Meet Adelia Carrillo | Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Founder at EventHi, Advisory Board Member of ICBWA, Co-Founder of Blunt Brunch

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adelia Carrillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adelia, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
This is a great question and a topic, as entrepreneurs, we need to share more about. Prior to taking on my role as Co-Founder and CMO of EventHi, I launched a company called Direct Cannabis Network. We build a global digital news network catering to the latest tech, startups, and entrepreneurs in Cannabis.

Overall, we were doing great; however, finding a stable business model as a digital news network in cannabis was one of the most challenging components for me as a founder, but the impact we were making, the voices we were highlighting and the community that was built kept us going for many years.

After 6 years into the business, I started to get this feeling at first I thought it was self-doubt but soon realized I was no longer giving 110% to my business and once that acknowledgment finally settled I knew that it was no longer right for me to keep pushing my team or the company forward if I was burned out and no longer able to give full potential.

The reality though was it took me 6 months to finally recognize that, because of the fear of failure, I truly felt like I was failing everyone because I could not lead the team to a stable revenue model, to help us scale to the next phase.

Although it was the hardest decision to make it truly allowed me to grow as an entrepreneur and leader and led me to a company that not only aligned with my values but was also really focused on community and making an impact in the cannabis industry.

Remember, the decision to close a business can be one of the most challenging experiences you can face as an entrepreneur. But if you learned from that experience and can take those lessons into your next business, that is success–not failure.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
EventHi is an online marketplace for cannabis-related events. We provide event hosts with a platform to sell tickets and sponsorships for their events and connect event-goers and brands to unique events and experiences.

EventHi provides a safe hosting compliant platform for cannabis event hosts. We have been able to achieve this by being one of the first cannabis software companies in California to receive a Marijuana-Related Business bank account in 2018; this allows us to be completely transparent with our financial institutions.

The reason for this is that many event hosts who host cannabis and hemp-focused events are putting themselves at risk by using mainstream platforms to promote and sell tickets for their events as these platforms look at their events as prohibited events, prohibited transactions, and prohibited merchant.

The second part is our mission, we believe education is vital for this plant, and with EventHi, we are creating a community of event hosts, event-goers, and brands who are all part of that mission, as events are a key component to providing a platform to teach and bring people together for this plant.

When it comes to challenges, we have faced many. Building a tech company is tough, building a tech company in cannabis is 10x more challenging, In reality, it took us over a year to establish the relationship we have with our financial institution, and to maintain this relationship takes a lot of work, time and money. For example, quarterly we have to file compliant reporting on every event, we have to run background checks on event organizers, and complete many other compliant processes. That is only one component of the hoops we have to go through to stay compliant and to keep our business in good standing, in reality, we are just a ticketing platform for events.

However, even with all the work, time, and hurdles that come with being a cannabis tech company, it is truly the best experience and journey. We are part of history, making a change in a newly regulated industry and what our company does is bring people together while also keeping the culture alive for this plant.

And that is how our whole team feels, we are here for the community, and the industry and we truly enjoy working with event hosts throughout the United States and soon enough the world.

If you are interested in attending cannabis events and experiences, check out EventHi.io, your support not only helps our business but it helps every event host who puts so much heart and hard work behind every event they host.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would kick off the week by showing them around my direct neighborhood in Goodyear; we would stop by my favorite sushi spot called Ah- Hai sushi and grill and then take them to the local dive bar called Roman’s. It’s a complete dive bar and I literally only go there when friends visit.

We would then head to the Pemberton PHX, stop by the different businesses within that compound, do some dancing to the music, watch a movie in their outdoor theatre and then wander around the neighborhood to the other local bars and lounges.

I also would plan a hiking day where we would go to Pinnacle Peak Trail in Pinnacle Peak Park and then end the day at Westgate grabbing dinner and drinks at the Lola AZ.

We would end the trip by going to the Salt River for a day of tubing and floating down the river.

I consider myself still a newbie to Arizona, so I still have much to check out, but so far I have been in love with all the different experiences and adventures Arizona has to offer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are many people in my life who have made a huge impact that led me to become who I am and who helped me get to where I am.

The first person is my fiance, partner, and business partner, Ali Fakhri. He was the one who recommended I look to cannabis for my own personal medicinal needs, without his education and suggestion, I would have never become a cannabis patient, as that is what led me to become so intrigued by this plant and decided to leave my corporate job to launch a business in cannabis. And over the years he has provided so much advice, empowerment and strength through all my ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

Next would be three important friends who I met in this industry, they have been my go-to for support, advice, and celebration, Whitney Beatty CEO of Josephine and Billies, Melissa Stapley CEO of MJ Hybrid Solutions, and Mskindess Ramirez CEO of ClubKindness. For years we all have gone through the trials of building a cannabis business and although things have transitioned we are all still in this industry moving and building and making an impact.

Last would be someone I was able to connect with over the past year, who is now my business partner for my other business, Parisa Mansouri-Rad. With her friendship, support and kindness she has been a pivotal friend and partner in my life and with our collaboration together we have been able to empower and impact 1,000 of women through our Blunt Brunch event series.

Website: www.eventhi.io

Instagram: www.instagram.com/eventhi.io , www.instagram.com/missadelia, www.instagram.com/bluntbrunch

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eventhi, https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeliacarrillo/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/eventhi_io

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eventhi.io/