It has taken me some time to find the words to properly articulate the beautiful yet emotional experience that I've had over the past 7 years in the cannabis industry. At the end of everyday it has been worth every single challenge that's come my way, as it's given me so much knowledge and ability to learn the in's and out's of this plant and business.
With every challenge, there were also big wins and beautiful people along the way. I'm truly thankful for it all. For without it, I would not be here in this moment now, fulfilling my true purpose and writing to you.
My intention with sharing my story is to hopefully help any other passionate vendor in this industry to not feel alone or defeated by some of the not so pretty things we go through. There are so many beautiful things this industry has to offer, sometimes the defeat is guiding you to exactly where you are supposed to be and to your true niche'. I believe this applies to all of life. So here it goes...
I can't make this shit up, and I actually didn't plan it this way, but today March 7th 2025 marks 7 years for me in the industry to the date. Just WOW.
My journey began at Goldn Bloom in Golden Hill, San Diego 2018. I bud-tended there for 2 years and let me tell you, of all my time in this industry, that era was the most heartfelt and special for me. I'm from LA and was new to SD, so when I began working there, they all quickly became my family away from home. The bond we all had at that shop and the way we helped our customers was SPECIAL. A very important person in my journey is our boss Marwon.
He created the most beautiful work space and environment for us to love what we did everyday. To all the beautiful regulars that came through those doors, I thank you for all that you taught me and I'm honored to have helped you all in any way that I did. To all my Goldn Bloom sisters and brothers I love you all endlessly and am here for you always. To Marwon, Peter, and the family thank you eternally for all that you have done for me. I could never truly repay you.
During the last year that I was bud-tending, I had began my journey in sales with an edible company and was working in all 3 roles; Bud-tender, Sales rep, and BA.
While this was great for the time being, it wasn't sustainable.
Then, I had a concentrate company come my way and what they were offering me financially, I couldn't turn down.
With the most amazing advice from my boss Marwon, I was onto my next journey.
So, there I was onto full time sales and truly enjoying every second of it.
The concentrate brand I was working with was new to the industry so I was putting in hard work to launch it successfully. After almost a full year launching it and doing great with 3 territories (SD/ IE/Desert) they decided we would no longer be doing concentrates and would be moving onto flower.
This was extremely difficult and terrible timing. We had just gotten the plane to really take flight and then it was over and onto the next, basically launching a whole new product with different branding.
The buyers weren't really going for it because it was mid flower in Mylar bags with no window to see the product and sourced flower that was inconsistent.
Due to this, sales tanked and although I was their second rep they ever brought on and had done so much for them, they abruptly without warning or reasoning laid me off.
Now, this part is really important. (before I get back to the juicy stuff)
This seems to happen way too often in this industry.
Brands will have a loyal rep that's been with them from the beginning, who has planted and nurtured so many seeds for the company, but the moment things get financially tight(usually due to the market or investors pulling out), they start rapidly laying people off to cut their overhead down.
It's terrible, traumatic, and life-altering for a lot of us vendors who have put our heart and soul into building our reputations around each brand.
The worst business move that these brands commonly make, is hiring too many reps for launch, without considering long-term overhead and overall sustainability. This disables them from being able to properly scale the company's growth in correlation to all the output they are doing, without any real logic or data due to being a new company.
Unfortunately, this is also a downside to launching a new brand versus working with an established brand that's been around for a few years.
This, however, doesn't mean that the established brands don't go under too, because they do. In that case it's almost even more life-altering for the rep that's been dedicating themselves to one brand for 5-10 years.
I've seen it happen more than ever over the past 2/3 years to some of the most talented and OG reps who have been in the game from the beginning of legal cannabis retails, some, even longer...It's almost like an identity crisis because you've built all your relationships being passionate about your brand, to now having to take flight and find a new home.
So, here I was, starting over from scratch...
During the mean-time of me finding the next place I'd land, I freelanced and worked commission only for a few brands.
After a few months, I found my next home. What I truly thought was going to be something with longevity, that I was so highly passionate about selling, sadly became just a brief 8 months. I'm going to be honest....this part of the journey BROKE me. I loved my job so much, and I was a top 3 sales rep out of 7. I had gained 25 accounts in 8 months in my one and only territory which was SD.
I also held the record for highest sales in a month 2 months before I got laid off (which my head of sales tried to cheat me out of, but that's another story)
None of it made sense...at all....
Very quickly I was set up to fail by my "head of sales."
My first week I open 3 accounts on my first day. (had to cut all these orders in half due to missing inventory)
When I first was interviewing, I asked what any smart rep should always ask, "how's your guys' inventory?" He assured me that there was a plethora of flower and that it would never be a problem....LOL....in a way it should've been true, because the brand was self-cultivating and we did have a ton of flower.
Where he lied, was on his lack of ability to do his job and take the time to analyze the accounts we were gaining in correlation to how much product the distro was able to actually, trim, jar and send out for us in a timely manner. Let's just say, this was a HUGE problem for our whole team that was on-going.
He also never got us a menu...like what?
For 8 months one of my amazing co-workers and now dear friend would make this menu and share it with the team.
Our head of sales simply wasn't doing his job and was putting all the blame on us to the owners. Eventually, he gets fired, but before that I personally got fucked over by him on another level.
He happened to live in SD, and I truly believe when his job was on the line for the lack of sales overall, that he convinced the owners he could run the territory himself and that they could save money by cutting me.
Mind you, I was so passionate about this brand the reputation I held for myself and the company, that I was personally driving to LA every other week or so to pick up orders and deliver them myself due to the lack of efficiency from the distro. Also, the Brand Ambassador that he hired for my territory came from a corporate industry and didn't really understand the culture of cannabis. I went out of my way to take her to dinners (on me), while teaching her a lot about the industry, buyer etiquette, plant-knowledge, and so much more. This girl happened to be in cahoots with the head of sales and they had a personal relationship before he brought her on. So, when he couldn't manage the SD territory himself (no one likes him and his reputation is terrible) who do you think he hired to take my role? .....DUN DUN DUN, her... Go figure. I was sick to my stomach.
The day I got let go, it was 2 days before my birthday and I was sitting outside Mankind for a follow up meeting. I was so excited to possibly close the deal there that day.
Then, I had the call come in. My heart sank, and I knew immediately when I saw HR that I was about to be let go.
I tried with everything in my soul to not cry, but this job meant so much to me and from the perspective of my co-workers, my buyers, and myself, I had done an amazing job. I couldn't help but cry and ask why?, to that, they told me "legally we don't have to give you a reason" I said that I believe this had to be a mistake and that I'd do anything to keep my job and prove my worth even more. I even offered to give up my salary and work for commission only. They said not likely. I told HR I needed a private meeting and when that meeting came, I told him every single thing about our head of sales and how I felt that I was set up to fail from the beginning in so many detailed ways that I couldn't even mention here...
Sadly, I could tell he didn't believe me and probably thought i was just an emotional and hurt female...
Low and behold, time went on, 2 more reps got let go, and eventually the others banned together to complain to HR about the head of sales and then he finally got fired 4 months after I got let go.
When I heard the news, I felt thankful that the darkness came to light and that justice was served.
At first, this experience crushed me and I completely shut down. But then, it came to me...I always knew I was an artist and writing has been my passion truly since I learned to read and write at 5. I was also the first to read in my kindergarten class. I always knew I wanted to write in cannabis, have my own website/blog and work for the magazines one day. While I was doing sales it was always hard to find time to be creative, but now, God had put me in a place with a little time to try and create the life I've always wanted as a writer.
Although I was burned by betrayal and turned to ashes for a moment...it was always so that I could arise as the mystical phoenix that I've always been destined to be. You too, are the phoenix, so rise from the ashes and never give up on your divinity and ability to dream into this world all of your hearts desires.
If you love this plant and the people, NEVER give up. Keep going and you WILL find YOUR path. The plant and the people need YOU here.
Thank you endlessly for being here and for making it this far in the post. I know it's a long one. Wishing all of my cannabis family blessings and success on your journey.
With all of the love in my heart,
The Marijuana Medium