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MAGNIFIED BROCCOLI Broccoli is simply “a magazine
for cannabis lovers”. Created by women who love weed, Broccoli presents a new perspective on cannabis culture. Playful, informed, eclectic, and thoughtful, it encourages the discovery and intelligent appreciation of cannabis through explorations of art, culture, and fashion. We sit back, have a toke and chill with founder and editor-in-chief Anja Carbonneau. words Michael McDermott – What is the genesis of Broccoli? Was it always intended to be a magazine for cannabis lovers by women? We wanted to create the magazine to represent all the creative and interesting women in the world who use cannabis, and also those who are just curious about the plant. We use the magazine as a platform for thoughtful engagement and creative storytelling, covering all kinds of arts and culture subjects that contribute to a holistic picture of the cannabis world. – There is a significant amount of advertising and, I assume, paid-for endorsements in each issue – is your publication model working? We’re two years in, and the business is sustaining nicely. Roughly, two-thirds of our revenue is from brand partnerships which take the form of traditional ads, product placement and event sponsorship, and the other third comes from magazine sales. Broccoli is in a unique position because there are not many avenues for cannabis or cannabis-adjacent brands to advertise. Cannabis advertising is severely restricted online, so it gives print a chance. We have an incredibly passionate, dedicated readership and we actually get a lot of positive feedback on the ads in the magazine. The legal weed industry is still so new, so people are excited and impressed by thoughtful and well-designed brand campaigns. We’re working on a new podcast that will be a digital channel for advertising as well, called Broccoli Talk. – What is your editorial policy for commissioning features? We publish three times a year, and start each cycle with an editorial meeting with myself and our two editors, Stephanie Madewell and Ellen Freeman. We build out most of the issue using our favorite internal ideas, and then send a pitch call to writers via our editorial newsletter. Anyone can sign up to receive this newsletter through our website, and we’ve found it’s a nice and direct way to reach interested writers all at once. We usually start with the text commissions and then I set to work pairing the stories with visual artists. We have a few recurring features and formats, and always aim to have stories that cover music, history, science, art, and interviews or profiles. Not all of our content is directly about cannabis, so we have a lot of room to play. Now that we’re working on our eighth issue, the editorial process is feeling very comfortable and seamless. For spring, we’re transforming our back of book section with a fire theme, and are interviewing some fascinating women in their 80s about their experiences with growing weed. – Can you describe your earliest encounters with weed and your most magical moment getting high? My first experiences were smoking with my housemates after moving away from home when I was around 20 years old. I wasn’t a teen smoker, for whatever reason my friends and I never got into it. My relationship to weed has 68