the insider issue
COVER STORY
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LEGACY TO LEGAL Happy Munkey Co-Founders Ramon Reyes and Vladimir Bautista have been in the business of Cannabis since before it was strictly legal. Now they’re finding new success as New York becomes recreational, throwing events in inspiring spaces and continuing their mission of enabling safe access to Cannabis.
“We don’t do it for the clout, we do it for the culture!” It’s the Happy Munkey battle cry, a celebratory cheer and mission statement for a vision that has taken cofounders Ramon Reyes and Vladimir Bautista into the limelight as Cannabis entrepreneurs.
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appy Munkey calls itself a Cannabis lifestyle company and they recently scored their biggest achievement yet: hosting two Cannabis-friendly evenings in Manhattan for a major multimedia experience called Immersive Van Gogh. The events, held in August 2021, were widely publicized, covered by the mainstream media, attended by over 900 people paying from $125 to $200 per ticket, and thanks to New York State’s Cannabis laws – considered the most progressive in the country right now – pretty much legal! “Immersive Van Gogh was the most mainstream event we’ve ever done,” said Ramon, who is also Happy Munkey’s Chief Strategy Officer. “The underground art scene has always embraced Cannabis, it’s always gone together, but for the mainstream high end art world to embrace it publicly, that’s big!” Vlad, who serves as CEO, said, “It changed the perspective totally, and what happens in New York is not just going to change the city and state, but it’s going to change the country and the world!”
ocT. 2021
Vladimir Bautista and Ramon Reyes in Washington Heights, New York, where they used to be arrested for consuming Cannabis.
