How to Build a Brand from Zero | Ep. 04 Ft. Bridgette Cruz

Bridgette Cruz moved to Massachusetts on 18 days of Airbnb money and a job offer with no relocation package. She had a vision for a cannabis brand, a DJ alias, a background in restaurant management and photography, and no funding. She took the chance anyway.

Today she is the founder and CEO of Ultra Premium Gas, a self-funded, LGBTQ-owned cannabis brand rooted in Latino and Caribbean culture. She goes by DJ Gasolina. The brand name is not an accident.

Matt and Bridgette recorded this conversation at the mello dispensary in Haverhill. They have crossed paths since 2023, when Bridgette first displayed Ultra Premium Gas at a mello event. They have both been building in the same market, watching the same industry, and drawing on the same conviction that brand loyalty comes from culture, not from price.

They talk about what it actually takes to build a cannabis brand when your only capital is hustle and relationships. How Bridgette got her first placement at Nudia through a connection made at Boston Cannabis Week in 2022. How Rob DiFazio at CNA saw the vision, took charge, and helped bring Ultra Premium Gas to market the right way, protecting her intellectual property in a market where copying is rampant. How the Whitaker Group played a role in getting the brand off the ground before it had any real revenue to speak of.

And they talk about the communities Ultra Premium Gas is actually built for. Latino and Caribbean consumers in Haverhill and Lawrence. The LGBTQ community. People who have historically felt like the cannabis industry was not making anything with them in mind. Bridgette named the flavors in Spanish. That was intentional. So was everything else.

Worth your time if you are building a brand in cannabis, building a brand with no money, or trying to understand what cultural authenticity actually looks like as a business strategy rather than a marketing phrase.

Topics covered: Building a cannabis brand from zero, self-funded cannabis business, LGBTQ cannabis entrepreneurship, Latino cannabis market, celebrity brand scaling strategy, bud tender relationships and wholesale brand building, apparel as brand extension, cannabis industry collaboration, cultural branding, community-rooted business growth.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Bridgette Cruz is the founder and CEO of Ultra Premium Gas, a self-funded LGBTQ-owned cannabis brand rooted in Latino and Caribbean culture and based in Massachusetts. Also known as DJ Gasolina, Bridgette brings a background in restaurant management, photography, and brand building to an industry she has been studying since 2013. She started Ultra Premium Gas after years of working across the Massachusetts cannabis market and launched her first placements in late 2024.

Connect with Bridgette:
ultrapremiumgas.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Matt Richman is the CEO & CFO of mello Cannabis, an award-winning vertically integrated cannabis company based in Haverhill, Massachusetts. A former Deloitte auditor, he entered the cannabis industry in 2017 after two decades in corporate finance, public and private company CFO and COO roles, and M&A advisory.

Connect with Matt:
linkedin.com/in/matthew-richman-508aa413
mellocannabis.com

Transcript

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SPEAKER_03 0:00

When the Massachusetts sports teams win, business is good.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Business is great.

SPEAKER_03 0:03

And when the Massachusetts sports teams lose, business is good.

unknown 0:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Because now they're upset and they just need more wheat either way. So no matter what happens, it's good for our industry, right? You know, just like in COVID, we're recession proof. And actually, when I was in Denver, so I was running a Canvas Company in Colorado during COVID, and Denver announced they were shutting down all the dispensaries. And the liquor stores. And they said at five o'clock today, they came out at noon. They said, we're shutting down all liquor stores and dispensaries. And so everybody was like, oh shit, right? So we all extended our hours. We were open until midnight that night. We had lines around the block.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Right.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

I mean, I don't know how much business we did. And the next morning the mayor came on the news and said, We've decided that the cannabis businesses and the liquor stores are essential. Are essential. And they're all allowed to stay open. And so not only were we allowed to stay open, then we got deemed essential. So we were able to actually take advantage of everything that an essential company could do. So like our employees could get COVID shots ahead of other people because we were essential. Good evening, everybody. This is Matt Richman, and welcome to the fourth episode of the Blunt Boardroom. Thank you all for joining us today. Um as you know, I'm Matt, I'm the CEO of Mellow Cannabis, and today I have with me Bridget Cruz. She is the CEO and founder of Ultra Premium Gas, which is a LGBTQ-owned uh business here in Massachusetts. And she's been basically diligently building a business and building a brand over the last year and a half here in Massachusetts, despite all the headwinds that we have here in the industry, you know, from whether it's competition, regulatory changes, etc. etc. So I'm really thrilled to have Bridget on today. Um we've done business in the past before. Um let me give her a chance to introduce herself for a minute and tell her you tell us a little bit about her business.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Absolutely. My name is Bridget Cruz. I am a multifaceted uh queer Puerto Rican artist, uh CEO entrepreneur. Um there's a lot of things I do. I also go by the name of DJ Gasolina, which has definitely segued into my whole branding of ultra premium gas. Um, it's really rooted in just heavily Latino and Caribbean culture and LGBTQ spaces that are you know positive for women and everybody that's involved. Um, but yeah, that's pretty much me.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Well, that's a very quick way to describe it. To say the least. I know there's a lot more, there's much more underneath that, and we'll hopefully get into a little bit of that today on the in the conversation. So definitely. Um so I mentioned, you know, for the last year and a half you've been here trying to build your business and driving your business. So tell me about how you got to Massachusetts. I understand you were obviously in New York City for a bit too, but tell me about your path to get here to Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

So path to get here to Massachusetts, it's a it's definitely a a heavily treaded one. Um to say that I'm from Ohio originally. And I say like to say by the way of New York because New York was the place that I really became grounded and rooted in who I was just overall, whether that was me being Puerto Rican, queer, or being a woman in the space, a woman of color in the space of um just everything and having an intersectional identity in New York, it definitely prompts you to and it connects you to a lot of different communities. So I had you know moved from actually Michigan to New York, where I was a GM for Chipotle and I was like, yo, I really want to do it.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

You work for Chipotle?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

I did work for Chipotle for about six years, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Corporate office in Colorado.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Yeah, it's a it's it's a hard, grueling job. It taught me so much. I was a GM and restaurantur. Basically, I was like the fixer. I was the person you would send to restaurants to be able to like increase the numbers, um, have better health standards and whatnot. But after I went to New York, I had one of the busiest stores there, and I was just like, it is way too busy. I had changed the numbers um significantly and improved the circumstances for the team there, but I was just like, you know, there's so much more for me out there. I got into photography, I started shooting for uh Happy Monkey, which is a dispensary in New York. Uh they have a few locations out there, um, but they were really part of like the underground like culture, heartbeat of New York City cannabis, and like that's how they still are today. But they gave me like a chance and a start to just start shooting their parties, and um after that I was just like, you know, I I was really into like the branding aspect of things, photography, all of the the cross-sections of creativity that go into making a brand. Um, I started hustling some some some infused teas and also some infused coquito too as well. And I noticed that a lot of people really love the option of not having to smoke your intake of cannabis, right? And it was a huge relief for people like mothers. There was also a lot of, you know, just um different communities that would come to me for the teas and for the coquito. That I was just like, you know what, I know for a fact that this could relieve a lot of people in a in a lot of different ways. So I was like on the mission of having a brand, and I created a brand called Elevated 333. We threw a big party for it, we made coquito. It was just it was a really good time, and then the pandemic happened, and that really kept me out of you know that space because I was just like, you know what, I don't want to come into contact with anyone who might be vulnerable, that might get sick from whatever I could have it and not know. I could be asymptomatic. So I pulled the brakes on that. Um, New York City got really crowded during that, like just during that time, and it was just like, you know what, I think I'm gonna leave back to Ohio, take a breath, just stay with my mom, even though it you know how that can get um as a grown adult. Uh stayed with my mom and got it all together, and I was just like, you know what, I'm going to start looking elsewhere to live. And I had stumbled on a job at Cure Relief, and I was connected to somebody who was doing the higher hiring directly, and I was just like, hey, are you still hiring for this job? She was like, Hey, there's no, you know, relocation package, nothing like that. So I got the job, and I came to Massachusetts on 18 days worth of an Airbnb, and I took the chance. I know it was the craziest thing, but I I'm so sharp and adaptable. Like, even in New York, like I I never faltered, and I just like always executed. I was like, no, you have to hustle, you have to hold yourself accountable. And I feel like that is the kind of like the base of being a cannabis entrepreneur, is the accountability aspect and just being able to check yourself on everything. I successfully moved into uh an apartment in Hansen, Massachusetts, right at like a couple days before my Airbnb was up, and um stayed with some people out there, moved around a few times, went up to Salem, and you know, had kind of gone through the carousel of cannabis jobs because I find that there's a lot of riggedness when it comes to the aspect of growth here sometimes in Massachusetts. So I was just like, you know, I had elevated 333, and I was like, this is not me anymore. You know, I I'm evolving, I'm in I'm changing as a person. I also see that there is an immediate need for representation amongst Latino and Caribbean folk of all race and creeds and colors, and I just wanted to make sure that I could bring that to the market, and you know, it was actually really funny. Um, even though she's not with you guys anymore, Kayla Fuentes was the first person that had me display Ultra Premium at a mellow party back in 2023. I had a um I had a computer desk that I had made into an art uh display. It was just like kind of futuristic. It was black, white, uh lime green, and gold. I had some flowers over here. I had a phone that had like a tongue out on it, and it was just really, really trippy, and it was just it's a small world, and it's just a really crazy connection, but it's a very small industry. That's pretty much how I got to Massachusetts, and that was the beginning of ultra premium gas.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Yeah, it's definitely a small industry. To say the least. I tend to say everybody's kind of just once removed, right? Yeah. Generally once they start recruiting people, I generally know a lot of them that are coming in for interviews. So definitely that's good and bad. Um you know, um, you know, that's I mean, that's an interesting story. You know, I guess if you could hustle it in New York, sorry, Massachusetts team, you can probably hustle it anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

So say that, baby.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Um, you know, and as you guys know, I am from New York, although I'm a Massachusetts person now, and I do root for the Massachusetts sports teams, except for except for when they're playing the Yankees. Except for when they're playing the Yankees.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yep, I'm I can't say the same.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Um but I will say this when the Massachusetts sports teams win, business is good.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Business is great.

SPEAKER_03 9:25

And when the Massachusetts sports teams lose, business is good. Okay, because now they're upset and they just need more weed either way. So no matter what happens, it's good for our industry, right? You know, just like in COVID, we're recession proof. And actually, when I was in Denver, so I was running a cannabis company in Colorado during COVID, and Denver announced they were shutting down all the dispensaries and the liquor stores. And they said at five o'clock today, they came out at noon, they said we're shutting down all liquor stores and dispensaries. And so everybody was like, oh shit, right? So we all extended our hours. We were open until midnight that night. We had lines around the block, right? I mean, I don't know how much business we did. And the next morning the mayor came on the news and said, We've decided that the cannabis businesses and the liquor stores are essential. Are essential. And they're all allowed to stay open. And so not only were we allowed to stay open, then we got deemed essential, so we were able to actually take advantage of everything that an essential company could do. So like our employees could get COVID shots ahead of other people because we were essential.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

Yes, it's crazy. Um it was quite a wild time during COVID. Business was great, the crime was really challenging to deal with. My dispensaries got broken into every other week. Um, you know, it was quite quite an interesting time. Um definitely. But um, you know, you mentioned one thing, and before we move on to the next uh topic, working at Chipotle, um the restaurant business. Yeah, it's a very hard business, the restaurant business. It is, and I often, because I've been in the restaurant business myself, and I often associate that with cannabis retail.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Oh, same, you know what, same. And I've I've been trying to tell people that there's so much similarities. Like if you can run a restaurant, you can run a dispensary, hands down, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

I would agree, and I think also that the the issues and challenges that you have in the cannabis dispensary with the staff. Yes, not issues and challenges, it's just it's just it's just retail, it's cannabis retail. But if you go into the restaurant business, it's the same thing. Yes. You see the same thing, you're dealing with the same things all the time. So I find that, and like for me personally, as I'm looking for folks to join our company, not this is this is not a recruiting interview by any means. Um but um, you know, I tend to like people who can run restaurants. I also like the hospitality business. Yes, I used to run hotels a long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

So long time ago. Which hotels?

SPEAKER_03 11:45

Sheridan.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Um in the 80s. So um, and you know, I got a lot of great experience from the hotel, and you know, I used to run the front office and dealing with customers in the morning that come down and tell me they didn't have any hot water and they're mad at me, but they're already dressed. What am I gonna do? Right, and so you know, you deal with that kind of situation in the cannabis store all the time, too, right? It's like this fake was no good. Well, what oh I but I used it all. Okay, so anyhow, um enough about restaurants. Let's let's jump back into specifically into Massachusetts. But before I do that, let me drop a quick line and a plug from my podcast. So make sure that you subscribe and follow the Blunt Boardroom. You can get it on YouTube, it's on my LinkedIn page, and it's probably in a bunch of other places too. Um, so definitely do that. And also don't forget mellowcannabis.com. What's your website address?

SPEAKER_01 12:37

It's ultrapremiumgas.com. We are actually going to be remaking that also, too, and dropping some new clothes, hopefully by the end of July, early August. And the lovely Brie is gonna be helping me do that. Nice, yeah, very good, very good.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

We have a lifestyle and apparel brand, as I'm sure you saw some of our stuff.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Very snaggy.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Fun stuff, you know. Um think it's it's it's business, it's all business, right? At the end of the day, because if a business doesn't make money, it doesn't stay in business and you can't employ people and you can't do anything. So we do have to make money, even though sometimes people get mad that businesses make money, we actually have to make money. Um, but we can have fun doing it as well. Absolutely, you know, and I think one of the also good ways to develop and drive a brand is you know, obviously messaging, but having apparel and having things that represent your brand that folks actually want to wear. Yes, um, you know, and that they think is fun.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Right there.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

That's really the hardest part, right? So it wasn't on my script, but when you think about now launching this, you know, apparel brand or apparel line, yeah. What are you doing or what's going through your thought process in terms of like my first thought is will the bud tenders wear it? And but how do I get them to wear it? And a lot of them are also, you know, like half my age. So how do you you're gonna do this? How do you make sure that you're coming up with something that's gonna resonate with them so that they're gonna want to wear it?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

I mean, honestly, like I think about what they want to wear, right? It's like there's a lot of people in this game who don't understand like how the two correlate and also are bill like walking billboards for you when you're not around or you're not around there to talk about your brand, say at a pop-up or anything like that. It's like you give somebody a really good t-shirt, they're probably gonna wear that for like the next couple years. And I think that when I'm thinking about the bud tenders, I'm thinking about you know current trends. I'm also uh I have a supplier overseas that really helps me just have access to any blank that I want at any quality, at any price. Um, so I'm really just mindful of who I get the clothes from first, and I ask myself, I'm literally making things that I wear because I get compliments from people all the time, and I I look at my my style, and it is very unique and it's eclectic of many different types of identities in the United States, in the world, much less the world, right? So I really just try to apply things that I think that other people would rock and be like, yo, that's dope. Um, and it's it's kind of a hard thing to like like quantify in a way, but I understand that there is a certain wave and vibe, and I feel like I've always been the person that has been able to catch the trend before the trend happens and act on it and create that trend also, too, in a way.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

That's um quite the opposite of me. I feel like I'm on the back end of the trends. Um so what's a good point because I think like that as well, but I have to also take myself out of it sometimes too, because I am not typical of our bud tenders, right? Of course. I don't dress like our people in our company. Yeah. Right? I dress like a CFO CPA type of guy.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Um you got your own style though.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

So, but if I think about what I would want to wear, yeah, and I make that, nobody will buy it. Okay. So this is really the challenge, right? Okay, maybe they'll buy one, right? Thing that I come up with, but this is really the challenge, is is and it's not just in the apparel.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

It's in the brand. Yes, it's in the product, it's in the messaging, is how do we actually reach them and connect? In a way that's authentic, right? And it's the bud tenders, and it's ultimately the consumers as well, right? Yeah. Because, you know, we all know, of course, the consumer is the one that buys the product, but the bud tender is the one that sells it to them.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Right. And so it's not just, you know, end-to-end market target marketing of the consumer. We really have to pay attention to the bud tenders in the middle. So um, yeah, and I find that that's really the hardest part for me. That connection is the the styles, right? Like, as far as the business connection, like I mean, my staff and I are I think pretty well connected.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

Um definitely I think they like to talk to me, staff in the store. That's good. Right? You know, um, they kind of like it when I'm at the store. You know, um, they've they're comfortable coming and talking to me.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

You make things better for them or in the circumstances.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

I have a child same age as them. So, you know, it kind of works, and you know, um, and I can help them.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

And I'm willing to help them, and I want to. Yeah. So it builds for a good relationship, but the things I want to wear, they don't want to wear. So our biggest challenge is is getting input for our design line.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Right from others, um, is really my focus in trying to do it. And it also ties into the marketing side of things. So I'm gonna stay off script a little bit. Yeah, that's okay. So dive in. So we're talking about reaching the bud tenders.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

So now I'm gonna talk about marketing a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

You know, as we try to drive the mellow brand, right? Driving your brand, one of the big things for me is to be able to really connect with the bud tenders and my wholesale customers and have them really rep and be proud and want to talk about mellow.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

And be enthusiastic about it.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

So I'm a bigger company, I'm not big, but we're bigger, obviously. Of course. But being in such a small shop, yeah, it may even actually be benefiting you. But tell me how you guys are really, because you are definitely resonating with the bud tenders and the people in the stores. Definitely. I know that my staff, they know who you are, they know who your company is, right? There's a thousand brands in Massachusetts, whatever, but they know who you are. Yeah. So what are you guys doing to make people know who you are?

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Um, I feel like it's like also the the positions that I've had prior to leading up and having this position, is that people have had the pleasure of watching me grow, which is really interesting because it's I was a brand ambassador and a wholesale rep, and I'm still a wholesale rep for Bountiful Farms. Like, I make that hustle happen during during the time, and I think that a lot of people are observing what I've done and what I've been doing, and they respect it because it is sometimes almost impossible in other people's eyes, and it really resonates with like that same type of like, and I will say this like intersectional, like immigrant American message. Like, if you come here and you just like work really hard, you can make things happen, and I think that I think it really attaches to like that message of like you want to see the little person in the game, like the David and Goliath, and Goliath is like knocked down at the end, and it's just like you want to see the little, the little guy, girl, they, them, uh person. You want to see those people win. And I think a lot of people have seen me throughout these stages, and like, yo, I know when she was just starting, or I know when she was just doing this, but like also the bud tenders is that I don't come in and like I'm not, even though I'm an owner, I'm still one of them, essentially, because I'm not Johnny Long Pockets, you know, it's not, it's not, you know what I'm saying? Um, and it's just like people really pick up, like I'm my vibe, I'm I'm I'm myself, I have, you know, my own vernacular, I have my own, I have my own swag, I have my own style. But I think that what's really driving that is the confidence in what I've created. And in order to be a creator that really is successful, you have to love what you do, even when you don't really necessarily like what you're creating sometimes. You still have to be able to run with it and surround yourself with people who are gonna be one honest with you, and be able to give you the feedback that you need to go to the next level. Because I remember when my designing wasn't that cute. I remember when I wasn't that great of a DJ. I remember when those people were like, hey, let's let's and everybody gave it to me with love, and I give things back with love, and I think that's why also the bud tenders really love the brand because it has a lot to do with around the base of love. It has very much to do with my my family.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

That's awesome. No, no, don't worry about that.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

It has a lot to do with my family and just like what the culture that that I come from. It has a lot to do, like all of those flavors for the Diamantes vapes, even though it was Julio's idea who came up with you know, Diamantes. I came up with all the flavors with the nostalgia attached to Latino and Caribbean populations.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

Nostalgia, interesting term to use. Definitely, and it's a good term, actually, and there's a brand out there called nostalgia that's actually done a really, really great job of that with their branding and marketing. Um I was just talking with their marketing company earlier today, actually. Um they're really they're they're they've done a nice job. Um, definitely. You know, from the marketing side of it. So, but so I'm more like you.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

Um earn it, yeah, build it, respect it, right? I'm not a marketing person, um, although I run marketing. Um I'm a finance guy.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

And so I always tend to migrate towards. The substance of the world and the the quality and the reasons versus the flash.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

However, since I have to do marketing, I'm being conditioned that I have to do flash too. Right. Otherwise, just work, right? Definitely. But the things that you described about your brand, right? The personal nature, right, the things the apparel, the style, it's you. Definitely. So this is a harder question.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

And and maybe even a question that the next time we talk, you come back to me with an answer on. You may have some answers on it now, but how do you so this is a I'll call you a celebrity brand. Okay. So right? Because a lot of the brand is around you and your personality and your background, everything that you do.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

So how do you now take that and leverage that beyond just what you can do into building a bigger company? Because when you're out doing everything, right, you're the brand. And so you think about other companies like, you know, we often talk about Vera Wang's business, right? Yeah. And launching a business like that. And she's the she's the person.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

But it's way bigger than the person.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

So have you thought about how you kind of build that business to the next level, leveraging what you started with, but getting that messaging and feeling out through the organization, but not having it have to come through you.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Absolutely. I and I feel like that is exactly what's happening right now. I think that the brand is, it's like, I yes, I'm DJ Gasolino and I created Ultra Premium Gas, but I'm not ultra premium gas entirely alone, one, which is great. Julio, my partner Kayla, love you so much. Uh and one of our friends too, as well. Um, but pretty much it's taken on its own identity, which it's like you keep people hungry for that next step. You keep people hungry for that, and it's like I have the anticipation. Now it's more so of the aspect of funding and continuing to build with what I am making from my business and my revenue from selling pre-rolls and vapes with CNA. Um, it's just more so of the fact that just it's like more so of the aspect of how do I leverage the resources that I already have into, and that's like my map where I'm going into right now. It's like I have those three dots, but the the space is blank at the moment because there's a lot more to do with it has a lot more to do with money and resources than it has less to do with the brand and anticipation, because I do see this brand being of of course a state that you know, in a state that where it reaches other places like New York City, where it's gonna reach Chicago, it's going to reach New Jersey. It's more so the matter of fact of when.

SPEAKER_03 24:53

So uh self-funded company, by the way. Um you know, uh got to appreciate that, right? Appreciate you, you know, and um building the business with your cash flow.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

Right. That's how we that's what we do here.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 25:06

I can't say that we started self-funded, that's not the truth. We got funding in the beginning. I understand that. But you know, since I've been here for however long it's been now, we grow with our cash flow. Right. And hopefully it supports all the things I'm trying to do. Um every once in a while we get a little, it's like, all right, do we have enough cash flow to support these things? Yes. Um, but that's how we run our business here at Mellow, very focused on the profit and very focused on making money all the time. Um she made a comment there that's interesting, and I haven't heard this before. Maybe because I'm just not as marketing focused as others, but you commented about bringing them along with you and them waiting or anticipating for what's coming out next. So, this is an interesting way to build a brand because you're actually building it together with the customers.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Almost like it's like you're playing a game. Like I'm like you and me, and that's the thing is is like building this brand was like getting people to play make-believe with me. Is that I'm manifesting and I was manifesting through, hey, this is my vision, these are my thoughts. She, Brie got on board. Julio was like, How do I get in on this? Because I think this is bomb and I know exactly where you're going with this. Kayla was the one who helped me build it from the beginning. So it was just more so of the fact that, like, you know, when I did get in front of people like Jordan uh Whitaker from the Weedaker group and Mike Whitaker from the Weedaker group, when I got in front of them and I was just like on their couch at the beginning of 2024, eating goat cheese, drinking some wine, having a good day, right? And I was telling them, this is like, you know, this is what I got going on. And Jordan's like, well, tell me more. Like, I mean, we had been friends like for already two years, and I was like, well, this is what I want to do. And at the end of 2024, we made ultra premium gas happen through the ounces and the eighths at uh Cookies and Worcester. At well, the ounces at New Dea and the Eighths at Cookie Worst uh Cookies and Worcester. And that was like the beginning, and like I think it's very, very like people don't understand how much power their positions have sometimes. And Jordan knows the power that she has with what she's doing at New Dea. She was like, hey, this is a really good way to re- uh, you know, leverage a very good thing representing some other very good things, and that's all I want to see. I just want to see you shine. And it wasn't not, it wasn't about like, hey, I'm making revenue off of this on the back end for her. It wasn't any of that. Is that I see that you have a vision and I'm gonna pay make-believe with you, and we're gonna make it real.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

That's that's really cool. Um yeah, I'm I'm you give me some food from for thought, actually. Um every time I talk to a new person, I always learn new things and think of new things that might be applicable for me to use in our business.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Definitely.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

And as we we were always working on our brand. I don't know how I can do this, but I would really love to actually be able to bring the world along as we develop the brand. That would be really fun and exciting. And Bree, hopefully you can come up with some good concepts for me, or maybe Claude and you can come up with some ideas for me as to how to do that. Um absolutely, if you need help, like and I you know we have a couple more things in common, by the way. I don't know if you know, but I'm a DJ too. You know what my name is?

SPEAKER_00 28:25

No, what's that?

SPEAKER_03 28:26

DJ too fat. And then that was about 50, 60 pounds ago, and now I'm DJ less fat. Um so this is what we play with at home. Um you know, so we we like to have a little fun, a little self-deprecating humor is always good.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Um, of course.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

But um, I'm actually I'm a big fan of music. Everybody knows that, you know, I love that. Everybody sees what I post, and you know, my music affinity is is large and my talent is non-existent.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I get that.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

So um I can understand that. So I very much appreciate folks that have talent. Um as a quick pump, everybody knows I'm probably going on my LinkedIn. Iron Maiden's gonna be in town in September with Anthrax and Megadeth, so make sure you're attending and you'll see me there. Um, but uh no, I don't I can't be a DJ, but we'd like to play around with fun stuff like that. And I have a young 23-year-old at home, so you know, this is his world, and he likes that kind of music. And we go to concerts and we've been to Travis Scott and uh Tower the Creator, and these were at Red Rocks in Colorado, actually, so it was really quite awesome.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

That is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 29:31

Tower the Creator was actually a pretty amazing show, and I didn't know who Travis Scott was, I had no idea when I went to the show, and uh, and he was only like 16 then, so that's when I go to the shows with him.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

That's yeah, it was a while ago.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

Um and this is in like 2018. We were in Colorado. Yeah, like 2018.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

He was like at his peak.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

So we we go into the show. This is a great, I gotta tell for a second. So we go into the show, we're in the Pepsi Center, the Cannes in Denver, and um, and you know, he knows I run a marijuana business, he knows I smoke, but I'm not hanging out smoking with around him. You know, we don't do that, right?

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Right.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

And we go into the concert, and two guys behind us start lighting up blunts, and he's like, he's like, that smells terrible, da-da-da. And and they're like blunts for the whole first like 30 minutes of the show, right? 15 minutes later, they're both passed out. I said, See, Grant. I said, that's what happens when you smoke too much weed. Don't smoke too much the right amount. Okay, and there has they were literally out cold, right? Um, but I was really impressed with Travis Scott. That was a very, very impressive show, and I like hard music.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Yeah, so kind of figure out music with some energy. I had no idea what to expect.

SPEAKER_03 30:39

Um it wasn't Metallica, but it was really fun, and I was really impressed. Yes. Yeah, so uh good fun. Um all right, so anyhow, getting back on script because I've got to stay on our schedule a little bit here. Um, quick, quick plug, don't forget to follow and subscribe to the blunt blunt the bluntboardroom.com and follow us on YouTube and my LinkedIn. All right, so moving a little bit down the road here. You mentioned some support from the Weedeker group folks, working with Nudea and the cookies team. Yeah, you know, it's really important to have friends in the industry. To say the least. And we're not doing this alone, right? And I'm big on collaborating with other players in the industry. Um, I know that this has been really a big thing for you in getting your business started.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

Tell me a little bit about some of the other folks that have helped you get the business to where it is today. And obviously, I know Rob at CNA is one of them, who's one of my favorite people in the industry, those are the most important things. And my neighbor as well. So tell me a little bit about that and how these guys will be able to help you.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

It was really, really organic. Um, it's definitely started with my connection with Kim and Cassie. Um, I met Kim and Cassie 2022 at cannabis, uh, what was gonna say Boston Cannabis Week. They were there, I was there. It's like rare and seldom that you see uh Puerto Rican women in powers of position. And Cassie was uh was gonna say, I think she was AGM or GM of the Ainsbury store before she had gotten into HR. And Kimmy had been a brand ambassador for them for the duration, I believe, of her career with them. And they were, you know, they knew about the brand at Nudea. They're like, we had been getting closer at the time. They had sponsored a few a few events. They sponsored have sponsored all of my events since I've started. Um, but we did Feel the World in 2024 at the end of 2020 November. We did a whole uh slew of like different uh flavors and plates combined across the world. Like we had um was gonna say uh what was it oh god, I had it. We had a bandeja paisa that was also the beans were curry like beans, so we love that, and we just melded a bunch of flavors together, but that's besides the point. Um they supported me from like that that first day of me launching and the ounces at Nedea, and I was just like, you know what, I want to bring this brand to Massachusetts, I want to bring this Massachusetts wide. Me and Cassie had always stayed in contact and we're we're friends just chilling, like love Cassie so much. Like that woman is an absolute powerhouse. Um but she had just introduced me to Rob at Nikan last year. And you know, Rob is a very like it's like when people like meet Rob, I don't think they have any idea how or who he really truly is because he is like the most open and like flowing person, and he's like really down as long as there's good logic and reason to doing something, and I really, really respect that. Um, especially with the area that he's in, and that you guys are in, is a highly dense population of uh Hispanic, Latino, Caribbean people around here. So he was just like, you know, the numbers are there. I, you know, I really like the vision. I think it's so fun, I think it's very different from what a lot of people are doing, and it's like kind of like an answer to, I feel like, you know, some solutions that we needed in the cannabis industry and saying an entertainment brand does work. Entertainment brands can, you know, a cultural brand, a you know, authentic brand that comes from somebody's heart can work, and there is an ROI in that. And I think that was like, you know, even though there's other entrepreneurs like uh Chase Stoner, Shayla, that have been doing, you know, thing, which I think is an amazing brand, and like I am in love with the brand. I love the way that it it really um was gonna say plugs a lot of different cultural identity aspects, including women's sexuality, right, and sexual empowerment. I there's a lot of other people, but it's more so I was the entertainment aspect and kind of like film aspect that had gathered around people and culture rather than more so like individual personalization of a brand. So he saw that and he was just like, this is how we're gonna do it, this is how we're gonna order your tubes, this is where you're gonna be. Yeah, he took no, no, Rob.

SPEAKER_03 35:14

Nobody Rob took charge?

SPEAKER_01 35:15

He's like, this is how we're gonna do it, this is where we're going with it. And he was like, he's like, I think you changing the strain names in Spanish, of course, it's like, you know, some people get weird about that sometimes, like, oh, that's not a real name, whatever. And I'm like, who have a little imagination, right, buddy? Have a little imagination, and and realize that attracts people who may not speak a certain language and makes them feel invited at home, and it makes them want to come to your dispensary and frequent there. And I think that's like, and also, too, this the stigma of cannabis in Latino communities. I'll give you a caveat story right here, is that 1994 my grandma found some weed in the back of her house that my uncle had been growing back there for months. She had chickens, she had everything, she had a garden. It was like little, little, little Puerto Rico back in the backyard. And she actually called the cops on my uncle for growing the weed. And she's like, Oh my god, we're going to jail, like all of these different things, right? And when the cop pulled up, my dad's a police officer, he has been since I was nine, when since he was 19. Um, but it was my cousin that actually pulled up, Rudy. So he was like, he was like, Nelson, this is some loud ass shit. And then he pulls off and he was just like, just get rid of the plants. He was like, matter of fact, just act like I wasn't even here. So it was just like, it was just this action of it naturally being in line with everything that I have ascended from and who I am. And I feel like Rob saw that and he was like, No, I'm absolutely gonna make sure that this happens and it happens correctly. And working with CNA, it's like I would have to say a huge breeze because there are so many things that can happen to a smaller brand as they come on, maybe even things with like you know, creative, um cre uh creative property. What am I intellectual property? Intellectual property, intellectual property, and I think that's like you know, they keep the SOPs separate, they really respect what we're doing. There's never any biting, and there's a lot of biting that goes on in this market. You know, one person starts a trend with a certain product, and then five, six other brands try to hop on that trend, and it ends up not being authentic because it's no no is no este el corazon, you know what I'm saying? So you know it's not from the heart.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

I there's definitely a lot of fakers and followers out there for sure. You know, Rob is he's great, you know. Not only does he have a nice business, but he's a really good person. Yes. You know, um, we spent a lot of our time on the last call talking about all the things that he does for the community and the charities that he supports and the veterans that he houses, and you know, I mean we do a lot at Mellow, but in the last place. So look, I I think we do a great job at Mellow, but I brought on the king of community. Yeah. It makes me look bad. Okay. But it's okay, because if you still do a good job and you look bad next to the guy who's like the model, hey, it's okay, right? Um, because I do I do try to follow a little bit of his path and the things I'm doing in the community.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

And show up this show up similarly.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Plus, I'm not from here, and he is definitely local, and he knows the world here. Definitely. I'm learning the world here, and I think I've learned a bunch in the four years that I've been here. Yeah. But that doesn't translate to 40 years of living here and breathing and living everything. So uh, I mean, Rob was involved in the licensing of our store, our original store. And Rob was actually the first customer of our greenhouse that we bought from Jamico. Rob was the first customer when the local guys from Ainsbury built it. That's crazy. Um and he was their first customer. That's awesome. So, you know, he's just that guy, and you know, I'm I'm thrilled that he's helping others out. I know he can, and I know that part of his program going forward is not only to build his business but to help other cannabis brands build theirs as well. Absolutely. You know, um, and doing more support and you know, ancillary services for them. And as you guys know, we do work with CNA all the time, and we're right down the street. Um you know, uh, I don't know what's next. Actually, well, he's not gonna be there, but this last year I missed this float and toke party that is coming up pretty soon. So I got we got invited and we got to we got invited to pay money to sponsor. Um I get invited to sponsor things all the time, by the way. Um no, it's great. Um we love it. I think it's gonna be a hell of a lot of fun. Um Rob said it was a blast last year. Oh, it was. So um so we're in and we're gonna see how much fun we can have down there. Because I think that's the other thing too. It you gotta have fun. You gotta have fun in the industry, you gotta have fun in your work. I mean, it's not as nice as going to the beach, right? I like going to the beach better, but I like coming to work. I enjoy what I do. Now, granted, working eight hours on the retail floor is a little harder, right? But it's not the worst thing in the world. You sell weed to people, you make them happy, you make a lot of money. I mean, my pleasure is make a lot of money. So, because they, you know, they do well. Um, and I'm happy about that, right? For sure. Um, because most of them make more money than people who have college degrees that are coming out.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

So I think that's awesome. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Same.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

You know, so um, but you talked a lot about the Latin community. Yes. Um, a bunch. Let's talk a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Because a couple of things. One, I think with the Latin community in cannabis, there's a there's really two sides to the community view. Yeah, one is absolute hatred. It's not allowed. Yes. And one is very accepting. Yes, of course. So how do you build your messaging into because you can't just say I'm gonna only target the people that like cannabis. Yeah, of course. But you've got a lot of people in the community that really just are against it and have been against it just forever. I can get it. So how do you message that?

SPEAKER_01 41:18

I think that like also too, like to kind of understand where like that polar polarization of uh opinion comes from. It really comes from there was a like you know, a demon demonization of black and Hispanic people, especially during, you know, the 19, I mean, obviously for a really long time, way before that. Um but specifically when you're talking about cannabis here, you're really getting into like uh coming out of the 1890s into you know the 1910s, 20s, 30s, and 40s. And they sensationalize the word marijuana, right? Because marijuana is really not like only the central term for you know weed in Spanish, right? There's mota, there's hierba, there's son creepy, which is a specific type of um, you know, strain of cannabis that comes from Colombia and it's very potent. But going back to this to the main point in part is that there was a demonization of black and Hispanic people because of cannabis, because a lot of people were making their money by selling it or doing different things with it, actually extracting, you know, cooking oil with it, or whatever the case might be, and they slapped that 1936 uh marijuana tax on it, and it pretty much um banned it. And from there, you had a lot of jazz musicians, especially that were targeted, like Billy Holiday, and and a lot of different Hispanic people that would use it as a way of healing, like curanderas that would use it in whether it's in Mexico or um, you know, there's a lot of weed history in the Caribbean, even, you know, Jamaican populations uh that have used it for what was gonna say religious reasons and whatnot. And I think that because, you know, Latinos are mainly Catholic, is that there's like, you know, there's that domination of like this is wrong and this is right, and same thing, kind of like um how the word homosexual only appeared in the Bible um at in in the guise of you know trying to hide other things and like that's a whole different story, but like it was added in to demonize that certain population. So it's like I think that's like the polarization of it because it's like you've seen people go to jail over it, homes are broken, fathers are taken away, mothers are taken away from both black and Hispanic communities, and I say black and Hispanic communities because what a lot of people don't realize that there are black Latinos, there are white Latinos, there are mixed race Latinos like myself, um, and then there is just a you know it becomes It sounds very complicated because it is a a demonized thing that is very much associated with uh was gonna say mixed race Latinos or black Latinos. That makes that make sense. Indigenous Latinos.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

That makes sense to me. Yeah. Um I mean I I think most of the world's mixed out anyhow, pretty much. So kind of look at it like that. Um but no, that that makes a lot of sense because you know the the people of color population has been disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

100%.

SPEAKER_03 44:34

And you know, I mean I know this for sure. I mean, everybody knows we make the joke that in high school I would have won the award for the senior superlative to be the most likely to be the marijuana entrepreneur. So, you know, you can take from that, right, infer from that what that means. But I was the white kid, and I got away with a lot that if I wasn't the white kid, I wouldn't have gotten away with any of those things, and it would have been a much different upbringing and a much different time in the system.

SPEAKER_01 45:04

I don't know you like that, Matt, but I'm also proud that you acknowledge the privilege that you had over your black and Hispanic and Asian counterparts because it's like there is a certain way to use your privilege, especially in this industry, and I would have to say, like, the way that people, and it's like they might not look at it like this, but I do because it's very I very much have been denied several times over this idea because of what it's about and what it has to do with. So I'm like, you know, kudos to you, and I'm clocking it right now, that you understand what that looks like in our experiences as entrepreneurs, like looking at that. Like, so it's it's a huge thing for me that people are taking, like looking at it critically like that.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

And I can't say that I understand it. Of course, but I can say that I see it. Yes, and I've seen it, and it's it was my real world. I mean, you know, I mean, I remember when we did stupid stuff in the park with somebody's bicycle, and of course, my friend who got put in the backseat of the cop car, he happened to be black, right? And I happened to be a white kid and they didn't bother me very much. Exactly. But we all did it together, you know. So um, so I do see that. And you know, so this is I I understand then too, because obviously if that's the stigma that's coming, then push away from it, right? Because we don't want our whole community to be to be considered like that. And I grew up in South Florida, yeah. So, you know, I get it. Um so you know, for me, right? So I'm not Latin, I'm just a Jewish white guy. Um but I've I grew up in Miami, so I really appreciate the Latin community. Born in Miami myself. We actually you were born in Miami?

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Yes, I was.

SPEAKER_03 46:47

Where?

SPEAKER_01 46:48

Yes, I didn't know that. Dade County, Florida, Homestead Air Force Base.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

Oh, you were born on the base?

SPEAKER_01 46:52

Yes, on the base. Big Brat. Big Brat Energy.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

Okay, yeah. Yeah. So I was in I lived in South Florida from 74, that's 1974. Um to I don't know. Not 1874. Right, no. I'm just kidding, 2010 or something when I moved to Colorado. Um, so you know, it's it's it's a different world down there, and it's a very heavy Latin community. And like the thing that we always, you know, we when we came to Massachusetts, I mean, there's some Latin food, but you can't get Miami Cuban food, you can't get any of that here. Absolutely. And you pay four times the price for it here. So um, and I worked, you know, I worked when I worked for Deloitte back in this is like 1993, 94, and my first client was a company called Associated Grocers, and they were the grocery cooperative for all the Sedano supermarkets in Miami, and among other stores. And so it was a Latin grocer.

SPEAKER_02 47:45

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 47:45

And they were my first client. They happen to be my they happened to be a customer of my father, my family's business.

SPEAKER_02 47:50

Nowhere.

SPEAKER_03 47:51

So I knew who they were, I knew the company, and that's how I got involved in it. But it was in Hylio, you know, which is mostly non-English speaking. Yes, you know, and I just had to basically work my way into the community. And and and and the Latin community is wonderful, and it's very strong and very tight, like the Jewish community is as well, right? And so one of the things that I've always thought about and with respect to the Latin community is if you participate in the Latin community, they'll actually respect that and they'll notice that, unlike a lot of other communities. And so, you know, when I was in Colorado in Denver, we were right on the edge of a very big Latin community, and we actually started um putting things in the Spanish newspaper, and we started doing our newsletters and outreach in Spanish and English. Yes, right, and the respect that we got, forget about the business the respect that we got from the folks you're communicating to me in my language.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Right? We don't have to, but right we can. And so there's power in the long end of the long end of the story here is my Haverill store, right, sits in Haverill, right next to Lawrence. Yep, huge Latin community here.

SPEAKER_01 49:02

Yes, love Lawrence.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

And as you know, and I lived in Lawrence, I'd love you knew that. I lived in the river, I didn't live in the normal area where most of the I lived in the river buildings, you know, by accident. Yes, I do. Yes, I do when we first moved out here.

SPEAKER_00 49:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 49:14

Um, and I love living in Lawrence, actually. My family is there a little different. They're they didn't grow up in Miami with me, so they're not used to bars on the windows and and you know, little cafeterias that you walk up to and they don't speak English. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

So I love that they're actually big and beefy, is one of my favorite rests to go to. I haven't been in the middle of the night.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

So say out, say uh shout out to Japu restaurant. They're doing amazing um fusion food. It's uh Peruvian food and uh was gonna say Peruvian food and and and Japanese food. Oh, interesting. So it's it's a really good restaurant, it's small business, love them. Just did some uh DJ'd some karaoke.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

It's probably not appropriate to use big and beefy in the characters in the same time for that restaurant. But but if you all know the movie Good Burger, okay. When I go in there and I drive into Big and Beefy, I feel like I'm going to Good Burger. And and it's hilarious because I'm there at one o'clock in the morning, and you know, I'm I'm I'm generally don't I don't look like most people that are at the drive-thru. Okay. But you know, yeah. So anyhow, Polio Centro is one of my other favorite places to go in New Lawrence, but my family wouldn't go in there. There's they're just different. They're they're like Colorado and Wisconsin, you know. I'm Miami.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

Can I I'll give you some perspective too? Because being from the Midwest, but also being mixed race, you know, my mother's white, my dad's Puerto Rican, I feel like it's mainly just a bias, and also to, I feel like sometimes white Americans don't feel like they have a certain culture. And well, where that is kind of true, there's a difference between appreciation, appropriation. You can appreciate something without deappreciating something and without appropri appropriating it. And as well, it's like I will tell you our businesses, whether it is a Puerto Rican, Haitian, Jamaican, Dominican, Cuban business, we all would love the support of everybody, whether you're it doesn't matter who you are. We love the support because entirely, I would have to say a lot of Latin American countries are very much already a melting pot. And it's like it doesn't matter. Like, you know, I know that there's racism and there's colorism also layered in there, but you know, how I was raised is that you love and you respect everybody that shows you love and respect too. So it's that's pretty much how that goes. But yeah, support small um owned business, Latino-owned businesses in Lawrence.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

Absolutely, right? And so, you know, for us at at Mello, we do a lot for the local businesses. You know, we have the nice porch, we have them come out, they can display their products, you know, get exposure to a lot of customers that they wouldn't necessarily get exposure to. Um but yeah, we so we're so we're we have delivery out of our business now, and we're just starting to deliver to Lawrence.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 51:58

So, you know, Lawrence is an almost a hundred thousand people that live in Lawrence and more than 50% Hispanic population. And there are no dispensaries at all. There's no dispensaries in Bethuen or Andover or any of those towns. Well, we don't think people should be able to opt out, actually, so we're just gonna bring it there instead.

SPEAKER_02 52:18

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 52:18

So, um, and thankfully the CCC changed the rules that towns can't just say they don't want you to deliver, they have to actually go through a process, and so far nobody's actually done anything, nobody's filed anything. So, you know, maybe they'll the Lawrence will put a stink up, but if they do, we'll be far long into our business in Lawrence that I'm willing to go on and take on that battle and we'll stay.

SPEAKER_00 52:41

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 52:42

Um, but forget about all the rules and regulations. I'm more interested in the community. So we're gonna we're gonna deliver into into Lawrence. If you could give me three tips to not screw up my plan to do business in Lawrence, what would they be?

SPEAKER_01 52:59

I think that it's I don't think there's any tips for you to not do. I will tell you some things to do, and I think linking up with some local talent, some people who are well known throughout the community, right? That are you know just doing something different, doing something fun fun. Um one like one person that I know from Lawrence that she's an upcoming rising star in music, her name is Isha. Um she's from of course Lawrence. Uh she is also uh Dominican Haitian woman. And I think it's like if when you support those people who are like those those core staples, those very talented anywhere, right? I think it's like you also have to you have to put on like I'm an ally. I'm an ally to your your your not only your community, your city, but like also to who you are, and being able to um speak like the thing that you said before is like you got a lot of respect because you put everything in Spanish. I think that is one thing that uh businesses in Massachusetts, period, not even just Canada's businesses, is like you know, when you go down to Cambridge, there's a lot of Asian languages, like Japanese, Cambodian, uh Korean, just so many different types of dialects of different languages. It's like you can tap in and say, hey, I'm an ally and give back to the community. Um and that's like when we're going back to Rob, like just showing up for people there, I think is is huge because there's a lot of things that because it is not a community of necessarily priva privilege, it is a community of culture, it is a cute community of oneness, it's a community that also, yeah, it is definitely, you know, disadvantaged also, too, is that I, you know, I don't have to be from Lawrence to know that Lawrence reminds me a lot of South Lorraine, Ohio in the way that it is made up, in the way that it was, you know, you brought in to say the least, is that how a lot of these, you know, mill towns came to be with a lot of you know power behind it is that they would bring, you know, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, you know, Colombian workers, mainly Puerto Rican and Dominican workers, up into the states for it to be a third of a cost of what you would pay a white worker. And then that's where that beef came of like you're stealing my job, like you're stealing. I'm just like, no, technically they're just outsourcing labor. And that is something that someone that looks like you in your community is doing, and it's just kind of like that's where it becomes, you know, that bias comes in and it becomes very dicey of like, you know, I think a lot of us, you know, a lot of our families came here because we were eager just to make a better life out of the situation that we were born into. Period.

SPEAKER_03 55:48

Well, they call that the American dream, right?

SPEAKER_01 55:51

Yeah, they call that the American dream. And it has to be applicable for everyone, no matter what color your skin is.

SPEAKER_03 55:58

That's a great statement. I mean, I I believe in the American dream. I'm not a picture of it necessarily, but I know that my great-grandparents were immigrants to the United States, so they had to start with something. And I know my grandfather drove an ice truck before he got into a business himself and worked three jobs. Yeah, in New York. He hustled to make it in New York, off Long Island. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 56:21

So relatable for for for Matilda and and Luis for sure.

SPEAKER_03 56:26

So that's you know, that's a good point, right? To connect with the community, right? I think sometimes people think connect with the community is a go through the motions type of thing where oh well we'll do this, we'll do that versus actually connecting for real, right? With local businesses. So that's certainly something that I would definitely keep in mind as I'm going into to Lawrence. What what else would you advise me on in servicing to the Latin community?

SPEAKER_01 56:54

I would say um, you know, have people that they can relate to, you know, that can speak Spanish, speak the language, but also understands them even on an emotional aspect too, right? And and and can anticipate the needs, right? Because there's going to be a lot of people, like, hey, if especially if it's a branded car, there's gonna be a lot of people. No branding on that. Okay, well, no branding on that. Well, you know, but they'll see people around, and people will be like, you know, este carro, you know, when it's sending that. Like, they're not from here, so like who are they? What are they bringing to the community, right? And I think it's just having people that they can relate to that speak our languages, right? Um, and specifically Lawrence, because I'm not from Lawrence, but also too, it's because it's a highly Dominican populated area, and I think it's like also to being able to have fun with them. Dominicans are the most honestly, like I'll say besides Puerto Ricans, like we're literally right here, and it's like a lot of people say like we're sister islands to to an extent and to a degree, but having fun, making the products fun, making things that they're gonna buy and absolutely like apply in their life and make them feel better about hey, the pain that I'm going through, especially if it's an older population, like topicals. Oh my god, just to get my grandma loves topicals. I finally got her to use a cannabis product because she's like, oh my god, la marijuana sta mal. Mala ta mala mommy, oh my god, like what are you doing with that? Because my grandma knew that I smoked like when I was in when I was like 18, 19, and like they immediately made comments of like, well, we hope you don't start doing other hard drugs.

SPEAKER_03 58:33

Right. What about education? As far as as far as education on the value, benefits, and you know, basically the ways that cannabis can help you.

SPEAKER_00 58:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 58:49

That is contrary to all the oh, you just smoke marijuana, oh you're gonna die heroin real soon. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 58:56

I think education in Spanish would be probably the best thing that you can do for anyone because I feel like when you put it on paper and it's not just coming from someone's mouth, um it it becomes more real. Because again, like you know, when you read something that's maybe a religious text and you start immediately believing that because it's on paper, right? Or whatever the case might be, is that people have a tendency, especially people in my community, if they can read about it right here, it's now okay, cool, I'm gonna take this and apply it for where I can and what I can do. Um and that's that's kind of like this synopsis that I have of that because I feel like you know, if my if I never talked to my grandma about topicals, she would never she would never use that. Never, never.

SPEAKER_03 59:43

That's why I think education is an important part as well. Trust. Trust is critical. Trust is the most critical. Trust you can't sell, right? You have to earn that one, right? Right. Right, you know, and that's obviously part of our whole business. I mean, my main goal about building the mellow business is to be a trusted source of good information, quality products, and authority on cannabis, right? Yeah, but nowhere in there that I talk about selling cheap prices, high prices, low prices, anything like that. No, doesn't matter actually, right? That's what I'm really striving for mellow to be the expert, right? You know, hey, you know what? Oh, Mellow said this is the okay, they actually know what they're talking about, right? Um, so because I do believe that knowledge creates power, and sharing that knowledge is very important. So I do agree education is big, and then you made a comment about in in their own language. So um, and you know, we have our drivers are Latin. Yeah, they both happen to live in Lawrence, actually. Yeah, so and they both are bilingual.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

That's like step one right there.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:47

You know, we're very lucky. Yes. We didn't hire them planning that, you know, but it just happens that they're both Latin, they're both bilingual, and they're both wonderful. Um and they're funny, and you know, that's that's that's our people 100% lively. Um yes, they're they are full of life. Beauty. That's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:05

Um, there's no shortage of life in heroin, that's for sure. Um the uh yes. Um but um so outreach in the local language, you know, or the the community language. So most cannabis companies' websites are in English.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:23

Right. We ours is in Spanish as well, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

You can get that changed at the top, otherwise like the toggle button that you did for me and my website as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:30

Yeah, same thing, right? Yeah, and you know, outreach in you know, like newsletters being put into Spanish, which we haven't done, we're supposed to do. But now with technology the way that it is, it's so much easier to actually do all of these things. Of course. You know, I can convert a website from English to Spanish like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:47

Right? So, and then of course we have it proofread by a real speaker. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:51

Of course, dialect, right? Vernacular.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:54

But communicating in in in you know, in the in the language of the community, you know, whether it's Spanish or whatever the language is, I think is really important. Yeah. And I think being able to, I mean, I don't know, tell me if I'm wrong, but when someone shows up in Lawrence to make a delivery and the driver speaks in Spanish and says, hola, what you know, how what's the reaction versus the regular English speaker coming, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:18

Oh, I think it delights them to know that there's someone serving them in the language that they have and they don't have to go through that extra step, especially because, like, I'll tell you, like, more so of the aspect of my second language is is is Spanish, not it's not my first language because that's not also what my mother spoke, but I picked that up all throughout my life. I went through five years of Spanish in high school and was able to sleep through all of them, right? Which was great. And my accent is not, you know, it's not gringa, right? But I would have to say being able to service people in their Spanish, in Spanish, in their vernacular, but also too, I will have to say, other than you know, having those things in Spanish and ready to go, is that you show up in their lifestyle too, as well. Because one thing that we love to do, um, Latinos, uh, caribeños, we love to do is dance. We love to dance, we love a little drinky drink here and there. We love salsa, we love the music. You gotta have the music, regardless of which we wanna be able to be there. And it's just like if you guys show up in a way that is more impactful and you take that step and you're like part of the nightlife in Lawrence or part of the vibe, part of the party. I think that it's like when you show up to like a barbecue, or when you show up to, you know, just anything like that that we throw, and even though you know you're not Latino, right? They still see, like, oh cool, you're here to dance. Like they want to grab your hand and they want you to dance with them. Oh, yeah. And they want to show you how to dance, and they want to show you because they also know that rhythm and love and teaching other people is love. Like everything, like a lot of in this podcast has a lot of roots to do with love.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:05

I also think that they want to share their values and their community and their beliefs and their culture, right? So obviously, like, you know, from being in Miami, right? If you go, you know, on Cico de Mayo or anything like that, I mean, it's just a giant festival everywhere in Miami, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:23

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:24

And, you know, and a lot of the patrons are just non-Latin people because it's so much fun. It's a blast. You know, um, I I smoke meats, everybody knows, and uh I shop when I'm locally shopping. There's a butcher in Leminster that is Latin. It's um they're Argentinian.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:41

Oh, okay, nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:42

So they gotta love Argentinian butchers. Oh, they got to but they don't speak English at all. Not a word. So, but I can speak enough Spanish that we can get by.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:51

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:51

And the fact that I go in and I um I go in and I I butcher the language and I work it and we try and we do our thing. They love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:59

So appreciate the effort.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:01

I'm like the favorite customer. Yes. Yes, because this here's the white guy coming and it's gonna try and speak Spanish. Yeah. And we love him for it, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:07

And they have a little thing right next to the store where on Saturdays they have a little barbecue and they have music and everybody comes out and they hang out. So it's exactly that type of uh that type of community. And you know, I think you know, like delivering in a Lawrence is great, right? But in order to really become part of the Lawrence community, we've got to do much more. And so, first step, we start delivering, but really we really have to become part of Lawrence, just like we become part of April.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:30

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:30

So that's one of our goals here in the future. Um let me switch gears on you real quick. I want to cover one more question before I let you kind of chat with me about anything you want to talk about. Because um, but I I I mean I can keep asking you questions and we can talk for hours. We could. Um but yeah, we can't do that. Um I'm gonna get in trouble anyhow at home. But hopefully, my phone's still working, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:53

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:54

Um so we talked about Building, you know, a business, we talked about the Latin community, we touched a little bit on LGBTQ, we touched a little bit about women. Um I think I'd like to talk about that, those two topics just for a second. One in particular, you know, what does it mean to you to be an LGBTQ plus women person in this industry? And not only does it mean to you in terms of what you're building, right? And what you're representing, yes, but also what are some of the challenges that you've had to endure and overcome in order to get to where you are in the business?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:37

That's a heavily loaded question. I would have to say um I'm gonna start at like, you know, especially because I feel like there's also the other fact factor, the fact that I am Puerto Rican mixed race, it does factor into those also being LGBTQ, also being a woman.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:56

We're gonna talk about women next. Yes, right? That was the second part.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:00

The LGBTQ aspect is that you're kind there's already a stereotype about lesbians that we're just like domineering and blah blah blah. We hate men, right? Like, not even close.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:17

There are so many, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:20

Not P Towns. That's what they say, um, that's what they say, right? Right, right, right, right, right, right. Um, but uh as far as like there's a lot of stigma, I feel like, on my sexual identity with oh well, I don't want to work with you because you're not sexually appealing to me, like to men. And I find that there are a lot of men, not all of them, but there's a you know, a certain percentage that operates on that base. Like, if I can't get anything from you sexually, then I'm I'm truly not an advantage. And if I'm not attracted to you or you're not attracted to me, I'm not an you're not an advantage to me, right? You're but there's also like people off often and largely forget that there's a whole cultural, and I don't even say subcultural because LGBTQ that's been around forever, like, but there's a whole cultural of people that I'm connected to that straight white men are not, and it brings a lot of power because it's like you're you know how to do things tastefully around those people, around these groups, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, lesbians, LGBTQ, I would say queer folk, right? And then also to women. So I would have to say, like, there's a lot of stigma. While there's a lot of stigma behind you know sexuality, there's a lot of people who have already embraced people like myself in their lives. Like one thing I will say, like bountiful farms. I Amy loves me the way that I am, and we've been friends before, you know, granted, before we worked and all of those things and had a dynamic, but she embraces me exactly for how I am and knows that it's also a superpower because I do have a different um understanding and experience with people where I can be emotionally and intelligent enough where it's like, yeah, even though I'm not attracted to men, I'm never gonna regard to them as stupid or any of those like kind of stereotypical things that you know people could say about another person. I always am using my identity in order to treat people kinder rather than treat people like they're not important or not this just because you don't benefit me in this way means like you're fucking useless or anything like that. I always use it as a way to further connect to people that maybe that might judge me for being a lesbian. So, and it's like I'm not scared of anyone in any identity, so it's just like I want you just to be able to, because there's a thing that sometimes intimidates people about you know, strong women or lesbians or whatever you want to identify or call yourself, right? And I think that that has to that leaf has to be turned, and it is turning because I have men like you in the world also too, people like Rob, because I think that's like also an important aspect of allyship is that you're showing up for queer people, you're showing up for women, you're showing up for BIPOC communities, right? And I think that in this industry, you know, with brands like Quick House, Queer and Cannabis, uh Farnsworth, so many root and roxbury, like like uh excuse me, rooted in, and all of those different types of brands, like we're making awareness for people like ourselves, and that's like you know, you're like, hey, um taking my flag. Basically, I took my flag and I put it in the ground, and I said, absolutely, I'm not going anywhere no more, and I'm building this brand around my queer identity.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:12

Is that is that Adele at Rooted? What was your name?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:16

Adele? Adele.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:17

Okay, yeah. We know the rooted information. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:19

For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:21

I love she's gonna be. They still have my thing. I gotta go down there and get it from Brian. And one of my train images that Jamie made me. We put it in the way when we when they first opened up.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:30

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:31

Yeah, there's there's Brian's a really good guy. We enjoyed uh I enjoyed meeting him and working with him. That's good stuff. Um yeah, no, he's a good, good, good guy. We we we um I think we helped a little bit, you know. So we tried to do that, right? That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:46

Yeah, Adele's really cool people, she's a very strong ally, and she's also, like I said, that is the that that is the most undermined position for the LGBTQ and a lot of other communities that are minorities because it's like if there's no one advocating for us outside of our community, we're fucked, and that's why it's so important, not just in June all year a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:13

I mean, yes, I agree with you. Yeah, and then I don't understand why it's like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:20

Okay, so you know, and I I I also speak from uh a faraway view on a lot of things, right? I I don't consider myself to be very much in touch with a lot of those things because you know I just work all the time and I do my thing. We don't go out, we're not around, you know. Um but if we were, you know, the world's changed a lot since when Matt went out 20 years ago. Right. Um, but I think it'd actually be a hell of a lot of fun, um, actually. Yeah, you should come out.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:48

Um Faral Knight by Tara Dickal.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:51

I get out every so often, right? You know, and and Bree knows I love I love to get the drag queens come into the store.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:57

Oh, you have to get Tara to come.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:00

And there's this restaurant in Colorado called Hamburger Marys.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:03

Oh, hamburger Mary's hash chains. Hamburger Marys? Yes. Hamburger Marys hash chains. There's hamburger's Mary Hamburger Marys in um, I believe Lansing, Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:12

So I used to bring my dates.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:14

It's actually nationwide.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:15

I used to bring my dates to Hamburger Marys. I used to bring my dates to Hamburger Marys for a first date. Ooh. Because it was right down the street from my house. And it was fun. It was so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:25

It's a good test, too.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:27

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:27

It's a good test. Learn about people real quick. That's that's actually really dope. But it's good, it's fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:32

I like to have fun, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:33

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:34

Um so so the second part, yeah, the the wom women part. So um being so you made the comment about strong women, you know, this and that. I do agree with you. Stigmas for sure. You know, I mean, we generally here like strong women at Mellow, right? Um most of the management team are women here at the company. Um and they're generally pretty strong, um, I would say. Um, I think that's part of what gives us our identity a little bit as well. So, you know, being a woman, building a business in this in this industry dominated by men, how how does that feel, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:11

It can feel overwhelming and a little bit a little bit discouraging, um, but I don't let it stop me. Uh, I've been an athlete my whole life. I've just really have gotten through a lot of different things and aspects of that specifically. Like, there's always like, you know, this group that's always dominating this XYZ thing, and it's just like I feel like because I am uh a feminine, masculine woman, there's an advantage in that where it's like I don't use my masculinity in a toxic way, and I also don't use my femininity, also too in a toxic way to maybe get the things that I want using XYZ things, um, but more so of I think that it gives me an advantage because I really, really stick out amongst those 99 men against the wall, and I'm the hundredth one. Um, and it gives me an insight again to how women are 59% of the incoming market of new users, and there's still not a lot of accommodation towards us, whether that's uh uh feminine health products or you know, things having to do with sexual empowerment. Shout out to Chasey Stoner. Um but I think it honestly gives me like a huge advantage because I know that if this is mainly male and masculine andor masculine dominate dominated, I know that those those feminine aspects of the brand are going to stick out. I know that those feminine empowering aspects of the brand are going to stick out and it's gonna reach a lot farther than those same people, you know, those same, you know, five buyers that keep on buying the male geared whatever branding that's towards them, um, versus, you know, the the queer Puerto Rican guy that might come in and be like, oh, I know Bridget, blah blah blah blah blah, or I know DJ Gasolina, like I had this at, you know, I bought it at Mellow before or something like that. And I'm and I'm and I and I come back again for that because that really speaks to me a lot more than XYZ masculine dominated marketing that you know I would have to say 85 80, 85% of the brands uh kind of give in the state.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:38

Yeah, that's actually that's a good way to end the topics today. That's actually a great answer because I think it's I agree with you 100%, you stand out, right? Thank you. Um and you're different, which is good, right? Because different is good. And but I do also think that I don't know that it's that big of a problem in the cannabis space as it was in many of the other industries I've been in. Because it's definitely a male-dominated industry right now, from the leadership pers positions, but then you have people like Kim Rivers who runs TrueLeave, and you know, they're a billion-dollar public company, right? Yeah, and they can kind of buy any of the man-owned businesses here and shut them down and throw them away. True. So that's the woman that's in power. Absolutely. I think that being being a strong woman is very, very important to building the business, but at the same time, it can turn off some several people because I feel like they're not they they're not accustomed to someone who's gonna come up and and say, Hey, this is what I want, this is what I'm gonna ask for, and this is how I'm gonna ask for it.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:46

Um, and I I also feel like you know, closed mouths don't get fed. And I feel like if you don't go out there and have the confidence, especially being a woman, you're gonna get a'd up a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:58

Closed mouths don't get fed. If you don't ask, you don't get, and if you don't look out for number one, no one else is gonna do it for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:06

That's a fact, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:18:08

So, alright, so this was great. Um, this is really great. As as you can see on the one boardroom, we're gonna talk about all kinds of different things, right? Some are gonna be more in the finance world of things, you know, some are gonna be more in a world like talking about starting up a business, you know, women own businesses, the challenges they face, but also the opportunities they can create for themselves. Because I do believe and I agree, if you sh can stand out and blaze your own path, right? Then you're you're you're gonna be fine. You're doing the right thing. You're gonna be great.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:43

So um this was great. Um learning experience for me too. Um I always knows I have notes already for her on things to do because you know, I I I I genuinely like one of the reasons I we do this and I do this is not so I can be on camera, because I don't really like being on camera, but I always say I have a face for radio. But I like to talk to people and I like to listen to people and I like to hear what they're doing and what they're what they're doing in their business and their lives, and a because I'm interested, but b, because I actually think that there's a lot of things that I can learn that can benefit my company and even me as a person, right? I'm 55 years old, but I'm still learning things every day. Um, so with that, um this is the blunt boardroom, as you know. It's me, Matt, CEO of Mello Cannabis. Bridget is with me. Go ahead and profit business.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:37

Yes, Bridget Cruz, DJ Gasolina. You can find me on Instagram at Gasolina UPG, and then also our business page, Ultra Premium Gas page, is at UPG only on Instagram. And you can find us there. There's gonna be a bunch of new drops for clothing, new events, all of the cool things, new flavors of vapes possibly coming in for the holiday season. So you already know, and thank you so much for having me. Truly appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:07

And I I I'm pretty sure that you will be able to find the ultra premium gas products at the Mellow Dispensary. Um, I think we might have one item there now, but I know that um our team there is getting organized to get it brought in. So you'll be able to get all those fine products here at the local Mellow Dispensary. Um, and I actually think I think the I think the Latin names and and and that kind of angle, I think, I think my customers really love it. I think they'd really love it. So I'm excited to see that.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:37

Absolutely. I'm excited to see the delight on the delightful look on their face when they taste the nostalgia of the past and being raised Latino or Caribeño.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:47

Excellent. Amazing. Thank you again. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:52

What?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:53

Blunt boardroom, like, subscribe.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:55

Blunt boardroom, like, subscribe. I'm being told what I have to do again by my boss. Period. Thanks everybody. Have a great day. We'll see you again in two weeks.