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Industry Innovators

Bill Shevlin: Cultivating Carbon-Neutral Cannabis at 3 Bros Grow

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Bill Shevlin 3 Bros
Bill Shevlin | PHOTOS 3 Bros Grow
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It’s no secret that indoor cannabis cultivation techniques leave a substantial carbon footprint. The immense amounts of water and energy required will make the model unsustainable if it continues unchallenged. Fortunately, by implementing cutting-edge technology and the best production practices, it is possible to grow top-shelf cannabis in a way that’s sustainable for both businesses and the environment. That’s the vision of 3 Bros Grow, a vertically integrated cannabis company in Santa Cruz, California, dedicated to growing the very best cannabis using environmentally friendly processes.

Cannabis Aficionado spoke to CEO Bill Shevlin about the 3 Bros Grow mission, their revolutionary cultivation practices and the importance of giving back to the community.

Cannabis Aficionado: Tell us about your journey through entrepreneurship and how you found your way to cannabis.

Bill Shevlin: I grew up in the Santa Cruz area, and if you grew up in this part of the country, cannabis was always around. When I was in high school, I took an outdoor ed program and learned how to read topography maps. My friends and I picked some locations that were back in the woods, in the canyons, planted there and grew. After school, I ended up getting into real estate development and management. For the last 15 years, I have advised technology and vertical ag companies while working in large-scale commercial construction and renewable energy.

In 2017, I started looking at energy usage in the cannabis and hemp space, as I knew cannabis was super energy-intensive. I worked with a few different companies in the industry — some were small, some were large — and I saw all sorts of issues from the infrastructure requirements but also on the corporate side. Due to my background in vertical ag, I knew you could cultivate and deliver food crops into local markets sustainably.  I knew there was value in being able to do the same thing in cannabis.

I met the founders of 3 Bros Grow — Tyler Smith, ‘CEBrO’; Mark Taylor, COO, and Russell Smith, CMO — at the end of 2019, and formally joined them as CEO in January of 2020. They have a really cool mission to be a sustainable company from day one and had some interesting things they were doing.

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Tell me more about the 3 Bros Grow mission.

We believe it is our responsibility to offer only the highest quality cannabis products at an approachable price and in a sustainable manner. Cannabis is medicine, but we plan to use it to heal more than just people. From climate-positive business practices to community care initiatives, we strive to assist in the healing of our planet.  Unfortunately, the cannabis industry is far from green. There is a lot of waste and a lot of pollution. 3 Bros is committed to leaving this planet more beautiful than when we arrived and vow to put forward our greatest effort in sustainable and community-centred operations. That’s where my background in renewable energy comes into play.

Why is creating a zero-carbon footprint cultivation model so important to 3 Bros Grow?

From day one, 3 Bros Grow has been about sustainability — the founders were pushing the sustainability message in cannabis even before I was around. They grew up in the surf industry and were professional surfers, so they’re very conscious of the environment. When I joined, it was really because we were having conversations around using renewable energy and sustainable energy for indoor cannabis, which is really energy-intensive. Sustainability has always been part of the core culture of 3 Bros Grow. We’re doing some really cutting-edge stuff around sustainability.

What are the sustainable ‘green’ initiatives at your new facility?

We’re creating a climate-positive impact at our revolutionary new vertically integrated facility in Santa Cruz. It allows us to offer truly green practices across cultivation, manufacturing, processing, and distribution.

Our COO, Mark, figured out a way to not use any outside water in his cultivation operations. The 3 Bros proprietary systems and technologies don’t use any outside water for cultivation, which creates a lower cost of operation, and it also has a positive impact on the environment. If you look at what the industry standards are, for water there is, unfortunately, a lot of waste. It’s a problem that needs to be fixed, and we are fixing it.

We’re also implementing a carbon-negative microgrid that generates power onsite, allowing us to lower the cost of operation, and create a climate-positive impact. Again, cannabis is an energy-intensive industry. So even though a lot of people associate it with being “natural” and “clean,” the reality is that there are a lot of fossil fuels that are used to grow most commercially available cannabis.

Thirdly, using our proprietary Direct Air Capture technology allows us to sequester CO2 in our cultivation and manufacturing processes, which we’ll inject back into our grow environment. So, we’re actually pulling CO2 out of the air at a larger scale than we normally would, because we’re not supplementing with standard C02. We’re just supplementing with CO2 that we’ve captured from the air.

Mark Taylor in the 3 Bros grow room

The facility is being brought online in phases and will have a cultivation capacity of 10,000 pounds of top-shelf indoor cannabis. The interesting thing is that our environmental impact is positive, costs of operations are lower and our efficiencies are higher. Lowering the cost of operations is critical but doing them in an environmentally friendly way is even more critical. It really is the best of both worlds.

I believe sustainability should be taking place across all aspects of cannabis. In California, the Bureau of Cannabis Control requires certified hauliers to remove any cannabis waste — like stems and miscellaneous biomass — in a locked drum or container. It’s fairly expensive and very wasteful. We want to be able to take our waste and turn it back into something useful, not just bury it in the ground because the BCC considers it a hazard. So, we’re in the processes of obtaining authorization from the local county government to be able to take our waste and send it to our nursery site. This zero-waste program essentially creates a circular economy, not to mention a healthier soil program for our own growing.

We work with a company who has a soils program, the founder used to be with the Rodale Institute.  They are creating a compost program and implementing regenerative agriculture practices, which has multiple benefits: the crops produce more; the soils are healthier; the local climate is healthier, and those products are typically consumed in the local market and can fetch a higher price point.

Sustainable cannabis growing is all about reducing the negative impact on the environment. 3 Bros Grow demonstrates that sustainability in vertical agriculture can be achieved, that is profitable, and it is good for the planet and good for people.

How does the packaging that’s required for the sale of regulated products work into your sustainability model?

All 3 Bros Grow products are packaged using the most sustainable and environmentally conscious packaging available, like soy-based inks, recycled ocean-based plastics and bio-based plastic or hemp-based plastics. We’re talking to companies that are emerging that are using hemp fibers in this space.

I hate plastic. The amount of excess plastic and packaging used in the cannabis industry is a nightmare. The world’s starting to realize that plastic is going to kill us, and we’ve got to be able to find alternative packaging materials to be able to do it.

I think that as an industry, we need to insure everyone uses sustainable solutions. Right now, it is a little bit more expensive to use sustainable packaging. But in our opinion, it’s worth it to not pollute the planet and delay that cost into some future generation. Plus, I think we should be supporting our own industry to help it evolve — even if it costs a little bit more in the packaging up front for hemp fiber and plastic to come to market. From my perspective, it’s the right thing to do. 

What are the benefits of sustainable growing techniques?

You create a healthier, cleaner and consistent product. You also lower or remove your carbon footprint. And you lower your costs of operation. All three of these are important from a business perspective. You always have to have the lowest cost of business operations possible, so you can have a margin and continue to grow, expand and do what you need to in the marketplace. But from an environmental perspective, you have to do what’s right up front and every day.  

Can you tell me about your community programs, like the compassionate program 3 Bros Grow started during the pandemic?

We want to support the community that’s supported us. Any company can make money, but it is important to give to the community that supports us. We take a portion of our proceeds during a month and give that to a local nonprofit.

When COVID-19 came around, we decided to start a compassion program for people who were struggling. We reached out to a lot of the vendors we work with and we had an overwhelming response; they donated products to us, and we donated it to our less-fortunate customers. Not just cannabis products — we donated large amounts of food to the community, too. We did the same thing when the fires came; we reached out to a lot of our vendors and created a compassion program.

3 Bros grow is committed to supporting the community.

We also support minority-owned companies and local brands that are trying to get in the market. We’ll bring their product in, give them some shelf space, get them some attention through our social media platforms and, most importantly, try to give them additional margin on their products. We truly believe that it’s not just about growing our business – it’s about supporting the industry. It’s about making the industry better.

In your opinion, what’s the most important thing that needs to be addressed when talking about cannabis?

Educating people that cannabis is not a harmful thing – it’s really a helpful thing. I have friends who are veterans who treat themselves for PTSD with cannabis. I have friends who are senior citizens that treat themselves with cannabis for pain. I have friends who treat themselves for anxiety. I have friends that have weaned themselves off major opiates and other addictions by using cannabis and other cannabinoid products.

Cannabis is a crop you can grow in a really sustainable manner and deliver it into local markets where it creates local jobs. It helps people. It’s a healthy product. That Reefer Madness type of mentality has really been politically driven in the past and comes from corporations and the government — they want to keep this plant out of the people’s hands, unfortunately.

How do you think the cannabis industry as a whole can be better?

One thing the industry doesn’t do very effectively as a collective group is get together to push legislation that actually supports our industry. As a united industry, we should be reaching out to the political parties, to demand the legislation that we need that will allow us to continue to thrive and scale. There are still too many people who are focused on their own operations and aren’t spending time thinking about the big picture.

Cities, Counties and States want the sales tax revenues, but they don’t want to create the banking and infrastructure support that’s required for the industry to evolve. You can’t bleed tax money from the cannabis industry but also not have the legislation that supports it. It’s counterintuitive and counterproductive.

The cannabis industry pays a lot in tax, and at the same time think about the job creation that it brings to the community. It’s huge. Somewhere between 250-350,000 jobs have been created in the last few years. The only other industry that’s been on par with that has been the renewable energy industry. But unlike other verticals, we’re not supported, and we don’t have a united voice from the political perspective that will push the legislation that should be in place.

The amount of compliance we have to go through on the banking side means spending several thousand dollars a month in banking fees, cash pickup fees, and everything else. We’re fortunate that we actually have a bank account. Just recently, we’ve been able to start taking electronic payments. But in order to do that, we get charged a 3.5 percent transaction fee that we have to pass on to the consumer. In any other industry, you’d have a normal credit card system that would be half a percent, or one percent — maybe 50 cents. But there’s hardly anyone in electronic payments that wants to deal with you. We’re in the middle of expansion, so we’re talking to multiple different finance groups and capital groups. If this were any other industry, we could go out and get a regular credit line, pay a couple of percent and get a credit line of a couple of million dollars, no problem. In this industry, that doesn’t exist.

What’s next for 3 Bros Grow?

We’re continuing to expand. We’re doing some collaborations with some large brands. We just signed an agreement with Sherbinski to cultivate and manufacture some product for them using our environmental approach.  We are working with a couple of their genetics and bringing them to the products to the market that shows the climate-positive impact. We’re also working with some other brands to make create new products that come into the market in a sustainable manner.

Finally, what are three things it takes to be a cannabis entrepreneur?

You have to be able to tolerate pain; you have to be able to jump through hoops, and you have to be compassionate and, in our opinion, serve the community.

If you’re in Santa Cruz, be sure to swing by the 3 Bros Grow dispensary.

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Industry Innovators

Beard Bros Pharms: Taking Over the Cannabis World One Step at a Time

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Beard Bros Pharms

You could say that Bill and Jeff Levers aka Beard Bros Pharms have created their own cannabis standard. Not only are the brothers master cultivators, consulting for the likes of Kulture and other well-known brands, they are also fierce advocates for social reform, tireless cannabis prisoner campaigners, and savvy businessmen.

Cannabis Aficionado caught up with the Beard Bros to talk about their recent morphing into a full-blown media company, the social impact of legalization, the disruption of Prop 64, and the Small Farms Initiative they’ve been collaborating on with Tim Blake and the Emerald Cup.

CA: Tell me about your journey through entrepreneurship and how you found your way to cannabis?

Beard Bros Pharms: Both of us have been proponents of cannabis from a very young age. We never saw it the way the media portrayed it. Reefer Madness and prohibitionist talking points just never made much sense to either of us. We had always known it was medicinal, non-toxic, and non-lethal. We sometimes feel like we’ve been waiting for the “majority” of society to catch up.

Cultivation of the plant started for us in our teens and has carried through to this day. We have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and the cannabis industry, in general, is all about that. It’s always been a place where people could pursue their dreams and passions, even before it was legal and regulated like it is today. The people who have been in it for decades have had to adapt and improvise to keep up with the changing times as we have, as a community and industry, gone from the shadows to Main Street. To us, this adaptability and drive are some of the very definitions of being an entrepreneur.

What sets Beard Bros Pharms apart from other cultivators?

Initially, it was just our striving to produce the best and cleanest product possible for patients. It was about patients and consumers, not profits. This was no different than any other cultivators out there, but with the commercialization of this plant, it seems we are now among the few, not the many.

What has set us apart since then is our unique perspective and desire to see those less fortunate helped through cannabis and its culture. We’ve managed to stick to our roots and never compromise, even as that has made it harder to compete. We still have a lot of work to do, but we believe in this plant and the culture around it.

Something we realized early on was that this perspective wasn’t necessarily unique, but it wasn’t something people were talking about openly. What started as a way for us to build our product offerings has now morphed into a full-blown media company. A lot of media companies have moved into offering products, but as far as we know we are the only one to do it the other way around: move from products to media.

Beard Bros Pharms

Tell me more about this product-to-press pivot?

Primarily it was the passing of Prop 64 here in California. We realized that Prop 64 made expanding our product offerings much more difficult than it had been previously, so like any good entrepreneur we pivoted.

We also realize that being known for good products in Southern California is certainly a good thing but being known worldwide as a leading source of cannabis news from within the industry is invaluable. We felt we had a good ear to the ground for what was happening in the cannabis world, and really wanted to give a voice to the voiceless by starting the conversations so many wanted to have but were afraid to get started.

So we dove headfirst into telling the story of the culture of cannabis and the people that brought it to fruition as what we see today. Over forty states with medical legislation and nearly twenty with adult-use legislation, each with their own unique challenges, provide us a lot of opportunities to spread our message and thoughts to the world.

Tell us about your product line?

Without getting into too much detail we have scaled our product line down currently. Prior to 2018, we had anywhere from sixty to eighty different products. Starting in 2018 with Prop 64’s over-regulation and over-taxation it has made it extremely difficult and risky to have a product line that is too expansive. So we have gone back to our roots as medical providers. We are currently carrying a high-THC full spectrum cannabis oil and a high-CBD full spectrum cannabis oil that is available throughout California. We also have a full host of low or no THC wellness-based products available nationwide.

We are also currently working on getting a new line of flower products to market under the Beard Bros name as well as under a new name that we aren’t quite ready to announce just yet.

Can you tell me more about the Small Farms Initiative that you’ve been collaborating on with the Emerald Cup?

We are honored to be working once again this year with the team over at the Emerald Cup as so many of our own ideals align with theirs. Among those is the need to support the small, craft cannabis farmers who were immediately and negatively impacted by the passage of Prop 64 here in Cali. These farmers were told that they would have a five-year head start, 2018-2023, before farms larger than one acre would be able to operate. That stipulation was smeared before the ink even dried on the new law and loopholes like license stacking has led to an influx of corporate cannabis operations that can afford to legally grow weed, they just don’t know how and don’t care to learn.

The legacy farmers from places like the infamous Emerald Triangle are quite literally at the root of cannabis culture, which we work every day to preserve and propagate. So, the organic relationship with the Emerald Cup is dear to our hearts at Beard Bros Pharms and we have been loudly promoting their Small Farms Initiative that they launched leading up to the Emerald Cup Harvest Ball in December. The Cup has invited all licensed farms who are under one acre and who use regenerative and responsible standards to apply for one of 27 free booths on the Marketplace floor at the Harvest Ball. These farms will also be promoted by the Cup at the event, along with other benefits that will help raise awareness of these legacy brands.

People look to us as honest purveyors of media and as, let’s just say, “above average” indoor growers from LA. This is another reason why we love the Emerald Cup. Their efforts in recent years, and ahead in 2022, to unify the California cannabis market are admirable and smart. The whole LA vs The Bay or NorCal vs SoCal memes are played out. Anyone in this game who is more worried about promoting their city or zip code instead of their brand and this culture will likely soon have plenty of time to do just that.

What do you see as the social impact of legalization?

That’s an interesting question. We see legalization as a double-edged sword. On one hand, people are not being prosecuted as highly as they were previously. On the other hand, the over-regulation, over-taxation, and the barriers to entry have left so many who have sacrificed so much out of the industry that they helped build. This is an industry built on advocacy and created through activism, and in many ways, it has lost its way.

Just like anything in life, it has its pros and cons. We would like to see the cons minimized as much as possible. We would like to see an industry that allows for the very heart of what we grew up understanding as to the American way: small businesses, craft producers, and the ability for anyone who wants to try to participate to have the ability to do so.

You are advocates of advocating for the freedom of cannabis prisoners. How can people reading this help get behind this movement?

Yes, we are. Let’s just call it like it is… no one should be in prison for weed. Period. At this point, we have been advocates for cannabis prisoners for nearly a decade. We supported it before that but got involved physically about a decade ago.

In our opinion, the best thing people can do is to continue to raise awareness that there are people who are spending tens of years (if not life sentences) for non-violent cannabis charges. It is certainly one of the most egregious errors in our current criminal justice system.

On a more local level find a group that advocates for cannabis prison reform and support them fully. Speak up at every opportunity. Make sure their stories are told. Make sure those still participating in the War on Drugs understand the impacts they are having on lives, families, and more.

What’s the most important thing that needs to be addressed when people are talking about legalization?

First and foremost the main thing to understand is that “legal” can mean different things. “Legal” in Florida is not the same thing in California or Colorado. The distinction isn’t just for consumers and patients either, it is also for businesses.

On the business side, it’s fairly straightforward. What are the barriers to entry? What’s the license structure? Some places, like Oklahoma, are as simple as filling out a form and paying $2500, whereas in others it’s an intense lottery process that can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars just for the ability to try — and potentially fail. Other states fall on a pretty broad scale between these two extremes. Understanding how this impacts businesses, and in turn, consumers is paramount. At Beard Bros, we are against regulatory capture, forced vertical integration, and other protectionist rules that make participating in the market only available for well-funded corporate operations.

On the consumer and patient side the most important issue in our minds is home grow. To us, home growing of cannabis should be a fundamental right included in any legalization method. Home grow allows for those interested to take full control of their cannabis intake. It’s also the key to true entrepreneurship and equality. Home grow allows for experimentation, which leads to innovation, which is the backbone of any successful industry.

Mickey Martin. PHOTO | Beard Bros Pharms

Time to give some props — who do you think deserves respect in the industry?

We’re always going to go back to being inspired by Mickey Martin, an activist and friend of ours that passed a few years ago. The word ‘mentor’ simply means “an experienced or trusted advisor”, and although Mickey certainly served that role for us when we arrived in California, he was so much more than that. A friend, a father, a husband, and without a doubt the most outspoken advocate for cannabis that we have ever met, Mickey was also as business-savvy as they come. We worked with him directly with his Compassion Edibles brand and saw firsthand how he would cut right through the BS that could bog down a good deal. But, in hindsight, our biggest takeaway from our time with Mickey was an appreciation for his razor-sharp truth-telling. When Mickey passed, a massive gap was left in grassroots cannabis journalism and we have been trying our best to honor his legacy and fill that gap ever since.

How do you think the cannabis industry can be better?

That’s a fairly loaded question. There are a ton of problems in our industry. Enough that it could probably be its own article. With that being said we will try to hit a few of the major pieces that we already touched on: Homegrow; lower barriers to entry; legal banking and insurance, and better and more thorough testing

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

Free weed! Ok, so that’s a bit of a joke, but also a very real fringe benefit.

On a more real note, the best part of our job are the messages of support and love from all of our followers, friends, clients, and more. We started cultivating to help people, and we continue to do what we do now for the people.

What do you wish you knew when you started out in cannabis?

Honestly? How hard but also rewarding it was going to be. Both of us have had an entrepreneurial streak for as long as we can remember, but nothing has been as simultaneously challenging and rewarding as the cannabis industry. If we were to go back in time and give ourselves then some advice from us now it would be simple: Focus on the plant and the people. You can’t and won’t ever be able to buy authenticity, but you sure as heck can build it.

What are the three qualities you need to be a successful entrepreneur?

Passion, adaptability, and grit.

Sometimes life in cannabis is hard, and the only thing that will get you through is a true passion for this plant and the community around it. Cannabis is fast-paced, and things change every day, so that’s where adaptability comes in. Grit to us is really a combination of the two, but with a slightly different spin. It’s the internal piece that ensures the first two are always top of mind.

Any advice for anyone that’s thinking about getting into cannabis?

Don’t do it unless you truly care. There are a ton of people here to make money, and it only goes one of two ways: They either sell out entirely, or they fail miserably. This isn’t an industry that many will get rich quick from, and it isn’t an industry where you can just become an overnight success. This is an industry built on the backs of advocates and activists. It’s an industry that has a culture that has been here decades longer than anyone had “weed” on their resume. If you’re not truly passionate about the plant and the people this industry will chew you up and spit you out. It all sort of goes back to the three qualities we listed above.

What’s next for Beard Bros Pharms?

So many things. On the product side of the house, we are going to continue to expand our current offerings throughout California with some exciting deals that we aren’t quite ready to announce yet. We are also working on a new flower brand that should turn some heads once it’s out in the open.

Additionally, we are also in the works of expanding our hemp-derived wellness products from coast to coast. On the media side, we are expanding our original content offerings, growing the team, and focusing heavily on partnerships and events where we are already partnered. Basically… we are setting ourselves up to take over the cannabis world, and doing it one step at a time.

Where can we follow you?

The best and most obvious place is Instagram. @beardbros_pharms is our main page, with a backup at @beardbrospharms just in case the IG police finally catch us. You can also find both of us on LinkedIn under our full names: Bill Levers and Jeff Levers. Signing up for our Friday Sesh Newsletter and checking out our upcoming news show on Social Club TV are also solid ways to keep up with all things Beard Bros Pharms.

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Industry Innovators

Jason Washington: Creating a Global Cannabis Kulture

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Jason Washington
Jason Washington. PHOTOS | Supplied

Jason Washington is a successful entrepreneur both in and out of the cannabis industry. He is also the second person in U.S. history to face a jury trial proceeding on a state-licensed medical marijuana case. His story is a powerful reminder that the most dangerous thing about the cannabis plant is the grey area that surrounds its legal status.

In 2011, Washington’s Big Sky Health dispensary was the largest legal operation in Montana. And despite medical marijuana being legal in the state since 2004, the Feds raided him. At trial, he was found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cannabis and possession with intent to distribute. His judge deviated from the mandatory minimum sentence guidelines of 10 years, instead sentencing the former University of Montana Grizzly quarterback to two years in federal prison. In October 2014, his original sentence was reduced from 24 to 21 months, with the judge ordering Washington’s immediate release.

Washington returned to his home state of California where his natural aptitude for business saw him start several successful companies, including Ignite with Matthew Morgan and Dan Bilzerian.

Fueled by his desire to help those who had been wrongly incarcerated like himself, Washington went on to found Kulture, a full-service cannabis agency with a twist — you have to have a proven legacy with the plant to make the cut. The company has cultivation, extraction and manufacturing operations in five different states: Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Michigan and Missouri.

Cannabis Aficionado spoke to Washington about his loyalty to legacy operators, his advice to newcomers to the industry, and his plans for a global cannabis network.

CA: What sets Kulture apart from other cannabis agencies?

Jason Washington: One of the mandatory stipulations for being accepted or invited into the Kulture family is that you have to be a legacy operator. And a legacy operator suggests basically that you have a proven track record of 10 plus years in the cannabis space. You’re someone that was in this when it wasn’t just the latest “cool” business venture for Ivy League grads.

My directors of indoor cultivation are Bill and Jeff Levers aka the Beard Brothers, who are legacy operators. We’ve been running together for over two years — longer than Kulture has been established. Our philosophies and ideologies align. In fact, their commitment to helping veterans inspired the backpacks in our new clothing line; these are based on tactical gear as a salute to our veterans.

Jason with the Beard Bros Bill Levers (far left) and Jeff Levers (right) and Eric Brandstad at the Arizona facility.

Why is this so important to you?

The pioneers of this industry have not been able to participate in the new legal market. A lot of people have made a lot of money off the backs of those who are now deemed criminals. Guys like me — those with weed felonies or federal felonies — aren’t looking for handouts. To be honest, I don’t know how to solve the problem. I just know that the problem exists.

Tell me more about your new clothing line and how it’s helping to change the stigma around cannabis?

Some very successful brands started with clothing in emerging markets just for brand awareness. For me, it’s about establishing normalcy like any other brand. In California, Prop 64 means we have been able to normalize the use of cannabis as a recreational drug. And as a very beneficial medical alternative to pharmaceuticals and other forms of pain management. Cannabis is becoming more and more acceptable, and it’s one more facet of people’s lives.

I’ve been in the cannabis game for a long time, so for me, the clothing line is new and exciting. Normalizing cannabis is the main reason I’ve launched it. The style is influenced by what my cultivators wear when they’re in the facilities. It ties into the Kulture lifestyle and appeals to a lot of different demographics.

One of the backpacks from Kulture’s new apparel line.

What are your expansion plans for Kulture?

Here’s the thing, cannabis doesn’t only help people in America. There’s a whole world of people that need this plant and our help and expertise. We have to focus on more than just America and more than our little micro-environments. I see Kulture as a 300-person global agency with offices in America, South America and somewhere in Europe or Africa. I see it as a combination that brings together the best cannabis talent in the world. Where the brightest minds come together under one roof to provide the best cannabis for everybody to enjoy.

What’s the most important thing that needs to be addressed when people are talking about cannabis legalization?

The conversation around inclusion needs to be further expanded upon. There’s still a lot of people that are in jail for this plant.

Another problem is people riding social equity but did not serve a day in jail or have never been prosecuted or raided. People get pushed to the front because they say, “I grew up in this neighborhood or I grew up in that neighborhood.” But those who were affected or who served time are not able to obtain a license. For example, I live in California, but my charge is federal, is in the state of Montana. So I can’t get an equity license in California because my charges did not originate in California. I’d have to go back to the state of Montana to participate or to be a license holder.

Look, I understand why states have said that in order for you to be an equity applicant the crime or the charge has to have been committed in that state or jurisdiction. I totally get that. But it’s keeping guys that went to federal prison for cannabis-related crimes shut out. They’re kept from participating from a licensing standpoint because their charge originated in a different jurisdiction than where they reside. Most federal indictments are brought in different jurisdictions than your home state.   

Jason with son Jaxon taken at Taft Federal Correctional Institution.

How do you think the cannabis industry can be better?

The biggest thing is if all these new executives and people coming into the space entered with more knowledge. They can’t get the experience, I get it. But at least the knowledge and understanding of what so many people have sacrificed for so long and went through. Understand the culture. Don’t completely strip cannabis of everything it’s been for so long and turn it into spreadsheets and mass production. Because that’s not what it is.

I get bringing a more professional business environment to the space; more legitimacy, more scientific data and more research-based products to market. But at the same time, don’t forget those who have given you this opportunity. Don’t forget how you got here and the sacrifice that was made to allow you to participate in this industry.

What do you wish you knew when you first started out in cannabis?

The power of the federal government and what substitute asset forfeiture meant. Haha.

What are the three qualities you need to be a successful cannabis entrepreneur?

I think perseverance is one of the biggest. I’ve been in it for 12 years and I’ve seen people come and go who don’t have the character and the stamina to fight through all that you have to fight through — whether it’s local municipalities, competition, or failed crops. You’ve got to be an innovator. You’ve got to be someone who is a survivor and a fighter.

At Honeydew farms

Do you have a career highlight?

There’s one thing that really sticks out to me to this day and it was when we opened the first Montana dispensary. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t 100% sold on the medical benefits of cannabis at first until one particular firsthand account from a mother. I was her son’s caregiver; her son was 13 or 14 years old and was epileptic. She came in one day and broke down crying because she didn’t have to go to the streets for cannabis anymore. She said, “You have no idea how much I admire and respect your courage and how much you helped my son. You guys being here and taking care of us has been like God answering my prayers.” It was very heavy and very emotional.

Hearing those kinds of stories and testimonials gave me the strength to stand up for what I was doing and believed in at the time. It still does to this day.

Believe it or not, I don’t look at federal prison as the worst thing that ever happened to me. It gave me the opportunity to sit back, reflect and learn from the choices and decisions that I’ve made. Maybe mistakes, maybe not mistakes.

Any advice for anyone that’s thinking of getting into cannabis?

If you’re thinking about getting into it now, you need to position yourself and prepare yourself for the long haul. You’re only warming up after five years in the space. This is a daily education. Cannabis is unique in a sense, it’s not like any other businesses. You can apply past experiences from other businesses ventures. But the hands-on education that you get on a day to day basis is like no other. 

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Industry Innovators

Casey Georgeson: Setting a Higher Standard for Clean, Green Beauty

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Casey Georgeson

Casey Georgeson is the CEO and Founder of Saint Jane, a luxurious, 100% clean CBD beauty collection that has taken the CBD beauty category by storm since its launch in January 2019.

You could say entrepreneurialism is in her DNA. Coming from the Ernest and Julio Gallo wine family dynasty, Georgeson has spent her career developing beauty brands for Sephora, including Marc Jacobs, Disney for Sephora as well as the hugely successful wine brand, Cupcake Vineyards.

Georgeson is passionate about the powerful benefits of CBD and whole plant science. I spoke to her about her journey to becoming a cannabis entrepreneur, the importance of transparency and the story behind Saint Jane.

CA: Tell me about your journey through entrepreneurship and how you found your way to cannabis.

Casey Georgeson: My family has a history of entrepreneurship. My great-grandmother was a mail-order bride from Italy (yes that was a real thing!) who came over in the 1900s. She and my great-grandfather grew grapes in the San Joaquin Valley with their seven children. At the end of The Prohibition, still in the Great Depression, she saw an opportunity to use their vineyards for winemaking. She took out a $10,000 loan, using the farm as collateral. She gave $5,000 to her sons, the Franzia brothers, to start a winery; and $5,000 to her son-in-law, Ernest Gallo, to start a winery with his brother, Julio.

Essentially, a 4’10” mail-order bride started two of the largest wine companies out there. That story always resonated with me and even though I never had the chance to meet her — I’ve always admired the confidence it must have taken to do that as a woman in the 1930s. My uncle was also an entrepreneur and I learned a great deal from him throughout the years, watching him create a business.

I started my career as a producer for CNN and got into the wine industry as a brand creator where I developed a brand called Cupcake Vineyards. I went to business school at Stanford and interned at Sephora. It was there that I had this extraordinary training in the beauty industry and in product development and formulations. Once I graduated, I worked at Kendo, Sephora’s brand incubator. My role was to sit as the liaison between the brands we partnered with — Marc Jacobs, Elizabeth and James, Disney, Hello Kitty, Kat Von D— and articulate their vision in the world of beauty and that would ultimately lead to the building of their brands.

I had been creating brands for many years and thought I want to create my own brand at some point. It might be beauty. It might be wine. I just knew I wanted to do something on my own, but it had to be a really big idea.

When I discovered CBD in 2017, I first began really thinking about creating my own brand. It all started when I read a PopSugar article on CBD. The headline was, NATURE’S XANAX MEETS ADVIL. I was like, what is this natural miracle molecule? I immediately went to the dispensary and said to the budtender, “Show me everything you have that’s high CBD, low THC.” They showed me all these products that were really crunchy and hippie. Some formulated for the skin, some ingestible. This was in 2017.

Next to all these products that the budtender put out, was a list of all the things CBD was purported to do. You know that list, it’s very impressive and kind of shakes you to your core. Inflammation. Pain. Sleep. Anxiety. Gut health. Sleep. I thought, ‘If CBD does even one of these things, it is truly one of the most powerful skincare ingredients of our time.’ For topical use, most of the products dealt with pain management and were paired with MCT oil, because it was the easiest and it’s what was most commonly used for ingestibles. But, at the time, nobody was formulating with true skincare ingredients that would be at the level of something you would find at a luxury retailer.

That’s when I saw the opportunity. I would pair CBD with other really potent botanicals, that support the CBD mission for the skin, I knew it was an incredible idea. I went deep into learning about CBD and botanicals and Saint Jane was born.

What a journey! Can you tell me a little about the name Saint Jane?

Saint Jane has two meanings.

One, it’s the innocent side of Mary Jane, because CBD will not get you high.

Two, Saint Jane was an actual person in 1500s France. She was anointed into sainthood for healing people. Specifically, healing women, which society would otherwise never touch: the old, the very sick, unwed mothers. She dedicated her whole life to healing. Her story has been very inspiring to us because our products focus on nurturing, healing and we have a very authentic female empowerment story, as well. I have three daughters and the company is comprised of all women.

It’s truly a gift to have Saint Jane’s legacy as a foundation for the brand. Our approach is healing-centric and the way we’ve expressed that through the brand feels very authentic.

How amazing that you can pay homage to somebody who otherwise would’ve been forgotten in the mists of time, that’s beautiful.

The idea of reimagining this woman who was so important to society and culture for her to devotion to helping people, through this modern lens, is really inspiring. I had 16 years of Catholic school, yet I’m not religious. But this has inspired a renewed faith for me… in our own mission for women as Saint Jane.

What makes Saint Jane different from other CBD skincare products on the market?

I think the biggest difference is the way we’ve crafted the products. It’s about the whole plant story and other botanicals that we pair with CBD. It’s not just CBD for the sake of it. We thoughtfully match CBD with botanicals that support the cannabinoid’s mission of calming, soothing and nurturing the skin.  The botanicals work in concert.

We’re also passionate about full-spectrum CBD — the whole plant extract — because we believe in the entourage effect. Rich endocannabinoid receptors in the skin benefit from those minor cannabinoids found in full-spectrum products.

We also believe in higher concentrations of CBD. When we started, there were a lot of debates around topicals and dosages. It felt so instinctual to me that a higher concentration would be most efficacious for the skin. My background in beauty taught me about performance and the end benefit. If your product works, you’re going to have people come back to you. I believe that our results-driven formulas really express that.

We’re also 100% clean. Our philosophy around clean is also non-negotiable. My second daughter was born very small, underweight. It’s called ‘Small for Gestational Age’ (SGA). We were terrified by that because my older daughter had been born at a normal weight. Juliet was shockingly tiny. We kept trying to figure out why and one of my doctors asked if I had been exposed to any chemicals while pregnant.  At the time, I was developing fragrances, nail polishes. So, I flashback to those windowless offices where I was developing those products and I couldn’t tell anyone I was pregnant yet — it was my first trimester. In the end, we’ll never know; it was inconclusive if there was a correlation. But since then, clean has been non-negotiable and if I was going to create my own product line and collection, it needed to be as clean as it gets. My daughter is amazing and thriving today, but I never would want someone else to go through that. Clean is essential to our ethos.

Transparency and testing are the last ones. Trust is important to us. It took me a long time to get comfortable with the vendors and suppliers that I chose when I started Saint Jane. Back before the Farm Bill, it was really like the Wild West. I didn’t know who to trust as I was getting these packages of white powder delivered to my home. Or these full-spectrum extracts in syringes. I went through my own vetting process with vendors. My mission was to find the best of the best. I retested everything myself with third-party vendors and was shocked to see what I received was often different from what the paperwork stated.

That integrity of testing has stayed integral to the brand since we launched. We test four times during the supply chain to make sure everything is matching up and that we can stand behind everything were putting out there. Every batch is different and we have to stay true to that dedication to the integrity behind it.

Saint Jane has just been stocked by Sephora stores. Congratulations on such an amazing achievement. Can you tell me about that process?

Sephora has been an amazing partner, they’ve been incredibly insightful about our brand, they see our potential, so it’s been really rewarding to work with them. Being in Sephora stores is a huge validation. We’re still so small, still so indie and we are just getting started. Even though I had Sephora experience, I didn’t think they’d take a little brand like ours within our first year. It’s very full circle for me and we’re so grateful for their partnership.

The retailers we work with have been incredibly supportive across the board, too. As a CBD brand, we can’t operate like other normal indie skincare brands with Facebook, Instagram and Google advertising, so our retailers have been our storytellers. They’ve been our platform for brand awareness. We feel so grateful.

You recently announced Dr. June Chin has joined the team as your Chief Medical Advisor. Can you tell me about what that means for Saint Jane?

Dr. Chin is a recognized name in the cannabis space. She’s a longtime advocate of CBD and its healing potential — and not just in skincare. Because we pride ourselves on clean clinical-grade formulas, it made sense to partner with a doctor who shares our passion. She’s just been next level on understanding the power of the plant and has a background in plant-based medicine. CBD is one of the many plant-based ingredients that she’s passionate about. It’s been extraordinary to see the product through her eyes and getting it right as we don’t want to take a misstep on information. We want to make sure we’re architecting the narrative of CBD’s efficacy in the right way.

Who is Saint Jane aimed and why?

I would say we hope to reach people who want to transform their skin, with the powerful benefits of CBD. People are becoming more and more aware of CBD’s potential and we have an extensive range of customers who use it and are loyal to us. Luxury Beauty Serum is our hero product and it’s focused on skin condition and treatment. It has 20 botanicals that all focus on reducing irritation, balancing and detoxifying the skin. We have customers in their twenties through to their seventies who are all using our products and seeing results.

If you’re having a bad moment with your skin, it can impact on your confidence. It must be amazing to have made something that has an impact on someone’s life.

Hearing from customers has been the most rewarding thing since starting the brand. I talk about it a lot with my team. That’s why we’re doing it, to help people. And that’s the legacy of Saint Jane that we’re trying to honor.

What’s next for Saint Jane?

We have so many things coming up on the horizon. I have more ideas than I’m allowed by my team to bring to market. It’s really about staying focused and disciplined on what we bring to market, to make sure that everything we introduce meets our standards.

How do you think the cannabis industry as a whole can be better?

For one, there is a lot of product out there that is not being produced and marketed responsibly. The products that work and are responsibly crafted are going to rise to the top and gain customer loyalty. I think as an industry we are architecting transparency and how brands communicate integrity. As an industry, we need to make sure we can have standards that ensure quality, education, transparency and as much consistency as we can with a highly botanical product. I want founders, I want companies, other brands to rise to the occasion, to honor the potential of CBD.

As the saying goes, “the rising tide will lift all ships” and that’s what I believe will happen.

What trend do you predict for the CBD and cannabis skincare market in the next five years?

My biggest hope is that CBD is regarded as a skincare ingredient like Vitamin C or Peptides. That’s number one. It deserves a place in that roster.

Number two, there are so many benefits to the minor cannabinoids found in the plant, like CBG and CBN. I think we’re just getting started in terms of understanding the benefits found in the entire plant. As a brand, we’re looking deeply into that. There are benefits that have not been fully explored yet. It’s exciting and in the next year, the next five, we’re going to learn a lot about the minor nutrients in the whole plant.

People like you are setting the standard of this next generation of cannabis products.

Thank you, we’re trying. And, we are willing to put in the work to accomplish this.

What do you wish you knew when you started out in cannabis entrepreneurship?

I think there’s entrepreneurship and then there’s cannabis entrepreneurship. I would say with entrepreneurship, you have to be so comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. Becoming a founder is committing to a lot, essentially a new life.  You’ve got to be ready to ride the rollercoaster, get used to not sleeping. The cannabis side is its own endless roadblocks, with payment processing issues, advertising headwinds, which I didn’t expect. I wish I’d know some of the challenges we were going to be up against.

Any pearls of wisdom that you’d like to bestow to other women who want to enter the cannabis industry?

Do it. Do it! Do it! Do it! There’s a fabulous group of women as leaders in the cannabis industry. There’s a real sense of community and I think that is unique. It’s very unique in beauty, certainly – which as an industry is comprised of mostly men. There’s so much opportunity out there. It is like post-Prohibition. Think about how many wine brands, alcohol brands, spirits, beer, have launched since prohibition. This is a new time, a new era. I think CBD benefits women so deeply. There’s something about the molecule and women that’s so powerful. It’s a very unique combination. I would say yes….  if you see an opportunity, go for it!

Finally, what are three things it takes to be a cannabis entrepreneur?

Patience. Agility. Integrity. I would say these are the top three. It has to go deeper than just being a market opportunity or a buzzword.  In cannabis, you have to be doing it for the right reasons in order to break through and to endure the saturation that’s coming.

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