The pleasure’s ours! Meet Reena Karia, CoFounder of The Grass Agency
Oh, hello there! Welcome to our home. This week at The Grass Agency we’re launching a newsletter chronicling our journey into the wild world of weed. It’s a pretty personal adventure, so we thought we’d introduce ourselves. In the interest of getting acquainted we put together this very revealing Q&A. Today we say “Hey! What’s up?” to Reena Karia, Brand and Design Director and CoFounder of The Grass Agency.
______, meet Reena! Reena, meet ______!
Q: Who are you?
A: Reena Karia, I’m ½ Grass & lots of ass. Also known as the, Brand and Design Director of the Grass Agency.
Q: What do you do?
A: Visuals are my forte. I’m the creator of graphics, builder of brands, chooser of colors, kerner of words, designer of sets, editor of photos, and connoisseur of cannabis.
Q: But what do you really do?
A: In another dimension, I’m the Cannabis Kween of Karachi.
Q: Where are you from?
A: The Third Coast! I was born and raised in Southeast Texas, made my way to Austin, went to design school in Atlanta, and then ended up in the Bay Area 10 years ago.
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
A: The president.
Q: How did that work out for you?
A: There’s still time!
Q: Any hobbies?
A: I play the tabla, a North Indian Classical hand drum, and study at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael. I’ve also been learning to rock out on a drum kit as of recently.
Q: Do you remember the first time you smoked weed?
A: Yup. My high school girlfriends and I sat on a roof and passed a joint under the stars.
Q: Who is your hero?
A: Any non-basic badass bitch doing their thing & giving no f’s. The first person that comes to mind is Frida Kahlo, but unfortunately I feel like she’s been over commercialized. So some of my modern day heroines are surface designer Justina Blakeney, activist & percussionist Madame Gandhi, and fashion designers NorBlackNorWhite.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: It varies. I could be like Awkwafina’s character in Crazy Rich Asians or Sophisticated Goth.
Q: How do you unwind?
A: Cooking with my favorite tunes of the moment and smoking a bowl.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?
A: I get inspiration from traveling and studying different cultures. I’m very interested in uncovering non-mainstream & non-western art and stories that open up my mind to different perspectives that are not taught nor acknowledged in the United States. Since my family is from South Asia, I feel particularly connected to that history and love looking at all the vast differences in fashion, food, and aesthetics from different regions of the subcontinent. I love vintage movie posters and seem to have acquired a collection, specifically from Bollywood, even though I don’t watch a lot of vintage movies. I get inspired by nature, mostly because it makes space in my mind to think new thoughts. Also I’m inspired by the company I keep. I have a lot of creative and talented friends that I’m in awe of all the time.
Q: Who is your favorite artist (any medium)?
A: It changes all the time. At the moment, I’m really feeling painters Nina Chanel Abney & Taravat Talepasand.
Q: What are you listening to?
A: Cardi B, Yaeji, Kali Uchis, Kohinoorgasm, Kaytranada, Ravi Shankar, Toro y Moi, & Lizzo
Q: What was the last thing you read?
A: Fiction - Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang
Non-Fiction - I am Malala
Q: Any animals?
A: A 5lb chihuahua named Koki!
Q: Single, married or divorced?
A: Boo’d up on paper.
Q: THC or CBD?
A: THC mostly. CBD if I want to come down or have a hangover.
Q: Indica or Sativa?
A: Mostly Sativa. Indica for daydreaming & sleeping.
Q: What are you smoking right now?
A: Mai Tai by Jungle Boys and sungrown Orange Creamsicle grown by Esensia Gardens and distributed by Flow Kana
Q: What are you smoking it out of?
A: A gold iridescent bong