Community Highlights: Meet Laura LaMoure of Doobie Tray Lady

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura LaMoure.

Hi Laura, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In 2018 I returned to school and earned my AAS in Welding Technology from Mesa Community College. I graduated in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic. After that, I enrolled in MCC’s General Business program and was accepted into their Greenflag program. This program helped me start MAZZ Metal & Artworks LLC. I am a fluid artist and was making my own custom welded frames. It wasn’t until I held my first solo art show that the idea for Doobie Tray Lady was born. I enjoyed turning my art into functional use and would make food-safe trays intended for parties, kitchens, bathrooms, or whatever your heart desired. So in 2020, after the lockdown was lifted and establishments started to open back up, I held my first art show at a local distillery. All my friends and family attended, and people were interested in my work, and I sold out all my trays. The one thing that changed it all was my fiances best friend picking up a tray and saying, “this would make an awesome doobie tray.” Immediately a light bulb lit up, and from that moment on, I decided I would be the Doobie Tray Lady.

3 days later, I filed the trade name and established my DBA, Doobie Tray Lady. Since then, I have been producing quality rolling trays for cannabis lovers. Trying to make a splash in the cannabis community has opened a new door in my life. I love what I do and would not change anything about it. I am doing things my way, building a brand that people love, and having fun. It has been a relatively short time for DTL, but I have already met so many amazing people and learned so much that it only confirms this is the industry for me. Doobie Tray Lady is bright and bold, adding more than a touch of bad bitch.

I knew that whatever I chose to build for my business, I wanted it to be something I could hand off to my daughter later in life. I have received more than my fair share of odd looks when I tell people what I do. So one of the goals for the future of Doobie Tray Lady is to educate and show people that you can be a highly productive member of society and a kick-ass responsible parent while being a cannabis lover and consumer.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting your own business, big or small, is never smooth. I produce a product whose first purpose is for rolling joints, and I still hit my fair share of challenges. I wanted to bring a product to people that was unique. I never wanted Doobie Tray Lady to be a mass-produced production line product. The world is overpopulated with cheap plastic products mainly sourced from China, including rolling trays. This is a rather large challenge I have run into. Besides being online, we market to dispensaries, and unfortunately, I am met with the larger dispensaries only caring about the markup. I completely understand they have to make their money, too, don’t get me wrong. I had a dispensary manager tell me, “I have soo much cheap China crap in here I can make money off of.” I remember thinking, “yeah, I can see that; everything looks the same, and nothing stands out.”

On top of this, trying to market a product made for marijuana use poses its challenges. Because marijuana is not legal on the federal level yet, you are very restricted to what you can show in paid ads. Right now, we run ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok and cannot show any actual flowers or paraphernalia on the trays. We have 6 different sized trays, so showing the scale on the different sizes is challenging, but we get it done.

As far as we have come in the legal marijuana game, it is still taboo in many people’s minds. Our trays also double as charcuterie trays, or munchie trays, as I like to call them. The challenge is that people who do not use marijuana may love the tray initially but get turned off when they see its original purpose.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Doobie Tray Lady is a small, woman-owned business out of Cave Creek. We handcraft every tray we make and specialize in custom color combinations to fit dispensary colors and aesthetics. We have 5 sizes, all named after sizes of joints, plus our Bad Bitch tray that is a hand laid with high-quality clear quartz crystal sourced from Colorado and a beautiful black and silver surface. Our sizes are smallest to largest Pinner, Joint, Blunt, and Bomber, and we offer 6 different colors, all named after our favorite strains of weed Fire OG, Blueberry, Purple Haze, Pink Panther, Skunk #1, and Green Crack. Our woods range from Acacia to Black Walnut. Every tray has its reusable canvas bag, marijuana leaf charm, certificate of authenticity, and care instructions.

We are known for having bright, vibrant colors and producing a trippy visual surface. Doobie Tray Lady brings an element of style and elevation into rolling. Our unique trays are what set us apart. We are not just producing any plain old wooden rolling tray. Each tray is handcrafted, and every surface is crisp and clean. Nothing gets packaged if it is not up to the highest standard. No one is producing rolling trays like these.

I am proud that our brand is different, unique, and bold, and there is truly something for everybody. We take the utmost pride in every single tray that is produced. That means great quality and a stunning visual experience for our customers.

What are your plans for the future?
Our biggest goal as we grow is to bring in other like-minded artists to make some amazing surfaces for our trays and a dedicated woodworker to make everything in-house. Currently, we are working on expanding our brand into dispensaries. We are also looking into producing a line of dab tools and accessories as well as our line of apparel in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.doobietraylady.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doobietraylady/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doobietraylady