Brennan England – The Cola Lounge

On this week’s episode of The Sauce podcast, host Lauren Healey sits down with Brennan England, founder of the St. Louis Cannabis Club and The Cola Lounge—Missouri’s first cannabis consumption space.

Brennan shares how his journey from activism and community-building led to creating a platform where cannabis culture meets education, wellness, and entertainment. From launching just before COVID to building a thriving network of events, partnerships, and experiences, he breaks down what it takes to normalize cannabis and create safe, inclusive spaces.

The conversation dives into the evolution of the St. Louis cannabis scene, the vision behind the “Greenlight District,” and how experiential events—from comedy shows to wellness gatherings—are helping reshape public perception. Brennan also discusses the rise of cannabis tourism, innovative concepts like the Puff Puff Passport, and how collaboration across local businesses is driving growth in the industry.

From grassroots beginnings to city-wide impact, this episode highlights the power of community-first entrepreneurship and redefining what cannabis culture can look like.

In this episode:

 - Launching the St. Louis Cannabis Club and The Cola Lounge
 - Creating safe, social cannabis experiences without alcohol
 - The vision behind the Greenlight District
 - How events are breaking stigma around cannabis
 - The Puff Puff Passport and cannabis tourism
 - Building partnerships with local brands like SWADE and 4 Hands
 - The future of cannabis culture in St. Louis

Come for the conversation. Stay for the culture. 🌿
✨ Presented by SWADE Dispensary, with 12 locations across Missouri. Learn more at swadecannabis.com. Our other podcast sponsors are 4 Hands Brewing Co. and St. Louis Union Station.

🎧 Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify and all major platforms.
📅 New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Come for the conversation. Stay for the culture. 🌿

 ✨ Presented by SWADE Dispensary, with 12 locations across Missouri. Learn more at swadecannabis.com. Our other podcast sponsors are 4 Hands Brewing Co. and LHM.

🎧 Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify and all major platforms.
 📅 New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Transcript

Intro + SWADE Dispensary Sponsor Message

SPEAKER_04 0:00

You know, it's supposed to be like your your friend or your cousin's house, you know, that you can smoke at. You know, you have that cool ant that lets you smoke in the basement, you know. Um, if you didn't have one of those, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

But our podcast sponsor is Suede Dispensary with 11 locations across Missouri. They are debuting a new passport membership program where you'll be able to collect stamps as you explore new Delhi style strains and unlock monthly travel stipends, exclusive swag, and free flour along the way. Head to your nearest Suede location for more information or visit suedecannabis.com. Hello, welcome to the Sauce Podcast. I'm your I'm your host, Lauren, and I'm here with Brennan England, and he is the founder of the St. Louis Cannabis Club, which I am all about. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about the business?

SPEAKER_04 0:54

Yeah, thanks. So uh thanks for having me. Uh so the St. Louis Cannabis Club is a resource network uh for the culture where the culture meets the industry of cannabis. Um it's our

Meet Brennan England + St. Louis Cannabis Club

SPEAKER_04 1:05

pillars are in wellness, education, entertainment, and development, W-E-E-D. Um, and through the values of the weed, uh, we bring safe and enjoyable and compliant uh event experiences, product marketing, and consultation for safe events. And uh we do that across the St. Louis area. And um, the home base for us to do that is the Cola Private Lounge, which was the first cannabis consumption space to open in Missouri uh back in 2019.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Okay, awesome. And I just recently experienced one of your events for the first time. Um, that comedy show over at the new church on Del Mar, which is right above the uh Suede dispensary. I had such a good time and it was so fun, you know, just seeing everybody uh enjoying cannabis and having a good time without alcohol. So tell us how that came to be.

SPEAKER_04 1:55

Yeah. So uh well, which part? The uh the relationship or the or the comedy show?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Uh both.

SPEAKER_04 2:01

Sure. Well, um, whenever I started the the project, the the the St. Louis Cannabis Club was meant to be um kind of a a um a permeable brand and service that could move around and help the culture grow. I knew that St. Louis cannabis needed an identity. I needed to be, and I felt just from my history in the movement, I've helped with activism and legalization and uh cultural support, uh, we'll call it that, for a long time, um, leading up to um the legalization efforts 14, 15, and 16. And so the on Cherokee Street, originally whenever licenses were awarded, there were three dispensaries that were that had addresses on Cherokee Street and two cultivation centers. Cherokee Street is, you know, uh the main business drag is a little over a mile. So to have that high concentration of cannabis businesses in one space. Um, also on top of that, with I came up and out of the music and art scene on Cherokee Street. Um, I knew that it was going to be a great place to start what I called the

Building Cannabis Culture in St. Louis

SPEAKER_04 3:10

Green Light District, which is the an epicenter, a home, a nuclei for cannabis culture uh to thrive and show how cannabis tourism really is a uh is a will be and is showing itself to be an asset for community commerce and for safety and for growth. And um, so the Sway dispensary was one of the first that locked in down there. They were one of my first cannabis um marketing partners whenever I first opened. And so they funded some of my first events. And um the whole goal was what does it look like in a world where people can consume cannabis anywhere, um, rightfully, whether it's public or private. What are the what's what are the businesses that are going to matter? And so instead of creating a competitive team of one brand, um, I wanted to create an arena. I wanted to create a space um literally and figuratively, uh, where brands could represent themselves and they could compete and collaborate. And uh I could be the facilitator, the steward of that, um, helping, you know, bridge those gaps and communicate between those tribes. There's a lot of tension between the legal market and the traditional market.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:27

And so um, you know, the best medicine showcase was one of the first events that I brought online in a series of events that was designed to show um ourselves as a cannabis culture and community, but also to show the larger St. Louis community that um that there's that there is a lot of stigma around the plant and around how it affects us. And that, you know, pun intended, the best medicine being laughter and good weed together. Right, was a good way for us to really just represent, you know, we we want to do what the rest of the professional community does, which is provide a service and do so for uh, you know, a community that that supports it. And a lot of people think that the Cola Lounge, uh, when if if they're not from the culture, we'll assume that it's like some psychedelic, you know, hippie den that has like flashing lights and right. Um, but generally, you know, um cannabis consumption heightens your senses, it doesn't numb them like all alcohol does. And so it it you don't need all of the extra bells and whistles in order to feel sensationally elevated. And so it's actually kind of a low sensory space. I always tell people it's more of a kickback than a turnout.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

Um, in the sense that um it's designed for cannabis consumers to do what they do in their everyday life, celebrate, and um adventure with different types of events and social experiences, but they can just do it and consume. And so I believe um and suede and since a vertical brand, uh, was one of the first to really see that I kind of had this North Star of uh cannabis marketing as a an experiential marketing as one of the pivotal assets to break that stigma in a way that would do it that was really authentic. You know, it's like I have my hand on the pulse of the community and of the culture and brands that come online uh don't have that inherently. You know, they've already had to go through such a

The Cola Lounge + Safe Cannabis Social Spaces

SPEAKER_04 6:40

rigorous, you know, corporate um and uh expensive process that every step of the way that they actually get to a brick and mortar kind of moves them away from the traditional culture, whether it be because of the laws or um the the profession ability, you know, so to to regain that image and that identity, um, that's part of what I help brands do if they want.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Our podcast sponsor is Forehand Brewing Company, which is celebrating 10 years of citywide here in St. Louis. The 10th anniversary celebration will feature collaborations with fellow iconic St. Louis companies, including Sauce on the Side, High Point Drive-In, Sugar Fire Smokehouse, Gus's Pretzel Shop, Fitz's Root Beer, Blue City Deli, STL Toasted, Strange Donuts, Peacemaker Lobster and Crab Company, Clementine's Ice Cream, Strange Donuts, and more. Okay, I love that. And I think it's so smart to partner with Suede, which we have done, and they are our podcast sponsor. So we just love everything that they're doing. And I think it's so fun that they have the church on Del Mar now because what a wonderful space to go and, you know, hang out with like-minded people.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

Oh, yeah. And, you know, it's been part of their North Star for, you know, since they got the building, it was a what if I wonder when could we do this? And it's just a matter of compliance on how you can make it operate and do it safely. And the city's just now really starting to catch up um with making that easier.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Well, I think it's a nice space too, because I know you mentioned the cola lounge is a little smaller, so it might have some of that hotbox effect. Um, whereas the church on Del Mar has those really high ceilings. So, like if they're smoking in there, it's not like too much smoke, you know, in the space.

SPEAKER_04 8:21

Yes, yeah, that's a great thing to acknowledge is that, you know, for our for our higher um for our busier events at the lounge, it definitely is a hazy space.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:31

Um, and it's it's meant to be a small. I always tell people like, you know, it's supposed to be like your your friend or your cousin's house, you know, that you can smoke at. You know, you're that cool aunt that lets you smoke in the basement, you know. Um, if you didn't have one of those, I'm sorry. But the um, but the the church on Delmar um is an example of really what the St. Louis Cannabis Club was designed to do, which is let the cola be an RD ground for and a proof of concept space for events, um, for them to blossom and grow and propagate and uh grow into larger spaces. And so the the the it has ebb and flowed um the size of the venues that I've taken for the best medicine showcase. But we've gotten up to about 300 to 400 people. Uh, we we've also been at the um atomic by JMO. We we did one of our comedy events there actually as a fundraiser for tornado relief.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:30

And we raised over $10,000 for local efforts, um, going to Black Men Build, a local organization that has been boots on ground, hands dirty, hearts heavy for um other for movements in general. But when the tornado happened, uh it was a really an opportunity for us to really showcase uh the power of how that experiential marketing turns into impact.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yeah, I love that. Okay. Now I know you have some really fun stuff in the works for 420. So run us through all that.

SPEAKER_04 10:02

Yeah, so um I'm actually Greenlight District is the shirt that I'm wearing. Um, shout out to Suede for uh funding and sponsoring this uh first round. This was the first uh initial event that we had called Greenlight District. Um I've I was doing large spectacles

From Small Events to Large-Scale Experiences

SPEAKER_04 10:20

with concerts and uh um uh just like every bell and whistle that I could pack into the street like a large festival. Um I've since the industry is and the what's the way to put it, since it's more saturated with opportunities and experiences for people to have, um, I really have been leaning into, and this year we're really leaning into the idea that cannabis tourism develops um commerce and and pro and revenue opportunities for local businesses at large. Um, the Puff Puff Passport is a program that's designed to get people out on the street shopping, getting discounts whenever they they go to different spaces. And as they shop and uh through kind of like a gamified scavenger hunt, um, they get they get discounts and promos and they acquire tokens, tokens. And with those tokens, this is all digital on our platform we built. Uh, with those tokens, they come back to the cola and they can exchange those tokens for gifts or for merch uh from our sponsors um or for passes. And so for 420, we're going to really be showcasing the PuffPuff passport on the Greenlight District. We're also joining with um other events in the city that are happening. One of them is the there's a 420 festival happening on Cherokee or on Grand, uh partnered with Steve's Hot Dogs.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Oh, nice! Yeah, that's fun.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

Yep, we could talk more about that. And so we'll be I will be uh incorporating other events into the passport, incentivizing people uh to adventure and uh shop around and uh celebrate in other neighborhoods on Cherokee Street. Um, we'll still have discounts at all the businesses. Scavenger Hunt will be active, and then over that weekend, we'll be uh running basically our our monthly programming will be condensed into one weekend. So we'll have our comedy show on that Friday, we'll have our pink class, and we're having a game and trivia night on Saturday. On Sunday, we'll have a wellness event with yoga and sound bath, and then Monday is karaoke.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

That's so fun. I love it. And where can people uh learn more and get the schedule for all this?

SPEAKER_04 12:35

The easiest place will be colalounge.com.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

Um, just to keep it simple, you click up click on the events tab and you'll be able to find out about the the Greenlight District 420 festival and more. You'll see our whole our monthly calendar.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Okay, and uh tell me more about this partnership with with Steve's hot dogs.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

Yeah, so the um the partnership is happening between two uh with between Steve's and an entity called WeCAN Community, uh, which is another experiential event business um started by um uh a woman named Abrahama, who's um really been kind of like side by side, shoulder in shoulder with uh me as the as the industry has grown to catch up with what we already knew, which was that events and experiences are part of the core of cannabis culture. Yeah. So uh Steve's also, I've talked Steve also from Steviewing from um Steve's hot dogs, has always been an advocate, a supporter of my platform. And I didn't set the 420 festival up on grand. I'm um I'm a partner in it.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 13:41

Um, and it's really it really goes to showcase what I've

Experiential Marketing + Breaking Cannabis Stigma

SPEAKER_04 13:45

what I've hoped for and what I've strived for, which is that uh we build a cannabis culture and community that is uh that is collaborative as opposed to competitive. And so on Grand, there is going to be a a festival ground behind the commerce, the Commerce Bank building, um and the parking lot that's gonna have um glass blowing demos and vendors and giveaways. Um, it has a lot of some of the street party feel that I've kind of backed out of on Cherokee for the day. Um they've really Abrama has picked up that ball and is providing that for folks. And we're gonna have a shuttle from Cherokee Street to Grand.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Amazing.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Um, so that folks can safely move around the city and do so whether they're elevated or not, not have to worry about travel or you know, driving while um paired, etc.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Wow, that's so cool. Now, I think we also have to talk about your partnership with Forehands because they are also a partner of ours, and they have just debuted these really nice uh cannabis seltzers. So tell us about those.

SPEAKER_04 14:55

Yeah, so the uh the four hands beverages, um it's it's almost like they were always part of the lineup, right? It's like they're such a love match for the existing culture and uh energy that Forehands puts out that it really feels like they've always been there. Yeah, born for it. Yeah. Um, whenever they launched these bevs, um they uh they reached out interested in ways to collaborate. And immediately I was just fizzing, bubbling with ideas. Um, because you know, not everyone feels comfortable rolling, not everyone wants to pack something. Yeah. Um, everyone, if able, feels comfortable opening a can, you know, and so there's something about holding something in your hand um in social experiences. There's something about um the flavor profiles and being able to pick your your favorite art, you know, that uh forehands has got that on lock. You know, they they are professionals when it comes to finding fun flavors and when and having uh creating fun experiences and making them look really cool. And so when Forehands came out with the Bevs, I knew it was a great opportunity for us to showcase also how a brand that has made a lot of money off of alcohol um can really uh broaden and show that um comp consumption can happen in different ways, that elevation can happen in different ways. And for folks that may, for one reason or another, stray away from alcohol, now they have a whole nother set of um products to explore

Greenlight District + Cannabis Tourism Vision

SPEAKER_04 16:30

from a brand they trust.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

And we can still support local, and they actually taste great.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

Oh, yeah, they taste amazing, and they've been really intelligent about the like the intentional about the formulas, and that each one is stacked with um adaptogenic uh mushrooms, not psychedelic.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

No, uh that's not legal yet, right?

SPEAKER_04 16:50

Yeah, uh, with like uh Rishi, chaga, lions, mane that all have really positive effects on the brain, but they also enhance the effects of the cannabinoids. So um that paired with uh the terpenes from the plant and from the uh the flavors that they're introducing, it really creates a boutique and craft experience that tastes really good, but isn't um it's not unapproachable, you know, like they're still familiar enough with citrus and berry and tropical that you can just say citrus, berry, or tropical. You don't have to say lemon yuzu with elder flower or you know, uh raspberry rose lime with goji berry. You know, but for folks that are ready and want to have that more elevated experience and that kind of upper echelon of aesthetic, uh, they deliver both. So it has like street flair and community appeal, but also is really elegant and thoughtful.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Join us for a fantastical journey at St. Louis Union Station. Board the St. Louis wheel soaring 200 feet into the air all year round. Visit the St. Louis aquarium where you can explore the world's great waterways and over 10,000 amazing creatures. You can also sway from the ropes, course, high over the aquarium, and get lost in the mirror maze. It's all at St. Louis Union Station where the journey is like no other. And your visit at St. Louis Unionstation.com. Yeah, we love it. Okay. And then uh what else is on your radar for later in this year, like after 420?

SPEAKER_04 18:24

Yeah, so the main thing that I'm focusing on for the rest of the year is really proving the concept of uh of cannabis tourism and as an asset to the city. So I have proposed, I wrote a proposal to the city for a cannabis tourism bill that is all-encompassing of a cannabis ecosystem that allows people to have an unbroken experience um from root to fruit whenever they either come into the city. We have we have so many people that travel here from other um states that don't have consumption-friendly um platforms that are or laws that support them, that they're ready when they get here to explore. And so a lot of the cola lounge ends up being um a hub for people when they come in town to consume, but then also look at the rest of the city. You know, what can we do now? And so we end up being a tourism hub in the sense of, you know, here are the restaurants you should go to, here are places that you can shop. And that's where the passport comes in is giving people a digital guide of spaces and places that are gonna have faces that are smiling when they get there. Um, and there's they don't have to worry about bias or

Puff Puff Passport Explained

SPEAKER_04 19:40

judgment or concern that they smell like weed or anything like that. But they know that they're going into spaces that support them. So my my North Star through the rest of the year is really showing the Puff Puff passport as an asset to the whole city, and how that is integral to how we can create uh laws and platforms around cannabis tour buses, uh, permits for public parks, um uh catering permits that are in or that allow infusion. There are things that formulaically the city is just allowing or is kind of kind of building the plane as it flies, where we don't have to. We can really add some infrastructure to this that's safe and supportive and really um galvanizes um ancillary revenue opportunities for small businesses and uh entrepreneurs that can't afford or have been systematically shut out of the legal industry.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Awesome. I love that. We totally support it at Sauce.

SPEAKER_04 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Now, is there anything else that you would like people to know?

SPEAKER_04 20:45

I started this business um at a time when my my own personal life was in a place of flux. Um I'm I'm a licensed massage therapist and I I I specialize in um scar tissue relief and surgery, post-surgery, surgery prevention. And I just got done with a training with the St. Louis Cardinals lead therapy team um whenever the opportunity came about to start Cola. And um I feel like it was it was a calling to take the route I did um instead of going down my going pro massage therapy career um to really invest into the community. And I think that if I uh one thing for people to know is that the Cola and the St. Louis Cannabis Club are a brand that is like community first and um profit second, you know, as far as like what my intentions have been. And it's really shown that, you know, where the the platform runs a lot like a church in the sense that we it's a it's it's a volunteer space. The people that that provide for the cola are people that the cola provides for it. And I Um, I really pride myself on the emotional intelligence of the platform and really seeing and feeling people, making them feel welcome and allowing it to be um a space for them and how they see it. You know, one of my favorite things about the Cola is when I am walking out of a room or I'm in another room and I hear um explosive laughter, you know, um it's or just rich conversation, whether it's between people that have met before or not. And it's that it's not that I made them laugh, it's that I've been able to create a space that allows that, where people can feel that. And it's a space where everyone can find a piece of themselves out there. It's so small, you can touch the back from the front. Like it doesn't take uh it's it doesn't take much to give people that sense of like home and excitement. And when I started this, I I started right before COVID. And obviously I didn't know I was starting before COVID.

420 Festival Plans + City-Wide Collaboration

SPEAKER_04 23:10

Uh we were supposed to be having our grand opening in 420 on 420 of 2020.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Oh, that didn't go well.

SPEAKER_04 23:16

No, and so the main thing I always tell people is like the main thing that was the only thing that was opening grand opening in 420 of 2020 was a uh COVID test.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:25

Um, yeah, so I've I've carried like the tatter and the wear of being the first. Um when I did it, there were no other platforms like this. I flew to I I consulted and talked to businesses that were similar all over the world. Um, and with my software platform, uh, the bigger idea of the passport was something that was totally exclusive to my idea that in a world where the Red Bull of weed comes in, when the gym beam of weed comes into the industry, you know, it's like you think about Red Bull, and they don't sell a sweet tart flavored, um, strangely, you know, branded drink, they sell experiences. You know, you remember Red Bull because of the wild and crazy things that you've felt or seen. And so, what does it look like when the Red Bull of weed comes to Missouri? What does it look like? And I knew that I had what it took to bring the culture and the community together in a way that would allow us to collaborate, to meet that need and also compete with the inauthentic um and call in businesses as opposed to call them out, call them into our values of the weed to um really move the culture forward and move the the corporate potential forward in a way that was authentic and safe. And so, you know, for people to know that it's not just for one, the cola isn't just for one type of person. Uh the St. Louis Cannabis Club is uh we have a mobile bud bar service that we set up for weddings and for uh for you know offsite events for public, private, we're set up to do it in any fashion. And I also help people host safe and compliant cannabis events. There's a there's a big disconnect between the optics and the operations of running a compliant cannabis event. You know, it's like you might do things operationally that are legal, but optically it might be a mess. Um, as far as like that doesn't look compliant, that doesn't look legal. And I mean, licensed brands can't even put like an eyeball or anything on their branding. The branding restrictions are so cumbersome for licensed brands that that's really important for them. And the um yeah, so having the the clarity to um to make those moves is really important. There's a lot of opportunity for folks to explore this um in ways that they might not have thought of, you know, and if you're canicuous, you don't have to be a uh, you know, you don't have to be a cannabis expert to come to a place like the cola or to um to hire something like the the mobile bud bar. Um you can reach out to us and and have us set it up for you in a way that feels right for you. And one of my favorite things to do is weddings. I love doing weddings.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Sounds very cool. I wish this was all legal when I got married.

SPEAKER_04 26:28

Uh well, just get remarried, you know, just do it again.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Oh, sure. Okay, we'll renew our vows.

SPEAKER_04 26:33

Okay, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Well, we uh look forward to watching your journey and thank you so much for stopping by.

SPEAKER_04 26:38

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This is great.