Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host Coli Witt, and today we have very special guests entrepreneur in the building, Tucky Blunt, and just like the name, we are gonna talk cannabis. Okay, so we're gonna be talking cannabis today all the way from the Bay.
Yes, I'm a fan, so I appreciate y'all sharing your you personally share your platform with me and just overall the whole platform. So I appreciate what y'all doing.
Thank you, thank you, and we appreciate you coming and really sharing the transparency behind behind the cannabis industry what it took to get to own your own display, entry, lounge and events business. So before we get into all the tea on the business side, I want to know what you were eating while you were broken. What you're going to be having me eat today?
Oh man, this is scary. So what we're eating today is basically play on bacon, egg and cheese with spam. So we're doing a spam egg and cheese saying wich, something I ate a lot of when I was younger, but I haven't eaten about thirty plus years. So this is interesting. Spam is interesting. We used to call it a spare parts and meat, so hopefully that's not what it is anymore.
There's some I forgot which guest of ours like genuinely was at Miguel Newness. Yes he loved spam.
Yes, when I was younger, I didn't know no reason not to love spam. It was great. But about eighth ninth grade, on the field trip, I had thick uncooked just and one of the homies on the field trip was like, bro, you eating that. I'm like, yeah, what is that? What's wrong with He like, you know, we don't eat that? And ever since then, I've never read it again. Leave it to it.
I got you the wonderbread, and usually I don't do it, but we did have an elected official come on the show and he really like expressed the importance of keeping it like all the way one hundred. So today I decided to torture you, okay, with wonderbread because we all know wonderbread is a very delicate bread. And I wasn't get you a nice bread, but I said, you know, why not make your life harder since you're gonna give me spam.
I ain't mad at all. You see how this butter trying to do me?
So yeah, for people, I don't know what you're doing. Was this a little drop of butter in the middle of the brand? But here we go cook it up. So take me back to what was going on in the spam air of life.
So I was ninety three ninety four, So I was fourteen thirteen when in junior high school at a place called freaking Oapron, California. Like I said, we didn't know we was poor. I lived in the shelter before and stuff like that, but we didn't know we was poor.
I think someone stabs the back or something to get it out.
Oh yeah, I do remember that, remember that. But we just you know, we were just eating. You know, we didn't think nothing of it. I was going to school straight at student living in Oakland. It was different back than than it is now. That's pretty much it. I was a nerd. I was a nerd in school and just really I really enjoyed school. But we just didn't have a lot of money and we didn't you know,
both my parents had been on drugs before. I lived with my grandmother, like I said, lived in the shelter before. So we were just you know, trying to get back. Used to think my mom had just got custody of us, so she was doing what she could do to fetus, you know what I mean. And that's how spam came about. Like I said, I never knew nothing was wrong with spam until ninth grade.
Damn. Does this look like reminiscent to you?
It's like it is bringing back a lot, not in a bad way, but just bringing back a lot because this is how we used to eat, you know what I mean. So yeah, it's pretty cool.
Okay, So your mom gets you back and you leave your Grandma's back to your mom. Where's your poppy at?
My pap was around and we were talking about that recently too. My mom and dad lived in the same city, still live in the same city now, but they can't stand each other day to this day, to this day, like to the point like right now currently, if I call my mom and tell her that my dad's at my house or vice versa, they're going to be mad at me.
They're going to be mad at you.
Yes, wow, So I'm going through that as a child then, because they was going back and forth to court. So dad was around, but Dad would rather us love him to death, but he would rather us live with his mom instead of him. So it was it was interesting. But why that we have no I still to this day don't know. I have no clue. But he had a house, but we never went to it. We would go out, hang out on weekends, go do stuff, and then he drop us back off at my granny house.
So I don't know if it was something to spite my mom.
Wait, so you never saw his house.
No, we would see it, but would never stay in it. No overnight.
Oh, but you can hang out in it.
Hang out and when on time to go home and go to sleep. I spent the night in my daddy ho maybe once when I was younger, outside of him my mom being together.
And you never asked them, not until I.
Got older, because when I was younger, I didn't even nothing know it. We just looked as we were going back to granny house. We didn't think anything of it.
So do you when you ask them now?
What is? He turned to an argument, Oh.
You really can't okay, Yeah.
No, you really, it's okay. It's it's funky, okay.
But they still don't get along.
Dabor. Were they married, they were never married childish sweethearts, met when they was twelve, had me when they were seventeen and sixteen.
Okay, so, and they both got into drugs. Yes, heavy drugs, like drugs. I'm sorry, I don't like a hell a nosy person.
No, heavy, Both of them were users. My dad started first. Mom would stay at home. Mom dad paid all the bills. So once he stopped paying the bills, Mom was kind of like all over the place, didn't know what to do. She we moved with her mom and that got kind of funky because she's her baby daughter moving home with three kids. That wasn't a good look. Cussed her out every day we end up in the shelter. Moms was like, I was a nerd, so I was like really smart
as a kid. She would have to take me from let's just say Burdbank to Lax every day in a broke down car. She couldn't afford it. So she was like, man, I'm gonna send you with your daddy. He said, to be getting this stuff together. I'm gonna send you with him. And when I get myself together, I'm gonna come back and get y'all. That was like eighty nine and my Mama came and got us back in ninety two. Wow, And she hates she don't like me talking about her
own podcasts or nothing. But I love my mama. Mama did a whole lot for us to get back and she just she just she did not she see this interview. She's gonna cuts me.
Out over why because she doesn't like that.
She don't like to be talked about. She's she's one of them people who still how can I put it, My Mom's gonna die without friends. I put it like that. She's one of the people that's just everything is a conspiracy, and I hate that for her, you know what I mean, Like, you need to get out of mom. You need to have some friends, Like you need to go. She just sits in her house. So that's a whole nother story. But this was one of her favorite meals.
Okay, so you are a straight A student at some point, so she decides to send you back because she couldn't care. So she was she putting you in a really good school at the time.
Yeah, I was in a school called Peter Pan which was one of the higher end like private schools, and I got in because of my brains because we couldn't afford to go there, and then my sisters, all of them went loved us. I graduated. I skipped the grade there. I graduated from there. I think you sposed to graduate fifth grade, like twelve or something. I was done at ten. So everything was great on that and she didn't want me to miss that. She's like, no, I want you
to go to that school because she taught us. While Pop was at work, Mom was at home teaching us how to count, how to add all that. Yeah, she had a whole chart like that, had the days of the week, the months of the year, the five times tables, ten times tables. I'm learning that at one and two years old. So I went to school ready. Yeah. So when Pops wasn't doing his end, it kind of messed up the whole family dynamic overall. So you know, and that's no hat shade on him, It just thingings happen.
Yeah, So then what happens get.
With moms mom's is both my parents sold whed for a very long time, and we and my family never looked at weed as like a bad thing. I never knew that cannabis was bad ever, because it was part of my family Domino's food weed. And when I got about I mean it was literally that order. You know what I'm saying, Like you can always peep through the kitchen and they smoking they weed and they playing their bones. That's just what we knew. And about thirteen I started smoking.
I was like, all right, it's cool. You know, weed is cool, but it wasn't really my thing. By a sixteen, it was my thing, and I knew I could sell it. And I was like, if I'm going to sell it, where am I going to sell it? Everybody I knew it was going to jail for selling drugs on the street. So I was like, man, I got to figure out a better way to sell weed. And it was at work. I've always had a job since I was thirteen, So
at sixteen, I'm working at the grocery store. All my coworkers smoked, so I'm like, oh shit, I don't need to be on the corner, I guess, so all my whet this is my corner. So everywhere I worked, I sold everything I've ever sold in my life. I sold the coworkers, so I was selling weed. I detailed cars, detailed bikes. I threw parties just or you.
Were a hustler.
I was a hustler.
You're I don't want to see you're a hustler because it sounds like you. You know, yeah, I think hustlers sometimes people, But I think you are an entrepreneur, a young entrepreneur.
I take that. I will take that, and I just applied that to being at work. I'm like, if I'm going to be here, I was making more money at work, and I made.
At work, and I that's hilarious.
Continued that all my life and kind of fast forward. Sold We for about eight years, no issues, and then in two thousand and five when the guys I was buying weed from snitched on me and the police came. They arrested me whatever whatever I built out the same night. But that arrest led to me qualifying for the program that allowed me to get my store.
And what was that program?
That program is called the Social Equity Program that originated in Oakland, which gave people who was convicted of CA one of his charges chances that ownership in the cannabis space. And I'm the first person to open a cannabis store out of that program.
And now it was two thousand and five.
No, it's crazy as I caught the case in O five. None of this happened until twenty eighteen.
Wait, you didn't get to open legally till twenty eighteen.
Because legalization just started in twenty sixteen.
Yeah, that's what I was gonna take. So wait, you go to jail for it, and then how do you hear about the program?
So I go to jail, get out. I continue working, continue doing everything I was doing, selling weed. All this stuff never stopped all these years later.
Oh so you get an the restidents stop you?
No oh no, no, no no, it just what happened was and I left that out. Remember I told you, I said all my week at work that particular time, I wasn't at work because I was in between jobs and my son was fin to be born. So with him fin to be born and we have an extra time on my hand, I'm like, I'm gonna go to my street, go to my turf and sell some weed. I'm out there. It was a great time. I seen why people was
outside selling weed. I'm like, this is fun. But that's when I got knichtng them snitching on me is how I qualified for that program. So fifteen sixteen years later, I get a phone call from one of my homeboys, Mike Marshall. You're familiar with the song I got five on it. Yeah, so the guy that's singing I got five on his name is Mike Marshall. He called me and was like, hey, Tucky, you ever called a week case in open. I'm like, yeah, that's hell of random,
but I have why. He was like, man, I know two people out of Atlanta that's trying to open a store through this program called Social Equity, but they need someone that qualified. It was met. I'm like, well, what do they mean for me? They was like, they just want to meet you and talk to you. I'm like, all right, we met. I thought we was on on board, on point. They was good people. Next thing I know, we applied. I got this phone call in September. We
applied for the license in December of seventeen. January thirty person of eighteen. We won a license in a lottery. Two people I never met. Now we got a license in a billion dollar industry and have to work together from there. Oh MG, exactly, So you do the math.
Who created the Social Apple program? Was it a government thing?
It was a government thing? Yep. City of Oakland government did it. One lady Destiny Brooks has something to do with it. Another guy named Keith Stevenson who owned the cannabis club up there called Purple Heart, he was a part of it. It was just a way for them to if y'all gonna legalize, y'all need to give these people who's been adversely affected a chance to own in this space. Period.
I didn't know there was a such thing because my dad used to get really upset about, like, Yo, they got all these people in jail that know the industry in and out and they can't get in. And there was a whole program.
Yes, it came out in twenty.
But it was it only in Oakland or is it.
One in LA right now? It's been going on.
It's one in LA right now, right now currently. So if you have a history, big.
Kika, I don't know if you meant with Kika, but Kika has a store called Gorilla Wellness. It's I want to say, it's on Crenshaw Social Equity owned. She's the first social equity in LA.
It's a female owned.
Female owned Black people. A big keepers. You share wrong? You a good lady, super good lady. But yeah, that's that's that's how it became famous in the legal cannabis space. But from ninety six, I've been the celebrities weed man since ninety six, Like all my friends, like we were talking off on camera of my friends are celebrities because I pick and choose my clients, you know what I mean. I didn't want just you know, I don't know. It was different.
I saw that after you went to jail, you got real selective for your clustomer.
No, it was creat No, before I was already selecting selling to celebrities before, I just was selective about how I sold my weed. I never went back to staying outside. It was always at work. You had to call me and you had to know me. Outside attracting different kind of attention. Police is all in your face thing, you know what I'm saying. And I didn't want that, Like I don't want to go to jail, so I'm doing something legal. The best way for me to do it is at work.
Why did you say that when you were outside it was fun.
Though, because like the outside life back then in two thousand and five, selling weed was like a movie outside like my.
Spot wash your fires up really too high?
This one the egg. Yeah, that's why I moved it over here. That's why I moved it over here.
This one is that one down?
This one?
No, you're good cooking like that one?
Yes, you all good seat cooking. O five. Back then, outside my turf where I'm from was a dope spot. They so dope they didn't sell weed. So with us bringing weed to the table, it brought a different type of people over there. Like back then, prior to my wife, I was a ladies man, so all my lady clients, they coming over there to different people. Getting to see that. They're like, man, you know, cause they clients are do you know what I'm saying, not dressing right, you know,
typical dope and stuff. So it changed the dynamic and I got to just see how fun being outside was. We having block parties, bringing the dirt bikes out. We're just kicking it. But I'm like, nah, this ain't really me because the police driving by all that, you know what I'm saying. I got touch stuff, I got to hide stuff I'm not used to that, you know what I'm saying. So it was fun, but it wasn't nothing that I could like. It was just temporary. It was until I got hired at my job and the guy
who snitched on me, I start to work Monday. He snitched on me on a Thursday, so he knew I started work that Monday, and we're trying to have me in jail to miss my first day at working. Wow, called a piece of work.
How long did you spend time in jail for?
I built out the same night because I had no priority.
Oh but did you ever go back? Wait a minute, so you mean to tell me that you served.
Like four hours built out equity as long as lottery. Caught a charge in cannabis and I called a felony when they called me. I had eighty dollars worth of weeed on me and I got ten years of felony probation with a four way search clause. That mean anytime for ten years, anybody I'm riding with, anywhere I'm at, I can get searched felony for eight dollars worth a week. My first defense never been to jail, never have no Really glad.
That you got the equity program, because honestly, to have a felony for such.
A low it's a lot. It's a lot, and it kind of for lack of better words. It fucked off my life, but I didn't realize it. I didn't know what it was doing to my life because I did. I'm a likely how can I put I'm a positive person. I don't let nothing keep me down longer than need to. So when it happened, I'm like, all right, I can't do this, but I can do this, And that's just what I did. I just I never let it stop me, because if I did, I wouldn't be talking to you.
But how did you get How did you when you found out you got a felony? It would affect your ability to sell well obviously have a job, which was your main place to sell the weed? So how did that affect your emotional So.
What's crazy is when he snitched on me. The place that I started working for Alameda County. At the time, I was working to be a probation officer. Me and the guy used to go to the shooting range every Tuesday and Thursday to practice shooting at a registered firearm. So I want to go practice my shooting. Whatever we do, our transactional park line, go about our business. He knew like I said that, I started work that Monday. So when I go to work that Monday to work at probation.
I already have the case. You can't work at probation on probation, So they sent me somewhere else to work for the county. They couldn't fire me because I was already hired, So it worked out everything have a Had I not already had that job, I wouldn't have been able to get a job. I would have had to been forced to the streets. Yeah, so I called heaven Father the yeahweah yahweh set it up to where now we're gonna go ahead and get you this job. We're gonna also get you stitched on so it can come
back and help you let it down the line. I don't know that, Colleen, Like, how do you walk that? And don't you? Yeah?
Of course, But now, what was the learning curve for the equity license? Like what was some of the things that you had to learn to do it to where it's a lasting business.
I'm still learning now. I closed my store in March. I still got other businesses, but I closed my store in March because I'm still learning. I have Remember I told you the people I partnered with I never met before. So they robbed me blind. After about two years, they took the money and when opened the store in another state, I'd have had no clue.
Can they do that? Is the license non based on the area.
They didn't have the license for the store. They used the name the notoriety from the store to go out there and have somebody else get them a license. And I had no clue end of finding out because people was coming up on me in the streets like, hey, Tuckie, w ain't been paid. W ain been paid? War are money? And I'm like, what do you mean? Because when I opened the business, I was more like a face of the brand. I wasn't. I didn't know nothing about the
legal side of the business. They were supposed to teach me. They didn't teach me. They just stole from me.
So I'm current, how are you getting paid?
So I was getting paid as a employee at first, which was totally wrong. Fixed that now I'm getting paid as a consultant. So that happened after I got ribbed twice. You know what I'm saying. I didn't know. I had to learn. So it's like the equity program was great. I love what it did for me allow me to be in this space, but it's just still a learning curve now because legalization just happened twenty sixteen. How are you posing to know everything by now? Now?
When they give you the equity program, they don't hold your hand through it. They just hand you a.
License basically at that time, yes, they.
Put you through any type of classes.
No, they didn't have none set up at the time, So how.
Did they not expect you to mess up? Not mess up? So it's like a slippery it's almost like a setup.
It's a set up. Yes, yes, and again I respect what they did, but it's just like anything when you start something off, you have to fine tuning after a while. It's time for the fine tuning. Right now, currently it's time for the fine tuning in it's happening now. But for me to have to be open five years six years, I was open six years. I have five break ins in six years.
I had and it's all cash business.
All cash business, what's what's.
The rules with the Because I've had talked to multiple people about this because I thought with the cannabis business, legally you can't have the money in banks because then it would be a federal.
So you're not supposed to have money in banks, but yet and still there's cannabis banks. You understand what I'm saying. So it's like, how do we do it if it's federally illegal? But you're telling me you holding my money, And then most of the banks are charging fees that are.
Reap Well, wait, what do you mean a cannabis bank. You don't have to educate us.
So they have banks that take cannabis money that you know that are actual legal banks, but they're set up under the bank, not under like figuratively, but under the bank, under like another LLC. So they'll take your money and everything will be cool. You can have debit card purchases and everything. But overall, at the end of the day, if a bank wants to come in and shut you down, they can come shut you down. Bank.
Why would a bank shut you down?
They can come because you're funneling funds illegally. Technically we're still a Schedule one drug. So technically every day that I'm open, I'm selling weed illegally to the FEDES. But because the checks and balances within the state, I can do a state legally, so the fedesers leave you alone. But every day that we sell, we we can go to jail. But it's supposed to be legal, and it's still people in jail for it.
That's a whole another Well, my brain is very slow. So what you're saying is is that but that's only illegal if you have a bank account, right, No.
It's illegal every every day that we're open. It's fetially illegal. Any cannabis business right now that's open right now as we talk, is illegal because to the fes. But the fares aren't bothering you because of checks and balances that the state controls it. So they're like, go ahead, you can do whatever you do as long as you ain't doing too much. We're gonna come boy you because it is legal by the state, but by the fares. No, I'm illegal every day. I shouldn't be selling weak at all.
Okay. So but oh there's so much unpack. So do you still have the license?
Yes? I do?
Okay, So in the.
Bay, yes I do in the Bay.
But you don't have the cannabis store right now, no, honestare nope?
Close?
So do you have people hounding hounding you twenty four to seven as far.
As to get back opening store? Yeah, they missed me. They're like, dude, like what are you doing? Like when you open and when you open, and I'm like, man, I need to, you know, make it more convenient inaccessible.
This looks good.
I need to make it more convenient accessible. So that's why I pivoted and doing what I'm doing now done?
What are you doing?
So? I do events and I do pop ups. I'm basically a store without being a brick and mortar.
Okay, and are you allowed to sell well, this is kind of dumb question, but are you allowed to sell online? Do you need to cut it? Sorry, So let's just do a quick taste test, ma'am. This looks really good. I love I love the Friday I love how you did the Friday egg cool, the way you did the spam had a little crest on it. I just have to acknowledge all this because it actually looks really deuicious. Okay, here we gotcha.
It's that really does not taste bad.
I can't even refront that just tastes amazing.
If she was talking about the spam all day, it's actually not bad.
It's really good. Wow, the of this because some kids talk smack.
Yeah, it's really good.
M h call your homeboy back and be like it was really good.
This is pretty good, all right.
Jared was talking smack guys back there about the strawberry jelly. Strawberry jelly is definitely necessarily that's.
The you got to and couldn't do it wrong. Can't put on mail or nothing. It has to be to jelly. She took three bites. I'm happy. This is one of my main meals as a youngster.
This is a great man meal.
I love that lady to death. Boy, But dear mom, this is that So yes, you can sell online, but he run at that same risk with the dealing with cards and dealing with the federal government because you're not supposed to do that because if we're selling drugs technically, So what I do? I throw events the same way I threw events back when I got arrested. I throw an event at a venue. Let's just say an art show. You want weed at the event, I'll be outside with
delivery truck. You text your order, we'll bring it right in. So the event is not a weed event. It's an event that just so happens to have weed. So now I don't have to have a brick and mortar. So a lot of people follow me to figure out how to move around in the space. And for the longest time, I was like, get a brick and mortar, Get a brick and mortar. I'm not pushing that really no more. Unless you own the land that the brick and mortar is on. It's no point.
Why do you say unless you own it?
Because so what I'm going through with the store the second time around, I got new partners. The new partners I got were my original landlords, so they've been around the whole time. I'm thinking that, oh we're good, y'all seen what happened these people that came to my wedding. We're gonna be good. They were stealing from me too, the landlord. Yes, so because they were hired by me to handle the store. Mind you, I don't know how to run the story yet because I was never told.
So when I don't know how to do something, I'm going to employ somebody that knows how to do it. So they said they didn't know how to do it. They was doing it, but they were stealing. And same thing. I'm in the streets. People are like, Tuckie, we ain't being paid. People I've never met, but they know me from the store. Long story short, I ended up figuring out that they were stealing. Confronting the moment, got it proof that they you know that they were stealing. But
they are my landlord. So if I caught you stilling, think they're gonna let me stay in their building? No, I'm kicked out. So what am I supposed to do? You have to own the land. If I'm just renting from you, you can not like me. One month they cut my least. Now my business is gone. What A'm I supposed to do with that? And the city you know, they know that this is going on, but what can they do. You sign a least agreement with a place they don't have to. The city can't make them keep you there.
You can just fire them and just be like you're fired.
I could have in normal circumstances, but being at there with my landlord, they felt like they had that over me. So if you don't want us here, then you can't be here either.
Okay, So the how does the event's distribution go? Again?
So it's pretty pretty simple. You have an event, you have someone attached to the event that has a license that can sell and you can have smoke. I mean, you can sell them smoke there. That person can be in the same building or they can be outside, And I just choose to do it outside because that way, I don't When you label something as a weed event, it tends to get overly scrutinized for no reason. You know what I'm saying. We're just chilling with just smoking.
But if I labeled as an art event, I probably wouldn't have no police set to show up, you know what I mean. So for me, it was about pivoting to be able to still sell weed to the community, but then do it to where I don't have to be in a brick and mortar. I missed my staff, right, But between staff, rent, utilities, and security, I spend like fifty thousand a month just on that. Wow, just on that nothing else. I was literally opened my doors to pay taxes and pay my staff. And that's something else
people don't know about the taxes on the weed. It's way different. We don't get no rite offs, Like how we sitting here and it's office and you get right off of the life electricity closing everything. I don't get none of that. Why because we're selling dope because we're scheduled one. If they reschedule, not if they deschedule, not rescheduleed, they deschedule cannabis, we can get those right offs as long as to the federal government, we are selling drugs.
There's no right off for selling drugs.
Is it because it's a cash based business.
No, it's because it's a drug. It's a one drug. Okay.
I'm saying this because I'm just trying to get an understanding. Maybe from the government's perspective. They're like, Yo, they're gonna figure out a way to hide some of the cash, because you know that's what entrepreneurs we do. So I'm saying, are they do you think that they're doing that? Because they're like, look, man, they're already gonna pocket some we don't need to add right offs.
So One, there's something called two eighty e to AD is a tax code that effects cannabis. Two EDD just basically says you're selling drugs, so you don't get no right offs, and as long as cannabis is in that schedule one, we'll never be able to get right All I get right off is calls costs of goods. So that's the only thing I can.
But now how do they track like how much money you make?
So we had to report everything. There's something called what is the database metric? So everything that you get from seed to sales tracked. So now there are people who doing stuff back door. We know that that's just what happens. But I never I never did. I did everything above board and got screwed twice. I don't want to say fuck, but got screwed twice. It's a lot, and people don't
People aren't giving the game. People aren't sharing what they're going through, so we don't all bump our head, Like I went through a lot, and I think other people should know what I was going through so they don't have to go through that, you know what I mean?
So is there a way to make the money and kind of hide the money? Like how are they knowing how much weed you're purchasing and how much profit you're supposed to make?
So they don't it's not about profit for them. They don't care.
Like no, I'm just saying, like how when it comes to the taxes, the taxes that every entrepreneurs, Yes, yes, it can actually make it a business quite profitable if you know how to work taxes, right. So I'm saying, if you don't get any tax right off, the next thing I would do is just an entrepreneur would be done to have the money.
Yeah, and that's what the people are doing.
And how but how are they able to do it?
Because because I'm thinking so, the way that they're able to do it is because we're not federally legal. So you can steal and I can say, hey, I'm going to sue you. Where is that really going to go? Because we're not fairly legal. You're gonna take me to a federal court to sue me for money that you claiming I stole from you. You got to prove it. And then once you do prove it, we're still in federal it's illegal. Like I've had people threatened lawsuits on me that I was able to get null and void
just because it was fairly illegal. You got to know your LLC. Right.
But I'm saying, like, if I have a license to sell weed, right and I don't get any tax right off, can I just buy the weed, sell the weed, keep the cash, and report like ten percent?
Not legally you can do it. Illegally, you can do it.
Can I get caught. Oh yeah, how would they catch me? M Now do they have a check and balance? Like you buy weed from a federal spot. I don't know where you buy the weak? Is there like a No, that's the metric.
That's the metric. Thing I'm telling you talking about metric is how everything is tracked. So if you buy it from a legal place, it has to go through metric. If you're not buying it through legal, it don't matter. It's not on the radar. So you can do whatever you want.
So why wouldn't a person that has a license not by legal, Why wouldn't we buy it illegal because.
They had a license and they're trying to do it right. But it hasn't worked for anybody, not like not like it should because the overtaxation and we're overly regulated too, like we like it's a lot.
I see a lot of dispensaries in Los Angeles. They'll open and then within a year or two they shut down. And then I just also see like when I do because I do engage in edibles just for everyone that's curious. I take edibles to go to sleep, and when I hang out with a lot of mommies and we are hanging out with our kids. I like to I like to pass around edibles, Star Wars for you, Star Wars for You. But when I do go into dispensaries, there's like all these rules about you know, paying cash, there's
cameras everywhere, and then they're always getting shut down. But I guess it's very tempting if they're putting all these rules up, so even though you're doing it legally, to kind of go back to doing it illegally right to survive.
And it's forced a lot of people to do that. But people like us who want to do illegally and want to show other people that we can do illegally, it makes it hard because they're, like, like you said, every time one opens, one closes. So what I've been telling people is quit coming in the game to just grow and sell weed. Growing and selling weed is what you get taxed. You know, well, you can't get no tax ride offs on. So how brought you them? Shirts? Merch?
Use merch to make your money, build brands with the merch, sell candles, sell lighters, that type of stuff you can get a regular tax ride off on, and you can use that money to help your business. But just trying to use the money from your cannabis business is going to be hard to really make money unless you have like fifteen twenty stores. You know what I mean?
Is that why Like when you go onto cannabis stores, they sell like the little pipes and the little you.
Gotta have sundryes. You have to because that your.
But you can get you can get all right off from that.
Yes you can, because it's not a cannabis product. It's a necessary so you don't get taxed like that the only way you're getting taxed.
You don't think all the places are onto that game or yeah, everyone knows it, but not everyone's doing it.
Yeah, cause it's it's it's you got to have money to do with. People are so focused on buying the weed and buying other type of stuff for the stores that kind of like slips their mind. I know the value of having other things to sell. So it's like now you can't. You gotta figure out other stuff to sell.
Now, Like when I go to some of these places in LA which are phenomenally built, like you know, they got the dog products and you know, now is that considered that's considered legal? It's non federal federally problemly.
No, no, no, that's illegal, so a lot of people tend to forget My kids. We talked about it too. My oldest is twenty five, my youngest daughter is sixteen. They're not really taught about checks and balances anymore in school. California made cannabis legal like other states think it's thirty eight.
What California does is California business. The Feds could come in and shut us down because we're not legal on the Feds, but they're allowing the checks and balances to win, so California can do whatever they want, So it's not like the it would be the Feds have to be being total assholes to come shut down everybody. You understand what I'm saying. But as long as California approves it, the Fedes kind of like are their hands are tied. As long as you, I guess, ain't doing too much.
You know what I'm saying, Stay off that radar, you know what I mean. And for me, it was just like I said, it wasn't even the FED thing. It was just within the city. It made no sense to stay open. My store was located across from where the A's and the Raiders and the Warriors used to play all three of them teams are gone. What am I open for? I lost fifty percent of my business just when that happened. And that was before getting ribbed by two sets of groups.
So between when you say robbed, like, oh, well, you're not like robbed with guns, I mean these are your partners.
No, I have five of those robberies with guns. I had a car through my store the last time they robbed it. They rode a car through my store. And then I got robbed by my partners twice. So I've been robbed seven times total in six years.
Yeah, that's not that's me excited about that. That industry is sounds stressful.
It's very stressful.
And do you have to find different ways of like hiding your money in these robberies.
Yes, And because they don't even get any money, that's the thing. The money is in the safe or already been dropped. Most of the money is spent on me rebuilding, and then when you apply for like your insurance claim, you don't get nothing. So I'm basically the last two times I broke I broke into I didn't even file a claim. It didn't make no sense, and I think I had like about forty thousand dollars worth of damage, but it made no sense because the stuff that they
damaged is covered. But it's like so much you gotta go through with it. And then my landlord, it's his bill.
I was gonna say, the landlord. If anybody's making a profit off these damages, is the landlord?
Yes?
Yes, Well, shoot, you better talk to celebrities gets you a building? How hard is it to get a commercial building?
It's not hard. But I didn't know what I know now. Had I known what I'm you know, going into this, I wouldn't even partner with them. But everything happens for a reason and how it's supposed to happen. I needed to go through that to learn what to do now. Like I don't like, I don't hate the people that did that, both parties. I don't have no negative ill will toward them. They taught me a lot. They taught
me how to move like they move. I know more about LLCs now, how to walk away from an LLC or let an LLC bankrupt and what that looks like. I understand that now. I know why they had fifteen sixteen LLCs. I couldn't understand, like, why y'all got me paying rent to this LLC and this LLC and this LLC.
Oh, I know, Now, what do you know from that? I don't know. Tell me.
When you have LLCs that literally stands for a limited liability company, that means your liability to whatever debt or whatever's going on with that business is limited based on how you structured it. So when I came in with my previous partners, that LLC and all that debt that came along with it shouldn't have to travel with me because it's limited liability. I had no clue that was stealing. I can prove that I didn't know they were taking
the money. Why a y'all coming after me to truck people were trying to come up to me and sue me personally take my house off. I had nothing to do with that. That's the purpose having a limit liability company. It limits your liability. So once you know that, then you start the bankruptcy process you go through that. That's most of these people that don't look like us have fifteen LLCs and they just left. Something goes on with one. They watch it coming to me and.
Here I am my favorite corporation is an es court.
I love man. I love escort too.
I love now that's my favorite. People talk at LLC, I'm like, I've never had an LLC, but I like an escort.
I do my LLC, but then with my other businesses I found my escort. You know what I'm saying, but that I can't do that with cannabis.
Can you share for everybody the difference between an LLC and an escort. Okay, come on, educate us.
I know the difference. But for me, how I equated it. It's all with tax filing. That's how I equated the LLC you filed one way, the ESCORP you filed another way. And it all depends on the money you made within that year. But as far as like the definitions of the es corp, I only have one comepan that's es Corporate. My CPA handles it all. Get y'all a CPA.
Yeah, I have a really good account and shout outs to Robert Robert Hill. I like es corpse because I can pull a salary yep, and then the profit from the business can be added as an extra income, so I'm allowed to basically have the benefits of write off employment and profitability all in one scoop. So like when it comes to buying an asset, it benefits me more,
Yes and LLCs. I just know that my accountants, whenever my company's gross a certain amount of money, they're like, yo, you're getting taxed at a higher rate versus the escorp. You get taxed, you save a lot more money. So but I never really understood the benefits. I just know that every time, like maybe the first year, they'll be like, you can, you can slide out the sea corp. But as that company grows and revenues, do I get the
fork out of here and switch the escort. And it's so crazy because I remember fighting my account on one of my business for years because I thought it would cost more money or it'd be like a whole bunch of work. And all I had to do was say okay, and he will just click a box and that's it. And when I say, I lost a lot of money, and I preach it to everyone that works for me to turn into corporation, I can preach it. So I turned purple. These guys will never do it. The day
they do it, though, I will be so happy. It's a good thing. But but that's interesting, so hum.
And I'm not trying to I'm not trying to drag on industry and tell y'all not to get in. It's it's it's it's it's a new industry, so it's gonna go through bumps.
Do you with the license? Can you grow your own weed?
So I don't have a grow license on purpose, but I can get a grow license, Yes I can. I can do that.
Why don't you have one on purpose? You're gonna get a lot of people hitting you up, like, yo, let's get into business together.
Because I'd rather I've grown weed for a long time, but I don't have the desire to grow with anymore. I'd rather, well, before I came out, I just went and visit the farm. I'd rather buy weed from farms that I trust and let them deal with that. They gotta deal with the overhead, the maintenance, the growing. I
don't want to deal with that. No more. People don't realize growing weed is a process and it takes a lot of money and a lot of time, and if you don't have neither, your product's not gonna be good. So I just don't. I don't have the time or the money to do it. I'm not a different place in my life. I got grandkids. I don't want to grow eat.
What's the profitability margins is when you buy it?
So for me, I'm speaking for for me. When I buy weed, I try. I think of weed buying as a cousinsumer as well as a you know owner. I want to buy a good weed for a good price. So when I buy weed, whatever you sell it to me for. Some companies do like a two to three hundred percent markup. I may do like a thirty percent markup. So if I get it for fifteen, some companies will sell it for forty five. That's enough for them to
buy another one, you know, make some money. Me personally, I may do it for let's just say thirty thirty five, as long as I got enough to rebuy and make five dollars.
Why do you do that for me?
I want you to come back and buy more. So if I'm cheaper, you're gonna come back and buy more. Then if you just come back that one time, Okay, Tucky gave me some weed. It was good. I spent the high for it. But maybe I come back to him just when I'm in town, just on the flute. But if I'm giving to you that same good weed for maybe four dollars cheaper, you're gonna come by it from me, and it's not hurting me profit wise.
To me, you just remind me of that clip of DC Young Clan eating while broke, where he's like this somebody's step using this step on bo.
I'm telling you, like in that shout out, DC, that's family too, praise y'all. That's my guy. But like, no, it's it's I approached legal like I did in the streets. Everybody sells weed. What's going to make me different than you? My price?
Yeah, okay, I like that. I like that. That's exactly what he That was. Literally, there's a clip they're talking about I washed it. Yeah, it was a funny clip. But he was like, yeah, man, that's rice.
That comes from the hustle's mentality. A lot of the people that's in the space now never saw weed before ever, so they don't get that. That's something I've been trying to tell the city for the longest time. It's like, y'all, if y'all will lower the taxes, we would sell more product because the customers are coming in they seeing as high tax it limits how much they want to buy. But if the taxes is lowered, they would buy more and y'all would get more tax money. But they don't.
They don't understand that. They don't they don't get it.
How do you choose your vendors as far as like edibles.
Testing them, Bring them in, let us test them, give them to my staff, excuse me, let them test them, make sure they're good, and then go from there.
It's pretty simple, like how do I qualify to be a test?
What you want? What you need? I'll be selling home, but you can't mail it.
You can't mail it to me?
Huh? I can mail you don't tell nobody.
It's okay because I mailed my mom edle.
I can mail a lot of stuff. You know, we'll talk off.
Yeah, yeah, no, is that bad though? Can you mail edibles?
You can edibles, just don't tell nobody e mailing edibles. If you're gonna mail.
Edibles, is it illegal to me?
You're not supposed to mail anything with T A C in across state lines.
So yeah, so.
Cross state line. If you're in California and you're sending somebody some edibles, put something else in it, like maybe a candle or a lighter or a T shirt. You know what I'm saying, mix it up. But if you're you cannot ship t ac across state lines. It's illegal.
Just so you know everyone that when Tucky came, he game gifts. I love gifts gifts. He gave me an edible, he gave me a lighter, and he gave me a really cool T shirt the evolution of the blunts, which was really cool, which I'm going to ask for it in black and white, probably gonna send them. You did not know this, but God works so funny with me. I needed a lighter for my house. This sounds really crazy, and I don't know why.
God.
I was like, I have these like matches that are busted at home and I keep going to my stove and like relighting them to light the candles in my house. And I was like, why is it that I just can't remember to buy a lighter even know where to buy a lighter from, But you handed me a lighter? Is that crazy? Like that, just the most random things will make somebody be like Yes, I needed.
This, I believe wholeheartedly. And like I said, I called Hemley father yeahwah yahweh makes things happen when it's supposed to happen. Even with just us, we've been talking for a year. I could have been out here. It was meant for me to come to day. You know what I'm saying, And I'm fine with that. Like everything that's happened in my life, it's happened because it's supposed to and I don't know that it's supposed to happen. I'm
just walking the path. Like I never thought getting called for selling we was gonna leave me to open the store. Like all the people I've met since then met you because of that, you know what I'm saying, So I take it for what it is. It's just like I'm walking my path and I got to do whatever I can while I'm here to keep that path straight. That's why I don't believe in like negative like all that
arguing and all that I don't live there. Me and my wife could argue and I'm hugging her five minutes later. You know what I'm saying. I love that, I don't I'd rather visit Anger, but I don't want to live there.
And then have you considered being a week consultant. Well you are. I was emailing your consultants. So how do people go about reaching you for that? And what services do you provide as a we consult I.
Tell everybody to hit me on ig to start first, just because it's a lot of weird though. I don't want to give you my email on my phone numbers. I want to know kind of people call me. But I offer everything. I do a full course where I do an intro to cannabis where it's like just the business of cannabis, but then I also do an intro to like growing techniques, and I do all the way up to advance shout out our hearing and our hearings.
That is how I started teaching. He had a company called the Herington Institute and he hired me as a teacher and I was like, all right, cool, let me do it. And I loved it. I was like, man, it's amazing. So I just took my curriculum that I had with them, made it for me and now I teach students with it.
And you teach people with a license or without, with or.
Without, and I do it too. I'm probably different than anybody else because I allowed them to tell me what they want. So I have maybe I take four students at the time, and I'll have them tell me what it is you want to know about cannibis, what is it that you're trying to do, what you're trying to achieve, and then I guide my teaching for those six weeks for that and after that they give full access to me, full access to my black book. Any connections that I have,
I share with them. All of my students are still my friends, Like I see myt different conferences, two of them, three of my I've had eight students total. Three of them are gms at dispensaries now, three of them are budtenders at dispensaries. One of them is even the cannabis field at all. He realized that it wasn't what he wanted to do, so he's doing ancillary stuff for cannabis
businesses and he's eating. He called me all the time, like, man, I'm so glad you changed because he went to open the store like and I wasn't trying to change his mind. But I want to be real educated. If you don't know about to adye, there's no reason for you to jump into this trying to grow and sell eating.
Now do you assist people in the paperwork to get a license or how hard is it to get a license?
So getting a license is pretty easy. The city now has stuff set up to help people with applying for it. So if people want to have me help them do that, I will, but I would prefer them to go through the city that they're in because every city has different requirements. So if you come to me you're from Oakland, I can help you with the requirements, but I can't help them from LA because I don't know their requirements. You'd have to do the research on.
That, because now are you able to do those? City nonprofit? Because I know every so I know in Los Angeles we have like economic development centers, we have business source centers. If you're in Los Angeles and you are not familiar, but the city of Los Angeles really supports entrepreneurs. They have right now. We have a legacy grant. If you've been in business for over twenty years, there's a twenty thousand dollars grant being clear and the city business source
centers locally will help you put together that paperwork. You don't even have to struggle on your own. It will probably help you actually get it. Will They also help you with your DBAs, your escorps. They even have grants for immigrants out right now in LA where if you are an immigrant or you have various to entry and employment, you can get ten thousand dollars grant for us a legalized streetcart. They help you with your permits and everything. LA definitely does it.
Just Oakland, Oakland things they have those type of things. That was crazy, is most of my money last year I made was from grant's. Ninety nine percent of money I made last year is from grants, just from knowing how to apply for them. But that's something I've learned. Those are things that we we tend not to know where the money is. It's a grand fund everything. You just got to know where to find them.
Now do you get help to apply for your grants? So you just do it on your own?
So I have I have a grant writer on my team.
Give a grant writer on your team. That's interesting.
I have a grand writer on my team. But then cheat code is what's that thing called the AI theme chat GBT. That's the best grant writer you're gonna find. Really, what get the pay that twenty dollars a month and get that in this game I got from somebody else within the last six months. When I say my proposals have been amazing, you just tell it what you wanted to do and how you're trying to propose it. I'm trying to tell you, I damnifire, my grand writer. I'm like,
what am I using you for? He talking about, Well, that's what I use you chat GBT, I said, you bastards.
Oh my goodness. Let me tell you something. Chat GBT is a great investment. I if you it's weird. I have like a love hate personality. Like you, you love me, but you also can hate me easily because some people consider me me mean because I'm like my homie says, I'm mean with the eyes. That's what it is.
Everybody. She's the sweetest person on earth, so I know.
But but what I do is sometimes when I'm sending an email and I need something important, of course my original email will be like yo, where is it at? Or give it to me, like why are you late? Whatever? I'll literally type that and say make it nice and chatchy be what. I literally will write, what my email is this EBT and make this like I was, edit this and I'll be going off like my and I'll be ready to press in, and I go, oh, don't pressent. Take everything you wrote, put it in chat GPT and
I'll be like making business professional. Make it nice, make it warm, man, and it'll say exactly what I wanted to say, but with like a cheerry and a smile.
Yes, very nice. Is that crazy man that thing? When he told me that, I said, man, that's some free game. I spent that twenty every month. It don't bother me.
It is great. But it's also free game for everyone out there. We did not know that applying for grants you could totally use chat gypt. That is the best kept secret there. And it's cool because you could take what the grant requirement is and probably just.
Copy aja it literally, It's like it makes it so like and chat GPT.
What I noticed is it keeps a log of your stuff because sometimes cheat code. I know a lot of people people have different theories on how I get guests on the show, but every once in a while I will have to redraft an email for requesting a guest. And chat GBT knows so much about eating while broke that I don't even have to like retype all stuff. Chat GBT will like do my whole request and know
everything about eating while broke. I don't know how, and I could be like, well, just send this request to you know whoever, and they'll do the whole thing and I'll tweak it.
Of course, you know, because you know it. Chat GBT will also send you down the the rabbit hole too if you ain't paying attention, Like if you ask it too much and get too technical with it, it it special stuff out you'll be like what, But if you just give it the key.
Point, it's good. And a lot of people don't know this about chat EPT. I don't know why we sound like a damn chat g EPT commercial, but it works. Giving game images, Oh man, let me tell you something.
I did my daughter' birthday party invitation. I did the basic invitation, and of course it's still jinky because it won't have like the letters right for the words right, and then I'll go over and photoshop and just re edit it so like even for logos, like I did another company recently and I was I did like thirty you know prompts, and I finally got the logo I wanted. I said, hey, and people like I love that lugo. I'm like, thank you cost me twenty dollars. Did you know that?
Yes, my people that put me on a chat GPT because I was still like AI whatever. We was in the process of writing some grants and applying for some money, and my proposal was a one. It was this stuff I typed up myself and he was like, take that same proposal and run through chat chyit beteam, watch what happens. I'm like, what's wrong with this? Like it's nothing wrong with it, but watch what happens, man, I said, Yeah, I'm stuck. Instantly paid that twenty dollars. It would write there, I.
Have it, definitely, and I do it for like I said, just because my tone, as my friends would say, have me not. But my tone could come off a little like crack, like cold, and so it sounds crazy. But I take that extra minute to like just soft soften my so I sound like a human being that doesn't want to kill you.
I tell my wife that all the time, like babe, retype that you cannot because I see her she fuman, watch she tip. That's how I'm babe, You're typing to the owner like of your company, of your whole. You can't do that, like redo that. So, yeah, it's been a great one.
Hundred percent in that person. And I'm like, right before I present, because I have mentors. I am a strong person. I love I love mentors, even though I will say the older I get, the more I fight with them, the more I'm like, I know what I'm talking about. And then they check me and I'll be like, I know an hour from now, a week from now, the answer is going to be you're right and I'm wrong.
And I've bumped my head enough times to know that. Yeah, I may have that quick clap back with my mentor and they may even have a quick clap back with me, right, but at the end of the day, I'm gonna sit for an hour in that heat and I got to kiss the pinky ring. That's you know, That's it.
That's growth though too, that's being a mature, a dope, you know what I mean. Like, I love to learn. I feel like I can learn from anybody older, younger, in between. It don't matter if you got something that's a value. I need to listen. Listen, listen.
When you pivot and your business. Do you look at it as a pivot or do you sometimes look at it as you're settling.
So for me, I look at it as pivots because for me, I don't settle for shit because I know that like I got bills, like all my bills on auto pay, so I gotta.
Figure out it's not like me we could be friends, that's.
That's perfectly fine, Like like you had. I have to be able to make my money for my lifestyle, for my kids, my grandkids, my wife. So now I don't look at for me a pivot, especially in just life in general. Pivots for me is like how can I put it all my losses, I take a lessons, so I don't look at it as a loss, as a bad thing. I had to learn something from it, you know what I mean? So where you learn from it? How do you apply that to the next thing you're
finna do. I never thought cannabis was gonna last five three years. On the legal side, I was able to be in it six years running a good store, doing a lot of good stuff for the community, like fuck just selling weed. I had expudgement clinics at my store for people who had case I've had what expensive bungement clining like where they come in and help you get
your record clear. So I've had three those at my store before I've had open Like I have multiple food trucks come to my store and just set up and just do food for the for the community. Like I'm a big community person. That doesn't bother me. So it's like, let me figure out ways to move around and do what I need to do. But I don't. My pivots have always been about growing, So it's just like, Okay, it's not working, let me find out what do work and get on it, Like I just do you.
Think that's like the secret behind being a great entrepreneur is that pivot versus an l Like I feel what the most the entrepreneurs that I respect the most are the ones that pivot the best. For me, It's like watching a sport, like it's not that I shut down the company, it's that I pivoted into something that looked like it was producing better results. Yes, that's all I was wondering from your perspective, because to say like, hey,
you know I got into this industry. You know, for whatever reason I got I got I got the license everything worked in my favor. But I was able to say, Okay, my store was getting robbed six times, this was happening. Let me relook at the playing board, let me replay the numbers. I'm losing fifty thousand dollars a month doing this, Well, this makes the business more profitable. Yes, and it's I think. On your first business, I know, at least for me, I would be very emotional about it. Yeah, I'll be
crying and stuff. Like I told you that I don't live it long. But my first company, it took me about I would say, four years to do the full breakup. But that's how I am. I guess in all because.
You got to. You think, for me, I could have when the first partner did what they did and left, I should have been done then, but I didn't know. I'm still trying. I'm like, let's figure let's pivot, let's figure something out. Because for me, I'm like, I see what we're doing in the community, Okay, can get better. We'll figure something out. I got back with them and it was kind of it's the same thing all over again.
That tarnished me on working with other people. But at the same time, it can't those are just two bad humans. Everybody else not bad. Yeah, so I have to look at it like they're like, no, you're gonna You're gonna have to work with people along whatever journey you're on. You know what I'm saying. That's just it is what it is. But I just took like I said, I took that loss as a lesson and use that lesson
to help me pivot to where I'm man now. Because for the longest time, I was telling everybody at Mama, get you a store, get you a store. It's it's it's money and ownership in the space. But it was the wrong type of ownership. I was telling him to get that store ownership ain't always cracked up to be. There's other ways to own in the space, and I'm realizing that now and making sure I share that.
What are your top three favorite books as an entrepreneur?
Ooh, that is a good question. Rich Man poor Man is when I always read and I haven't read a long time to read again.
Rich Man poor Man?
Or rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That's the one.
I was like, rich Man poor Man, I wonder what is that?
Okay, that's the one that's it's been a minute.
That's a long time.
Okay, let me see. Let me see books as an entrepreneur, what.
Books that really helped carry you through? Are you a big readers?
I used to be a big reader, but now I'm more of like a go, sit and ask type person, you know what I mean, Like, let me meet with you, let me pick your brain. If that's gonna cost me your feed, let me pay that feed on one of them kind of people Like I used to have time to read, but now I need to actually do more reading. I'm glad you actually brought that up. I talked about WFE. I don't need to read some more. Not that I don't read, but I don't really like I used to.
So I know the rich the rich dad poor dad for sure, But other than that, I can't really think of him because my entrepreneur game come from me being around people and soaking up and taking notes and being in the rooms with people and asking questions. That's why I got a lot of my game.
Friend, I like that, but I I have to say, I love to read. I love to read. There are some books I'll definitely sidebar you and like send you some books that I think really change the way I do business, and like genuinely enjoyed reading please do. I was just genuinely curious because I was like, maybe he knows something that I don't know.
But it's a trip that the book learning and the people learning it still is, you know what I mean, because somebody had to write the book, A person had to write it. So it's just I'm just big on learning, and I can learn from let's just sitting here. I've already learned stuff from you. I don't even know about it. That's making me want to do more, you know what
I mean. I just made a post maybe about two three weeks ago that I want to be around people that make me better, that's making more money than me, that's hustling harder than me, that's doing better than me. Like, I want that because it's going to make me want to do better hanging around people who's doing less. Not that they're bad or anything, but we're not in the same space, you know what I mean.
Eating while broke would not exist if at that period in my life, I wasn't hanging out more with my more successful friends. I noticed personally, for myself, I'm more comfortable with the friends that aren't doing as well. But when I get around my friends that are extremely successful, I mean millionaires one, they don't treat me different at all. But the conversation is different. The conversation is constantly about creating, building the world that hasn't been seen yet, whether it's
planning a tree, building this building that. Like, the conversation is different. And then the people at this other level, the conversation is more sad to say, but like I call it like trailer talk, like you know what girl you're sleeping with, who's getting cheated on? Who who has this? And who's doing that? And it's more gossipy versus like
we're trying. And then it's more like last minute content creation, like oh I see social a YouTube page and I heard they did that, so they'll do three poles and for like three seconds. But the ones that are really successful, you hang around them enough, it is damn well impossible not to dream big. Yeah, and they dream big. They dream like they been dreaming and all they dreams came true.
But in reality, you hang out with successful people enough, we realize that they cry alone, they failed alone, you know what I'm saying. They go through all that but that that that consistency of I'm gonna keep throwing stuff at the board and we'll see what sticks really works with them. But I will say this, my best moments are hanging around now that my other friends aren't fun times. But my best like get up is if I'm surrounding myself by people that are straight winners, like thoroughbreds. I
remember one time I had a low patch. This was like a couple of years ago. One of my successful friends sent me this like Instagram thing and it was like a pack of dogs will walk running together and one dog was weak, and it was like keep running with us, You'll you'll catch up and you know, but it was it was kind of like, yo, run with us, like you know, don't We don't give a fuck where
you at. We don't care if you fall, you broke your leg, continue to run with us, Wenn you're gonna catch the speed or whatever.
In the circles I want to be in, Like it's nothing wrong. You got people grew up with that, you grew apart from there's nothing wrong with that, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm and I'm realizing that I'm forty four. I finally realized that about thirty six thirty seven, it's okay to have new friends, you know what I mean, like a lot of like for example, Neo, I mean Neo five years ago. That's my Pattner. Like we talked just about regular can and stuff. Same thing with Slink.
A bunch of people who I've seen come on here. Yeah, that's he is one of the most viral. That is the homes. Niggas know that. Niggas know your mama, come on now.
Shout out to Slink sleep brother sleep Man talking about how he had been up and down and up and down, but he was the most impressive on the show with vulnerability. I think he had like forty dollars in his pocket at the time. But he had put out this We had put out this clip of him saying like, yeah, man, I took my wife to Maldives or my girl's mouth beves and then I came home and was eating chili dogs.
Every day. I promise you that clip is shared. We get the alerts on how many times it is shared consistently.
Back to Bank, He's not lying. I don't know, because I know in personally he ain't lying. He literally went I know her, know the old lady, know the kids. They win, had a great time. He got back like bro broken shit. She would funny. He SLINKs to cook pies and stuff and like like you know, like we're hustlers. Yeah.
Yeah, he shared his story. It was really great. What advice would you give to someone that doesn't have a license, that does do that is in the business illegally and wants to go legal or what advice would you give him them? Period if they are doing it illegally and that's what they feel they only.
Know right, most of us are like that, you know what I'm saying, because that's so we know a lot of people even know that this legal stuff is going on. If you're interested in getting in the legal space, my advice is find a me and suck up game. Do a lot of research. Do as much research as you can on your own, but find people in the space that's in the space that's actually doing the work. Don't get coined. Find somebody that's in the space doing the
work and work with them. Talk to them, ask them questions. Getting these rooms, be willing to spend money to go to some of these events, Like a lot of people don't realize when I did eighty five sold, when I did sway On, I'm doing eating while Bro, I'm paying for myself to get here. That's money. That's like marketing money to me. Be willing to spend money on yourself.
A lot of people in rap and just whatever don't want to spend money on themselves, But you want somebody to spend money on you, but you're not want to spend no money in yourself. Be won't spend some money on yourself. Be willing to put yourself in their rooms and set yourself a budget to be able to go do that. That's what would be my advice is getting these rooms and talk to these people. So you got to do it.
Shout out to Tucky Blunt. You could find him on Instagram. You are very nice, very approachable, So you guys don't have to be out there all like well, I need to address myself in a suit and approach me. He's very approachable. We've been talking back and forth for like a year about doing this episode, and so I'm saying this sidebar, like, hey, you can literally reach out to him, ask these questions on like what the next steps are,
full transparency. If he does have a consulting fee, that's great. I would definitely recommend it. I mean, you want to hire someone that's been in your shoes and that you can feel comfortable being transparent with, you know, Like I have a pastor, which I want to bring him on the show. He doesn't know yet, but like I say the craziest stuff in front of my pastor. But I like that because I'm like, you know what, it's someone that I can relate to. But that's walking the direction
that I want to go in. And that's the same thing I would say to you guys, like if you're interested in this business, you know, and then have you made like millions of dollars doing this business or like, oh.
Well the business had made millions of dollars, but you don't get to see it because you're paying all the money in taxis and the staff and all the overhead. So no, I never for six years, I never made a profit. But also keep in mind I was being stolen from so once I took over control September of twenty three till March or twenty four when I closed, I got to see actual, real numbers. Blunsymore could have made money if we weren't being stolen from. I could
have made money, but I was being stolen from. It was no way to get out from under it. They were stealing money and then not paying the vendors. That's a double whammy. So it's no way to come up from under that. But it's definitely you can make money. But the way to make the money in the legal space is doing everything but selling weed. You got to do everything else. You got to use that money from the merch, from the parties, from whatever it is that
you do to make money. You need to I tell people all the time, what can I do in the weed space? Whatever you do in your normal nine to five, whatever you do in your everyday space, bring that to weed. There's a need for it. But everyone is just focused on selling the weed. No one is focused on like how you just said a lighter. Them ltders you can get I don't know, I think it's like three hundred and fifty of them. You can just sell those and
make money just off lighters. You can make trades, you can make as trays, what ever, whatever you can use that money to help facilitate And what.
About the vendors that are trying to get into the stores. Like if say there's a pipe vendor or an ashtray vendor, Like, how hard is it to get into these stores? Do they just go into the store.
They need to go to the store, hollow the store stores need that type of stuff. You know what I'm saying.
You just got to you gotta so they need us and we just got to go. That's awesome.
I just choose to do my own stuff branded because it's a brand recognition, you know what I'm saying. But if you have a perfect example, Neo's Moms makes our ass trays, I could have went and bought my own blunts and more ass trays. She's making some, all right, let me get them from you and put blunts some
more on them. So now I'm supporting a whole nother business that's a black owned business that's putting stuff in my black owned business, and I'm selling to my people easy peasy, like it just just I don't know, it just seems natural and it's easy to do. And she's not touching the plant, so she don't have to worry about the taxation. Wow, you know what I mean?
So do you hear it here? First, guys, can you spell it out for everyone, all our listeners on how to keep up with you, how to reach out with reach out to you, Cameron, the center is all yours.
I am Tucky Blunt on everything. T U c K Y B l U n T. Just be respectful when you reach out. I'm super, super transparent and I'm Tucky Bunt everywhere. Cybar. I appreciate you and what you're doing for entrepreneurs. Because you wanted a rare podcasts where you'll see stars, but you'll see a meet You know what I'm saying. You don't really get that a lot. So I appreciate you and what you're doing for people like me.
Thank you, well, it's all love. It's an honor to have you. And like I said, my favorite guest, my team knows, it's always gonna be a entrepreneur, always right or died for y'all. Spam y'all, and I love the spam Sam. I'm just genuinely curious. I'm hoping that is. I don't know what's in spam. I just hope it's not red meat.
I think it's special parts and oh my.
God, sick assitation. Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Eating While Broke. He's out