Exploring Redemption: Ryan Basore’s Journey from Advocacy to Industry Leadership

Yo, what's going on? Everybody?

Welcome to a new episode of My Canicass. I'm canad Dave and I'm Gving.

I hope you like that.

Intro to that video, we have the CEO and founder Ryan Basore on from Redemption Cannabis and thank you for

Ryan, it's a pleasure to have you on.

Thanks for having me. Guys.

Hey, I'm excited to dive into your story, dive into your brand and everything about Redemption, your guys' foundation and possibly becoming an MSO or you ready are an MSO, but talking about the process of it.

But before we jump into all that, let's jump.

Into brief overview of your journey and what got you into cannabis and starting Redemption.

Ryan.

I'll give you the short version.

But I grew up in a small little town outside of Lansing called Dansville.

It was related to everybody grew up on a farm.

And I was about eleven. I fell off a tractor in the middle of winter and I threw my hips out real bad and after about six months, we have a lot of problems.

I got prescribed three flex arols a day.

As an eleven year old, and I was that stuff, and I was twelve, almost thirteen, I discovered week and I did you know, it did everything the flexer I was supposed to do with those side effects, so, you know, being related to everybody mean in sports, being in academics, I had to hide my.

Weed usage all throughout high school. It was just a weird thing.

So I quickly became I knew it was medicine, and I quickly became suspect to the government on that aspect. I was considered quite a conspiracy theorist back then. But fast forward to two thousand and eight. You know, we passed the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act and I quickly became of the states first patients and caregivers. In two thousand and nine due to my you know, my back issues, and I was still in the you know, finance industry

Was it like it was?

It was?

It was awesome. So I helped up the second dispensary in Lansing.

It was Bay seventh twenty ten, Capital City Caregivers.

It was the first one on Michigan. Have and Danny Tubno.

At the first one Hydro World, and then at the same time we set up three caregiver girls in Okamus, Michigan. And it was with some business associates I knew and some family members and at the time we got the state police, the local police, ridda township, Eam County Prosecutor Dunnings all the sign off on it being legal, and then we had a couple of attorneys drawn up and we were off and running that summer in twenty ten.

It was pretty pretty amazing summer in Lansing.

That's when Lansterdam was born, and a lot of great memories from that. But at that same time I had started. I got invited into a group called Cannabis Patients United, and I started lobbying at the state level. I was in going the Grand Homes work group in twenty ten, and that's when I met people like Rick Thompson, Jamie Lowell, Tim Beck.

That's when we all kind of.

Got going there and a lot of the other chuck ring and then then we started the Michigan Association Passion Centers later that year, and I went around the state and recruited dispensary owners.

Who had, you know, the balls to open up in little pockets of the state, and we all kind of worn together.

But it was it was December first, twenty ten. I got raided at the Caregiver Grow by the state police that that had approved it, but then got rided by the ATF, the DA, the FBI, and the National Guard.

So the military National Guard came in.

A grand home called in the National Guard Legal Caregiver Grows.

It was just fourteen years ago.

It was pretty wild, like the National Guard, but.

It is I tell you, I go around and talked to bud tenders at different stores and tell them stories, and you know, they some of the younger kids don't remember what it was like when we wasn't legal, you know. And now there's a gym and the apartments in the restaurant where we got raided, so it's.

All all gone to.

But you know, that was before the robot aquirement and that passed in twenty fourteen, which defunded the DA to a dollar in legal states. That's what protects us now, So I was outraged. I continued to grow at the house and we kept the dispensary open and followed by blackhawks every day for about two years.

And family did.

I got pulled over about eight times, I counted off the record, shaken down and had some chitnuk over over over my house at times for thirty minutes, just working with me.

And uh, you know, we just kept going and eventually.

Eventually the United State Western District Attorney hadn't been appointed yet. Obama's guy was being held up at the time by the Republicans, and in twelve he finally got approved. And his name is Pat Miles Junior, and a federal attorney who was I thought we'd be you know. We called him up and said, hey, he's gonna let us go with the law school and Obama come on Obama and Holder on TV in two thousand and eight said he wasn't going to rate anybody, so he told him no,

There's a couple of times that's happened, and that was it.

They uh stress, Yeah, And about three weeks later, we got indicted, seven of us, including my now brother in law and father in law, and uh, you know, I was about to fight it.

I didn't understand how the federal court system worked.

And percent of the people that get indicted in the Western District of Michigan get are guilty.

They'll they'll punish you.

You need to have millions and millions of dollars to even think about fighting it. They can, they can throw everything at yourself. I was the last person to plead guilty.

Uh.

They were coming at me with a deal I could. If I did plead guilty that week, I was going to get four years. But if I if I didn't plead guilty, they get I get five to ten. And they were going to indict my now wife too, who had helped us on some stuff.

So well, I would saying, what does your wife have to do it?

Well, she was in somehow he went to come and helps here and there. My father in law, he got indicted and he literally was just hanging out sweeping, sweeping up.

Well, that's crazy. They were just trying to get everyone involved.

They were just it was wild times back then.

I mean sounds like when Dave got like not obviously not similar, but when Dave got raided, he was just managing a dispo and they just assumed because he was there every day, he must be making all this money. So they just raided everyone left, right, they took it. They raided his house too.

Yeah, I didn't have the National Guard, by the FBI, the DEA.

I had all the letter boys at the HESSE.

I just I don't really even imagine.

I got raided on July tenth, twenty fifteen. I was working at Advanced Medical Supply on Shelby Township. I was toltal was illegal operation. Obviously, nothing at the time was legal, right. It was mostly just for the caregivers. And I was lied to by the ownership and I was just a bud tender, painting my way to get through college. And like Gruvey said that, they had my name up and next to the owners and they came a man like you said, guns a blazing, like I'm sixteen to the face.

I didn't.

God, you didn't finish because you ended up going to jail. I would like to talk about that as well too. I didn't. I didn't have that.

It was just crazy when you hear when when you said the red dots on you, it just reminded me of like guns of blazing, like they're just pointing guns at these people growing weed. That's insane, Like they're just assuming you're this like cartel drug dealer when you're just like a family man growing some weed. So that I just that's that's crazy to me. Yes, you went to jail.

Yeah, they knew I was a kid. I went the ice store that was on the SWAT team. They all knew, they knew I was. I was good natured country country boy at the time. Whatever when they come and that those are their tactics.

You know that's crazy man.

Yeah, But I see I went down there and you and uh I did two and a half years is. I did the behavior modification program. It's called art app. It's pretty intense. So I was in there with like I can I ca tell people it's like a survivor meets real real world meets bad Girls Club all in one.

And uh, you know, I.

Got no fun. No might make good TV, but it sounded horrible.

There was the US Senator in my there was pins, there was everybody in between, guys that around American greed and you name it. Some of the biggest comments in the world too that you find out and you know, there was a plenty of stories of that, but.

Man, that's crazy. You went through all that, you know, and now look where the industry is.

You know, yeah, people.

Got that guy got busted with like a thousand pounds. I got like a misdemeanor.

You know.

Yeah, it's been a lot of that.

You know.

You're just like, I'm sure you looking back, You're just like what the you.

Know, like, well, I think about it now, like what the numbers that we do you know legally, and it's just like it's wild.

But you know, I went into it. It was going to happen.

I knew it was going to happen, so I just looked at it kind of like as a crucible moment in my life. I could complain and you know, and feel sorry for myself. But I went in there and I've read book after book after book. I lost seventy five pounds I was in. I was an incredible shape, and you know, just now, just discipline for two and a half years. Every day I did exactly what I said I was going to do.

Your story in Redemption, like that is a beautiful name because of your story is such a redemptive from where you It's not where you've come from. Now that I've heard your story, it's just so crazy to see how far you've come with your braind and everything. In Redemption is a beautiful name for that, because I cannot. I guess one thing I have to ask going through something so traumatic, how did it? Like, Yeah, how do do you think it's affected your perspective of like going into

You know, Well, I went in and I, like I said, I looked at it as like when I was in prison, I was studying I've always loved I loved business. I was studying branding, market like everything in there. I was like, I'm going to get out, and I just couldn't be for not you know. I was like, all right, I'm going to have this. I kind of could foresee the future like where we're at today, Like and I'm going to have this thing that that you know, it's it's

Let's get going. And I got out fifteen.

And uh halfway house in Camma Zoo a bit home confinement at my parents because i'd land contract with my homes.

Was that law changes with it, because like everything coming in twenty eighteen was just you had a good judge. I'm just more curious, good lawyer.

I had an expensive Yeah, lawyers pretty dam between the two of us, we probably about a half a million dollars, you know, just just to get not even make it take it to trial. And that's why, you know, we put guilty at the same time. And it really like but yeah.

They man, I just I can't that's a mind going. Sorry.

They gave me eight years, and the prosecutor was pissed. I was only getting pods. The judge when I went to She's like, hey, come back out, don't get in any trouble, and I like off early and she kept her words. So but right when that happened, you know, I was we had passed them in f l A. I'm a felon. I can't legislature passed it. I can't

You know, just hustling away.

You know this times, especially a couple of those, you know, nobody knew they were going to be dispensaries, so you play that game.

So I learned a lot about real estate that way. But I was doing a lot.

Of consulting also for big cannabis companies coming into Michigan, and most of them aren't here anymore because it's it's a tough you know, part of the toughest market in the country.

Yeah, there was some turnover, man, there's definitely some turning brands. I believe it.

And so in seventeen, something pretty crazy, like you know, everything's going good. Prop one is going to happen, and my league guys combining forces with the Marijuana Policy Project. You know, we're gonna get it done. We're going to get it passed. We got the whole money behind us.

To be the next attorney general in Michigan.

So he had the National Party, the State Democratic Party had the U A W.

I mean, it was supposed to be uh a done deal. And I kind of freaked out because I knew, like, this is going to be our attorney general.

And I still had a lot of a lot of kind of maybe get back, maybe a little bit of avenge left in me. I wanted to get so Davia meet.

And you know, he was against weed and we were about to legalize that for the industry.

But Dana and NSSA called me right when she she announced she was running a met her in Panera on Brighton for about three hours, and she convinced me, and she's, you know, it's going to make my case kind of like the whole you know, paid focal point one of them of the primary, of the Democratic primary. So I was in and I quickly got involved and raised a lot of money and you know, like pretty soon there it's like m Live articles, you know, the Michigan Public Radio.

I even got a call from someone inside the party said.

That, hey, if if he wins, you got to leave the state.

Like they're there, they're they're coming after it. So I got stressed.

Probably I started drinking a little too much at that point. Yeah, So I was you know, that was you know, that was at the end of eighteen and Bill shooting had been terrorizing us for years and uh yeah, and it was it was all at the same time. So the Democratic primary was in April of twenty eighteen, and it was in Cobo, and we went down there. It was a snowstorm. It was supposed wasn't supposed to be. But it was like a freaking like I don't know, college

It, had to come right down and had blocked them and basically said what's up. And he got.

On the stage and celebrated and and then so that was awesome. And then uh and then you know, we we uh helped her raise more money and she ended up winning.

We prop one past shooting was gone, and uh, you know, we were we off.

You know, it was that I was actually the head of her on a transition team, so we helped.

We analyzed all the cases.

I got a bunch of lawyers, We analyzed all the cases that shooting were prosecuting at the.

Time under the medic Marijua Act. And we did a lot of good with that.

So that was cool, man, And then not the threats and everything else. After the threat very it.

Was like walking into a new world.

Like Dan was elected, I'm no longer being chased legal legal shooting is gone, and now I'm like friends.

With the a g you know, mind blowing like fulls like full you know, it's damn it was.

It was pretty wild.

And you know, my part of problem was, you know, a lot of my friends are on the writing committee, was you know, make sure that marijuana felons are allowed, and then we get kind of celebrated and discounts. So so at that time it was a little longer, but I might as well get into it.

And at the time, my good friend Robin Schneider, we've been I met her.

I opened up Capal City Caregivers intent, she opened up cap the City Compassion Club, you know, and we started working together on a lot of stuff and at the legislature, and she had been with a National Patient and NPR and she's like, we got to start a you know, the association because there's you know, there's about five ten big companies at times, the MCMA trying to get it to where.

We were going to get knocked out when this law passed, and you can do.

It in lane Duck and you know, so we formed and that was right there at the end of beginning of nineteen when they cut off the caregiver supply into the dispensaries and you Lancy was about to run out of weed.

Prices were about to go up to six seven eight dousand pound.

The trust conference at the at the at the capitol and talked about it, and you know, like I think different about Michigan when people come in from out of state hire all these big lobbying firms.

They didn't have like the base there, like we do not even know our politicians. We have to get elected like they were involved.

So we were able to get get it turned.

That down for the caregivers.

And I was the business development director and recruited a lot of people for the mc m i CA to join. You know, it's a group of the board members mostly all all former caregivers rather than the former carriers. A lot of the people that advocated and made it legal are are now part.

Of the State Trade Association. So it's a lot different than than other states.

But at that time, Gauge Cannabis was one of my clients and they were like, hey, Ryan, we got a social equity grant.

You got a business idea. I'm like, yeah, I was about ready to start a.

Brand, and they're like, well but in the app and I got it and gave me fifty thousand dollars and I started the brand. And when I started it, it was just me. Had a card table with no skirt, my

And uh, did you launch twenty eighteen or did you launch like twenty When did a redemption of two thousand nine is established?

But when did you guys hit metric?

June first?

Twenty twenty June first?

Yeah.

My problem was my first packaging order was from a factory in Wuhan, right before.

You got that virus.

O G.

I'll get all this stuff from America now, So I learned that lesson to me.

It's fun. He had no ship, horrible timing.

I had found three growers, so I was the real first white label, uh, you know, flower brand in Michigan. Besides cookies, and you know, they gave me the playbook. They were they were in business with Gauge, and they treated me really well and uh and and helped me with like how to set it up and made sense. And you know, I got one of they Kevin Pipers, from two candidates who had.

Known and uh Tom Bella from who's now with Real Waves.

And then Drew Driver from Driven Grow And in twenty ten when I was recruiting, he had opened the first dispensary and gave her in ten and now he's been a caregiver so quickly got going and uh, you know, five four years later, we're in uh, you know, about two hundred and fifty stores, Driven and growing myself. There's a lot of I guess will were spoting around and on what's going on. Three years ago, Driven about thirty percent of the brand, and they gave me a lot of firepower to uh.

You know grow it.

I needed it. I didn't. I've got no capital to start besides the grant I got from Gage, you know. And they now had money to spend more on marketing and invest and do you know different things. And past June first, we merged together one hundred percent so now we're we're one company, and you know, we've got a Drew started up in glared with a five hundred Class A grow and he's never taken a dime out of

And really know when did that merger happen?

June first this year?

I'm sorry, you just said that. I just missed it forgot when you said that, But again, I sorry.

And then you know, Yeah, so that's kind of the story where we're you know, we're there, and you know, i'd.

Love to talk about talk about the foundation work we're doing.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was about to jump Intoyeah, I want to know when the Redemption Foundation started and uh it's impact so far with what's going on with it. Did it start at the same time as Redemption? Was this after twenty twenty was at.

The same time? That was the deal?

It was always so I'd always raised a lot of money for realization for lawyers, for families that got hit with CPS and kids taken away. We were always always raising money always, you know, since it started that we were always trying to help people. And I was like, if I have an actual business that's putting in revenue every month, it can count on you know, we can turn this into something. So learned a lot from the beginning. It's a ten percent of my revenue, which is my

We do the Rick Thompson Memorial Gram.

It's a community Access gram. And you know, we do things like Force Detroit reentry programs.

We do.

Job training, We've done holiday drives, we've done kids that have been recently was atlancing small talk of charity that kids who it's actually abused if therapy and a lot of those from when they're been taken away.

A lot of good men.

Marijuana and they're in foster and foster parents, and you know, we we've helped legal cases for advocates and me just in families that you know, a lot of families that are in trouble. And then I also started back about two and a half years, you know, the Great Les Expungement Network, which I'm no longer the president and anymore. So we've done a lot of grants to them the fund of that for the first first couple of years, so.

A lot of you did a lot of grant you're giving back.

They help him back. Like that's phenomenal work.

And I do want to say, you know, rest in peace, Rick Thompson. You know, he's a great guy. And actually how we kind of heard about redemption and heard about yours, like you know, you're through the grapevine.

You know what we saw working uh Bendor days celebrity appearances is what.

Is a good dude man?

Rick Thompson just wanted to say that because like, you know, love what did there, because he was a great person and anyone who met him just you could see his passion in cannabis and you know, pretty much through association, like when we got into this industry, like trying to be in the Canvas World. You know, Rick and Jamie were some of our first people, So I just want to They're great people, bad respect from it, and I want to go back real quick.

You were saying.

You guys do certain like hu, yes so much, but like is there It sounded like people could like if we and Groovy wanted to come to something that you guys are doing, like is that available for the public or you have to be invited? Only trying to think like not charity work, but like I'm trying to think of.

Someone wants to fundraisers. We we we recently had a jail and bell and.

Something, you know, we'd be more welcome and invited to come to it. I think we're not really doing a lot as much anymore. We have one at the end of this year that we're not going to. Uh it's just for people that have been and I'll get into a second. People that have been donating to our Commissarior program and some of our major donors like Green Stem, Drank the Fields, True North and kind of just like come have a good time, like we don't. You know,

We don't we have very overhead.

I just know how much you do for the community. Man, with like all the like between all these funds like your foundation and Redemption, and how much you're having impact on different communities, but yet all kind of branch from

Man, it's really like you go ahead and experience it. If I'm going to be having success, and you know, I don't feel right, you know, not not doing it that way. And that's that's the second the second thing that we do do the grand but the second thing is is born out of what my experiences. It's our commissary program. So when I was a federal prison, you know, three hundred dollars a month is the max you can spend doing that you're balling out. And I was lucky enough to have.

A great support system. I always spent three hundred dollars.

But my first job in prison was was cleaning disgusting bathrooms and showers, you know, disgusting, and I made fourteen bucks a month doing that, and then by the end of it, I was working at the law library, a cush John making thirty one bucks a month, but like telephone minutes cost fifty cents a minute, you know, emails

Crazy, and they're paying these inhumane wages, but they're like, we're going to charge you exactly what everyone else pays on.

It's pretty nut. Thet I in charge of the kitchen would get a bonus if he did spend the whole food budget, so he would just it was horrible.

Like you're just getting the cheapest crap on perfect for myself and save that money and give myself so in stead a grade C B if you're eating d you.

Know, it was it was It was not a motivation is a.

Jerk, but commentary sounds huge.

The prison, yeah, we started it back shooting about a year ago almost and it was when at the time Nature's Relief came and Joe Jenga, who's not with Franklin Fields, I'll put it together with me.

He did federal prison time, and you know, like, hey, like we got this bio mass and like what do you want to do. I'm like, I wanted to put money on com on prisoner's books, like they're still on cannabis because I know, like those guys and girls feel like they're being forgotten. They're seeing what we're doing out here and it has a huge impact. One hundred bucks in a month is a huge deal when you're in there.

Anything fourteen dollars a month you can make.

That's like years.

Yeah, you know what I mean, Like that's them just like like I mean, you know, obviously not they're dealing with ship and then that's the big thing that you're that you're also highlighting how wrong it is too that these people are still in prison.

Okay type of stuff.

You know, So you know, you're you're bringing attention to it as well. You're helping these people out, So that's really cool.

How much how much do you guys donat in commentsary funds? Like that month.

We started the last October and we're between five thousand and sixteen thousand a month, so.

Oh wow, damn yeah yeah no true North.

Uh twenty five cents of every district gummy bag the.

Clause giving me the pause because you deserve it.

Yeah, please get they're a double double louder.

Even louder in the back, standing.

Up Frank as a commentary as a commentsary, just cart that they're doing it, giving a quarter of each. And then we've got Pleasantries just did a series of old school strains and they give a dollar from each eight sould to the Commissary. So we've got trying to all it goes across the country and we're trying to and gets getting funded by other brands in the Michigan license market. So it's not us, it's you know, it's really a form of all of us working together and uh you know,

A ten percent of that licenseing fiece, you know that that stays in Maryland.

So we get to give Rick Thompson Memorial grands from Maryland to groups like us that are doing the work on the ground. But the Commissary affects the whole country, everyone in Puerto Rico, you know, So we hope to get on your brands of other states to help out on that as well.

It's just truly amazing what you guys are doing.

Yeah, it sounds like you guys are going to have a good next year too, So I can't wait to jump into what we're gonna talk about in the future a bit here, but I mean one, yeah, he going before we go back, go back to.

The Redemption Fund though, real quick.

I was curious what impacts has the foundation made so far as a nonprofit organization. Is there certain stuff you guys do or different charities you guys donate to with the funds or.

Yeah, I mean it's like Michael Thompson Clement, like some of the one's off Small Talk, the Lansing based one with the kids Mission Green. His name's Walden Angelos. He did fifty yeah, fifty five years for three ounces and a gun planned it on him and he got he did thirteen and Obama let him out harden them and he's helped a lot of people get out of there the prison. He works with both who left him the right up up there and he's helping me right now

We talked about about what he was going through. That was ridiculous. Yeah, and to him, I didn't know. I didn't realize. You guys helped out with that too. That's you guys.

Props everywhere. You guys are literally everywhere. It continued to mean to cut you off, right.

No, So that's a great force. Detroit.

Our friend Najava, there's re entry down down in the Detroit area. We've given it to individual families, We've done it. We gave a big grant like two or three years running to sons and daughters for the holiday, driving about twenty to thirty k each year, giving kids, you know, a Christmas, a real Christmas and medical supplies.

In Maryland. We just did our first donation. It was with Bernards Black.

We we right got about four thousand different school supplies and gave them away in Baltimore in some inner city schools that need some help and you know, just getting just getting going there. So it's really you know, all types of grants, it's whatever makes sense, but we really like to give it to people that are you know, are working really hard, putting in the time. But like you know, we're five thousand dollars needs a huge, huge

You know, there's there's a lot of people out there doing the work and you can find them.

I love that.

Do you guys see any challenges within the cannabis industry for the Redemption Fund at all or with being a nonprofit in the cannabis space.

I mean, it's the five o' one C three depending on how the businesses that are donating or set up. I'm not their accountant, uh, you know, like it is. It is a legal tax right off, depending on who's writing the.

Check for them.

Uh. You know. The real the real challenge is being in the market like Michigan and expecting these businesses that are trying to survive with the real tight margins and all the kind of the the tomfoolery or whatever that's going on, you know behind the scenes, with a lot of people cheating.

To be able to give us money.

So that's why you know, we try to offer them ROI on it too, like they do it because it's right, But we also want, you know, people to know they're doing it, and they should buy those products because they are doing it. It is directly going to help help people that are affected. There's no floff and so you know, you know there's there's there's it's not paying a salary, it's not doing any of that. So the challenge is really the market. And that's why you know, we're real

That's really cool, man.

No, I like that. I like that.

And talking about redemption, Well, would you guys have any what's you guys' current plans for twenty twenty five new genetics?

You guys going to the New States? What's your lot?

A lot of plans.

Feel real busy, Yeah, waking up at four thirty every morning and starting my day at five to get on top of it. But we we work with our friends and Altam. They're in Oklahoma, they're from They came up in nine uh from Columbus, became caregivers and uh great growers. Uh you probably had some of their strains. But they're in Oklahoma a great place to breed because it's five thousand dollars for a license unlimited plant count and they're actually limited. Yeah, but it's it's half the licenses have

Year after year they've.

Read that way, you know, Candy mout which I know you guys got a little bit that's Mob Stopps and Mafia.

Funeral and they're not. And then we got just.

Three new ones at stanky Languages, GMO and Garlic Brass, which I hope you guys get a ahead of it.

It finishes in sixty three days instead of eighty. You know in the eighties.

Face we are, we are. I'm sorry sorry you said GMO and and I and garlic, so you said double the garlic. So sorry, I guess I was showing you ready watering.

It's our top, it's our best one. We're on this Candy Mom, mop Stoppers and Mafia Funeral.

So Mafia like a candy So is this by compound genetics as well?

Too?

No, this is like that was their make so Amino Hunter, it's Mafia cut which has been amazing. And then the rest of it, so the candy office, theres uh. And then we've got a lemon Charry Diesel which is a strong smelling fruity uh classic sativa. And then we've got a good fellow which is Mafia Funeral by Donkey Butter. It's a Donkey Butter cut that you know.

Dave Zanner, he's.

Also down in Oklahoma. He was the first grower at to North. It was a caregiver cut of the Doncy biter. That's won a lot of oards down there. So a lot of new stuff. We got more more coming. Uh, it's important you know, we we like to get a lot of genetics and uh, we like to have him unique.

It's important, you know. We got to be coming with new stuff every year. So there's that. But then on another note, we.

You know, we got about a year and a half ago, I started getting getting calls from from True Leaf and uh, they're like, hey, you know, we want to We're really interested in your brand.

He's a guy and I know that we got hired.

So had a wholesale who came from the caregiver market in Ohio and kind of the other, the the other, the gray market or whatever you want to call it, and uh, you know he was a big fan of the brand, and you know, it was it was. It was pretty interesting because you know, three or four years ago, a big company wouldn't be interested in in a brand like mine.

You know, it's just just starting and completely bootstrap. But they were, they were all about it.

They wanted some you know, like some some authentic brands and and you know things you know, and and also some social social impact sou For me, looking at the future, I always have been and kind of planned it out like this is the area that we're in. Whether whether people like it or not. It's it's the merging of the old school with with with the corporate animals, and you can fight it and hate it and yell about it, or you can you know, be around.

It's legal, like people talking against metric where it's like yeah, but like it's kind of has to go that way. You can't just have this like gray area forever like.

Well fast and then like you don't want to go through what Ryan went through.

That's what I've gone through over thousands of other people have gone through, because like that does have lasting effects. I don't know how it's affected you later on in life, Like I still have my little PTSD moments here and there if like a cop comes behind me sometimes like my brain just triggers.

I don't even know.

But like it has to go throughute where we're going, we're going to have legal eventually. I really hope the states just decriminalize it because I'd be honestly the best I think, and then have the states go from there. But like moving into different markets and having being I legal, it needs to be everyone needs to have access to the plant.

No one should not be able to smoke it, grow it, eat it anything.

Sorry, yeah you know exactly. I mean, it's if you study history, which I do, there's one way that it's going to go. And you know, I understand people are pissed that. You know, then you know, I get two thousand and three thousand for bows anymore. But you know, like, hey, we had a good run. I had a good time. You know, there's some good years there after I was out. But like it's you can you can fight it. Like you said, you're not going to stop.

It, so yeah, well yeah, you sure you might make more per pound. But it's like you know, people getting his creed fear, the yeah, the things you went through, like you know, like and like sure what he went through was a crazy story, but then to add what you went through going to prison and going through that whole speriods, Like it's just like I, well, I haven't gone through something like that. So hearing and watching him have the PTSD, I can only imagine what you went

Like it's a really cool.

Story to go from one thing another because some people could, you know, as you said, the first six months when you're in prisonery bitter. Some people could really take that hate and run with that for the rest of their life, you know.

So then they went the way I look at they went, right, that's that's the way it is. I've seen the the age on the street at a brewery. I didn't have any emotional responses, is what it is. And I be honest with you, I'm kind of gun said and gone past a lot of things, but like it's it's this is just the way the way that it's that it's going to go. And I want to do this the

But you know, Maryland has eighteen license gross we're going.

To be you know, and and right now we've launched, we're there and we're selling about one hundred and fifty two hundred pounds a month.

You know, the pounds are a.

Lot higher there, they're twenty six hundred. And you know, it's just a licensing agreement. But we take what we learned in Michigan. In Michigan, right now, we concentrate. Like when we when we work with a store, it's our job to make sure that it sells off the shelves.

It's not that it's not their job, like we do certain things. Is it's all about velocity.

What are we going to do, How do we bring people in, how we train the bud tenders, how do we get them involved? So like it's you know, we took what we've learned in Michigan and take it for granted, and then executing it in Maryland. And then we're gonna be launching in Pennsylvania in twenty one stores in middle of December. Same deal in Pennsylvania In my opinion, I'm there to be one point eight billion dollar medical market this year. They're gonna go wreck probably next year it's

So that's when we're going to kind of announce it.

Now more intown and you know, kind of kind of let the country know what we're doing after some success in it.

Sounds like you've looked a lot of places. Is Michigan probably like one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive state to go into, like from.

They want to make it. It's the toughest market. It's the toughest market in the country in my opinion. I mean people come in and just get spit. Uh you know, I watched it from many They don't understand the dynamics, the politics, the culture.

I'd say, you know, at the retail game in Michigan is just throat.

You know people you know those people been doing you know, retail, their whole lives are born, you know, growing up in retail stores, a running a lot of the stories in Michigan. It's it's tough. So it's not like going into Illinois. You know, we're going to be going into Arizona. Possibly we're gonna deal with the top grower out there. It's not done yet. And then Ohiolander goes to get to Florida. Prop three passes and and go there. So that's that's

So that's playing in the next twelve years.

I like that.

I've been glad that you're gonna take the Foundation with you. You're probably gonna take the commissary program as well with you into each state.

Yeah.

See, I think that's great because you're coming in the state, you're coming in, you're providing quality product, and then you're also going to be you're giving back into that state and any.

And also a lot of these brands I think especially coming to Michigan with like not a lot of soul. You know, here's our fancy packaging. We're just gonna white label some weed. And like, I feel like you got like some soul, Like you know, you have purpose, like branding with purpose purpose branding right, like kind of going hand in hand. And I think that's why you've stayed stayd tried and trude and like. And I think that's the natural evolution for brands is to grow wherever that

Appreciate it.

I do want to jump ip anywhere from that, but I don't know. Sorry to me cut you off.

I wanted to jump into this question because we were talking about it right before. We're talking about products. How do you see consumers preferences changing and how is Redemption cannabis responding to these shifts? And I think that goes with the one product you were showing us, like you're talking about Yeah, I got it, I got it right here.

So this is our ten pack.

It's a it's a new Port Box refurnished basically the cell a fane. It's uh, it's ten point seven joints. It's a quarter all rolled up and uh, you know we we sell a lot of those every months, a lot of them. I mean it's all flower. We take our bets and seeds, grind it up. All the age and pluses are in the bags, and you know, that's we've hit it with that. We were the first ones in the state, I do believe, or one of the first with the twenty eight pack joints.

We uh, we called it a border bundle.

We sell a lot of in the up. We've been at the up right when the store is open because obviously people travel.

By popping man people.

We're heavy up.

There, and we're heaving on the southwestern border, most of the border towns. So like we called it the border bundle there. I thought it was funny and they said cool. So yeah, so we saw most of our joints. Yeah, most of our joint ten packs of twenty eight packs, so you know, learning, learning that people that's what they want, you know.

Like I stopped kind of here too, you know with cigarettes, you know, yeah, on the go here they are boom boom out.

Always always dreamed of being, you know, as a pacing as a kid going into a store and buying a pack of joint cigarette. So there's a lot of people with that dream. You know.

We're one of the things we do take pride in where the straights specific are.

So we've been making strange specific ourselves since two thousand, man, and you know that that was real important We made it and I watched I watched people get off early on and H see see this. Little girls stopped her seizures with it and have it. When I saw that that was in twenty ten, Spencer, I was like, this is this is for real?

Yeah, you know, and something's so crazy.

It's important for to be strains specific because if you got a bubble bath rso and it helps somebody and it works for their elements and now it's repeatable, so they're getting same turfy s, flavonoids, canabinoids every time. You know, a lot of brands you just don't.

Know what you seen that now I'm thinking about strains specific are so I don't know what market I can see anything. And every time I got of ourselves just alright, So yeah, a bunch of stuff made into it.

Yeah, so we got five strings, six strains will continue at where I mean, it's not a huge market in Michigan, but we're top top two hours.

Overrand in the state.

You are like half grams one one yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm a big fan of the It.

May not be like the high selling part of the market, but again it stands for how good of like what you're doing with your brand.

It's good.

It's it's caring about the people who use the product, not just the money, you know. I mean, so it's, as I said, I really appreciate that because of course sounds like you're you know, you're making your sales, you know how to make your sales with this product, and they but you're like this products just good, you know. Like that's the thing about RS. I don't never look at it like a money making product, you know, but it definitely does a lot of good.

So we got to we give away kits, regard them cancer kits or opiate kicks, because I've seen so many people get off of opiates from in the last fifteen years from it. But you know, we give away a lot of those to the stores we work with when when they have a customer coming in or buy, you know, buy their limit and oursl come back and buy their limit again. They're like, hey, what's going on? You know, you know, and then we try to help them out and it's kind of stay shoot her every that way

And the nice on the candy mop that was.

A good smooth It was like a garlic fruit almost to me, it was kind of tasting like but I.

Don't know, do you guys grow all indoor outdoor?

I want to get a couple of growing questions and then like one or two and then like I think almost always always I always got questions on the grow because I I.

All our indoor flower is uh, it's all under a flower. You grow about fifteen sixteen hundred pounds a month is what we're going down. And then we have twenty acres of outdoor and that we just had a great harvest. Like many people dibits. Our fifth year doing it, we learned a lot.

Was it a good year for outdoors?

Outdoors great?

I heard it was. Yeah, if you made it through like that first part of the heavy rains and you had good you know, filtration in your solo and or however you were growing, if you made it through that.

And it was incredible because it's staying warmer later.

Now look at it today, it's it's different eight degrees two days before.

Make up.

It's uh so we so we'll uh you know, I think we did about one hundred thousand pounds of fresh frozen. We got it on the freezers and then I'll go to life resident. Uh you know we sell five tens on one gram and uh yeah, so we got do you do.

Other collaborations or products besides flower because I've mainly seen redemption just on flour, so I just curious with them.

Yeah, the r and so one grand live rethum have five ton cards one hundred percent live resume.

We've never cut it. Uh uh they're all in ones.

We do a little side brand turn and burn with some cured we call it break dust and some cured wax. It's you know, it's cheap, but it gets gets you where you need to be, gets you high. We use the whole plant and uh, we don't do anything with distilate, so that's where they are so and the cured comes in, uh, you know, in order or to get rid of it.

We don't like to play in the distillate market. When you know the distillate market is you can't you know, you can't afford to do it yourself in Michigan. It's all coming in from out of state.

You're going to compete with people who are using using.

Version. That's really that's really crashed the rest of the market because people this year did fresh rolls and whether they're going to sell it as as as flour, which will be some nice outdoor fly this year.

I'm gonna say, I'm gonna keep an eye out because I don't think i've seen the strains specific RSO or the concentrates. I'll keep my eyes up.

Yeah, the RSL strengths specific is very unique.

Yeah, we've got five strengths and can go on the website. We got the store locator. Probably our lowest market is is Southeast Michigan as far as where we're at, We're heavy everywhere else everywhere else, but we are about stores over that side.

Nice website. By the way, I'm showing off the website and I just want to look at this.

I love it.

You got the mission we did. There's a video that obviously we played beforehand. You can check it out on YouTube and boom, right here is the store locator.

I think that's sweet.

Actually, that's how I found your guys' product today with the candy mout Before I was like, I was like looking at we mass, I'm like, this is ridiculous.

So I just went to you guys. I g hit your profile link and I was.

Like, oh ship store locator easy, Like it's when I found my area.

Boom, Like I love that.

Think what place you should have it if you're looking for a brand, because I think you don't miss one spelling or want it letter. It doesn't showcase on the map, so you will not show that brand. So it's like having that when you go into the not every brand is a website store located sometimes that's a little huge.

That's nice, Yeah, keeping it updated. And in Michigan, we're now to the point where a lot of the stores we're in, we're not in a lot of new stores where we've got a lot of longtime partners and we concentrate with them, so you know, it's just more consistent, it's easier to keep the map up.

And we hear nightmares with people getting ripped off too. Like once you find people that you do good business with and make good products and have good collaboration, it's like, all right, let's just be loyal and let's make this money and like do good business. Like, let's not screw each other. There's too much like illegal dist of it or too many people just screwing people over payments.

And have that conversations about every day. We looked at it. You know, we needed to increase set.

I was over the summer and uh, you know, we did pick up some news stores, but we really looked at how do we become the number.

One brand and the stories that we're at. So we just really focused on becoming a better brand and and and and and better better, having better story support and a lot of the stories we're we're in their number one we're other number one brand, so you know that's that's the goal. Or we have them their top products and it's uh, it's worked out. We don't have an accounts receivable problem at all. But we're really strict about it. It wasn't my partners.

If it was up to me, I mean, yeah, I would have been selling everybody in trouble partner. No.

I mean that's what it takes. Sometimes. You got to have those multiple perspectives to make good business. And that's why it sounds like you have a good team, you know. And you know when I watched that video and it talks about you know, hand picking your team. You know that is a powerful thing, right you that.

You don't want to strive together and some good pros bounce out good partners.

It's just hard to find a good teams. And when you do, it's like we're going to stick together.

You know, some really bad partners.

I could tell some stories and you know, and to kind of get pick myself back up a couple of times, and you.

Know, also think about business and money like that. They get those type of people just in it for like nothing but that in themselves and don't do anything and screw people over over some bucks.

Yeah, it always always comes back down the road, always does well.

I think we're coming towards the end.

Yeah, I guess the only thing I did want to ask because we did really before. I just want to clarify because I probably missed it. You know, we smoked that candy mob, So there's that. But I took a couple of dabs of our club between some of our partners shout out. But when we were talking about MSL, where where are you guys going first? Because we talked about a bunch of states really quick, I just want to like kind of see like what is you Where were you going first?

Currently we're in Oklahoma, but it's just the new panos that come out are altim are in our bags, so it's they handle it and you know, it's more of a to not explain. And then we are in Maryland operating right now. We'll be launching in Pennsylvania in December, West Virginia in February, in March, Arizona next fall.

You know, So you're going to all those places. So when you brought them up earlier, I thought these were just places you were looking at and you were for sure Oklahoma, you were going to all those places. So this is why I wanted to reiterate, because I got a little off because I thought we were just talking about Oklahoma and then the rest of the places you were looking. That's why I asked him, like, oh, it sounds like you're looking at a lot of places. You're

You know, we've got a Maryland employee. Now he's great. And then but then also you know.

Uh, you know, I hired one my buddy always wanted

If no one wants to hire a.

Follow you know, when you were hustling, man, you were out here hustling. I mean it paid off. And that's what I'm saying, like, and I'm sorry I missed that before I thought you were looking at all these states. The fact that you're going to them is like is awesome and taking that foundation everywhere.

Is just is just mind being do they get the same products in all these states too? So like do you can be able to do like staying strange specific are so the ten pack of cigarette like.

Or it depends is we're learning the different markets. So Maryland we've got ounces eights joints ten packs launched December six, but they have like an extra case arm because the answer child, it's a little bit goo here, but it's still cool. Pennsylvania is a is a no joint stay.

But you know, so you sell O just medically right there currently okay.

Yeah, but it'll be you know what we're doing big big and big there is I have have shape, you know. So actually we're doing quarters and it's their quarters are the number one cellars.

It makes it you're kind of going to market and see what's working there.

See what our partners a lot. We have a couple of greenhouse allocated to us in Maryland, so we're going to be launching the live resident all homes and buy ten cards and then each market's a little bit different, but it's you know, going in there with r s ops and then working with them and just building this out for the communication because you know, working with a giant, giant company.

It's been it's been. It's been good.

It's been you know, all this has been a good learning experience.

You know, especially trying to keep that redemption culture spread throughout each one and taking on new team members and I'm sure that's spring challenges and I'm sure you brought your team with you, you.

Know it is. The cool thing is it's going to make us that much that are in Michigan. We're gonna behind another marketing person that we're here, an analytics person for the whole country, but they're also going to be in Michigan doing the work.

Uh.

You know.

So it's been Yeah, it's been.

So the farther way go out, the better, the better that will that will be in in in Michigan as well. So it's uh you know. And then like I said, the foundation percent of the license piece that we get in those states, all that's all ready the foundation but of a state in those states where we're gonna find Gebric Thompson grants to uh to groups that are doing the work in all those states.

So you know, Mayland's got Baltimore.

There's a lot of a lot of a lot of stuff going on in Baltimore, a lot of history there that you know, they definitely need some redemption and a lot of people doing great work.

You know.

Pennsylvania's got Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, it's you know, it's it's there's a lot of big cities that a lot of stuff's happened and you know, and great people doing doing.

Their work there. So yeah, we're just gonna spread.

We go into those states and stay humble, you know, where we feel like we're it's an honor for us to be there. It's an honor for them to take us in. And what we've done here is from day one is we always try to work with the butt tenders, educate about what we're doing, what we're really doing, about the products, and you know, and make sure they get our shirts or sweatshirts, they get free samples and went over with the butt tenders and you know, that works

Small roots? Is that grassroots?

So the you continue to build and to bring in your whole story good grass Yeah, yeah, and you bring everything with you to these markets. One last question, can you do you have a fund if you want to donate to the Redemption Fund?

Is there?

Is there a link on the website.

Yeah, it's on the website, but it's also to our foundation website. It's the Redemption Foundation dot org.

Cool, thank you.

I want I want to put that out there. I don't think I asked about it earlier, and I want to make sure everyone listening. If you do want to, there's a fun foundation.

Yeah.

I think we just have a few more things before we get out of here. I just have one last question on Redemption just because this is just what I'm just curious what you'd say, is there, what's what excites you most about the future because you have so much going on, and I guess I'm just curious from all the things you have going on, is or anything that's like makes you the most? Like one a pumped to get out of bed at four thirty in the morning.

Yeah, I tried.

Uh it still is not lost on me. Like every day I wake up and I kind of can't believe that I get to do this. I've been I've been extremely I guess I I had to learn a lot of humility. I did real well before I got into cannabis, and I came out of prison at thirty seven and I was dead broke, you know, not a good feeling.

I'm not a good senor.

I can't draw anything like that, but I'm pretty creative when it comes to, you know, coming up with these ideas with the brand and how do we execute it. So I feel like I was I was put here to do this, I'm going to do it, and uh, you know, I uh, I get up every day and people now ask me what my hobbies are, and I'm.

Like, I don't know. I don't know what's on your purpose. I know this used to be.

I mean now it's this they got you got a family, and we talked before I got a boy. It's about turning three tomorrow and I got another boy on the way. I'm beginning of January and you know, I'm an old dad, forty eight New Year's Eve, so I'm kind of getting to live and live like the dream that I wanted to live that I you know, thought a lot about when I was in prison and what eggs and it's

I guess that's the new hobby, he says, going into his second child. We'll see.

That's a great man.

Well, we do have one last question you have to ask. It can't question. It's just a fun question. Thank you, And then before we do that, I guess I should do as one more thing. Is there anyone you want to say shout outs to anyone on the team specifically you want to shout out, shout out anyone. I don't know there's any shoutouts.

They had to shout out to the whole Redemption team.

We're small, like Redemption actually cannabis team right now, we just have seven employees. People think we're a big company.

Seven people, seven employees.

Yeah, but we have driven there's one hundred employees to grow in the processor. But like actual brand, we're lancing. You know, it's we like the team, you know, Brady, Pattie, Kyle, Bratt, Mark and Bruce and myself, and everyone's doing more work, double the work than I think most people are doing at their jobs in cannabis right now. But we're efficient. We like to work together. And then the foundation. I got a great board that donates a lot of their time.

The people in the market in Michigan, ex caregivers.

I know, I go around the license.

We had a chance. That's all we wanted. We wanted a chance.

Chang story is motivating. You know, your story is motivating to people. There's a lot of people like you, similar stories might well you know similar obviously went through tribulations and like you know, it's just you have a powerful story. So thanks for coming on sharing it with our community. Appreciate that.

Yeah, I appreciate you.

Now, Dave, go ahead, you can ask you the final question.

Yeah, so final question we asked pretty much every guest that we have, we have to and it would be so you prefer smoking joints?

You or you dabber? How do you smoke?

What's your preference smoke joints?

Perfect.

I smoke a lot of joints, but I was I was smoking about ten a day, and then uh, I kind of had some science issues, and then I got better, and I'm right back up to about five or six a day.

I'm in the house. This is over. I'm going outside smoking a joint. I got a puff, go, That's why got it.

Ryan's daily a lotment.

It's uh, not as much as before, but yeah, man, I love smoking flower and I've got.

Unfortunately, I feel that I feel like after rolling so many joints for a while. But say, all right, you're grinding up some of your bug, you're grinding up some candy mob and you pop out the grinder and all of a sudden, the gangs of genie comes out, and uh, he's like, I'll grant you one wish you can change anything within the industry.

What would you wish for all right now?

I wish for the level of playing field, level playing field. You know, we followed the rules. We fought hard to have a chance to do this. We fought really hard. I always wanted to see this as an industry where you don't go to jail and you know what, it's going to be fifty hundred years. That's what I'd like to see because there's a lot then get people out there busting their butt, follow the rules, and I put you in a disadvantage of Michigan right now.

I love that you were real quick with the answer to like, we didn't even bring this up, so that was like real quick.

I really I know.

That was great. Again, thank you Ryan for coming on.

I really appreciate you telling us our story from how what got you started in the cannabis, talking about getting out of prison, working with Dana Nasslow the Attorney General, great things with the Foundation, Foundation, every everything that you've done, and then the expansion of what you have going on and Redemption. It's been great getting all this and I think we're definitely over an hour, So thank you for staying longer with us on this.

Really appreciate it.

I think it would be a very slightful episode, Like

So seeing seeing you do all that, you.

Just overcome a lot, and you know, I think it's motivating story when someone sees a story that someone overcame something like who doesn't like an underdog story? Who doesn't love a story of redemption?

Right? Thank you?

I mean, and I like pun intended, you know what I mean, But I mean, how many? How many movies? Is underdog story? And you're like.

Like, you know what I mean?

So you know it's probably why you get those messages because like you know, people want, people want to see you succeed when you've been through some bullshit.

So thank you for taking time out of your night. We appreciate it.

And on that note, I got to give a shout to our partners real quick. Thank you to Old School Organics, Kinship, Cannoby Extracts, High Drink High nine.

I appreciate you and helping making this. I'll go around.

So yeah, we got some great partners you know, and helping to keep building is we keep building and keep moving forward, you know, like always hope for the bigger future, right, got to keep planning.

Continue evolving.

You guys have again, thank you Ryan for coming on and as always groovy, we're here to advocate, educate and inspire the next time y'all.

Peace