Elisabeth Mack of Palm Springs on Life, Lessons & Legacy

Elisabeth Mack shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Elisabeth, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I am very proud to say that my second book was just published last month! The title is Wine, Women, & Weed: A Memoir of Faith, Hope, and Love, and it is an autobiographical memoir that people just can’t put down due to my incredible honesty, authenticity, and storytelling. I wrote it over 2 years, and it is a testament to resilience, survival no matter the trauma, and applied faith. It winds through vineyards, business highs and lows, relationships to the many loves of my life, and the chaotic winds of the cannabis industry. When it comes to joy outside of work, it is radical transparency to get others to open up and share their hearts, minds, and stories with others. That’s why I wrote the book, and invite you to check it out.

Wine, Women & Weed: A Memoir of Faith, Hope & Love
https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/869064-wine-women-and-weed

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My writing encompasses all that I have become over the past 4 decades; Elisabeth Mack, RN, BSN, BA, MBA is a medical cannabis nurse, educator, and curriculum designer with extensive experience developing evidence-based cannabis training programs for healthcare and industry professionals. She is the co-founder of Holistic Caring & The Green Nurse and an approved continuing education provider for the California Board of Registered Nursing. Elisabeth has authored multiple professional cannabis curricula, including the Cannabis Nurse Health Coach program and Cannabis for Health: Become a Coach. With a clinical nursing background, 25 years in healthcare administration, and leadership roles in American Cannabis Nurses Association, Los Angeles NORML, and Coachella Valley Cannabis Alliance Network, Elisabeth specializes in safe, compliant cannabis education and is well positioned to deliver on changing the paradigm of healthcare to include plant based medicines.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
We’re growing up all of our lives, and shedding our childhood stories is a huge part of this. I learned that I must be nice, compliant, and always put others needs before my own. Imagine how that story goes! I’ve loved, lost, and loved again, and now realize that pursuing all of the other goals – career, money, fame, influence, etc., all of them come down to wanting to be loved, by others, and most of all by ourselves. Growing up includes not caring so much about what others think either – it’s more about your own sovereignty, and feeling good with yourself.
Writing a tell-all memoir is a huge part of ‘coming clean’, and having no secrets left to hide. And in doing so, I invite my readers to dare to do the same with their family, friends, and selves. I’ve even written a Book Club Syllabus to promote honest conversations about living fully, transparently, and in the most real way they’ve ever imagined.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I lost my husband to suicide on December 1st, 2012 after he lost a $10M business and our home dues to unfortunate events and bad decisions between he and his old partners. I wanted to die too, and it took a couple of years before I could pick myself up and carry on in full. When I did, I left a storied career in healthcare to become a cannabis entrepreneur business with coaching, educational programs, and a CBD marketplace – partly to buy my house back, and partly to leave everything I was behind me and start over again. I was able to meet all new people, and become a new hero to those who would benefit from our programs and services.
Fast forward to today, I have 3 companies, plans to expand with new partners, and federal opportunities that can only come with the rescheduling of cannabis away from the prohibitive Schedule I classification. I always saw the playing field of the cannabis industry as needing an HMO model to contain and manage patient and provider education, product suitability and tracking with professional coaching, and data management that interlaces cannabis with healthcare. We’re finally getting to that point, and building towards a brilliant future. I am very happy to play my role!

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Changing the paradigm of healthcare in America to include cannabinoid therapeutics and holistic medicine. I’ve been working in this full time since 2016, and keep saying that if I’m not making money by the end of the year, I’ll go back to healthcare and insurance companies. But the truth is that I won’t…and God won’t let me because somehow I am sustained with just enough to keep going and paving the way for others to follow. You’ve heard the saying, “pioneers get slaughtered, and settlers prosper.” Well, I’m going to keep building until this pays off – not only for me, but for millions of Americans who are not well served by conventional medicine.
1:4 adults struggle with chronic pain, and opioids are not the answer. Even more struggle with sleep, anxiety, and depression, and millions of others with autoimmune conditions and neurological issues. Cannabinoids can help every one of them, but the problem is that many are reticent to enter a dispensary, and even those who do are poorly served by the folks behind the counter trying to make a retail sale. What we do is so important, that no matter what, I’m not giving up.
It’s all in my memoir Wine, Women, & Weed as well!

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
That everything is temporary, especially life itself. We run through life thinking that everything and everyone we’re running with will always be with us, but that’s not true. I’ve lost my best friend, my father, my mother, my husband, and many others over the years…and I’m not even that old! Life is fleeting, and the best advice you can ever receive is to take life by the horns and live each day like it’s your last, because what if it is? In my memoir, I draw everything back to the power of love, and it truly is what we live for and carry with us to the next dimension. If you have nothing but love, you are blessed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://holisticcaring.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wine_women_weed/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabeth-mack-mba-bsn-ba-rn-17a5436/
• Twitter: https://x.com/emacksd
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ewmack
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/holistic-caring-palm-springs?osq=holistic+caring
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thegreennurse
• Other: https://winewomenweed.substack.com

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