Today we’d like to introduce you to Soren Gray.
Soren, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Originally, I came to LA from SF in 2000 to pursue my rockstar dreams as a singer/songwriter/composer. But with the bottom falling out of the music industry in the late ‘00s, I began to focus the time of my other passion: cannabis.
I started The New Smoker website in 2010 as Editor-in-chief with the aim of “bringing class to grass” -the first to do so- as a reaction to all the tacky cliche cannabis magazines like Dope, and High Times, meant for only 22year old guys I saw delivered to the dispensary I was managing at the time in Silverlake, Sunset Junction Organic Meds. The stereotypes of “stoner” “slacker” “hippie” “thug” etc. didn’t reflect the wide variety of cannabis consumers I saw everyday in our dispensary, and I wanted to give a voice to the rest of us.
I evolved The New Smoker into a magazine in 2012 with the help of my then soon to be wife SJ George (www.thenewsmokermag.com). With it, I helped begin the modern marijuana movement we see today, that elevates the perception of cannabis for the sophisticated smoker and sheds the old cliches. Many similar websites and magazines have followed, but I was the among the first to steer cannabis culture this new classy, sophisticated direction. We expanded the magazine in 2017 to included a daily feature site where we include our favorite brands that reflect our vision with “reviews” that are more entertaining, high-larious, & poetic than they are “accurate.” (link= www.thenewsmoker.com)
Beginning at the end of this year 2019, I will become the general manager of Pleasure Meds in WeHo, the first recreational on-site cannabis consumption dispensary in all of California. With a rooftop lounge, we will be hosting high-end events like live jazz cannabis cocktail dress up parties, DJ Sunday’s, educational events, acoustic evenings, movie nights, and much more, I will be using all the knowledge I’ve acquired to make it the classiest, coolest, most sophisticated dispensary hotspot in all of LA. Very excited.
In the meantime, music hasn’t left me, I’m also in the middle of a synth sci-fi indie-rock opera solo concept album… just for the fun of it.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Creating The New Smoker has allowed me to be in the center of the current cannabis culture here in LA, which has let me help guide it in ways I think it should go, as well as be excited at the many new ways everyone is helping elevate the community.
The only frustrations have been trying to grow the business in profitable ways. Many fits and starts with many people with money wanting to be involved in the Green Rush, but not quite sure where to invest it all. But besides trying to turn a profit, the rest has been exciting and fun to be apart of and evolve the scene.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Many people have contributed and helped along the way. From the writers for the articles for our magazine and review site, and all the contributors and non-cannabis advertisers… to the people who really appreciate what we do.
But mainly I couldn’t have done it without my wife Sarah-Jane “SJ” Gray. It was her idea to take the original website and make it an online magazine. Plus, while I put together all the content, she’s the one who does the layout and makes my vision come alive.
Plus, she motivates me to attend all the cannabis events out there and keep us in the know. She even wrote her own cannabis kids book for adults “Green Flower Faeries” www.greenflowerfaeries.com. I would also add Sean Suhl has been an important investor and believer in what we do.
Pricing:
- $25 per magazine issue (physical)
- $4.20 subscription to online magazine
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thenewsmoker.com / www.thenewsmokermag.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenewsmoker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNewSmoker/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thenewsmokermag/
Image Credit:
Rick Proctor @howigethigh.com, Lowell Herb Co. – lowellsmokes.com
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