photo credit:
Alessandra Brescia

Her career has been defined not just by what she’s built, but by when she built it.

Throughout her 20+ year career, April has consistently identified cultural and commercial shifts early—then translated them into products, platforms, and brands that shape how new categories take hold in the real world.

In 2015, she founded Van der Pop, a female-focused cannabis lifestyle brand that helped define how women engage with cannabis. Through original research, such as the Women & Weed Survey, and a distinctly design-forward approach, the brand became a category leader and was acquired by Canopy Growth, one of the world’s largest cannabis companies.

Watching a stigmatized, regulated market evolve from fringe to mainstream proved that consumer education drives responsible adoption and leads to better outcomes for individuals and industry.

Today, April is the founder of SetSet, the first clinician-approved platform for women’s psychedelic education. Through Substack, live events like Psychedelic Salon, and a growing ecosystem of products and community, she explores what happens beyond the clinical setting—where behavior, identity, and environment shape outcomes in ways protocols alone cannot.

Her work sits at the intersection of:

• emerging markets and women’s health

• culture and regulation

• experience and long-term behavior change

April is widely recognized for her ability to see patterns across industries and translate them into strategic direction. She is a sought-after speaker and advisor to founders, platforms, and investors navigating complex, fast-moving categories—bringing a perspective that blends consumer insight, regulatory awareness, and brand intuition.

April holds a Master’s from Parsons School of Design and is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. She lives in Seattle, where she’s usually cooking for her sons or walking her dog Stewie—rain or shine.