Hey Weed Queens! Today we’re thrilled to have Aubrey Amatelli, the CEO and founder of PayRio, join us for an insightful interview. Aubrey is a highly motivated entrepreneur and a champion for women in the cannabis industry. As the first female-founded payment processor specifically serving cannabis, psilocybin, and alternative medicine sectors, PayRio is making waves in a rapidly evolving landscape.
In this interview, Aubrey will:
- Share her journey as a female leader in the cannabis space.
- Discuss the unique challenges and opportunities PayRio faces.
- Offer valuable advice for women looking to break into the industry.
- Reveal her vision for the future of cannabis acceptance and normalization.
- Are you ready to be inspired and empowered? Let’s dive in!
How would you describe yourself and what you do?
I am a highly motivated and competitive professional in the payments industry and a dedicated mother to three amazing children. My passion lies in supporting the cannabis, psilocybin, and alternative medicine sectors. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit, I have founded PayRio, an innovative company that stands as the first payment platform focused on normalizing payments with compliant solutions in these industries. As the driving force behind PayRio, I am committed to fostering growth through top payment solutions within these emerging sectors.
What is PayRio about? What do you guys do?
PayRio is a female founded payment processor that specializes in cannabis, psilocybin, and alternative medicines. Our mission is to eliminate the barriers that have limited these critical health and wellness sectors, providing a secure, efficient, and cost-effective platform for payment processing. As the first payment provider exclusively tailored to these industries, we champion the cause of our customers, delivering unprecedented service and value in every transaction. We differentiate ourselves by offering industry-low rates and no restrictive merchant agreements. Our solutions encompass all types of payment processing, including credit card, debit card, and zero-cost processing, ensuring that our clients can accept all payment types seamlessly. We leverage state-of-the-art technology to enhance transaction processing, reducing costs and increasing revenue for our customers.
What makes your role and position unique?
It is rare to have a female founder in cannabis, and even more rare in payments. By 2021, women were estimated to account for only 22% of executive positions in the cannabis industry. According to a 2021 report from Findexable, women account for 19 percent of executives in fintech companies. Our company is over 50% women. We are trying to change the way that payment companies are perceived.
What’s your favorite part about your job? Least favorite?
Least: Even the hardest parts of my job are my favorite. Without the hard times and navigating the volatile nature of cannabis, we would not be able to enjoy the great things about the industry that we love.
Most: Knowing that every time a new customer signs with PayRio, we empower them to offer a
normalized payment solution so that consumers can access their medicine.
What inspired you to start your company and how did you get started?
Women are underrepresented in payments. After a decade at JPMorgan and CRO at fast-growing fintech, it became more apparent than ever. There was a lack of female representation. As a female CEO and single mother, I have a mission to empower other women/stay-at-home homes to be able to support their families. Also, compliant & reliable payments solutions in cannabis are hard to come by. My deep knowledge in payments at the largest payment processor in the world allowed me to make a change in the cannabis industry. Our goal is to partner with companies and help them GROW with compliant, stable, and reliable payment solutions.
What were you doing before you became the founder of PayRio? How did that influence
what you do?
My journey in the payments field began over a decade ago at J.P. Morgan, where I started as a Business Development Associate in merchant services. With determination and dedication, I climbed the ranks to become an Executive Director Commercial Banker, specializing in the Technology and Disruptive Commerce group located in Silicon Valley. This gave me a very solid foundation not only for the way the company operates but also the products we take to market. Before launching PayRio, I served as the Chief Revenue Officer at QuickFee, a rapidly growing Fintech company. This gave me the appetite to start my own company in industries I am most passionate about.
How did you learn the skills to start and run a successful business?
The skills necessary to start and run a successful business were cultivated through an extensive career in the payments field, beginning well over a decade ago. This rich background, spanning roles that required both strategic oversight and an in-depth understanding of financial technologies, paved the way for launching PayRio, a culmination of passion and expertise in the industry.
What factors have contributed towards your path of success?
My success can largely be attributed to remaining faithful to my initial mission. Each strategic decision is made with this mission at the forefront, guided by our foundational morals and ethics. We prioritize contributing positively to the universe by acting in good faith and maintaining integrity in all our actions. While we are open to pivoting and adapting to new directions, our core values and ethical standards are steadfast and inform every move we make.
Did you ever expect a career in the cannabis space?
Since 2010, I’ve been engaged in the ‘cannabis industry,’ yet it was beyond my expectations to found a company that would become crucial to the development of payment technology used by these businesses.
Were your family and friends supportive of your venture?
When I ventured into founding my company, I received unwavering support from my friends and family. They had complete faith in my abilities and the prospective success of any endeavor I undertook. However, the cannabis industry, in which my company operates, is not without its controversies. Despite this, I observed that even those with reservations about the industry itself still showed support for our mission and cause.
What has your personal experience with cannabis been?
Raised in Northern California, my initial encounter with cannabis occurred during high school.
Throughout my life, I’ve been deeply involved in competitive sports, with a particular passion for soccer, eventually playing at the Division 1 level in college. During those years, the use of cannabis was strictly off-limits for me, as it was for all college athletes. It was only after completing my college education and returning to California that I began to consume cannabis more regularly. I have a lot of respect for cannabis, and use it regularly as a therapeutic. Not only does cannabis have many mental and physical health benefits, but it can also be used as hemp fiber to create paper, clothing, biofuel, food and more! My love for the plant led me to making cannabis the focal point of my company, PayRio. Eighty percent of our business directly supports dispensary growth through card payments. It is our mission to normalize payments in the cannabis industry and we are off to a great start.
Did you ever feel like you weren’t taken seriously because you are a woman?
Unfortunately, encountering this situation has become a regular occurrence for me. Yet, it serves as a primary motivation for my company’s existence. Our goal is to challenge and change the prevailing stigma. Far from being a deterrent, it fuels our determination to persevere and drive forward.
How/do you think your involvement in this industry is going to positively impact your
community?
I launched PayRio with the goal to bring feminine energy to the technology payments space, in an industry bursting at the seams with potential feminine power. Our goal is to help that feminine power breakthrough, and thrive. The cannabis flower we all support and love comes from the female plant, which is restorative and receptive by nature. This same energy has a significant impact on technology. Women in tech are also tied directly to increased revenue and innovation. Women contribute superior problem solving and help close the skills gap. As the relationship between women, cannabis, and tech grows, so will the Cannabis industry – a common mission for us all.
What has been your greatest obstacle in this industry to date – and how have you overcome
it?
Payment processing has historically been full of challenges, including regulatory restrictions, banking limitations, and a significant reliance on cash transactions, which pose security risks and operational inefficiencies. However, by employing a strategic approach through my JPMorgan lens, we have successfully navigated these hurdles. By pre-vetting reliable partners who align with our commitment to compliance and stability, we’ve been able to introduce solutions to the market that not only adhere to the strict regulatory framework but also offer secure, efficient, and scalable payment processing options for cannabis businesses. This approach has ensured that we can provide our clients with stable and compliant financial transaction services, paving the way for smoother operations in the cannabis industry.
What’s the biggest change you want to see in the cannabis industry?
I would love to see the Safe Banking Act pass. This legislation promises to significantly improve the cannabis payment landscape. Currently, cannabis businesses face substantial hurdles in processing payments, largely due to restrictions imposed by major payment brands. The implementation of the Safe Banking Act would force payment brands (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover) to make a decision—whether to support cannabis payments by creating a dedicated Merchant Category Code (MCC). The establishment of this code would be a game-changer, enabling cannabis businesses to process payments as seamlessly as companies do today using platforms like Square or Stripe. But what could really change the game even more than the Safe Banking Act is if the government fully legalized cannabis. Right now, cannabis is a great medicine, but it has a lot of unnecessary problems and rules it has to follow. If it was legalized all over the country, it would show everyone that cannabis is truly helpful and get rid of a lot of these problems. It would mark the end of an era of restrictions, opening up unprecedented opportunities for growth, research, and acceptance.
Now that cannabis is legal, what excites you most and what worries you the most?
Despite cannabis being legalized on a state-by-state basis, its federal illegality significantly impacts our operations. The federal legalization of cannabis would pave the way for PayRio to enhance our customer support via traditional high-risk payment channels, ultimately allowing us to offer solutions at a lower cost.
As a woman, what challenges did you encounter (if any) building your business in a
male-dominated industry and how do you plan to create change and inclusiveness for future
WOC joining the industry?
One of my significant challenges is overcoming skepticism regarding my expertise and capabilities in the payment industry, due to my identity as a young female founder. Despite my extensive experience, there’s often a prejudgment based on appearances. The perception of my skill set and ideas might be differently received if I fit the traditional mold of an older, white male. Since PayRio’s inception, we’ve committed to offering preferential, lower pricing to businesses led and owned by women, aligning with our core mission and values to support and empower female entrepreneurship in the cannabis sector. The industry as a whole encounters numerous obstacles daily, yet it’s evident that women face these challenges most acutely.
What would be your best piece of advice for fellow women looking to pursue the cannabis
industry?
For women looking to pursue a career in the cannabis industry, here’s a piece of advice that encompasses several key strategies for success: Leverage and contribute to women-centric groups and associations within the cannabis industry. Organizations like Women Grow, for instance, offer tremendous resources, networking opportunities, and mentorship. Building a strong network can provide support, advice, and potential partnerships that are invaluable in navigating and succeeding in this space. Also, be prepared for challenges. The cannabis industry, with its evolving regulations and market dynamics, can present unique challenges. Resilience, adaptability, and a problem-solving mindset are key traits that will help you navigate these challenges successfully.
What would you consider to be the most effective way or initial steps of breaking down
barriers and ceilings to pave this path for women in the industry?
Breaking down barriers for women in the cannabis industry, or any industry, involves a comprehensive strategy that merges personal efforts with systemic reforms. Encouraging the growth of women-owned cannabis businesses through easier access to funding, networking, and resources is crucial. Financial bodies and investors are key in backing these women-led ventures. It is so important to support women-owned cannabis businesses by engaging with them on social media and buying their products as a practical show of support. Moreover, fostering gender equality in this sector can significantly benefit from hiring women and offering them promotions, alongside crafting job roles that accommodate the needs of women with children, underlining the belief that achieving this is entirely possible.
There’s still a perception or stigma attached to the people involved in the cannabis industry
or just consumers that partake in recreational or medical use, as being stoners- if you have
encountered this kind of close minded perspective, what would your argument be to shift
the conversation to one of the importance of the weed market and why it should be
celebrated/normalized?
The old stereotype of people in the cannabis industry or users as just “stoners” overlooks the diverse and beneficial aspects of cannabis. It’s important to focus on its valuable medical uses, as cannabis provides relief for conditions like chronic pain, anxiety, PTSD, and more, where standard medicines might not work. Hemp, a type of cannabis plant, also has many benefits including being used to make eco-friendly plastics, paper, and clothes. It’s also good for the environment and sustainable industries. Hemp seeds are nutritious, containing fats that are good for the heart.
Do you have any suggestions on how we can help normalize cannabis?
Making cannabis more accepted involves educating people about its medical benefits, economic potential, and safety rules. This can help clear up false beliefs. Having open talks about how people use it for health and fun responsibly can change how it’s seen. Also, highlighting successful, responsible people who use cannabis can help get rid of the lazy “stoner” stereotype.
Where can we reach you?
Instagram: @payrio_hq
Twitter: @payrio_hq
Email: aubrey@payrio.co
Name 4 of your favorite women in weed that you’d like to give a shout out too. What do they
do and where can we reach them?
1) Jocelyn Sheltraw – CEO of Budist
Jocelyn was one of the first females I connected with in the cannabis industry. When we met I was just launching PayRio and she just took over as CEO of Budist. We have been huge advocates and have supported each other while navigating the cannabis industry as female CEO’s. I am so impressed by her work at Budist and her leadership and am grateful to call her a friend.
2) Manndie Tingler – Founder of Women’s Canna Awards
I met Manndie early 2023 and have been incredibly impressed with her work in the cannabis industry and her drive and passion to normalize the plant and celebrate women. She founded the Women’s Canna Awards which is the world’s first women’s focused cannabis awards show. This venture empowers women in cannabis and is much needed to elevate females in this male dominated industry.
3) Nikki Lastreto – Founder at Swami Select
I’ve had the privilege of sharing moments with Nikki at key cannabis events, including the Mendocino Craft Farms Auction, Swami Select gatherings, and the prestigious Emerald Cup events and awards. Nikki is not only a pioneer in the cannabis industry, having served as a judge for The Emerald Cup since its inception in 2003, but she is also an incredibly wonderful person.
4) Mary Bailey – Last Prisoner’s Project
After getting my MBA in Nonprofit Management, my interest in nonprofit organizations grew
significantly. Meeting Mary and learning about The Last Prisoner Project (LPP) was a key moment for me. Founded in 2019, LPP focuses on changing laws around cannabis and helping those negatively impacted by previous harsh policies. They believe that as the cannabis industry grows, we must help those who were unfairly punished in the past. Mary’s hard work and commitment to this cause make her a respected and inspiring leader in the cannabis community.
Key takeaways from Aubrey’s interview:
- Overcoming barriers: Aubrey encourages women to leverage resources like Women Grow and embrace challenges as opportunities for growth.
- Breaking down stereotypes: By highlighting the medical benefits, economic potential, and responsible use of cannabis, we can shift the narrative.
- Supporting women-owned businesses: Investing in and promoting female leaders is crucial for achieving gender equality in the industry.
- Staying informed: Educating ourselves and others about cannabis is essential to combatting stigma and fostering acceptance.
- Community building: Connecting with other women in the industry can provide valuable support and mentorship.
Want to connect with Aubrey and learn more about PayRio?
Instagram: @payrio_hq
Twitter: @payrio_hq
Email: aubrey@payrio.co
Additionally, be sure to check out these inspiring women in the cannabis industry who Aubrey gave a shout-out to:
Jocelyn Sheltraw, CEO of Budist: @jocelynsheltraw
Manndie Tingler, Founder of Women’s Canna Awards: @manndietingle
Nikki Lastreto, Founder at Swami Select: @swamiselect
Mary Bailey, Last Prisoner’s Project: @marybailey52
We hope you enjoyed this interview with Aubrey Amatelli! Remember to share your thoughts and questions in the comments below. Stay tuned for more inspiring voices from the Weed Queens community!
Weed Queens 
Leave a comment