INTRODUCTION
A $5,000 stack of one-hundred-dollar bills has a volume of approximately sixteen cubic inches. This means that $100,000 can fit comfortably in an average shoebox. In turn, the cargo compartment of my SUV can hold two such shoeboxes next to the spare tire. It is ludicrous that I should have cause to know the above data points, but they are part of the reality that goes with running an all-cash cannabis business that cannot access the banking system due to its conflict with federal law.
When driving the two hundred miles from Redding back to my home in Santa Rosa at the end of the workweek, or simply driving from one of the stores across town, in my shiny black SUV, obeying all traffic laws while SiriusXM Chill plays softly through the Harman/Kardon speakers, I am just another vehicle on the road. Except for my personal protection K9, Zeus, riding in the back seat. And those two shoeboxes.
That I was comfortable with the “uncomfortability” of carrying $200,000, give or take, in the cargo compartment of my vehicle on any given day of the week is not in any way, shape, or form normal. While this may certainly have been an unconventional way to diversify my assets, it was also insane, preposterous, and completely unsafe.
Ironically, my entering the cannabis industry was never about the money. Most people will not believe me when I say that I didn’t get into this industry to become rich. That is the stereotype, but those who know me well understand that I have never been motivated by money.
So, if not for the money, then why did I do it?
Why did I exchange my well-paying corporate job for the risk of starting such a highly controversial small business in a staunchly conservative part of Northern California?
Why did I make the decision to open a cannabis store seven years before full legalization, during a time in which the industry was truly another Wild West?
To see if I could.
And while that is definitely part of the answer, it is also a gross oversimplification.
The unconventional spirit that has been at my core for as long as I can remember was in the driver’s seat again, and I knew it would be one hell of a ride. Even the fact that I wanted to run my own business defied convention, given that my degree is in English, not business. I’m a word nerd, not a number cruncher, for f’s sake. In fact, “unconventional” is quite possibly the single best word that describes not only who I am but also the way in which I have pursued my vision, built my businesses, and ultimately how I have sculpted my life, before, during, and beyond cannabis.
Starting with the launch of my first store in 2009, even knowing that I was starting down a path that was sure to be fraught with challenges, I never could have imagined the fantastic journey that was to follow.
This is the story of that journey; a journey of the incidents that molded me, the laws that guided me, the people who helped and inspired me. It is also the story of the principles that I learned, honed, and refined over the course of my journey as an unlikely entrepreneur in an industry that was taking shape on the fly.
But, above all else, this is a story about never—even in the face of overwhelming, oftentimes seemingly insurmountable odds—giving up on yourself or your vision.
Come with me and experience this incredible cannabis adventure—one that, like any journey, began with a road . . .
