
Emerald Jade is a woman of many talents. Taste her tantalizing gourmet cupcakes, cakes and treats infused with cannabis under Emerald’s Edibles. Attend her high-end S.O.U.L. food dinners or pop-up lounge parties called “Euphoric Nights.” Or if you so dare, get her “Ultimate ChillOut” package, where she integrates her companies to bring you cannabis infused foods, wine pairings, and jazzy soul entertainment!
Let’s meet Emerald, aptly known as the “Cannabis Culinarian” to the stars.
What is your professional/educational background?
My background is quite different from a [typical] cannabis chef. I’m in the entertainment business (singer, songwriter, vocal coach), a 3rd Degree Reiki Master, and I’m studying to be a clinical counselor. I’m an excellent home cook and I taught myself how to prepare cannabis infused foods.
What inspired you to start your company?
I was in Los Angeles working on a huge project that caused me to stay there for a while and knowing that marijuana was legal in the state of California, I decided to get a MMJ (medical marijuana card) card and visit several dispensaries. I was fascinated by the edibles and thought that I could probably make them because I knew how to cook and bake.
I saw how easy it was to have a cannabis business and I wanted my business to be different and unique because what I was seeing a lot of brownies, rice krispy treats, popcorn and cheese crackers. I started educating myself by going online and studying whatever I could about cannabis.
What is your specialty?
I specialize in Gourmet S.O.U.L. Food. S.O.U.L. is an acronym for Saving Our Ultimate Life, meaning that the foods I [make] are cooked from scratch and made with 100% natural & organic ingredients-never processed or boxed foods. I cook and bake traditional gourmet style soul food. At my Celebrity Pot Luck Parties, I may serve my guests petite, mini, and cupcake size portions of the traditional turkey and dressing dinner with all the sides like mac & cheese, potato salad, greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread, candied yams, and peach cobbler. I’m very concerned and I always monitor the intake of food at my pot luck dinner parties to make sure people aren’t eating too much at one time. My best selling product is my Sweet Potato Pie Cookies, Spicy 3-Cheese Mac & Cheese Cupcakes and BBQ sauce.
In keeping it within the family…
My business partners are my two sons- my oldest is R&B singer Jesse Powell and my youngest son comedian and sous chef Jacob Powell. My sons are my best friends and we have always been compatible with our business ventures.
“Do your research and follow the people who are successful. Let them be your teachers and mentors. “
Best advice you’ve ever gotten?
The best advice I’ve gotten was from Jeffthe420Chef. One of the trends right now is cannabis/pot luck dinner parties. Even Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart have now taken this trend to a whole new level of exposure with a show called Pot Luck Dinner Parties. Last year when I contacted Jeff, I had a dream about pot luck parties. It woke me up out of my sleep with details and an urgency to get started, so I searched out who was doing cannabis dinner parties and found Jeff. I contacted him and he was extremely kind to me and gave me some wonderful advice, legal information, and pointers about starting that type of business. After speaking with Jeff, I started creating my cannabis company called Emerald’s Edibles and the sister company called Pot Luck Parties.
Bonita Money, another person who is a trailblazer in the cannabis industry, contacted me on Instagram and invited me to my first private cannabis party. I was so excited to be in a room filled with cannabis advocates, lawyers, entertainers, and cannabis chefs. I was rubbing elbows with some of the most influential people in the cannabis business. Bonita was very encouraging. She took me under her wing and told me to keep moving forward with my business because it was unique and different.