Highly Kosher Professionals: Stella Morrison

JIW: How would you describe your Jewish identity? How do you incorporate Judaism in your daily life?

Stella: I grew up Modern Orthodox, so being Jewish has touched every moment of every day since birth. I left as I grew more uncomfortable with the role and status of women in synagogue life. I feel most fulfilled in my Judaism by stepping into roles traditionally reserved only for men in Orthodoxy, such as leading services or reading Torah and megillot. I'm deeply drawn to the parts of my religious upbringing that I was once denied access to because of my gender.

Being Jewish is a major part of my daily life, even though I'm not Orthodox anymore. I still keep kosher -- not in the way I grew up with, but still very much follow the spirit of the law. I love Shabbat dinners and holiday gatherings. And I love seeing the myriad ways Jewish folks from all walks of life find the parts of our culture, tradition, religion, and community that resonate with them. It's why I love Jews In Weed so damn much. 

JIW: What’s your cannabis origin story? How did you first get into the industry and what were the first roles you held?

Stella: I met my co-founder, Adam Uzialko, in the newsroom. He took over my beat at a local newspaper while I transitioned into the licensing industry. Eventually, he moved onto a different publication, where he was assigned the cannabis beat. Folks in the industry would email him asking for copy help. By that point, I was about a year into launching my first content and SEO agency, The Stellastra Effect. He reached out to me asking for advice on what to charge as a new freelancer. By the end of the conversation, it was clear that this was a business. I was always anti-Prohibition and against criminalization, but I had no idea that cannabis was a business until that moment. 

Shortly after that conversation, Adam introduced me to our future co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Brie Brewer. I was on a plane to the Pacific Northwest shortly after to get a lay of the land in legal states. About two months later, in September 2017, CannaContent signed our first client. 

JIW: How does your experience in broadcasting and content marketing become useful when running CannaContent and The Stellastra Effect? What are some specific marketing needs that mainly only cannabis clients have?

Stella: Broadcasting and content marketing taught me the power of words. How ideas are phrased and how concepts are explained and conveyed have a profound effect on the listener, watcher, or reader. It's amazing what a single word switch can do to have the impact you want.

There's a pressing need to communicate in a smart way when it comes to cannabis. From combating stigma, to addressing the myriad policy and justice issues connected to the plant, to avoiding "bannable" phrases on social media, to strict compliance words, getting creative without losing meaning is at the core of all cannabis marketing.

JIW: What are the most universally successful strategies you’ve taken in marketing/SEO for your cannabis clients? How do those strategies continue to be successful even as the state industries themselves change?

Stella: Leaning into brand and experience is universally successful with our clients. Showcasing who you are and embracing who you serve will get you far. People want to know what to expect before stepping into a dispensary or trying a product. Providing those details is an all-around win for everyone we work with.

JIW: From your experience in the industry, what advantages do the East Coast markets have over the West Coast markets? Does the smaller size and closer proximity of the states lead to an advantage over the more spread out West Coast states?

Stella: Proximity absolutely makes a difference, especially in more populated areas like New Jersey, New York City, and the Hudson Valley. In New Jersey, especially (and of course, NYC), the concept of "space between towns" is completely foreign. If a town opts out, folks are unlikely to end up in a cannabis desert. Just drive a little further (or get delivery). That doesn't remove all barriers to access, but close proximity to other towns certainly helps. 

It's also important to remember that conversations about stigma and consumption are still years behind those on the West Coast. We tend to forget that in our cannabis bubble, but that's a very real concern for many of our East Coast clients. That comes out in several ways: clients want full discretion and don't want to leave reviews out of fear for their privacy, or they send in a spouse or partner to pick up their orders at the dispensary in case someone from the PTA sees them, or some dispensaries still get angry phone calls from worried community members. 

I'm sure this is an issue everywhere, but I think being a decade-plus behind the West Coast in terms of legalization has a role to play. California has had some form of legal cannabis for 30 years, with some western states offering adult-use sales for more than a decade. Many East Coast states started with very limited medical programs and only opened up adult use over the past few years. That's a lot of time to catch up.

JIW: How do you envision a federal rescheduling of cannabis changing the marketing/writing needs of your clients? How do you think such a huge sweeping change could impact the East Coast cannabis clients?  

Stella: There's what rescheduling should do, and what rescheduling will actually do, when it comes to marketing for our clients.

There's a misconception that rescheduling will open up advertising. There's no evidence of that being so. Platforms like Meta look to international law when creating content policy, so it's unlikely that a U.S.-only change will affect those rules.

Rescheduling should also, in theory, free up marketing dollars. Cannabis companies notoriously underspend relative to similar businesses in other industries, and much of that is due to the amount of capital 280E eats up. With the most recent change (April 2026) that prioritizes immediate rescheduling of medical cannabis, time will tell if this will actually happen. I think those cultivators, processors, brands, and dispensaries may need to invest in whatever new requirements the DEA proposes first. We also still don't know concretely which actions the IRS will take. We are already actively in conversations with our medical cannabis clients about the actions they plan to take.

What will rescheduling actually do? Well, time will tell. But I'm hoping, a little selfishly, that 280E frees up more capital for these companies to properly invest in their marketing.

Stella Morrison is the founder of CannaContent, an award-winning, woman-owned, and LGBTQ+ owned boutique digital marketing firm focused on the cannabis industry.

• She is an award-winning former journalist and content marketing expert with nearly 20 years of editorial experience. Her specialties are in SEO, editorial and content strategy, brand voice development, and thought leadership development.

  
  

  In 2025, Stella was named to Cultivated’s inaugural Thirty Thirties and was named a Marketing Maverick Under 40 by NJ Ad Club. She is a two-time Content Marketing Awards winner, earning “Best Topic Specific Blog” two years in a row from the Content Marketing Institute in 2023 and 2024.

  
  

  Stella sits on the Retail and Marketing Committee for the New Jersey Cannabusiness Association, the IgniteIt (formerly Benzinga)’s Ohio Valley Advisory Board, and is on the inaugural committee for IgniteHer, an initiative to help femme and women-owned cannabis businesses access investors and other professional resources. In addition to her awards and committee positions, Stella develops and delivers workshops on cannabis marketing for trade shows and conferences across the U.S.