Mother Indica: Fighting Misinformation and Educating Moms on CBD and Cannabis Since 2015
Shot by: Brianna Gardener @briannagardener
You’re in for a real treat with this honest and open Mother Indica Q&A! If you’re as interested in how the dark days of postpartum depression helped to launch a popular Instagram page, website, cannabis education platform and lifestyle brand, keep reading!
Many personalities have hit the cannabis influencer scene since Jan. 1, 2018, a date many will remember as the day the centuries-long battle was won. Cannabis was finally legal for not only medical use in the state of California but now for recreational purposes too!
This led many people to take to Instagram, Facebook and other popular social sites to get the good word of weed out there to the masses. One such person was Erin Willis of Mother Indica. What began as an anonymous blog post has blossomed into a community of more than 17K people, mostly mothers, who resonate with Erin’s tagline, “healing from the inside out, naturally.”
1. What circumstances led you to start Mother Indica, your now popular website and Instagram page?
Mother Indica: It was about six months after having my firstborn and I was dealing with postpartum depression. It’s hard to describe, but I think when we feel so entirely in a new element (ahem, motherhood) and either utterly alone in it, or flat-out unsure about it, it’s both isolating and freeing. I conjured up a blog concept one night when I experienced what felt like a new postpartum rock bottom. I smoked some delicious sun-grown, Northern Californian Blackberry Kush from 2015 and underwent a complete emotional weight release. I felt so grateful for this plant that I needed to speak on it.
2. How did you choose the name “Mother Indica?”
MI: It was that very same night when coming up with a way to express myself. I wanted to write stories and personal accounts of what cannabis did for me as a new mom and why I chose it over pharmaceuticals. Stories and reports. So I took the first word of two of my favorite works of literature, Mother Goose and Mother Jones, and combined that with Indica, representing Cannabis indica, what was thought to be the psychedelic plant (lots of THC) in comparison to hemp when first discovered. Of course, the nomenclature of Cannabis will forever be debated, but that’s where my thinking originated.
3. Who are your favorite clients/brands to work with and why?
MI: My favorite client and brand to work with is Onda Wellness. I have been with this company since January 2019, and it’s pure magic. We are fighting for regenerative, biodynamic and organic hemp to be the new standard of CBD. We infuse our plant materials rather than isolate and extract like most CBD companies. We know our farms, and they know their land, plants, critters and animals. This company just breathes responsibility and high-quality plant medicine. So proud! There is still such an incredible opportunity for the cannabis and hemp industries to do things right here. Every day I’m discovering new companies and organizations that really get this way of thinking.
4. Has your relationship with cannabis changed since starting Mother Indica?
MI: Oh entirely! I was one of the “stoner kids” in high school. Often choosing cannabis over alcohol when all my girlfriends decided on alcohol. So of course there was a disconnect in social situations. I found myself hanging out with more guys because of this. That was cool, but I always craved a girl gang to pass my joints around with and talk with and just jive. When I created Mother Indica it was first anonymously, but this helped me build my confidence and find my tribes. Ha! This persona built the life I have today. It’s a freeing life in comparison to my past.
5. Advice for mothers and parents overall interested in introducing cannabis or CBD into their lives?
MI: Do your research on the brands of products you want to introduce into your life. There is so much crap out there! I come from the nutrition world, and I will tell you that the industries are similar. Walk into any Vitamin Shoppe, and you’ll know exactly what I’m referring to here. I recommend going organic and holistic, and to remember this is a plant above all else; a plant medicine.
I recommend following people who educate you (not shame you or talk at you) and help make you feel comfortable in this new realm. It’s an exciting time to free-fall into this world. So many people out there will have your back.
“We just need to remember to slow down, take a few deep breaths, become increasingly present and reevaluate how we consciously choose to show up for our children and take it from there. All I’m saying here is cannabis helps.” —Erin Willis, per just one of her awesome and informative blog posts, Five Ways Cannabis Makes Me a Better Mom.
Who is Mother Indica?
Mother Indica™ is a motherly guide and resource for nutrition and cannabis education, inspiration and storytelling. Created from the perspective of a holistic nutritionist experimenting with cannabis to cope with postpartum depression, Mother Indica offers insight to the cannabis education space as a mother, as a woman and as a professional guide to the endocannabinoid system.
Mother Indica™ advocates for a new health paradigm in which cannabis and holistic nutrition go beyond the Standard American Diet (SAD), allowing our communities to achieve a new level of well-being, connection and collective consciousness.
Mother Indica focuses on “healing from the inside out, naturally.” For all things Mother Indica and cannabis education, follow her wild and wondrous journey on MotherIndica.com or on Instagram.
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