Community Highlights: Meet Chad Frey of flowerz™

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Frey. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Prior to the cannabis industry, Chad worked as a marketing and sales consultant for seven years successfully launching beta platforms for lucrative fortune 500 companies (LivingSocial & GrubHub) throughout 11 major markets in the United States. 

Chad found his way into cannabis in 2016. He started a consulting organization (Attilah) focused on helping new companies expand their business development teams in order to grow and scale in the newly burgeoning industry. His best friend was battling brain cancer at the time (glioblastoma) and the only avenue he was able to find cognitive and pain relief were through using cannabis. Seeing the effects this had firsthand, Chad set out to help develop the infrastructure for cannabinoids in consumer goods as well as expand the education around industrial hemp markets throughout the US. 

Developing relationships with non-profit associations, cultivators, scientists, production facilities, advocates, and more, Chad set out on a journey to help translate skills, talents, and resources into the new industry. 

First, he started with helping growers find an avenue to sell their CBD hemp flower. After a massive amount of farmers decided they wanted to try their hand at this new million-dollar crop, there was a big glut in the marketplace that needed to be addressed. This inevitably decimated the price of goods by oversupplying the market before there was demand. Chad focused on helping to find a solution by consulting for extraction facilities throughout the US in order to have avenues for processing of the farmed materials. 

Chad founded flowerz™ as a way to connect communities to the responsibly crafted cannabis products that he saw being overlooked in the market. The hemp/CBD market is incredibly new and with significant confusion present throughout the industry, flowerz was formed to provide some much-needed clarity. That’s what he did while working with organic farms, sustainable producers, and cGMP manufacturers in order to provide the best possible products while setting the standard of quality that all products should adhere to. 

Operating out of Washington, DC he grew flowerz to a staple in the Mid-Atlantic market and expanded his vision to continue the infrastructure buildout in the Southeast. Chad took an executive role with an extraction company in Nashville and set out to educate and advocate for the expanse of cannabis in the South. 

After making the decision to uproot from DC to Nashville in January of 2021, there was a bit of a rocky start, when as he arrived in Nashville the company that he was working to build sued him (on the first day of his arrival in Nashville) for developing a consumer product that they wanted to control and own. 

Blindsided by this, he pulled up his bootstraps, defended himself and his company in the lawsuit, all while continuing to grow flowerz in a new city with new opportunities. He turned to other advocates in the Southeast cannabis industry that led with integrity in order to align himself with a group of individuals with the same values and principles. 

After the months-long legal battle, Chad turned his unfortunate experience and journey into a product line with personal intention in the creation of Karma™. Karma was created as a way to verify that doing the right thing will always prove to overshadow taking shortcuts and stepping on others to get ahead. In an industry that is riddled with snakes in the grass and get-rich-quick schemes, it’s difficult to find integrity and virtue in the relationships that help to build an industry, but that is exactly what Chad devotes his life to on countless fronts. 

Looking into the future, we’re seeing a momentous shift in the dialogue and conversation around cannabis. The thousands of applications from textiles to tinctures, building materials to blunts, are all economic boosts for what seems to be a hurting global economy. On top of all the benefits, there have been over 450,000 cannabis jobs created over the last two years, adding to the pros that come along with dispelling the stigma around this plant. 

Chad’s vision is focused on genuinely helping others in need (from pain relief to sustainability) and creating delightful experiences that lead to changing the world for the better. By devoting his life to making the world a better place, the conduit of cannabis has been a life-changing experience that will only continue to grow. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Banking: finding financial institutions to put your money into while being a “cannabis-related business” is still an ongoing issue that a lot of people don’t realize. Not only banking but merchant services and credit card processing are issues throughout the industry that make being a small business 10x harder than others. 

E-commerce: websites and platforms (Shopify, Stripe, Paypal, Venmo, etc) all don’t allow cannabis-related businesses to use their applications, forcing small businesses to pay higher fees, with less security. 

Loans: The SBA is an excellent resource for small businesses in need of funding, but unfortunately, they cannot assist any business related to the sale of cannabis. 

Ever-changing Markets: Inconsistent costs are going to be another significant roadblock. In an ever-changing industry where nothing is certain, charges will come out of nowhere, and you need to prepare for that. Keeping an eye on the short-term and long-term evolving industry is difficult to do. For instance, perhaps a new governmental regulation created a tax spike, and you suddenly owe money not covered by your working capital, how much do you keep in reserves to allocate for these unforeseen what-ifs? 

US Legal Structure: As of December 2021, only 18 out of 50 states have now fully legalized marijuana use. This limited legality exists even though most Americans think that marijuana should be legal for recreational or medical use, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in April 2021. 

Unscrupulous Partners: Finding the right team to work with and doing due diligence on that team prior to getting invested heavily is imperative. As highlighted, Chad was sued due to the greed and oversight of a company that wanted to take his intellectual property and cash in on seeing a quick buck and fast return on investment. 

On top of all of the other roadblocks that conventional small businesses face, the cannabis industry carries with it a minefield of threats that the pioneers are trying to navigate without getting blown to bits. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
flowerz™ was formed as a way to connect communities to responsibly crafted cannabis products. The hemp/CBD market is incredibly new and there is significant confusion present throughout the industry – flowerz™ is here to provide some much-needed clarity. We work with organic farms, sustainable producers, and cGMP manufacturers in order to provide the best possible products to help relieve stress, pain, and anxiety while setting the standard of quality for all cannabis products. 

Our goal is to be the best at what we do and make an impact that is greater than just selling hemp-derived products. Proper education, integrity, and community involvement are the three core principles that lead our operational approach in an effort to help drive the industry forward on all fronts. 

flowerz™ and Karma™ were developed to help relieve the anxieties of the world, one community at a time. 

ELEMENTS OF OUR BRAND PURPOSE 

Use passion to build a tight emotional bond with consumers 

Genuinely care and lead with empathy. Everyone is going through something. Try to help. 

Create unique, innovative, and motivating connections 

Be people that give a damn. Not just about the business, but the product, the customer, the world, & each other. 

Values-driven culture provides happy consumer experiences 

The fine details are what make us great. Bridging the gap from conventional to creative is where we shine. All while doing the right thing when no one is looking. 

Exceptional collaboration to change up everything 

We go the extra mile. Not because we have to, because we want to. Improving lives by improving communities. Diversifying thought & destigmatizing the lens of the world. 

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The future of cannabis is so expansive it’s almost hard to predict and imaging. The sales of legal cannabis are projected to reach somewhere in the realm of $35 billion within the next five years. The actual economic impact of that market could hit $130 billion in that same timeframe. The green wave is coming. 

A few predictions: 

Microdosing cannabis will become the preferred performance, productivity, and wellness tool across many professions, including pro sports. Micro doses of cannabis become commercially available in settings where consumers face triggers for stress or anxiety, e.g., airports and airplanes, dental offices, etc. 

As more research is funded, we see the supremacy of the Indica/Sativa dichotomy being challenged. Research suggests that looking at cannabis strictly through this framework might not serve our understanding in the way it is marketed to us, meaning that cannabis is SO MUCH MORE than this duality of options. 

Consumers will continue to become more knowledgeable about the benefits of cannabis and its various compounds beyond just THC and CBD, including terpenes and cannabinoids like CBN and CBG. They will also understand how cannabis can fit into their daily routines along with other supplements and health products. 

The stigma of being a weed smoker and stoner will all but disappear. We believe the most profound trend we’ll see is the continued mainstreaming of cannabis as part of the health and wellness lifestyle of most adult Americans. It is very likely to be as much a part of the social fabric of the country as alcohol. 

Cannabis consumption will move on-premise and the hospitality industry will play a big role. Here in Nashville (Germantown), Michael Solomon is opening the Southeast’s first cannabis consumption restaurant and we’re sure to see a massive influx of these in the coming years. 

Over time, the cannabis industry will infuse itself into the mainstream business community, and we’ll need to take a hard look at the misguided policies — like restrictive zoning ordinances and unreasonable tax rates — that were developed in reaction to propagandist misinformation. And correct them. 

Cannabis companies [will no longer be] getting rich without giving back to communities that were impacted by the War on Drugs. We’re seeing small groups created to oust big giant cannabis corporations looking to only cash in. Rightfully so. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.pickflowerz.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/pickflowerz
• Facebook: facebook.com/pickflowerz
• Twitter: twitter.com/pickflowerz