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Doing It My Way
This Latina Entrepreneur Used to Sell Weed. Now She Sells CBD Products at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Yvonne Perez Emerson is carving out space in a whitewashed cannabis culture with her luxury CBD beauty and wellness company
Doing It My Way is a candid ZORA Q&A series with newsmakers and changemakers in our community who are charting their own paths with conviction and defying convention.
When Yvonne Perez Emerson was a young, single mother making homemade lotions, balms, and tinctures for her family, she had no idea she was laying the foundation for what would one day be a luxury brand carried at Saks Fifth Avenue.
“I was a young, good-looking girl but I didn’t have a lot of money, and I wanted to feel good,” says Emerson, founder of CBD beauty and wellness company Make & Mary, based in Portland, Oregon.
A multi-hyphenate creative, Emerson has had a long career as a maker, artist, graphic designer, creative director, and instructor. She also managed to found two nonprofits along the way. When Oregon legalized cannabis in 2015, Emerson knew she wanted in. She had a lifelong relationship with the plant, and began hosting cannabis-friendly workshops and events under the name Make &…
