Florida's Cannabis Boom Is Big Business

Florida's cannabis market is booming, and Jasmine Johnson, founder of GŪD Essence, is leading a different kind of expansion — one grounded in equity and community restoration rather than rapid profit-chasing.

As one of the few Black women operating cannabis enterprises at this scale in a state with over 900,000 registered patients, Johnson has built GŪD Essence as a cultural hub emphasizing education, trust, and transparency. She frames the business as the "Whole Foods of weed," prioritizing quality and intentional consumption over the industry's typical growth-at-all-costs mentality.

Johnson's background spans agriculture, hospitality, real estate, and education. A former pharmacy worker and vascular pathology research intern, she brings a wellness-focused perspective to cannabis. Her family's real estate success — her mother was among Florida's first Black Century 21 brokers — instilled an ownership mindset essential to her current leadership.

The company operates as employee-owned, ensuring equity extends beyond executive positions to staff participation in business growth. Rather than rapid expansion, Johnson measures success by community impact: "how many lives we touch, how many people we train, and how many doors we open for equity."

Financing came creatively through family support, with parents leveraging their real estate portfolio as collateral. This decision carries personal weight: "My name may be free on paper, but this is a very real debt I carry."

Her long-term vision includes establishing a seed-to-sale research facility in Overtown — a community historically harmed by prohibition — creating local jobs and training opportunities while advancing cannabis research.