Has anyone made the jump to the legal market?

[JetLife175]

What’s up y’all!

So was wondering if any of my fellow IC heads have made the plunge into the legal market by taking a job or position with one of the cultivators/producers in the state?

I have a job offer on the table that’s from a popular company in California and wanted to get some insight on how working in the legal sector is. Any info or experiences you’re willing to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I know we all sign NDAa in the industry so I could care less who you’re working for. Just want to know how you’ve been treated etc.

 

[MedFaced]

Its almost like most jobs, who you works with means everything. Good team/atmosphere, you’ll have some great times and learn a lot. Unfortunately being legal doesn’t always mean working for good people, so keep your head on right.

I haven’t been active since recreational happened, but I do visit and bs with folks from time to time. Some places have really happy and helpful teams, some places are turning out employees left and right. So pay attention to that kind of thing and don’t let the excitement of what you’re doing overshadow common sense and self preservation.

 

[Capt.Ahab]

I had the corporate experience all winter working with an international MJ corporation.
Worked with everyone on the corporate ladder from the CEO and several very high profile investors and board members to the peeps on the ground.
It was a great learning experience. Made some great connections, met some really knowledgeable people and I made a ton of money in a few months but when it comes down to it there is no way I could be part of that machine everyday as a career.
Lot of stress, everyone tied to their phone and laptop. Lots of meetings, places to go, places to be. Meetings with mayors, selectman,attorneys, advisory boards etc.
A chain of command definitely exists and everyone works within their team defining and achieving their tasks. It got intense at points.
I wasn't in the trenches so to speak, being on an advisory / executive level but I wouldn't want to be one of the schmucks on the bottom of the heap.
You either produce/achieve or you are out. The sense of self preservation that Medfaced mentioned was intense. Everyone is afraid of losing their job or being shunned within the corporation's system.

In the end I felt rewarded but a bit used up. The corporate world will eat you if you get too far into it and unless you are on top, you are just another link in the chain and from what I saw weak links get cut out and replaced very quickly.
I realize that working within the corporate world is something some people enjoy and choose to do but it's not my style at this point in my life. I'm glad I did what I did and it worked out well for me but like I said, as a career, no way, no thanks.

 

[dddaver]

Anyone become a legal grower and stick to just growing? The title made me think that's what this was about. Guess not.

 

[bsgospel]

My experience is similar to what Capt. and Med describe, just not in California. Going on ten years now in corporate pop ups and also smaller boutique mom/pop places.

On the corporate side, it can get vicious. One CFO pushed out the CEO. CEO came back a year later and bought out most owners and punished the CFO severely. And all these guys know each other- lot of soft power to throw around, doesn't matter what state or market. There are a lot of gut checks. As a rule, I never bad mouth anyone and I always admit what I can't do. Your reputation starts on day one. I've only ever been let go once but we're on fantastic terms because we need each other for genetics. You're either on the bus or you aren't.

Consultants I think are in the cat bird seat in all of this. They travel, they network- work for them will still be awesome if any bubbles burst. The owners will bear the brunt of a million dollar mistake and all the employees at every level are replaceable. I'm incredibly useful in the next start up but they could nix me tomorrow and never miss a beat. My next stop after this employment is in consulting and opening testing labs.

All in all, weird experience, learned a lot. Biggest negative was that my homegrown suffered. You do that shit for nine hours a day, there's nothing left in the tank at night. It's largely why I never have any grows to share/journal here. Might jump on one of the female seeds competitions in the future though. That seems fun.

 

[JetLife175]

Thanks for the responses guys. I’m so glad I won’t be dealing with anyone at the executive level if I take the position. I’ll be strictly cultivation oriented. The pay is decent to start. It’ll be a managerial level situation but I don’t think I’ll have to answer to any suits from what I understand. It’s structured to be grower centric it seems. That’s what the owner/head grower of the company has mentioned. It’s a hype brand out here with extreme amounts of backing and they are expanding RAPIDLY.

One of my main concerns is possibly bringing in new genetics. How are people compensated for said action? Once it’s in house it’s out in the public domain regardless of what I think will happen. Always an asshole with a pair of scissors around hahaha.

 

[bsgospel]

I only ever brought genetics to the table if I knew people in the company already. It was easier to share without compensation (mostly, because there usually isn't any). Otherwise I kept everything to myself.

 

[sourD]

I labored for a "company" owned by 3 chads last summer for a few weeks (I told them when I started that I would help until sept 1) and it was ok for me.

They were super appreciative for the labor but the worst part by far was listening to them tell me about how to grow because they know everything because they did some indoor in LA when it was 4800. These guys had been there 3 seasons and had only actually produce 100 lbs.

These guys did fuck over the head grower by letting him go in Sept for no good reason. He signed a bullshit contract thinking it didnt really matter that it favored them in every way as long as he was getting paid. Lawyers had to get involved but it was all just bullshit that would have been settled differently a few years ago.

 

[ion]

id rather have a mouthful of 7.62mm than get anywhere near anything that has to do with the farce known as legal weed. i spend 2min talking to anyone n the 'industry' and i want to run away fast as if from a burning petrol station. it's a ponzi to fall in line with the rest of the ponzis. but please dont get me wrong, its fine. i love it........judging from the product ive sampled resulting from "free the weed" in MA,ME,VT,NH and assorted cali stuff AND judging from the ridiculous quasi-capitalist children ive met in the industry with the online pot classes......seriously?.....AND judging from the experience of our great american nation wherein anything it allows or endorses usually turns to shit........id say that the black market gonna flourish.

i encourage all who have a yearning to be part of the budding canna industry to go forth into the breach with much fervor and build wonderful companies.

 

[Crooked8]

I had a huge offer. Hardest decision of my life. I told them it wasn't enough. Ill hold out until its worth it. If you arent seeing 200+k to oversee a team of 10+ in 5k+ space, it will never make sense. And those numbers are generous.

 

[Headbandf1]

Jump ? with 25 lbs of paper work and licenses. and takes several months.