Marlo Richardson of Business Bullish: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Hire people you trust. I don’t think the cannabis industry is one where you just look at a resume and say they look great, let’s hire them. I have found that the better my team is, the better we do. I actually recruited everyone that works for me. It’s like getting an American Express Black Centurion Card, you can’t apply you are chosen.
As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Marlo Richardson.
Marlo Richardson is known as a dynamic leader, business professional and as someone who has made her mark in many industries. She is a regular disrupter, often carrying the title “First African American Woman to”. Marlo has been a Keynote Speaker, business advisor, and is often invited to speak with local business groups and universities regarding her personal story and experiences in the business world.
After working in law enforcement Richardson decided she wanted more financial freedom and to be her own boss. She transitioned out of working the traditional 9–5, overcoming various hurdles in the process and took a leap of faith into entrepreneurship.
Richardson has owned business franchises, restaurants, a home health care agency, a real estate investment company, insurance agency, retail clothing, travel agency, security company, production company, distribution company, manufacturing company, marketing company and has created several successful brands. Currently she focuses on real estate, crypto, is one of the few license holders to grow and operate a cannabis grow op and is a financial expert advisor.
She is the founder of Business Bullish, a website and resource that seeks to train people in the areas of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. She is a dynamic business woman and leader and is also a keynote speaker and business advisor who shares with local businesses her success stories in hopes that they can replicate her growth.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up wanting a career in law enforcement and began working in that field when I was 20 years old. I was overly ambitious and got promoted quickly. By twenty-two, I was a Sergeant and supervised over 90 alpha type personalities carrying guns. I had engulfed myself into leadership and management classes and felt very confident that I could do more. As my experience in leadership grew, I also developed some very critical skills class such as being timely and organized. I was single, had no children and began to consider my options on how to avoid the hefty taxes that I was responsible for paying. I started investing in real estate. After my first deal, I was hooked. I had made what was my annual law enforcement salary in 3 months with zero manual labor and a minimal investment. I was able to duplicate that process 8 more times and started to explore other areas to invest in.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
After buying several income properties, I decided it was time to purchase my own home. I was 22 years old, had a baby face and had become somewhat fearless in the business world as things were somehow just working out for me. I bought a house in a nice area of LA and started to remodel it. I had the kitchen constructed down to the studs and had to eat out daily. I would walk down the hill to a restaurant near the beach. On my second visit I saw a man in a suit and thought he must be the owner. I engaged him in conversation and told him that I’d always thought of owning a restaurant and bar. He told me that he managed the business, but that the real owner was looking to sell it. He arranged a meeting the next day and the rest was history.
What I learned from that encounter was that you never know what can happen by simply being unafraid to talk to people and ask sometimes difficult questions.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
After buying the restaurant and bar, I wanted to learn every aspect of my business so I would hang around the kitchen and try to learn the receipts and how to operate the kitchen equipment and make drinks at the bar whenever I could, except I didn’t know how to make drinks. Customers would ask for specific cocktails, I would ask which liquor is in that drink and make them a Marlo creation. It worked most of the time, but on occasion I had customers that were very particular and would guide me pour by pour. That is how I learned to bartend. But the lesson learned for me was, I don’t need to know how to do it all. I need to be unafraid to mess it up not embarrassed by being corrected.
Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I have a passion project right now called BUSINESS BULLISH. It’s a free resource online where I’ve created blogs, vlogs, and a podcast designed to help future entrepreneurs and current entrepreneurs with everything from funding, finance, building teams and investing. This idea was birthed as a result of all the questions I’d receive from people I’ve mentored over the years. It’s really difficult to find time, but because I want to help others I thought these platforms would work given people can watch or listen on their own time and at their own pace.
In 2018 my mother had a rough year and ended up having full hip replacement surgery. Prior to the surgery, nothing doctors prescribed managed her pain without having bee under the influence of heavy narcotics. A friend of mine gave me CBD creams and ointments that she would rub on her hip and often have immediate relief without the narcotic effects. I started to learn more about the cannabis industry and the truth behind the plant, opposed to what I was spoon fed in the police academy. The fact is, similar to aloe vera. It has healing elements and many people have benefited from its use. I started a cannabis and CBD brand called Just Mary. I hope to get it into retail stores in 2022.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Again I’d have to thank my mother. When I was twelve she allowed me to have a joint checking account with her and didn’t put her name on the check. It gave the appearance that I had my own account, which essentially it was. I would work, deposit money and write checks for things I wanted. She taught me how to balance my checkbook and to not spend money that I didn’t have. That was the foundation of me understanding finances and being able to manage both money and credit, essentials in the business world.
This industry is young dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?
Right now it doesn’t get any better than social media. The cannabis industry has so many rules and restrictions on how and where you can market. The best thing that I’ve found is to use people that support and believe in your brand and have them support it.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Cannabis industry? Can you share 3 things that most concern you?
What excites me is the innovation in the grow techniques that allow the plants to grow more rapidly without the use of chemical products. The future of consumption lounges that allow people to partake in social settings and the creative ways that manufacturers have created products so that people who do not smoke can still get medicated through topicals, tinctures and edibles.
Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.
- Be very selective of who you do business with. Being unfamiliar with the legal cannabis market, people with try to manipulate and take advantage of you.
- Do your homework. Again people will try to take advantage of you, if they don’t think you know any better.
- Align yourself with people that are doing a good job and representing quality in the industry. There is a lot of money to be made and there are many unscrupulous people that will tell you they have the ability to make things happen.
- Work with people that are reputable. That’s very similar to what I said above, but it’s that serious that I don’t mind rewording it to say it again. There are large companies and professional organizations that are preying on people with limited knowledge and resources. I’ve seen licensee’s partner with people and get almost zero percent of their business although there are regulations in place.
- Hire people you trust. I don’t think the cannabis industry is one where you just look at a resume and say they look great, let’s hire them. I have found that the better my team is, the better we do. I actually recruited everyone that works for me. It’s like getting an American Express Black Centurion Card, you can’t apply you are chosen.
What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?
Train them right and trust them. If you do your job upfront (security measures, processes and procedures) let the employees do the work without being overbearing and micromanaging.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Don’t be afraid to invest in people. A lot of people have really great ideas and they just lack the business sense of putting it together. If you are a person that has a good business sense, it’s OK to partner with someone that just has great ideas. I did a few years in law school, so I believe in having a good contract, and making sure that the details are clear and specific. Then I’m ready to work.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
Instagram @MsMarloNicole
Facebook at Marlo Richardson
Twitter @IamMarloNicole
YouTube Marlo Nicole Business Bullish
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Thank you for the opportunity.
Marlo Richardson of Business Bullish: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.