Recreational cannabis was still illegal when Nancy Whiteman left her high-paying consulting job to cook edibles in Boulder, Colorado, in 2010. The 64-year-old founder of edible cannabis company Wana is now one of the richest self-made women in the U.S., with a net worth of $225 million, according to Forbes. "I like to say I went from the most traditional industry to the least traditional industry," Whiteman told CNBC Make It in 2018. Much of Whiteman's fortune comes from selling Wana for $350 million in 2021 to Canopy Growth, an Ontario, Canada-based cannabis company. That "got my undivided attention," Whiteman told Forbes.

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Persons: Nancy Whiteman, Forbes, Whiteman Organizations: CNBC Locations: Boulder , Colorado, U.S, Ontario, Canada, Wana