by Tara Dublin

POTREPRENUER

When Jewish Life Now last spoke with “potrepreneur” Lilach Mazor Power in 2020, the legalization of marijuana in her state of Arizona was on the docket and had not yet been passed. 

At the time, the aptly named Power, now 44, had already spent years enduring the frustrations of the highs and lows–pun intended–of creating The Giving Tree, her dream vision of a wellness dispensary come true. 

More than just a place to swing by to grab a preroll on your way out for the night, the Giving Tree is focused on guiding customers seeking pain relief from a more organic source. The idea grew from discussions with her husband, Keith, an emergency medicine physician, regarding better pathways to pain management to treat the whole body with a combination of Western and Eastern approaches. 

The locals who underestimated the Israeli-born Power at first did so at their own detriment. While she had to downplay the cannabis connection at first when opening her wellness center, women in particular would approach her and quietly tell her how much they enjoyed the plant’s recreational use.

Opening the Giving Tree allowed Power to tap into her true passions over the last decade. The marijuana industry is disproportionally male-dominated. But after years of hard work, Power has set herself apart and made a name for herself as vice president of the Arizona Dispensaries Association. In January 2023, she announced a new position as president of the board of directors for the Arizona Dispensaries Association (ADA).

REVELRY

Power helped create the Kindred and Katatonic cannabis lifestyle lines, but her proudest creation and biggest passion is her brand, Revelry, which she and her partner Stef Swiergol seemed to have specifically designed for me (but also for others slogging through perimenopause and menopause or those who have come out the other side of it). 

The Revelry line helps ease the myriad symptoms and side effects of what comedian Samantha Bee calls “reverse puberty.”

While Power feels she’s just beginning her own journey, she also wants to expand the conversation around perimenopause and menopause because women aren’t nearly educated enough regarding the final third of our lives. 

Menopause is spoken about in whispers. But Power is lifting her voice to shake off that stigma.

“We create our communities with women,” Lilach told me, “So I wanted to create this evolution, a celebration of our community.”

At the same time, Power, the mother of two sons ages 13 and 9, is also still working to remove the stigma of those who prefer marijuana either to ease their pain or to just enjoy recreationally. “We don’t have to hide it,” she told Jewish Life Now in 2020, and in the subsequent years she’s been able to be a much more vocal advocate for the myriad uses of cannabis.

As often dangerous opioids still dominate the national discussion regarding pain, many in the cannabis industry are advocating to decriminilize marijuana at the federal level so that it can be offered as a legitimate alternative by prescribing physicians.

PROVEN HEALTH BENEFITS

The health benefits of the full plant are already well-known, and Power has a hand in growing the carefully cultivated strains at Giving Tree. A decade ago, she had to rely on illegal pot farmers to help her literally grow her business. But over the last three years since it’s been legalized in Arizona, Power has been able to find experts in what one of my grower friends has cleverly dubbed “Potany” to create new strains targeted for specific needs.

“It’s a different time now,” Power says. “It’s OUR time.”

THE GIVING TREE

Visit The Giving Tree at 701 W Union Hills Drive in Phoenix, AZ and check out their website: https://givingtreedispensary.com/