Priscilla Vilchis, CEO of Premium Produce on Celebrity Partnerships & Industry Trends

As one of the first licensed Latina cannabis operators in Los Angeles County, Priscilla Vilchis has made significant strides in both her career and the cannabis industry. Having spent her early years navigating insurance systems, compliance, and physician relationships, Priscilla brings a rare operator-level perspective on how rescheduling could functionally change day-to-day business strategy, especially for founders from communities historically told cannabis was dangerous or criminal.

Now serving as CEO of Premium Produce, Priscilla continues to set the bar for female, Latina entrepreneurs with remarkable professionalism and foresight. Following the successful launch of her Fryday Kush collaboration with Ice Cube in 2025, she is ready to work with new  celebrity partners to bring cannabis to a diverse and wide audience.

Tap into the incredible mind of Priscilla Vilchis in this exclusive Hype Off Life interview, where she shares her thoughts on the potential positives linked to the declassification of cannabis, trends in the industry, and just why integrity and work ethic will always be one of her top priorities.

How has 2026 been treating you so far?

So far, so good. With all the great upcoming news that we've received with the world and the President declassifying marijuana to Schedule III, all these things seem very promising for our upcoming year, and we're all ready for it. We feel it's been much needed and it's taken a little longer than anyone ever anticipated.

What about the declassification has got you so excited?

Well, you have to remember, I got into the marijuana industry, but I originally came from the healthcare industry. So, the reason why I was so passionate in wanting to get involved in the marijuana industry was because of all the positive medicines and all the positive creams we would be able to compound, and one day get reimbursable by insurance carriers to help alleviate the opioid epidemic that we have going on in the world.

So, when that news came about, I thought, wow, the world is finally changing in the positive direction. But, the biggest goal for anyone, I would say, is CBD products. With the declassification coming online, it's going to open a lot of doors to medical providers and allow them to be able to treat patients with arthritis, patients with a lot of things. And CBD, minimal doses of THC will be able to go a long way. The fact that we've entered finally the genre of marijuana being OK, being not as detrimental as heroin, I think we've come a long way. It's a big positive move in the right direction for our industry.

Yeah, that is very exciting. What other trends do you see on the horizon?

So, hopefully with that coming to full fruition for our industry, I see a lot of possibly pharmaceutical companies looking to get in with marijuana endeavors to try help facilitate the new regulations. I see possibly the pharmaceutical corporate world trying to figure out a medium point with marijuana entities and trying to work together and facilitate what we're now able to.

I see a lot of consumers purchasing more pre-rolls and infused pre-rolls. It's been a big thing, a big rush as well in the industry. A lot of times flower has been the top selling SKU in a jar. Now it's pre-rolls, infused pre-rolls with diamonds, with ash, and things like that. So, this will be interesting. I'm curious to see all the trends and we will definitely be ready and available to meet everyone's demand.

Where do you and your company fit in the midst of all these changes and trends?

Well, that's a great question because once you do good business and you deliver good product like ourselves, we get some of the most prominent artists who come and try to work with us. So, we are actually looking forward to new partnerships. Whether they be artist-based, athlete-based, or even us pairing up with a big pharma company and trying to create a wonderful product so that Medicare can cover it through insurance carriers.

I can see that being a huge thing too. While we’re on the topic of partnerships, when we last spoke in 2025, you were about to release your collaboration with Ice Cube. How did it go and what lessons did you take away from the experience?

He is such a great individual, just like a wonderful human. It's so humbling and nice to see someone of that statue who is just real. He's a real one. He's humble, he's intelligent, cares for his family, and cares for his products. He wants to ensure that it shines equally for everyone. So, I love his integrity. He was an amazing individual to work with.

So, whoever comes after him will have big shoes to fill. I'll tell you that. He's wonderful and we enjoy working with each other. He's exactly what they say about him, he's awesome. Upcoming artists, we're open. We're currently looking into some other ones. We want a Latino artist. In 2026, we're actively vying for that. But anyone of great magnitude that comes, we're definitely open to it.

What criteria do you have for the artist you work with?

Well, number one, you can be as famous as you want, but you have to have good work integrity. So, I've been known, and I'm not going to say who, but I've been known to walk away from two artists because I heard that they don't show up and they don't care. I heard that. Despite them being famous, I said, “I'm so sorry. I'd rather not.” Because it's imperative that they hold this area of the business to a high regard as well. And that's what we focus on.

That's really important, especially when you build your business and you already set it as being professional.

Yeah, can you imagine? I do so well and all of a sudden, I set everything up and someone doesn't show up. How terrible I will look. So yeah, those are the areas that we look for. We have to make sure that everything is always up. And despite them being uberly famous, we have to make sure that they’re still good individuals to work with.

You've been in business for a while now. In what ways have you grown since you started, and where do you want to take it next?

Well, we want to definitely continue growing and being one of the best groups in the state. We wouldn't mind exploring partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to try and facilitate a drug together to get it reimbursable by Medicare. That's the goal.

Do you have any advice for anybody wanting to get in the industry?

I would say make sure you wear Kevlar. You got to walk in wearing Kevlar, because you better be ready to adapt because the industry comes very quickly. You have to be prepared so that you execute accordingly. That would be it.

A lot of people theme their years by giving them a title, like a chapter in a book. What would you title this chapter of your life?

Chapter One, because I don't think we're even close to the gold pot yet. I think it's imperative that everyone maintain. With marijuana, declassifying it to Schedule III, that's going to be a big deal. If done correctly, you're going to have elderly people getting off opioids, getting off prednisone. I mean, the big pharma is going to hurt. But, if this happens and pharmacy companies compound creams, patches, anything for elderly people that help the area, that's going to be a big boom rush in the healthcare space.

You're going to see a lot of opioids go down and you're going to see a lot of organic, holistic meds go up. And there'll be less overdoses, there'll be less addiction. So, I think that by the industry declassifying itself to a Schedule III, that's a big deal. I think that's a beginning. That would be like a chapter one. Then, anyone there to reap the reward would be very privileged. But, it has to be done correctly.