Friday, June 21, 2024
Time to read: About 8 minutes. Contains 1,702 words.
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I was too busy rolling spliffs under the Redwoods to think about getting an internship when I was in college. But I’ve since worked alongside many interns—one of whom was invaluable to completing the design layout of one of my biggest projects at Willamette Week. With that experience, that kid was on his way to a staff designer role at any local publication by age 21. WW saved a good chunk of change that quarter, and, thanks to a talented art director managing that intern, without compromising quality. I see the value for all parties. But I honestly have no idea how internships come about or how they work on a day-to-day level.
When it comes to weed internships, I wasn’t even sure they were a thing until I met Ceceilia Cecchetto. A student in her final year at New York’s LIM College, she’d just completed an internship with the multistate brand Miss Grass, and it piqued my curiosity. I figured many of you might feel the same, especially those running or working at a company considering bringing on an enthusiastic, affordable apprentice-figure.
Today’s newsletter features a Q&A with Cecchetto about her experience and what she learned, followed by a conversation with Kate Miller, the founder of Miss Grass, about how things went on her end and if she’d do it again.

The Intern — Ceceilia Cecchetto, senior student at LIM
What degree are you pursuing?
CC: LIM—the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising—is technically a fashion business school. Instead of being focused on design, it’s more focused on merchandising, marketing, business management, and things like that. My major is the “business bachelor’s” degree, specifically in the business of cannabis. Basically a weed BBA. [Bachelor of Business Administration].
Is that a really new program?
CC: We’ll be the first class to have a BBA in the country. Associate degrees and MBAs are coming out, but I’ll be the first four-year degree graduate.
How did you connect with Miss Grass?
CC: LIM requires that every student has two internships in their senior co-op, basically serving as a transition into the workforce. You’re kind of working a full-time job while working on your capstone. They host career fairs to help students connect with companies for these internships, and last fall, they hosted a cannabis-specific career fair. Miss Grass was there, as well as House of Puff, Her Highness, Honeysuckle Magazine, and others. I met Kate (Miss Grass founder) and once they verified I was over 21, they took my resume and said they’d reach out to talk more.
Were you interviewed before they said yes?
CC: I was connected with a few other people on the team, and then was notified I was accepted.
How was it presented to you?
CC: It was very much learning the business of legal cannabis, minus the plant-touching part. Since internships are federally regulated, nothing can be plant-touching, even if you are over 21. No cultivation or manufacturing jobs. Even though Miss Grass sells flower, they are considered CPG and more of a vendor. I couldn’t hand out samples or anything like that, but I could still go to dispensaries, set up displays, interact with buyers and budtenders, and other stuff that was beneficial to my internship, learning retail marketing and business of operations.
What were your tasks/day-to-day expectations?
CC: I worked with pretty much everyone on the team at one point or another. Creative, sales, analyzing wholesale data, working with investors and learning about the financial side. I was really able to do a lot of real work, unlike many of my peers who weren’t doing a lot in their internships. Each week I basically worked with a particular team lead and worked on a project with them. I attended onboardings and trainings that everyone else did, for new products coming online or software the team used.
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