Meet Evan Bliss Bliss | Design Dir. & Owner – Studio Bliss

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

Hi Evan Bliss, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Cannabis is still federally illegal and needs to be decriminalized before being federalized. The industry itself is also a movement of sorts until this happens, and after previously assisting on extraction facility designs with previous jobs, I saw a hole in the market and a need within a movement I personally believe in. SO the move to being on my own while bold and scary felt natural. Coming from the architect world, it is a very creative space that can be very “chin-up” and not traditionally the type to take pride in servicing a socially controversial niche. This is where I come in. I come from a working class background and have the high-brow education and design experience to elevate designs without sacrificing their practicality. Since 95% of my projects are Cannabis, I have a unique perspective on identifying the common pitfalls in the permitting and design process; so, I’d like to think I am actively doing my part to lower the barrier to entry in that way for my clients without breaking their bank in the process. In my mission to destigmatize Cannabis in my work, I have been fortunate enough over recent years to have created a network of people nationwide who also share this desire to destigmatize the industry and connecting them with each other. I aim to help the Cannabis community with my work as a whole as much as I aim to help whichever local Cannabis community each of my projects addresses.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets Studio Bliss apart from others is our network coverage and our flexibility in project management. We take pride in being able to manage projects at any point in the process (even in crisis!) and personally recommend vetted services, vendors, and equipment state by state, case-by case for our customers. Studio Bliss takes traditional industrial facility design principles and infuses it with the innovative visions of the client to make any currently stigmatized needs a destigmatized reality. Furthermore, Studio Bliss knows how to engage and treat clients from all walks of life with respect, speaking a language both “chads” and legacy operators understand, Our customer service is also unmatched in that we are even prepared to represent clients at hearings or meetings with jurisdictional parties! Name a more full-service Cannabis design firm and I will be shocked.

I am most proud of the amount of sheer Cannabis-serving square footage I’ve amassed since my striking out on my own. Which I estimate now is around 3 million sqft.

To get where I am today has taken a lot of patience, coordinating people, time, getting stiffed out of a lot of bills, and trusting others to take over when it’s time for me to work on by business as opposed to in it. Most lessons learned along the way are around establishing healthy workflow, balancing it with my social life and how to bypass or avoid bottlenecks in the Cannabis design approval process.

I want the world to know that a Cannabis facility is nothing to be scared of. That real people like you work there, and whether Cannabis becomes part of your wellness or recreational routines or not, that you can give it it’s rightful place in the sun next to alcohol and tobacco – with the freedom to be used by adults who can make their own choices. But better, because it is not a gateway drug. It is plant medicine. If anything it is a gateway to wellness! I want the world to know that the United States is going to be one of the Cannabis hubs of the world soon, and people like me are already making it happen. When April 20th becomes a national holiday celebrating the federalization and a validation of an entire industry, I hope the world comes to visit; and takes a new, fresh look at modern America.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, my best friend is now married, so he doesn’t get too wild out there with me anymore, but what I would suggest around L.A. is firstly the Mandrake in Culver City, because it is the kind of place that still feels like gem in the rough or well-kept secret. I like that part of town because you can see the contrast between the new towers off the train line and the properties that have been there forever such as J.R’s BBQ down the street. But as an architect my favorite building in town is The Westin Bonaventure Hotel.
Los Angeles is full of things to do, so I would be best making an itinerary for DTLA, since it is my area of town. Which is known for some of the best varieties of graffiti/mural art, markets, theatres, nightlife and museums, so I’d likely fill the week with that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to my EA (executive assistant) and Cannabis retail consultant Lindsey. She has facilitated my firm’s growth organizationally and operationally to where I have seen our project load double over the past year and am now able to delegate with hiring more staff. I am thankful for the graphic design services she provides, the website design, the social media activation and posting, the ad strategy, the email surveillance, lead generation, her flexibility when workloads fluctuate, she does a lot and am lucky to have a Jane-of-all-trades such as her on board. Her dispensary design expertise alone has increased my retail project count and has helped me make more intuitive designs that still stand out. She is always thinking of ways to remind me to think of myself and not burn-out, either, which is a lifesaver sometimes in this high-productivity business!

Website: studioblissla.com

Instagram: @studioblissla

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/studio-bliss-437084226/

Youtube: m.youtube.com/watch?v=9hEnkEaz1JI

Image Credits
All renderings are property of Studio Bliss LLC and Evan Bliss owns his photo