Women in Alchimia, let's grow equality

In recent years, we have witnessed progress towards equality that, while not yet full, is indispensable. This progress has particularly impacted a generation that has begun to question behaviors and norms that were once considered "normal" but were in fact unjust and inequitable. The violet spectacles of social consciousness do not by themselves transform the world, but they allow us to perceive more clearly the need for change. Now, at least, we are aware of the urgency to act.

The working environment, where we spend most of our time, has also undergone major changes in recent times and we are very fortunate to live in a country that is a pioneer in laws promoting equality in the workplace. It is in this environment, especially in our own company and, by extension, in the cannabis sector that we would like to focus on this year.

A bit of history

Alchimia was founded in Figueres in 2001, like most growshops, by two men. It wasn't until 2006 when Alchimia hired its first woman: our much missed Sílvia Casademont. At first, Sílvia was hired to carry out administrative tasks, although her great talent, her professionalism, her intelligence and also her great empathy, a quality without which you cannot be a great leader, led her to the management of our company in just a few years.

The commitment to online commerce meant a before and after for our company, it was necessary to create new departments and attract new talent and, without a binding regulation or a defined policy, Alchimia organically reached parity in the number of jobs occupied by women and men.

In a work environment free of stereotypes and prejudices, with an inclusive and egalitarian attitude, everything should be equal, but this is not 100% the case if we analyze the data in depth.

Women in Alchimia today

Today, and in the different departments that make up the company, Alchimia has 43 employees, 19 of them women, very close to 50% of the total team. Our general manager is a man and there is parity in the other management positions. In the distribution of these 19 women we find that Alchimia does not really escape from gender stereotypes in the workplace: departments such as Accounting and Customer Service, historically feminized sectors, are almost exclusively made up of women, while in the technical areas, their presence is anecdotal and in those of cannabis specialization there is no female representation at all.

These data lead us to reflect on the role of women in our sector. Why is it that a company that promotes equality and that for a long time has needed to incorporate talent with extensive knowledge of everything related to cannabis in departments as important as Content Creation or the physical shop, has not been able to incorporate women in any of these departments?

Have we really tried hard enough to find this female talent? Or could it be that, despite looking for it, as in many other specialized and technical jobs, the lack of female references in these positions is the reason why, no matter how hard we look, we can't find them?

Women in the cannabis sector

Perhaps not knowing any female breeder, for example, has installed in the subconscious of women who know the plant the belief that they cannot become experts: if there are no women, there must be a reason. It may also be that the sexualized image of women in some banks or the uniforms of some hostesses or female colleagues at some trade fairs in the sector directly drive them away.

Without being able to answer all these questions if we, as a socially committed company, have to question things every day, this is the real meaning of our new slogan: cultivating equality. Cultivating equality means not letting numbers take for granted an equality that is not real. It also means paying attention to the real equality of colleagues' workloads, to the value given to the ideas they bring to the table, and to the importance given to the work of the different departments.

Things as simple, but as representative of any woman's day-to-day life, such as who is in charge of organizing celebrations in a company and who is left to pick up and clean up afterward. To continue to refuse to participate in and spread the sexualization of women which some companies in the sector fall into in our publications and in trying to wear purple glasses in our strategic and branding decisions.

To think that by having an equal number of employees we have achieved equality is as absurd as thinking that no man is a chauvinist simply because he has a mother who, of course, is a woman. And this questioning and this desire to be better every day should be our pride on this day.

Finally, a wish: as a brand, we would be happy if all these changes inside are reflected outside and get more and more women to feel comfortable in our shop, and become interested in growing this amazing plant, and soon we will have a legion of female growers sharing their great knowledge and experience with the Alchimia family.

Happy women's day to all of you!