Blazy Susan founder talks new papers, process

Immediately recognizable by its pink rolling papers and friendly retro appeal, Blazy Susan is a cannabis company known for its quality and inventiveness.

Beside their natural, often vegan ingredients and loyal fanbase, Blazy Susan’s success can be chalked up to “collaboration,” according to founder and CEO William Breakell. There are not many better examples than Blazy Susan’s new purple cones.

“A lot of people were like, ‘Hey, you guys should do purple next.’ We were like ‘Hey, that’s a good idea,’” Breakell said.

“We’re like the first company to do purple rolling papers…for us, you know, we’re a community driven company. I built everything on Instagram, through taking feedback from other people, so it’s very collaborative.”

So, what makes the paper special?

Breakell shared that after two years of development Blazy Susan perfected a formulation with non-GMO, nonchlorinated and vegan ingredients, allowing for a conscious burn. He added the paper’s purple color represents mental health in the same way the famous pink papers supported breast cancer awareness.

“Basically, we started with pink rolling papers for breast cancer awareness,” Breakell said.

“My mother is a breast cancer survivor, so for me it was something personal and a fun way to have a unique impact on the industry, and from there we kept just wanting to try doing other products and get other things together that we can have fun with and also have a good meaning behind it as well.”

Breakell founded Blazy Susan 2017 in Denver when he saw his cluttered coffee table and came up with the name Blazy Susan as a pun on “Lazy Susan.”

“It started with a rolling tray, started with me really just trying to create a cool solution for a problem that wasn’t being addressed, which is messy stoners. I think a lot of wives and girlfriends maybe that don’t smoke…there were a lot of people that were like, ‘This is great for my significant other.’”

The same tray is still on sale on the Blazy Susan website and Etsy. Other products from Blazy are also available in smoke shops, including those in Tucson.

With a variety of offerings in cannabis, it can be hard to find a quality name that burns nice and is trusted. With states legalizing weed every year, too, it will only get harder to wade through products. With his company, Breakell said he wanted to be the one to make a company that will stand out in such a masculine field.

“In the industry, there’s such a cool place for Blazy Susan because its typically a very masculine industry and I think there’s not a lot of places for women,” he said. “I think that we’re a brand that is very welcoming not just to woman but to everybody. Its kind of got that retro, feel-good friendly vibe. I think it brings a lot of people together, which is ultimately the goal of our company — to make better experiences around our cannabis.”

According to a 2022 Gallup poll in August, 18% of men and 14% of woman reported regularly smoking marijuana — 16% of people overall. That is up from the 7% of people who reported regularly smoking marijuana in 2013, with the rate of woman regularly smoking growing at a faster rate than men. Regardless, cannabis should be inclusive, Breakell noted.

“I think one of the big things is just us ultimately getting stoned and thinking, ‘How can we level this up?’ Sometimes we have cool ideas, but other people have amazing ideas, and we love to celebrate that and show that off. The purple papers are one of them.” Breakell said.

“There are a lot of companies in cannabis, and we like to embody not taking it too seriously, but also knowing there is a lot of good that comes from it and being able to have fun at the same time. I think everyone should have access to it…at the end of the day, rolling papers is one way to leave that mark on the space.”

Blazy Susan

blazysusan.com

This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2023.