Career Highlights/Overview
Matthew Mongelia is a cannabis industry expert and a writer of eclectic output and passions. His entry into the cannabis industry first started with a single freelance piece for San Francisco dispensary Bloomroom, and kicked off in full as a budtender for various Colorado dispensaries where he quickly amassed a wide range of cannabis industry experience firsthand. A natural student, he took the opportunity to learn as much about cannabis as possible, helping him to quickly become a lead medical budtender for Colorado Harvest Company in 2015. He then moved into the startup world of cannabis doing marketing for cannabis-focused payment processor Tokken, a finalist for SXSW’s 2016 Interactive Innovation Awards. From there he joined PotGuide, initially doing content creation, marketing and events, working his way up to now acting as PotGuide’s Content Manager.
With a career defined by diverse output, Matthew has amassed a wide variety of technical skills specializing in research, educational materials, journalism, and editorial work. His work with PotGuide continues a lifelong passion for education.
Experience
Matthew was first introduced to cannabis in the way that so many are: as medicine. Having almost no personal experience with the plant prior, he was introduced to medical marijuana after being diagnosed with a severe nausea condition in his mid-twenties. The relief that followed, when so many pharmaceutical solutions were failing, made him into an instant convert and advocate. Matthew’s passion for cannabis is driven by his personal journey, and a goal to help others find the same elusive relief.
Once becoming acquainted with the good plant, he dove headlong into researching cannabis in all aspects and taking in experience wherever it was available. In that pursuit, he has worked as a budtender, trimmer, packager, and concentrate producer. Upon gaining experience in the cannabis market, he quickly sought to marry his newfound advocacy with his love and writing. In his six years covering cannabis as a content producer, he has written on the legal, medicinal, cultural, historical, political and sociological aspects of cannabis, specializing in regulations and research. He has further honed those skills upon taking up his current role as PotGuide’s Content Manager, where he leads PotGuide’s team of writers in covering all aspects of the cannabis landscape, and manages copy and informational content across the site.
As a freelance writer, he has covered a wide variety of topics from the history of electronic dance music to wreck diving in the Florida Keys. He is a writer and consultant for the comic Dark Beach, and has performed in Meekling Press’ fictional Lectures series. When teaching as an instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, his courses covered the American Hunting Story from 1900 to Modern Day and Dystopian Fiction, as well as Introduction to Creative Writing for advanced high school students. His voice can be heard as a reader for the audiobook version of Colln Winette’s novel In One Story.
Education
Matthew graduated from CUNY Brooklyn College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Creative Writing and a minor in Philosophy. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing with a focus on fiction in 2012 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Fun Facts
Outside of the cannabis world, Matthew maintains a healthy writing habit, writing for the indie sci-fi comic Dark Beach and various other projects. When not reading or behind a computer you can usually find him hiking in the Colorado mountains. An avid SCUBA diver, if he makes it to a coast line a dive is sure to follow. He enjoys short fiction, long novels, and of course, comic books.
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