THE WOMEN’S ISSUE
natalie raulin
A R T I FAC T E X T R AC T S M ARKETING DIRECTOR R I V E R VA L L E Y R E M E D I E S BRANDING & PURCHASING by AMANDA DAY @TERPODACTYL_MEDIA
In 2016, as a chemistry major at Georgia Southern University, the War on Drugs came knocking on Natalie’s front door. Her life was uprooted and
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What’s the biggest challenge of marketing in the Cannabis landscape? The packaging. It’s so wasteful! But we have to comply with OLCC rules and those aren’t always the best for the environment.
How can we tackle this issue while complying with OLCC regulations? Redistribute some of the incoming tax toward waste management and recycling! It might not be the solution to all of our problems, but it wouldn’t hurt either.
AUG. 2019
she set out in pursuit of a new, Cannabisfriendly home. Oregon wasn’t her first choice, but she found herself outside of Grants Pass working on a farm and quickly fell in love with this state. “I just felt really at home when I got to Southern Oregon,” she said in our interview. After the farm in Grants Pass, she secured a job at the River Valley Remedies (RVR) facility in Salem and quickly became an essential part of the team. They gave her the chance to put skills from previous marketing jobs at Lululemon and Kind Snacks to work, and she was tasked with branding their Eugene storefront. “A lot of people in the Cannabis community look down on that corporate background and assume that in transitioning from it, you’re automatically bringing negativity. But I‘m just trying to bring my skills and passion to an industry that I truly love.” At RVR Natalie puts community and education at the forefront of everything she does from attending educational industry meetings to planning her own. One of the first events she conceived was a workshop at RVR called “How to Make Your Own Tincture.” It was received so well by the community that the storefront made the events a monthly feature. I asked “I‘m just trying to bring my what inspired her to start the series. skills and passion to an industry that I truly love.” “ I saw a general lack of Cannabis education in the community and wanted to help fill that gap. The classes have kind of fallen off in the past months, but we plan on bringing them back soon.” Today, Natalie spends the majority of her time curating product at RVR and working with Artifact Extracts (a sister company to RVR) where she is in charge of everything from packaging to sales. There she works with owners and extractors to constantly improve practices and move the company in a mindful direction. “I work closely with the lead extractor to make sure we’re doing what we can to minimize our impact,” she explained. They’ve recently made more eco-friendly packaging choices and according to Natalie, are looking into PLA biodegradable packaging options. We’ll be looking forward to Natalie’s next innovations and what the team at Artifact has in store.
PHOTOGRAPHY by FINN TURNBULL @FONALDPHOTOGRAPHY