Cannabis and the Race to the Bottom - Branding Bud Live Episode 48

 

THE SUMMARY

Join Branding Bud Live co-hosts David Paleschuck and Adriana Hemans as they unravel the complexities of an industry teetering on the brink of implosion with mounting pressures, including fierce competition, stringent laws, escalating taxes, and the volatile fluctuations of supply and demand. We explore the critical factors contributing to the challenging landscape and the urgent need for intervention with Angela Brown, co-founder of Massachusetts-based Coast Cannabis.

THE CO-HOSTS

David Paleschuck, Adriana Hemans

THE SPECIAL GUESTS

Dale Sky Jones, Cannabis Activist and Executive Chancellor of Oaksterdam University

THE TRANSCRIPT

DAVID PALESCHUCK

Welcome to Branding Bud Live, the live stream that’s 100% THC and 0% WTF.  Every week we bring business people together to talk about the business of cannabis. I’m David Paleschuck, founder of Branding Bud Consulting Group and author of the first book on cannabis branding, “Branding Bud: The Commercialization of Cannabis.” I’m joined by my co-host and BCF “best cannabis friend,” Adriana Hemans, the Director of Marketing at Green Meadows. Hi Adriana! 

ADRIANA HEMANS

Hi David. Thank you for that intro. I’m so excited to co-host the show with you. We’re bringing amazing guests from across the cannabis ecosystem to share their perspectives. My favorite thing about Branding Bud Live is that we focus on building community - and we encourage audience participation. It’s not just about us talking, it’s about all of us building something together. So feel free to drop your questions and/or opinions in the chat, and we’ll share them too.

I’m super excited - and grateful - today for a number of reasons. They are:

#1. I’m grateful to and for our show sponsor - High Hopes

  • A creative agency that specializes in the cannabis industry. 

  • With over a decade of cannabis experience.

  • High Hopes understands the challenges of our industry and helps its clients

  • With better branding, packaging, website design, SEO, and marketing.

  • I’d like to congratulate them on their recent CLIO Award win

  • Be sure to check them out at: ivegothigherhopes.com

#2. We just launched two online courses on cannabis branding and brand development and have received such great feedback, that we’re going to keep offering up more courses! Please check them out and more at cannabis’s best-kept secret www.brandingbud.com/edu. We’ll throw up a direct link shortly.

#3.  Last but not least, our guest today is Angela Brown, Cofounder and CEO of Coast Cannabis based in Massachusetts and we’ll be chatting about “Cannabis And The Race To The Bottom.” 

Some of the questions we’ll be discussing are:

  • How have tax laws impacted the overall sustainability of cannabis businesses?

  • What factors have contributed to the volatile nature of supply and demand in the industry?

  • How can brands maintain quality standards and differentiation while facing pricing pressures?

I’m super excited about all the things that are going on and I’m super excited to chat with Angela today. 

ADRIANA HEMANS

Me too! 

DAVID PALESCHUCK

Let’s welcome, Angela Brown, Cofounder and CEO of Coast Cannabis. Welcome, Angela! 

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Welcome, Angela. 

ANGELA BROWN

Hello. David and Adriana, it’s so good to see both of you. Thank you for having me. Hi, everyone.  

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Hi Angela.

Tell us about yourself. What are you passionate about? 

ANGELA BROWN

I'm the Co-founder and CEO of coast cannabis. We are the first independent product manufacturer in the state of Massachusetts. We are very proud to be a woman-owned and family operated. We're excited to share that we recently started distribution in Rhode Island—an exhilarating moment. We focus: our brand coasts focuses on using only organic, Fairtrade, ethically and sustainably sourced, and all-natural ingredients in our products. Well, I think right now, my passion has been and will continue to be for safe quality and, most importantly, reliable cannabis. And that's what got me here today and how we're having this conversation.

I started as a medical patient in Massachusetts when everything got going around 2014-2015. I was very quickly disappointed with what was being offered as a new cannabis consumer, someone who I would say came in a little reluctantly; I have some pretty high standards that I needed to meet if this was something I was going to adopt into my everyday life. And they weren't met. So I turned into my kitchen, and I started making my products. And I needed to find I needed to make those products that met my standards and needs because they weren't at the dispensary then. What drove me to start doing that was I knew how much cannabis had saved me and had made my life better in so many different ways that I needed to have it in my life. It also drove me to this thought of why I started kind of making it myself and sharing it, and then that blossomed into what is now close cannabis. I kept thinking to myself how many other people could benefit from cannabis because I knew, again, I was reluctant to come into it. So I knew there was a stigma; we can't lie; the stigma was real. There's a real reason why people are choosing not to go the path of cannabis and go the route of pharmaceuticals and other standard medicine, such as I did. So that drive is really where it all started. This mindset of this can do so much good for so many people. These can't be the options we have. And that's what got me here, got me going, got me to quit my full-time career, and drove me, so I'd say that's my passion. It wasn't always my passion in life. It wasn't till I realized how fantastic cannabis was and how magical it was in a sense that that passion was ignited. And that's the passion I've been chasing ever since.

DAVID PALESCHUCK

That's very cool. We'll get to this in a bit. You mentioned the quality, which, when you're trying to keep a product of high quality in the market when prices are dropping, that's also something challenging to do. Let some go to our first slide; we always have a level-setting slide, which lays out some of the things we'll discuss. I want to discuss the dramatic title briefly;  the race to the bottom sounds super dramatic or overdramatic. The term refers to a situation where companies, to remain competitive, relentlessly pursue cost reductions, often compromising product quality, labor standards, and other aspects. And the truth is, we've seen this in the industry over taxation. The to add tax. We'll talk about it a little bit later. The exploitation of workers, we've certainly, in particular, this year, had several stories pop up around that supply and demand issues, which I think often relate to when licenses are granted, and how do you control the flow of supply high competition scenarios, everybody thinks the “green market” is the place to be right now, compromise product quality, we'll talk about that, and that's probably a significant issue for you and for those that continue to produce high-quality products. These unethical business practices typically aren't unique to our industry but typically happen when pressures come into play and increase regulatory standards. There's probably no more of an industry that's regulated like the one we're in. So to take the rough edges off around the title of our show today. And then we'll jump in. And we'll get down into the nitty gritty. That said, Angela, would you define the current landscape that we're currently in and give us your take on it? 

ANGELA BROWN 

Definitely. Speaking for here in Massachusetts, I would say one word we could sum it up would be competitive. It is the entire industry is obviously a rapidly evolving market. But in Massachusetts, we are seeing the amount of new brands hit the market weekly, each and every week, we're really starting to see, or I'd say you're seeing new brands emerge. And, and often these brands keep emerging in the market. So every time another brand emerges, and we're all creating some I'd say the same category, headers, right chocolate, gummies candies, and then within those differentiating, but there's only so many brands that can truly hit the shelves. But what you're seeing here in Massachusetts is that one company will put out multiple brands that are kind of producing the same product. And the only thing that really sets themselves apart is when they come out for their wholesale debut, they're coming out at 50 cents, or $1, cheaper than what the lowest price guy and market is, what even if it is themselves. So you're starting to see the race to the bottom start right then and there each and every week, I would say it's almost a little exhausting. The other thing that that you started to touch upon too, is the over regulation. And the high cost to operate is making it extremely challenging for all operators, and the over competitiveness of again, like just putting out a product to put out a product, putting out numerous products and almost cannibalizing your own market. All of this is really hurting the industry before we can even get started. Massachusetts, our first IW store open November 20, 2018. Also the day we got our provisional license, so extremely meaningful to me. But it hasn't been that long, and we had a shutdown during COVID. So to see where we're at already, when you track us against the western states, our drop has been far, far too fast, it did not need to go as fast as it's gone. And that's really led to become extremely competitive. And it's really hard because you can say quality, you can say these things, and then living up to them. It costs money. So the hard part is, is to truly put out a product like we are with organic ingredients, sustainably sourced ingredients, there's a cost to that. And it's very hard when everyone is just making another product to kind of pull the shelf space away from the other person. 

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Is over taxation contributing to this landscape you're seeing? 

ANGELA BROWN 

Well, 280e is huge. It's crushing the industry as a whole. As a manufacturer, we're very fortunate, I would say if we can use that word with 280e, in the same sentence, that we do get to take, I'd say the most advantage since for anyone who doesn't know to 280e does not allow cannabis companies to deduct their normal business and marketing costs like a traditional business can. So we can only deduct costs that are directly related to creating that cost of goods that we're making. So with that, we're seeing some have an effective tax rate of 60-70%. So think about that, if you're giving that much of weigh in, and tax revenue and dollars to the IRS, and then you're you have to obviously pay for your staff. You have to pay to make the product etc., and operate, you can't survive if you're not making a profit. That's business 101. We can't get away from that. I know profit sometimes seems like a four letter word. But you have to make money to keep the lights on to keep the jobs going. And with the over taxation. It's just becoming extremely challenging for companies. And I think the harder part is that we're paying into these tax, that  we're paying our taxes at a huge sharing, we don't get the protection. We don't have bankruptcy protection. So that's the other dark cloud that's looming is this race to the bottom continues. Businesses have to close their doors. They have no protection, there's no bankruptcy protection. Therefore, as a group that's selling into these groups that may not be open tomorrow. There's no protection for us to get that money that's owed to us either. So it's creating a very dark path. Have for the cannabis space right now. And we got to get it figured out for sure. 

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Is it all self-induced? I mean as each company comes on board and into market with a lower price? How does that in the aggregate sort of affect everybody, if it's all price driven? Are there any things that for example, you said high quality, organic or natural? Does branding come into play does do those sorts of things start to come into play? 

ANGELA BROWN 

We're all going to be caught in this race right now. It's the race to the bottom, it's the race to the future of cannabis. I guess it's a little bit of unknown, because we're not there yet to say what is that that perfect price point. But I do think and I do believe that some are going to fare a lot better in this race. And I do believe it is brands like coast and other groups that are putting in branding, right, they're building a brand with purpose, they're building a brand out of need, not just the thought that this is the green rush, and I'm going to make money because we have to stop promoting that that green rush does not exist, or at least I was too late to. But I believe  that it's this is going to be a normal consumer product, normal consumer products that have survived and thrived, have built great branding have built something that people want to lean into, that people want to wear proudly and say that they consume that they enjoy. So I think we have to do nothing different. But we should follow that path rather, in cannabis. And I think a big thing is making it that when the customer asks, Why should I buy this brand, that there's something to tell them, and it's going to help the customer resonate with that brand. And therefore if you have brand loyalty, then you don't always have to compete, you can let those who are rushing to the bottom who don't have that story who don't have that purpose, you can let them fight it out at that, that bottom tier of the menu. 

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Yeah, there's kind of an interesting puzzle on and I'm excited to talk more about where we can maybe see a light at the end of the tunnel with collaboration instead of with just constantly competing with each other undercutting each other. But I wanted to because I think people are warmed up, I'm seeing a lot of comments, jump into an audience participation. And this, I think, will also help to illustrate a lot of what we're talking about, which is like, why the bottom has kind of dropped out or that we don't know where the bottom is yet? And the answer or not the answer. The question is, in January 2020, the average retail cost of one gram of flour was $14.68. What was the average retail cost in October 2023? So we're talking just about three years later, from pre-pandemic to now follow up 2023? So is it A. $12.19 / gram, B. $9.55 / gram? C. $6.06 / gram? Or D. $4.45 / gram?  

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

That's right audience, it's your chance to shine. This is I'm curious to see what the answer is because I think it will be very telling of where the industry is. While the audience is just chiming in here this, in some ways reminds me of the credit card world where we're, you could do a balance transfer at a lower rate. And, and therefore, people were transferring balances from credit card company to credit card company for the low rate, which in the end, did help the consumer, but did not help the overall credit card industry because there was a lower amount of receivables. Yes, and that typically happens with commodities. Right. And so I guess I question is cannabis flour a commodity at this point, as opposed to like, here's a branded product that people really enjoy that people see the difference? It's differentiated in one way, shape or form? But it seems from what we're seeing in the industry, that it's more of a commodity, or it's viewed more as a commodity than it is a branded differentiated product.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Well, should we get to the answer? Absolutely. Before we do, we're about who's going to ask. But anyway, it can wait, Adriana. 

ADRIANA HEMANS 

And Charlene, you guys got it. Right, it was. It's $6.06 is the average. So over 50% Drop quite astounding when you think about those market fluctuations and how dramatically they've changed in just three years.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

From $14.68 in 2020 to $6.06, in October last month. That's, as you said, it's more than 50%. So, Angela, would you just address that? How does a company that sell flower that have seen it dropped over 50% in three years? How does somebody stay in business?

ANGELA BROWN 

I don't, that's tough. And I'd say that that's really the challenging part for our cultivators. And I think here and mass again, kind of touching upon is our oversaturation seemed to happen very quickly. And we saw kind of this big push for there to be a lot of excess flour in the market. So you immediately saw kind of the undercut first. So for that numbers to be the numbers, unfortunately, they are true, and they don't look like they're going back up, I would say how you've remained, what we're starting to see with a lot of cultivators is branding their own goods, if they can. The other part is we're starting to see some collaborations start to happen. So you're starting to see cultivators partner with a retailer or a brand like ours to get their name out there in a different manner.

ADRIANA HEMANS 

And what about consumer preferences? Like have you had that contributed. Do you think to what we've seen, like those trends?

ANGELA BROWN 

I would say with consumer preferences right now, we can't ignore the elephant in the room, which is the economy, right? So obviously, we have customers that are looking  what is the best bang for my buck right now, in Massachusetts, as Adriana knows, firsthand, running for marketing here. We can do discounts and sales and all those things that consumers deserve. There are some unique ways that groups are trying to get around so we can still give customers some of those situations to save. But I think what I really feel is driving this whole race to the bottom, the topic we're talking about is oversaturation of subpar brands in a market and the need for those companies to produce a positive balance sheet for their investors. I really don't think it's the customer coming in every cut, I'm a customer, I always want a better deal, right? I'm Hagler through and through, I feel like you should always ask for a better deal if you can. But I don't think it's the customer coming in every single day, every single week, they're putting in an order asking for $1 off a unit $1 off a unit because they're getting it from someone else. So the key things we're hearing were, of course, the customer is looking for something but I think the hard part is with everyone racing to the bottom. While there may be a customer that wants their unlimited budget, I have X amount of dollars, what can I get with this money. There are also a shopper who walks in with enough money to say I want something that fits my needs and wants. And that's what I really feel is the challenging part in a market where everyone is coming out and just saying, I can if I made a joke the other day remind me of that, like, I can name that song and five I can name that song and four, I can name the song in three, well, eventually, there's no notes, and eventually there's no dollars and you don't exist. So I think we have to remember that as an industry. And that's why I don't I think a lot of it is we have far too many people who got into cannabis, because they wanted to make a lot of money. We have these massive conglomerates. And I really think that they are kind of messing up and hurting the industry. And I feel it's time for a lot of them to go because I think when we talk about building something that's sustainable, that's going to see beyond next year, next two years, it's not going to follow the path that we've seen because the path is proving if anyone's been watching Canada, especially recently, it's not working. These big businesses aren't working.

ADRIANA HEMANS 

We're seeing a lot of like with the investment community, I guess you could call them like speculators, a lot of money came in and 2021 people who maybe were not familiar with the industry thinking that those trends we were seeing in 2020 We're just continue forever. And now they're like I need to get my money back. So how am I going to do it? I'm going to squeeze the consumer, which is obviously not a healthy way to think about an emerging market. That's elastic get on its feet.

ANGELA BROWN 

Exactly. It's really challenging.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Is there a way to educate the consumer is that the next best step is that where we go from here?

ANGELA BROWN 

We're seeing that right now in Massachusetts, we are seeing customers choose our product is not the cheapest wholesale product, our product is not obviously, retail for the cheapest, we're definitely I would say fall higher, compared to the entire wholesale market, because our costs are greater our ingredients or processes. We're not willing to compromise that, like a lot are. But I think that when consumers learn more about brands, because we're out in the stores, we're able to talk to them, they're able to find out more about us through situations like this thank you for introducing me, to your audience. They can find brands that resonate with them, and then they can find brands that don't and say, Hey, I'm going to choose to spend my dollars here, in with this brand over this brand. And that's what happens in every single industry. And that's why I really feel like cannabis is no different. The roadmap is there of how to win over a customer, make something true and authentic, and meaningful, and with purpose, and you'll the customers will come it will resonate with them. And then you just have to live up to those expectations for them.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Absolutely. I always, always say I probably say too much. A brand is a promise and the ability to consistently deliver on that promise, right doesn't matter if it's a value brand or a luxury brand, as long as you're living up to what you promise. And people consistently get what they're looking for. That's what makes a great brand.

ANGELA BROWN 

I mean, yes, exactly.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Let’s jump to our second audience participation.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Well, so that said, let's come to audience participation number two. So the question is, which and you spoke about, in a very polite way about MSOs. And some of the larger, larger companies, whichever MSO, (Multi State Operator) announced it would cease operations in Massachusetts by the end of 2023. Is it a Trulieve? B. Curaleaf, C. INSA or D. C3 industries? And obviously, the premise of this question is that one of these MSOs will be shutting down and leaving the state before the end of the year, which is also a sign because to a certain degree, we're talking about mom and pop shops, if you will, or smaller. As you said earlier, family owned businesses. And now we're talking about multi state operators. So if it's affecting the big players how must it or not it rather, it must be affecting the family owned companies as well? Boy, everybody jumped in really fast on that one. 

ANGELA BROWN 

Well, whenever I can get the ear of our, our commission here in Massachusetts, the CCC, as they're known, as I always say, looks West, read the San Francisco newspapers read the newspapers coming out of Washington and Oregon. Because that's it's telling. It's the roadmap, right? And unfortunately, every time I say that, there's a little bit of, huh, well, it's there. We know it's coming. We can prepare. It's just not happening, unfortunately. I am in the state and yes, the answer is a truly. Alright, they left the state.

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Of course it is they close three retail locations in June 2023. And the plan to cease operations by the end of this year. The stat is from NBC Boston. We always try to call out sources.

ANGELA BROWN 

It really isn't just a little touch on that. I think that's a prime example. Obviously, there were external factors specifically with that one, but I do think it kind of shows that a group came into Massachusetts definitely had expectations of doing certain amount of business here based on what they were doing in other states and, and not realizing the level of competitiveness that existed here in Massachusetts. They didn't I don't think that they had that in other markets. And it definitely heard them from the start even before some other tragic occurrences happened for them here in Massachusetts at their facility, rather. But I think that was part I mean, when we're talking about the race to the bottom, I will say when we saw a few of the bigger grows open, they kind of all came online and 2021, you immediately started to see the undercutting happen. We hadn't seen it before. And it was these huge grows, that just opened and I think again, had certain numbers that they were putting projections to and just pumped out so much product that wasn't needed. And that really sparked it immediately here in Massachusetts.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Just a quick question here. It seems to me that this is all very linear when escape grants a license, they build a facility, the facility then produces cannabis and then releases that cannabis into the market? Is there? Is there a miss relative to when the states are actually offering the licenses up? Too many companies come online all at once or are they staggering them? So all of a sudden, there's no supply, and then they hit a point where there's a lot of supply? Does that come into play?

ANGELA BROWN 

Well, for Massachusetts, we're not a limited license states. So there's no cap that the only cap falls under certain like ownership levels, and then retail licenses and stuff like that. But as far as applying, like we still see people putting in applications today to open a cultivation. So I don't think that we in the very beginning, obviously, there wasn't enough product, but for the sake for Massachusetts sake, we have never had a low inventory on cannabis flour material, since the market has really opened. A little bit different.

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Just speaking about over license over licensure. I'm not sure I'm saying that right. But you see examples of that actually happening. And it sounds like maybe the CCC is slightly more thoughtful than some other state actors.

ANGELA BROWN 

For sure. And hopefully, something takes place because it's not that you ever want to close the license. I mean, everyone deserves this is a brand new industry, everyone deserves a chance. Right? Just because you are first doesn't mean you're the best doesn't mean you should be there in the end, etc. But at the same time, the amount of Capital One has to put up to even put in a license. I do get concerned that are we just creating a lot of false hope, here in Massachusetts with allowing people to continue opening up or putting in for licenses that will never come to fruition and if they do or are going to be hard to become profitable.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Interesting. It's never a dull moment. I'm curious you what are the risks in terms of where we're at from manufacturers, all the way through to the dispensaries? I mean, obviously the risk is going out of business but how do maybe that maybe the answer to that is so obvious.

ANGELA BROWN 

At first thought that's what kind of when you would propose that question. I was like, well, to cease operations if you kind of keep following the idea of keeping up with the Joneses, and as in this case, it's cheaper, cheaper. I guess you kind of touched upon it, though with the moving of the debt. Add earlier, right? It's like if prices go down, the customers winning Yes. But then now you have to sell to x to make what you were making before. So I think a lot are not watching that. So again, the risk then could be quickly, well, little lights go out because you can't be in business. I think another issue that that is kind of emerging from this this price war is that we are in an unknown state of economy with inflation, continued supply and demand a supply chain issues rather, we have to, we can't lie and say our costs are not going to increase to produce our product in the future, right, everything is going up, labor is going up, product is going up, etc. So I don't know how to keep going. I don't know how the industry can keep going the way it's going, which is going price compression, price compression, when outside of the cannabis world, everything is going up. And I don't know how we can kind of not address that. And that's what you're seeing in Massachusetts, we have not seen prices go up once they've gone down. And that's my concern for groups as we need to think about tomorrow, because today's prices might not be what tomorrow's costs are. So I think that that's a huge thing that you face, obviously is again, follow, follow, follow and then you can't keep up because you go out of business. But a big thing I think you miss is that you start to lose your brand identity is your brand identity, just price. I mean, that's really only one component of a story. The four Ps of marketing, right, we know price is part of it, but that's not everything. And that's what I feel a lot of groups now is that they're just they're spending millions and millions to create a value brand that is not being built sustainably. And I it seems like it's going to be a short road for a lot of groups.

ADRIANA HEMANS 

Prior to 2012. Legalization data show two thirds of the nationwide black market cannabis came out of Oregon and Cali there is no 37 states producing their own cannabis. Meanwhile, Oregon, California, Colorado, Washington have only grown bigger, while Oklahoma, Michigan and others have exploded. Thank you for your comment. Yeah, that's a whole other topic that we could get into is like what's going on in the illicit market and like California, there's like, millions of acres, still being grown. But again, a topic for another day. And we did promise at the top of the hour that we will try to weave in a little bit of fun into this conversation, which is a little bit doom and gloom. But hey, let's end on a positive note. Um, Angela, can you share with us a recommendation for a book or a movie or an experience that, that our audience should know about?

ANGELA BROWN 

Definitely. And before I just want to jump on, because I did make the joke yesterday when I was chatting with Dave and I was like, this is a doom and gloom topic. But it isn't if it isn't because I truly believe and maybe it's just because this is the future, I really want is that those who are getting into cannabis, with purpose, those who are getting in to create a craft product, a product that the customer truly needs and will benefit from, we will survive. It is we are it's going to be pain. But we got to hold on. But I think it's showing proof that when groups have come into Massachusetts and have ceased operations, competitiveness is real. And the customers are going towards that. So if you're listening, don't let the shy away from you don't hold your value create something valuable. But a book I recently read that actually kind of goes along perfectly with this is it's called start with y. And it's by Simon Sinec. I might be pronouncing his last name wrong. But it's all about building a brand and company from why but most importantly, keeping that y as the driving force of everything you do. So ask yourself, Does this fit our why then we're not doing it? Does this fit our why? That we're not doing it. So you really stay focused on your purpose. And that is something that is we started this company with purpose, we always say we're building products with purpose. So is reading this book is really resonating with me, and it's helped me put a lot of things in perspective, and especially motivate me during these difficult times when we're dealing with this race to the bottom to say, we have a why. And we're going to keep driving behind that why and that's why I know we're going to be successful.

DAVID PALESCHUCK 

Yeah, that makes sense. And, and now, it's so simple, right? As long as you could come back to why is your brand meaningful and what truly makes a meaningful brand, then that's where you offer value to your customers. It's not about price. It's really about customer loyalty. It's about consistency, and it's about filling the needs that you've promised and that's really what's most important, and I wish honestly, I wish more or cannabis brand owners would understand that. And I'm sure when you're in the trenches, and your competitors are lowering the price that price every week, it's difficult to do that. But thank you for thank you for reminding us of what's, what's your why, or what's our why. And I think I think that's good advice in our life and every day is to think about what, what is our why, and why are we doing the things we're doing. So, Angela, this, this has been amazing. We thank you so much for joining us. I always joke when this is over, it's the fastest 45 minutes of my week. But it goes quick. You've shared a whole bunch with us, really, from the trenches, and really from your heart. And we really appreciate that. So thank you for joining us today.

ANGELA BROWN 

Thank you so much for having me as an absolute pleasure. And it went by a lot faster than I anticipated. I was quite nervous in the beginning.

ADRIANA HEMANS

Thank you, Angela.

ANGELA BROWN

Have a beautiful afternoon, everyone. Thank you

DAVID PALESCHUCK

That’s our show for today. As always, that was the fastest 45 minutes of my week!  We’ll be back next Thursday, November 16th with Ray Navis, Founder of RW Navis chatting about “Cannabis And Employment.”

We’ve recently released two online courses that have received rave reviews. “The 14 Cannabis Brand Archetypes” and “Creating A Meaningful Cannabis Brand” can be found on our site at www.brandingbud.com/edu - and you find the link right now in the chat. Remember to use our exclusive 25% discount code BBEDU25 for our LinkedIn listeners.

Again, we’d like to thank our sponsor, High Hopes – a boutique agency with over 10 years in the cannabis space specializing in branding, packaging, SEO & marketing. Be sure to check them out at www.highopes.co.

ADRIANA HEMANS

Hit that button to register so you don’t miss it. If you miss us in the meantime, you can re-watch today’s episode, or any of our previous episodes, on our LinkedIn page, Branding Bud Live, or on our YouTube channel. Please give us a follow on LinkedIn to stay on top of everything Branding Bud Live.

DAVID PALESCHUCK

And you can listen to our podcast on most podcast platforms including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Spotify. And of course, don’t forget to check out cannabis’s best-kept secret at www.brandingbud.com

Thank you everybody!

ADRIANA HEMANS

Thank you. Bye!

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https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/49fe991a-9424-4dd2-a2b5-30a5cdb8f2f1/branding-bud-live

Spotify: 
https://open.spotify.com/show/3gJDNBDnmaYZz8df5b6JWs

Google Podcasts: 
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kZTJkOTQ4Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

CastBox: 
https://castbox.fm/app/castbox/player/id5462736

Linktree: 
https://linktr.ee/brandingbudlive


Branding Bud Live – weekly productive distractions for the cannabis industry, where business people come to talk about the business of cannabis. 

🌿Find out more about the best-kept secret in cannabis at👇

www.brandingbud.com

LinkedIn | YouTube

David Paleschuck, MBA, CLS | Author & Cannabis Brand Expert

With over twenty years of product development, brand-building, and consumer marketing experience serving American Express, MasterCard, PepsiCo, and Microsoft–and over ten years in the legal cannabis space at Dope Magazine and as a consultant to the industry’s top national manufacturers, Paleschuck has played a part in developing many of today’s best-known cannabis brands. As Founder of BRANDING BUD CONSULTING, LLC, David consults within the legal cannabis industry on product development, branding & brand licensing, positioning, packaging and promotions. His writings on cannabis branding and marketing have been featured in Dope Magazine, High Times, PROHBTD, Cannabis Dispensary Magazine, The Cannabis Industry Journal, New Cannabis Ventures, among others. His work has been noted and quoted in Forbes, Kiplingers, The Brookings Institution as well as interviewed by Wharton School Of Business Entrepreneur Radio; CannabisRadio; among others. David’s book, “Branding Bud: The Commercialization of Cannabis” – the first book written on cannabis branding – is set to release in April 2021.

To purchase his book and/or find out more about his work, contact him at david@brandingbud.com or visit brandingbud.com.

https://brandingbud.com/
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Cannabis and Employment - Branding Bud Live Episode 49

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Cannabis and Activism - Branding Bud Live Episode 47