Dana Gordon has carried a passion for movement and a naturally empathetic spirit throughout her life. Having danced and trained in yoga since she was young, she longed to combine the two into a unique wellness experience. Instead, she opted to try and make a name for herself in the corporate world. After walking away unharmed from a severe car accident in 2022, Dana had an epiphany and decided to pursue her idea.
“I describe it as the universe putting me back on track because I was steering far away from what I was meant to be doing,” she said. “I’m meant to help people heal.”
Dana earned her yoga instructor certification in May 2023, just over a year after the accident. In addition to her yoga certification, the 29-year-old Baltimore native is also a certified meditation instructor and Reiki Level II practitioner, a Japanese healing technique that involves healing through touch. The journey to get to where she is now, she said, has taught her to lean into her strengths and that it’s not about trying to make up for any weaknesses.
“The gifts you have, you have for a reason,” she said. “That space for movement and passion for movement being medicine and natural healing is right up my alley.”
Dana also teaches an elevated yoga class, where participants are encouraged to consume during the class. In it, they learn about the scientific relationship between yoga and Cannabis while practicing different stretches and breathing techniques. With the option to consume and a varying degree of tolerance among participants, the environment becomes less intimidating, Dana said, adding that she emphasizes playfulness in her classes.
“I like the element of Cannabis because it takes the edge off and they relax and laugh,” she said. “It’s OK to be wobbly; we’re all trying to get it together.”
The class was coined by the event company Loud Vybz, which reached out to Dana to teach it. Dana’s mission for the class, which also carries over into her other ventures, is to help break the stigma around what active Cannabis consumers do on a given day.
“We can smoke and do X, Y and Z, and maybe even do them better,” she explained. “With yoga, because there’s science that connects Cannabis to yoga, it enhances how in tune you are with yourself.”
On her 18th birthday while away at college, Dana smoked for the first time out of curiosity. While she’s credited her Cannabis use for helping to enhance her high-level creativity, she said it’s also helped with healing a stomach problem that stemmed from years of stress and ignoring her body’s signs that something was wrong. She added that her Cannabis use also led some of her family to look into its various benefits as well.
“Cannabis was the biggest release of pain,” she said. “CBG, THC gummies and Cannabis have been transformative for me, my career and for people around me.”
A flower girl, Dana said she prefers hybrid-sativa flower to help with whatever task she’s about to tackle, citing a blend of limonene and linalool terpenes as her go-to combination in what she’s consuming.
The introduction of Cannabis into her life eventually led Dana into the Cannabis industry itself. Since graduating from Frostburg State University with a degree in communications studies in 2017, she has worked in marketing in various positions, both freelance and with different organizations. In 2020, she made the decision to leave her remote marketing job and go full-time as a restaurant manager. Two days before her training was set to begin, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the restaurant, and she was laid off soon after.
Months later, she applied for a budtender position at a local dispensary, and within six months of starting, she worked her way up to being the shop’s marketing director. She worked with the shop until early 2023 when she made the jump into teaching her wellness classes and starting her own business, Plant Based Marketing Consulting. The group works with other wellness-based companies to grow their brands and communities through content creation, social media campaigns and hosting different marketing events. Dana said she intentionally decided to lean into the niche world of Cannabis because her own industry experience and perspective as a consumer bring a unique viewpoint to the marketing space.
“I made it my mission to help people heal,” she explained. “Being able to be creative and help people by expanding these companies and helping them reach their audiences can help people heal.”
Dana crafted a simple approach to abide by while working with her clients: community and authenticity lead to reach and exposure. It reflects what she’s learned to embrace on her own personal journey while showcasing communities in a way that mirrors the family-like dynamic she was raised with and built upon throughout her career.
“It’s not about the money for me; it’s about what you can do for the community,” she said. “I like creating experiences for people.”
With two careers that occasionally cross paths, Dana thrives when some of her days look a little different. Knowing that her best effort can also vary from day to day, she doesn’t let the outcome deter her from leaning into her strengths as a business owner and wellness practitioner to continue her healing mission.
“You have to be able to move despite fear. In spite of fear, you’re choosing to go forward,” she said. “Things scare me all the time, but I’m still going to do it.