Exploring Life & Business with Christina Minks of Emerald Heart Café and Dispensary

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Minks

Hi Christina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The story of Emerald Heart is a love story. Matt and I fell in love in 2013 and bonded over our shared passion for cannabis and its ability to heal the Earth and its people. After graduating MTSU in 2014, we moved out West to work on a cannabis farm and learn growing and extracting techniques from native farmers in a region of Northern California known as the “Emerald Triangle”. It was not an easy-in, but we were persistent.

We purchased our own camper and settled on a rural farm in Humboldt County, one of three counties of the Emerald Triangle, where we were trusted with growing and processing over 300lbs of cannabis our first full season. The work carried on after harvest, and we rented a small house in a rural town off the infamous Highway 36 in the Redwoods, where we lived and worked in the industry for the next 4 years.

The market was extremely competitive in California. Large companies with higher production capability and the financial stability to withstand new regulations took over, and by 2018, we were squeezed out of the legal market alongside countless native legacy growers. We made the move back home to Tennessee with our then 2-year-old child and transitioned to growing hemp through the Tennessee Dept of Agriculture’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. Coincidentally, hemp became federally legal via the U.S. Farm Bill in December 2018, and we registered for our first Industrial Hemp Growers License. It seemed like things were coming around full circle as we were legally able to share our passion with our families and friends and educate them on the benefits of hemp (for the Earth) and hemp-derived cannabinoids (for the people).

In 2019, there was a huge hemp boom in Tennessee. Matt and I alone grew over 3700 plants, implementing many of the regenerative farming techniques we learned from our time in Humboldt, and cultivating the “hemp” as if it were “cannabis” (which we now know are essentially the same thing with varying THC content). That year, the hemp market nationwide withstood a devastating crash and the price per pound dropped so significantly by the end of the season that wholesale was not a viable option to recoup our investment. Our intensive cultivation techniques paid off and we were able to sell the hemp buds through e-commerce, as well as to local vape and CBD stores as “smokable flower” under our new brand, Rhize Premium Hemp.
(Rhize is named after the rhizosphere—the region of soil surrounding the “root”, influenced by root secretions and associated with soil microorganisms, that interact to protect the plant’s roots, increase resilience, and help it grow–a parallel for community)

In 2023, we decided it was time to open a retail location of our own. We found a large 5,000sqft unit in the historic Jackson Heights Plaza (Murfreesboro’s first shopping center) and poured many months into rehabilitating it into a modern, clean, lounge-style café and dispensary of our dreams that is still coming in to its own. It seemed fitting to name the store after the place where we learned much of what we know about cannabis, the Emerald Triangle, as well as what drives us–care–right in the “Heart” of our hometown.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely NOT a smooth road! Our first year growing hemp, the hemp market withstood a devastating crash nationwide and the price per pound dropped so significantly that, by the end of the growing season, wholesale was not a viable option to recoup our investment.
There was a crucial time where we had to decide whether or not to continue despite operating at a loss. In the end, we decided to follow our passion for better or worse, because it’s what we believed was right for the Earth and for people. We genuinely feel like we are supposed to participate carrying this mission toward full cannabis legalization for Tennessee, and fair and affordable access to all who need it.

We also endured a painful business partnership dispute in 2023. This led to us deciding to open a store of our own, which was inevitably to the benefit of the mission.

Currently, our biggest obstacle is the law. Each state is subject to its own regulations. The hemp/cannabis industry in Tennessee is regulated by the Department of Agriculture, who recently passed legislation that would shutter 90% of the hemp commerce here in our State, whose motto is ironically “Agriculture and Commerce”. We are Board Members of the Tennessee Growers Coalition, who has recently filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for its unlawful intrusion and attempt to redefine the federal definition of hemp as <.3% TOTAL THC (versus <.3% delta 9 THC).

We’ve been impressed with Emerald Heart Café and Dispensary, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Emerald Heart Café & Dispensary currently consists of a cannabis dispensary retail side (flower, vape, edibles, tinctures, concentrate, accessories), a lounge with games and a record player, a dab bar where we allow on-site consumption of concentrates, as well as coffee, espresso, and infused seltzers, and a viewable indoor grow room. We have gotten notoriety for our friendly, knowledgeable team members and fair prices, including $5 dabs. The back half of the store is going to be our USDA certified manufacturing facility and kitchen. It’s almost finished now! We plan on serving café fare like soups, sandwiches, salads, wraps, etc. beginning this fall.

Our prices and level of cannabis knowledge that come with the customer service sets us apart from others in our area. The products we carry have been vetted by us personally and come with full-panel lab reports to ensure consumer safety. All of our team members take their time with customers to ensure that their questions are answered and needs are met before any sale is completed. The care we give has helped build a community of regular customers who, by hanging out at the dab bar or in the lounge, have made connections and friends with each other. These connections strengthen the resilience of our community, just like roots in soil. Our team is a big part of our brand. We have built so many skills together by building the store out ourselves and learning as we go.

Finally, the Tennessee Growers Coalition, a pro-cannabis PAC who advocates for Tennessee’s Hemp Industry at our State capitol, educates lawmakers, and writes bills that protect small businesses, farmers, and consumers. We are active members of the TGC, and have jars at all our checkout registers where anyone may donate to contribute to TGC’s legal fund. We would like readers to know that businesses like ours and equitable access to cannabis are not a given, and will cease to exist without the public’s intervention, advocacy, and voting for candidates with pro-legalization agendas.

You can find us in person 7 days/week at 810 NW Broad St. #212, Murfreesboro, TN 37129. Open Monday-Saturday 10am-9pm and Sundays 10am-7pm. We also have Facebook (Emerald Heart Café & Dispensary), Instagram (@emeraldheartboro), and a website (https://emeraldheartboro.com where you can shop and have products shipped right to your door!

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Pretty much everything in this industry is at risk right now. Farming anything is a risk: working without pay all season, hoping that everything grows properly and no rain or pests destroy your crop…With hemp, even if everything goes right, a simple .01% of THC present over .3% at the end of the season could make your crop illegal. We have had indoor crops destroyed by the TDA and it is devastating.
Taking risks can be scary, but it can also be worth it if you have 2 things: faith and follow-through. You cannot fail if you do not quit!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://emeraldheartboro.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emeraldheartboro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Emerald-Heart-Café-Dispensary-100093045361286/?_rdr