I’m fortunate in this journalism world to be able to find interesting and intellectually driven people who work within the cannabis space. Entrepreneurs who are every bit as nerdy and metric driven as myself, with myself, less metric driven. Just one of those things when you’re comfortable being different than the norm. Cannabis attracts all sorts of intriguing people and Darren Gacicia is definitely up there with the entrepreneurial minded. I came across Darren in a circuitous manner. His PR for the Garden of Eden line of exceptionally high quality cannabis oil products had contacted me on a different project. She saw my manner of interviewing, it is somewhat different than the other kinds that are out there, that is for certain, and we pushed forward on this discussion. The questions followed along with phone time. But what I really was intrigued about was the fact that Darren grew up in the near proximity to myself, and he went to prep school at the other prep school in my town- for boys; The Delbarton School. Which I grew up, directly next door to, thus my deeper interest in Darren’s deep success and especially that he graduated from an extremely conservative, Catholic, Private Boys School. The only other people who I knew at Delbarton, were my cousins (not Catholic) and a handful of others over my Morristown-Beard years in the 1970’s. I really hadn’t thought about Delbarton much in some time and this nerdy factoid certainly caught my attention! Without further interruption, may I introduce to you, someone who is obviously doing exactly what he loves in life. I cannot find anyone more passionate than Darren Gacicia, obviously doing what he loves in the cannabis industry. Hard working too. No one gets to be a financial go/to for a capitalized corporation without being just a bit more than smart.
Category: Interviews
Do you work with your kitchen? I know, asking for them to order lemons and limes, grabbing some grapefruits, begging them to freeze some large cubes? No, that’s not what I’m leading to. I mean putting your kitchen to work for your bar. What? There is a little secret that makes all chefs happy. It’s named food cost. When it’s too high, your chef is angry. He’s not making any money and whatever little money he does make for the owners is being thrown away. Not good for you, nor the restaurant.
Terra Carver, the eloquent and peaceful Executive Director of the Humboldt County Growers Alliance is waxing poetic about the fine wine-like Terroir of craft cannabis to a group of broadly smiling Canna-Tourists. They are smiling and utterly enraptured by the gleaming, sunlit day, the long-tables groaning with hand prepared, fanciful appetizers and locally crafted Humboldt artisan breads and oozing, succulent cheeses. They sit enveloped by the aromatics of some of the finest craft cannabis that is grown anywhere in the country. Truly the taste and the aromatics of the place surround and deepen each breath. An experience so overwhelming that most people have never seen anything like this before and they sit, awestruck in the face of such beauty. This is a Victory Garden of outdoor growing. An experience of the the ‘highest’ order, and it is what we have come to see at Dave and Lorelie Sandomeno’s Sunrise Mountain Farm. Row after row of this lusciously scented craft cannabis fills the eyes and the nasal passages with vast bursts of spicy profusion. Terra is explaining with a smile, how the craft cannabis business is certainly to overtake fine California wine in overall sales in just a few short years. But can they accomplish what wine has accomplished with Terroir? That is her goal, to create an overall quality level that demands the greatest price, just like wine demands. In fact in the couple of years that her organization has been guiding local cannabis farmers, they have attracted the attention of the statewide organization, The California Growers Association.
If you take a few seconds away from the day-to-day journey that most people take, from wake to sleep, there are very few opportunities to do what you love. That is especially true on the East Coast of the USA, where the search for success often clouds over the chance to actually do what you love.
Editor note: Recently I had the rare opportunity to share ideas on the telephone with one of the most intriguing individuals I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to in recent memory. Alex Shah is that person, and he is brimming with enthusiasm and purpose. He is highly conversational, and our interview went into all tangents, but what intrigued me the most was his passion for creativity and even cooking! It is through conversations that surround food that I find the deeper meanings in life. Not only work, but what makes us tick. And that is through the love of food. I saw, very clearly, that this man is not just a thinker. He’s a theorist and a creative being. Photography, food and life, not a bad way to work, doing what you love. It’s crystal clear that Alex is a success in whatever he sets out to do.
Midwest native Alecia “Chef Bae” Winters, lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has the golden touch when it comes to cooking and baking with the deeply intrinsic herb named cannabis. That doesn’t mean that Chef Bae only works with medicinally infused foods— far from! As a talented and enthusiastic culinary artist, it takes more than the buzzy parts to make a meal into a lingering memory. An entrepreneur with a true passion for cooking and cannabis infusions, Chef Bae participated in Season 9 of MasterChef, placing in the top 19 home cooks in America. Her specialties include Mexican, Italian, French, Lebanese, American cuisine and her delectable pastries over at Pretty in Pink Edibles.
The email read like this: Hello Warren, Great news! A Viride GeoPipe is heading your way. More info on the GeoPipes by Stonedware: http://stonedwarecompany.com
Why Viride chose to collaborate with Stonedware: “I choose to partner with Ariel after learning more about the craftsmanship that goes into each Stonedware piece. We spent a lot of time collaborating on the design elements to make the pieces promotional but organic. I wanted to design a branded product that was still beautiful to display as a home accessory. The finished pieces are ones that everyone is enthusiastic about and the functionality rivals any other pipe on the market.” — Sarah Remesch, founder of 270M & Managing Editor of Viride
Also, here is a Viride link speaking about the collaboration. https://www.viridelife.com/provisions/2017/11/24/stonedware-and-viride-collaborate-on-custom-pipes?rq=stonedware
Why You Should Know The Initiative & The Commune Founder Amy Margolis
Amy Margolis, a prominent 17 year practicing attorney and founder of the Oregon Cannabis Association, is an uncompromising go-getter. A deeply entrepreneurial attorney who’s made a career focusing on the Pacific Northwest (and beyond) cannabis space, Margolis is whip smart and uncompromisingly concise. She has dedicated her career in helping her clients and the industry as a whole navigate through the brave new world of cannabis legalization— a very new direction, one that is certainly not the divorce, tax, real estate or the multitude of legal careers she could have followed. Amy is a famed cannabis lawyer and she’s darned good at what she does. That’s only a very small part of what Amy has accomplished in her young life in Portland, Oregon, though. She recently announced the launch of both The Commune and The Initiative to ensure that the cannabis industry remains the most progressive and balanced emerging industry yet.
Why You Should Visit The Doctor’s House, the Most Charming Bud and Breakfast in Portland, Oregon
If the alluring scent of freshly roasted and slowly brewed coffee, intermingled with tantalizing whiffs of brain captivating, toasty, handmade muffins and perhaps a juicy ‘wake and bake’ bowl of the finest Oregon-grown cannabis jump-starts your imagination, then this is the Bud and Breakfast for you.
Acclaimed mixologist Warren Bobrow isn’t boastful by nature. Although he’s published 6 books – including the 2016 hit ‘Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics‘ – Bobrow is more prone to smiling and laughing than bragging. But when it comes to discussing his craft, he has no qualms with saying that his concoctions will leave you dissatisfied with mediocre mixed drinks.