sell cannabis. She holds a cultivation license, a dispensary license, and a processing license.