We had the good fortune of connecting with Jamie Cooper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamie, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I wanted to combine my two passions: Skiing and cannabis. About a decade ago, I spent a number of years working in the ski industry in Colorado. After realizing I would have to take a significant pay cut to land the job of my dreams with Vail Resorts, I had to make the difficult, but responsible, decision to leave the life I loved. But then several months ago, I was feeling this pull to get back into the ski industry, to the point I was willing to leave cannabis. All of a sudden, it dawned on me that I could combine the two by hosting ski and ride events for cannabis consumers. That’s when I launched ZAprès. Après is the French word for “after”. In the skiing and snowboarding culture, you partake in an Après event when you go and have a drink at the bar after a day of skiing or riding. Zaza is a slang term for cannabis. That’s why my company is called ZAprès Events. Instead of getting drunk after skiing, we indulge in a safer, alternative option that helps with all of that soreness after a long day on the slopes.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I launched ZAprès Events just a few months ago after reaching a level of burnout that made me want to quit everything and get out of the industry I grew to love. It was that moment that forced me to take a hard look at my life and figure out how I wanted to move forward. Skiing brings me a level of happiness I can’t quite describe. I started manifesting and centering my thoughts around getting back to that life and came up with the concept behind ZAprès Events. Getting to this point in my career definitely wasn’t easy. I have faced adversity so many times in my journey, but each time I ended up being able to pick myself back up, dust myself off and get back on that horse. What I have learned is that if you put good out into the world, the world will return the favor and give back. So every day I want to try to do better and be better. We all make mistakes, that’s because we are human. But learning from our mistakes is the most important lesson.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d definitely take them on a tour into the mountains. Nothing beats that fresh mountain air, a hike or a ski and that Colorado sunshine. I’d first take them to my favorite Sushi restaurant in the country, Sushi Den before leaving Denver. We would indulge in my two favorite dishes, the kobe beef roll and the salmon tartar hand roll. YUM! Then we would head up to Summit County, hit up Loveland Ski Area for some quality skiing. I always refer to Loveland as the dive bar of ski areas in Colorado. After some skiing along the continental divide, I would give them a two day tour of Summit County where we would visit some of my favorite spots, like the Cala, the little Irish bar in Summit Cove where I met my husband. It’s a hot spot for locals. We would continue our journey west to Glenwood Springs, and take a soak and swim at Glenwood Hot Springs before we headed south on our journey to explore the Roaring Fork Valley and Aspen. And if there is still time on the agenda, we would also go visit the southwest side of the state and end our journey in the beautiful town of Telluride. Telluride is probably my favorite ski town in the country. Not to mention, the skiing, the food and the views are some of the best in the world.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my husband. The road to entrepreneurship hasn’t been an easy one and there have been times I have sacrificed time with my family and financial well being to keep the business going. Without my husband’s support, this journey would be so much more difficult. I appreciate him so much. He is the one that has to stay home with our 10 year old while I get to host fun events with my colleagues and friends. If I could have him by my side for every single event, I would. Not to mention, he has been there during the good times and was also the one holding me while I sobbed during the bad times.

Website: https://zapresevents.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/cannajamie

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cannajamie/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/cannajamie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/cannajamie

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