Emily Hobelmann

What I love most about Humboldt is that it’s such a tight-knit community; you’re usually no more than one degree removed from someone else you meet. Recently, I attended a memorial in Trinidad. I was visibly pregnant, and as soon as I got out of my car, two women approached me to help carry my things inside. Neither of them realized who I was, which is fine, but I instantly recognized them from when I used to work at The Alibi; I knew their names, and what they liked to drink, and how they talked to one another. And to me that experience was just so, classic Humboldt.

Over the years, it's this sense of familiarity, the proximity to nature, and the connections I’ve made here that keep bringing me back to Humboldt. I’ve left multiple times, always assuming that a bigger city like San Diego will provide more options for me in my career-field. Yet, opportunities and connections have presented themselves to me much more clearly in Humboldt than they ever did when I was living somewhere else.

With clarity of hindsight , I see now that Humboldt opened up a career that matches my skill-sets and my passions. I never thought I would wind up working as a cannabis industry technical writer and consultant, or find myself immersed in the cannabis industry and culture - meeting cannabis entrepreneurs, or visiting so many beautiful, sustainable farms in the mountains. I am so grateful I’ve found my way here, and I know now that Humboldt is where I’m supposed to be.