Ariane Kirkpatrick was undeterred by the limited presence of Black entrepreneurs in the cannabis sector.
In 2017, she made her official foray into the space, according to WKCY-3.
“We made the decision that we, despite the barriers, despite the obstacles, despite being Black and female, we were going to make this work and we did,” Kirkpatrick told the outlet.
Per Kirkpatrick’s LinkedIn page, she served as the CEO of several large-scale medical, cannabis cultivation, and dispensary companies, such as Harvest Grows, Harvest of Ohio, and Harvest Processing, which had operations in the Ohio cities of Ironton, Beavercreek, Columbus, and Athens. She mentioned that her aim was to transform lives and strengthen economies by providing jobs and economic development opportunities through marijuana.
However, Kirkpatrick would hit a major roadblock after falling out with her business partner, multi-state operator Harvest Health and Recreation, when it was acquired by national cannabis and marijuana provider Trulieve.
“They were acquired by the largest company in the United States, which is Trulieve. And originally, we were not part of that partnership or ownership that was between Harvest and Trulieve,” Kirkpatrick explained to WKCY-3.
To maintain ownership of her part of the business, Kirkpatrick would bring her sister, Amonica Davis, on board as CEO. They later reached an agreement with Trulieve Cannabis Corp. in May 2024 to operate separately, according to a press release.
“So we started going to mediation and came up with [an] agreement. That was great for both of us. So now we’re happily divorced,” Kirkpatrick told WKCY-3.
Now, the sibling duo have renamed their company Mavuno, which operates an adult-use cannabis dispensary in Athens.
“In Swahili, ‘Mavuno’ means harvest, yield, and to provide. And so it matches who we are as a company and who we are as a family-owned and -operated business,” Davis mentioned.
Per WKCY-3, Mavuno is the first 100% vertically integrated Black-woman owned cannabis company in the state.
“There are less than 2% of people that look like us, that are operators, are owners in the cannabis industry across the United States. So being pioneers in a new industry is very special,” Davis said.
Looking ahead, they hope to scale their footprint and are excited about being pioneers.
