As you can already tell, this strong lady has always taken on a heavy load and carries it well... with a little help from our friend Mary Jane.

Shaunie has routinely utilized the health benefits of cannabis to cope with stress and anxiety, but also to avoid pill consumption when she sustained a severe leg injury. 

Fast forward about 8 years, multiple careers, and 2 divorces later, her kids had mostly matured and Shaunie met her kindred spirit partner, Ken, at the pool hall. They became not only a couple, but best friends and soul mates. Ken had a background in sales.

Being like-minded in terms of entrepreneurship, they decided to go into business together.

Their first idea was to open a vape shop. After doing their research they found a new local Austin area franchise called Lazy Daze. Although relatively new to the community, the concept sounded stable.

Shaunie  and Ken launched Lazy Daze Pflugerville, just north of Austin, Tx in 2018, as the flagship store for the franchise.

Since then Shaunie has worked diligently creating a strong brand that prioritizes customer relationships, health, and education.
 

Being a natural caregiver as well as a professional advocate, this venture has led Shaunie down a path she is truly passionate about: helping others. 

Lazy Daze started as a head shop with mostly “water pipes” and vapes, but then they became licensed to sell CBD. They began serving coffee, teas, and even alcohol at a separate location. CBD in Texas, being an unfamiliar, somewhat grey area, brought about a unique ability to adapt, as changes in regulations and licensing are constant.

As an educated business owner and a passionate advocate for the movement, Shaunie never ceases taking initiative to research and educate herself on what is necessary to help her customers. She continues learning (sometimes the hard way) what does and doesn’t work in the business, and the importance of hiring reliable employees. Even more amazing, yet not surprisingly, is that she started this business and did all this time consuming research while caring for her grand baby while her oldest daughter was deployed.

Whether it is her household or business, Shaunie obviously runs a tight ship. She strives to be not a hair shy of an extreme professional. Especially being a black woman in a white male dominated industry, she must prove her intelligence and professionalism more than she should have to.

Shaunie explained to me that throughout her career she’s fought to be heard in business decisions, sometimes having to pull what she calls, “The retired veteran and UT graduate card.” People will come into her store and ask questions about her products in a way that is less about being educated themselves, but rather interrogating her education. In comparison to Ken, people seem to take his word for it when it comes to the products, usually assuming he is the sole owner. This seems to be a common experience of professional black women in industries where they are the minority.

Growing up with a distrust for law enforcement and being in this field of business, it still gives her anxiety with Lazy Daze Pflugerville being in such close proximity to a police station - even though she follows the laws and regulation to a tee. After all, her business, savings, and livelihood are at stake.

The negative experiences with law that the majority of the black community share have resulted in a mass distrust of the justice system. This stigma, and the failing systems in place, are huge obstacles preventing equal black ownership in the cannabis industry.

Education and social equity need to be a priority to allow those most negatively affected by the plant to have equal opportunities for health benefits of cannabis as well as capitalism.

In 2019, she says there was a boom in the CBD industry and many stores are continuing to pop up. However not all CBD is the same, so it’s important to go to a trustworthy source. Now with the pandemic, there are even more challenges such as short-staffing when employees need to call out due to health issues of their family or themselves, and customers staying home too. Solution? Lazydaze Pflugervile is now open for delivery on the Door Dash app!

As a current client myself, Shaunie has given me the best recommendations such as Canna Bees CBD honey, which I put in my tea and actually a lot of other things, like fruit and biscuits. CBD is such a beneficial addition to your health regimen.

Since using CBD on a regular basis I feel overall less achey, and thus have more desire to get up and get active and be productive.

She even recommended CBD dog-friendly treats for my fur baby and I believe his sleep tremors have decreased tremendously.

Things may be uncertain at the moment, but I see a resilient and striving business that  continues to serve the community to bring health, peace and healing. Shaunie is a humble hero - so humble I doubt she will even want to repost this to her page - but I really hope she does because she deserves endless recognition for the pioneering she is doing in the industry. During her career she’s given her blood, sweat, and tears to pave a path for other potential business owners. 

Most importantly she’s helped people heal naturally while sharing her story and compassion.

Your work ethic and perseverance are incredible! Thanks again Lazy Dazy Pflugerville for providing high quality products, resources and continuous education to all those willing to listen. Follow her success at @Lazydaze_Pflugerville