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Connector Spotlight: Vanessa Oliver on Plant-Based Wellness, Storytelling, and Real Connection

Vanessa Oliver started by bringing cannabis education to her son’s PTA. Now she runs Cloud 9 Studios and the Cannaluxxe Wellness Experience in Las Vegas, building spaces where people let their guard down.

Connector Spotlight: Vanessa Oliver on Plant-Based Wellness, Storytelling, and Real Connection
Vanessa Oliver, out in the sunshine with her mini-me. (Image credit: Vanessa Oliver)

Vanessa Oliver’s favorite moment at any event is the one that can’t be scheduled: the moment people let their guard down.

It might happen during a guided meditation, a creative activity, or a conversation between two strangers who suddenly realize they have more in common than they imagined. Vanessa, a Las Vegas-based founder, producer, and Connector in The Skin Deep community, has spent her career building the conditions for those moments.

Who Is Vanessa Oliver

Vanessa’s background is in digital media and storytelling. She spent a decade producing content for the film and gaming industries before moving into experiential marketing and live event production. Over time, that work became something more personal and more purposeful.

It started simply. During the pandemic, she wanted to bring real cannabis education to her son’s PTA, at a moment when people were desperate for trusted information and had nowhere to turn. She used a Montessori-inspired format, and watching the lightbulbs go off in the room told her everything she needed to know. The way we learn as children, she realized, is still how we process as adults: through experience, environment, and storytelling. That insight became the foundation for Cannaluxxe Wellness Experiences.

Through that work, she kept meeting brand operators of color with powerful products and real missions who couldn’t access the consumer market. The regulatory restrictions were one barrier. The lack of infrastructure, messaging, and pathways was another. She wasn’t willing to let those brands get left behind, and that’s what expanded Cloud 9 Studios into the experiential media studio it is today: a business that helps emerging and impacted brands build meaningful relationships with consumers through strategic partnerships, brand storytelling, and immersive experiences.

Cannaluxxe Wellness is the consumer-facing side of that vision, a platform for plant medicine education, wellness, hospitality, and community lifestyle. Together, Vanessa says, they’re how she’s building the bridge between brands that deserve to be seen and the people who need them.

What Inspires Her

Vanessa is a mother of two and a caregiver to her grandmother and elderly aunt. She carries a lot, she says, and so do the people she serves. That’s where her passion lives.

She’s always been fascinated by how environments, relationships, and experiences shape the way we think, feel, and move through the world. Her background in psychology and storytelling taught her that people connect best through emotion, curiosity, and the feeling of being truly understood. As she became more involved in plant-based wellness, she kept seeing the same gap: people were hungry for education and community, but the spaces that existed didn’t feel safe, relatable, or built for them.

So she set out to create environments where people can explore their own version of wellness without judgment, build real fluency around holistic health, and feel like they belong. One belief sits at the heart of everything she builds: connection and compassion are among the most powerful things we can offer another human being.

How She Found The Skin Deep

Vanessa was introduced to The Skin Deep through our team, and she says she recognized the connection immediately. So much of our daily communication happens on the surface, she points out. The most transformative moments she witnesses, in her community, at her events, and with her clients, happen when people feel safe enough to be vulnerable, curious, and genuinely present with one another. That’s the environment her studio works to create.

What drew her in was the intentionality behind our approach. In her words, The Skin Deep is creating the conditions for real conversations to exist, which is rare, and which lines up with how she thinks about experiential design. She sees an opportunity to bring The Skin Deep into spaces where people are already opening themselves up to new experiences and perspectives, and she calls adding a tool that invites deeper reflection and authentic connection a natural extension of what she’s already building.

Curious what that could look like? Browse our {THE AND} conversation card game decks.

What The Skin Deep Means to Her

To Vanessa, The Skin Deep represents the beauty and courage of being human. Beneath our titles, responsibilities, and daily distractions are people who simply want to be seen, heard, and understood. As she sees it, The Skin Deep doesn’t try to manufacture that. It creates the conditions for people to discover it themselves through thoughtful questions, genuine openness, and the willingness to be present.

Working at the intersection of wellness and experiential storytelling, she believes our emotional well-being and our capacity for meaningful connection are the foundation for whole-body wellness. And sometimes, she says, the most powerful thing we can offer another person is our full attention.

The 2026 Cannaluxxe Wellness Experience in Las Vegas

Vanessa is preparing for the fourth annual Cannaluxxe Wellness Experience in Las Vegas, taking place December 1 to 2, 2026. This year’s programming brings together plant-based wellness, conscious living, creativity, and community through:

  • Marijuana Meditations
  • Underground Coloring Club
  • Music-centered social experiences
  • Curated wellness brand discovery

The goal is intimate, welcoming environments where guests can learn, relax, explore new wellness practices, and connect through shared experience. Learn more at cannaluxxe.com.

Alongside the event, she’s expanding Cloud 9 Studios’ experiential media and strategic partnership work, connecting wellness brands, educators, creators, and cultural partners with opportunities for meaningful visibility and authentic community engagement. One area she’s especially invested in right now is programming that supports emotional well-being and interpersonal connection, which she says is one reason The Skin Deep feels so timely.

What She Hopes People Feel

Vanessa hopes people walk away feeling seen, inspired, and more empowered to be themselves. Whether it’s a personal conversation or an experience she’s created, she wants them to feel they gained something real: a new perspective, a genuine connection, or simply the freedom to show up as they are without judgment.

Most of all, she wants to remind people of the inner child who still lives within them, the one who dreams loudly, invests in their highest potential, and refuses to let fear or uncertainty have the final word. That part of us never disappears, she says. Sometimes it just needs the right environment to remember it’s still there.

Daily Rituals and Fun Facts

Vanessa’s favorite daily rituals are journaling, meditation, and running to music. As a mother of two and an entrepreneur, those quiet moments are how she stays grounded when life rarely slows down. She also loves traveling and discovering new experiences with her children.

Recently, she says, life gave her something she didn’t know she was still waiting for: she met the love of her life after six years of being single and doing the hard work of healing. She’s deeply grateful to now share new routines, new adventures, and a season of real joy with her partner and best friend.

“We are a reflection of the company we keep. Choose people who bring out your truth, drown out the noise that pulls you away from it, and never compromise the integrity you owe yourself or those who believe in you.” — Vanessa Oliver

Vanessa Oliver FAQ

Who is Vanessa Oliver?
A Las Vegas-based founder, producer, and storyteller who spent a decade producing content for the film and gaming industries before moving into experiential marketing and live event production.

What is Cloud 9 Studios?
An experiential media studio that helps emerging and impacted brands build meaningful relationships with consumers through strategic partnerships, brand storytelling, and immersive experiences.

What is the Cannaluxxe Wellness Experience?
The consumer-facing side of Vanessa’s work: a platform for plant medicine education, wellness, hospitality, and community lifestyle, built on a Montessori-inspired approach to learning through experience.

When is the 2026 Cannaluxxe Wellness Experience?
December 1 to 2, 2026, in Las Vegas. It’s the fourth annual event.

Connect with Vanessa Oliver

Follow along with her work:

Meet another Connector: DeJa Jovon Survillion on Art, Intimacy, and Getting Curious About Each Other.

If Vanessa’s story resonates with you, and you’re part of The Skin Deep community too, we’d love to hear yours.

Join The Skin Deep Community

Karissa Basalyga
The Skin Deep | Global Community Activator

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