Creagen Dow was born in Florida to Canadian parents, and holds dual Canadian/American citizenship. Family nights were movie nights, and Dow became enamored by film. He began taking acting classes and eventually landed an agent to represent him.
“My first commercial audition was for Frito-Lay’s Munchies Kids Mix,” he shared. “It was exciting for me and my parents, who were and always have been supportive of my work. My dad said if I booked the commercial we’d move to Hollywood. I thought he was joking, but I booked it, and shortly after that we ended up moving to Studio City in Los Angeles.”
Soon he was fortunate enough to book the recurring role of Jeremiah Trottman on the popular television series Zoey 101 on Nickelodeon. The show filmed for three years, allowing the family to permanently relocate to California.
As a working actor in Hollywood, Dow has garnered a number of credits, including roles in A-List productions such as The Big Bang Theory, Castle, and Rizzoli & Isles. His more recent efforts include a part in Geico’s Horror Movie commercial that went viral.
His Poke A Bowl, on the other hand, has been cast in such high profile television series as the short-lived Disjointed on Netflix and Getting Doug With High.
Weed on Set
His first experience with cannabis came at the age of 16, when he smoked weed from a pipe on a back patio in the family home.
“I ate some stale potato chips – which tasted awesome!” he laughed. “I remember the cannabis looking and smelling great – even better than what you’d see today. I watched the movie Prime Evil with my parents afterwards, and it was great.”
Ironically, it was the entertainment industry that led Dow to add cannabis to his lifestyle. While working on the set of a Christian film, no less, he was offered cannabis to smoke by a co-star.
“He told me he used cannabis to relax after a big day on set, which can be a long and often boring 15-hour day,” he explained. “Not a lot to do on set, and many people smoke cigarettes – and weed. I had never really thought of cannabis in that way – as something to use to unwind. I always thought it was more of a social thing, a party experience.”
Dow said he began trying different cultivars to see which ones would work best for him.
“I found some would help uplift me, while others would help me unwind,” he said. “After a lot of trial and error I found the ones that best suit me, and now I include them in my lifestyle regularly.”
One Team, One Dream
As he continued to smoke, he realized a problem to be solved – how to remove ash and resin from a pipe without making a big, sticky mess.
“It’s a dirty process. It smells, and everything gets all over the place,” he said. “My girlfriend at the time hated ruining her nails and other utensils while attempting to clean the bowl or pipe after smoking. No matter how you clean a bowl, you always seem to have resin on your fingers – or in nails, as was my girlfriend’s case.”
Making his girlfriend happy became a priority, and Dow said he got busy designing his Poke A Bowl ash receptacle.
“The cleaning spike makes it easy – you don’t have to touch the bowl at all,” he continued. “The spike is thin enough to clean the bowl, not clog it, as some thicker pokers can push down ash into the pipe. It also has a lid so you don’t have to see or smell the contents.”
Getting it manufactured was another story altogether, as this actor had no experience in bringing a product to market. He soon brought a team together that could see the product through to reality.
“I’m an actor and have never been involved with developing a product or manufacturing, so I realized when I came up with Poke A Bowl I had to surround myself with individuals that had experience in all the areas I did not,” he explained. “The first thing I did was find an intellectual property attorney, and they advised me on what to do to help protect my idea and subsequent product.”
Dow also partnered with a manufacturing company to assist with materials needed to develop a prototype – a long process getting to the products he has today.
“I’ve got a team assembled now to assist with all the many facts of running a business – customer service, marketing, sales, and packaging,” he said. “I would not be able to pull this off without them. One team, one dream.”
A Clean Stash
“Some people have a glass of wine at the end of the day to calm down after a long workday, or a nightcap to relax before bedtime,” he said. “I use cannabis. Working on set can be long and sometimes grueling, and running my business is a 24/7 thing, so, a nice bowl of Canndescent’s Calm when I’m done can be a perfect fit. For me, it does exactly as the name suggests.”
Canndescent is one of the leading flower brands in California, specializing in hand trimmed proprietary genetics. The company is a seed to shelf processor, with five signature products for varying effects, Calm, Cruise, Create, Connect, and Charge.
His Poke A Bowl sits prominently in his stash. A Bic lighter is also in the mix with a hemp wick. Attached to the bottom of the lighter is an Ashmasher, another one of those items I use every day to pack my bowls. In the middle of the photo is 1/8 of Canndescent’s Cruise.
“I’ve got a Louis Vuitton [themed] bong because I love the design house,” he shared. “Behind that, I have a Pac ‘n Sho by Poke A Bowl that I use to hold my bowl when I pack it. It’s also really cool if you have expensive glass bowls that you just want to show off.”
He’s also got a Canndescent pre-roll, Calm.
“I recently shared a Calm pre-roll with one of my co-founders during a smoke sesh,” he said. “This led to an evening of watching Nicholas Cage’s latest film, Kill Chain. A testament to Canndescent, we would not have made it through the entire film had it not been for that great cannabis – sorry, Nick.”
Dow uses an electric grinder for ease, and says it’s a beast.
“You can drop a big nug in there and it will just tear it all to shreds without having to get my fingers sticky. It also creates a nice collection of kief, which is always an added bonus.”
He uses the Poke A Bowl box ashtray when he’s on the go. The Dome is used at home.
“The crazy thing about the Poke A Bowl is that I use it after every bowl smoked,” he surmised. “There’s not a bowl I smoke that I don’t poke! The Poke A Bowl is what the corkscrew is to a wine drinker – every stash needs one!”
