Rising Stars: Meet Rodney Croteau

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodney Croteau.

Hi Rodney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our journey began over 10 years ago, as we were dealing with several medical issues in our family. My wife required spinal surgery and with severe allergies, could not take many of the prescription pain meds and others without allergic reactions. In our search for alternatives, we started looking deeper into cannabis, specifically CBD, as a solution. We found tremendous results that allowed her to manage the pain and live a normal lifestyle, without the concern about the side effects of traditional pharmaceutical medicines she had reactions to.

As we moved forward in life, I couldn’t help but think how great it would be to provide others with information and education about the benefits of cannabis as an alternative to some of the traditional medications, especially for those who are unable to take such medications due to allergies or just the normal side effects that come along with certain medications. We began to consider starting our own venture, where this dream could become a reality. As fate would have it, the laws in the US began to favor the legalization of cannabis products, and the Farm Bill of 2018 permitted hemp-derived products to be legally produced and sold in the US, in all states.

As so our journey continued, we developed our business plan for a new kind of health store, one that focused on hemp-derived products that were reputable, lab-tested, and that we had personal experience in its use and effects. With this industry being in its infancy, there was much confusion over what these products were or even if they were legal to purchase and possess. We spent a tremendous amount of time obtaining the necessary education and exposure to cannabis products so that we had that knowledge to bridge the gap that existed between the industry and the consumers who were eager to learn more about the products. We had our game plan and the industry was growing along with our strategy.

Just before we opened our first location in Franklin, TN, we encountered another health challenge, this time breast cancer. Just a couple weeks before our grand opening, my wife was diagnosed and we were looking at a long road of treatments for her. Our fear of all the new meds, chemo, radiation, and so forth was overwhelming, to say the least. We approached her path to recovery in full disclosure with her oncology team, regarding her health history and our plans to incorporate cannabis into her treatment program. To our surprise, they were fully supportive of our approach, as in their field, they encounter many who turn to cannabis for support in their treatments. As an example, we learned out the gate that Zofran, a routinely used anti-nausea medication for chemo patients, sent my wife into anaphylactic shock and to the ER, so that was off the table immediately for her. Without the cannabis products we leveraged for her, she would not have been able to continue with her treatments and we’d be in a whole different place in our lives right now. I could go on with many more examples of our journey these past 4 years, but we’ll move forward with our story for now.

So we open our first store in Sept. of 2019, ready to take on the challenges and spread the good word about CBD and hemp products to the world!! Just as soon as we get things off the ground……..the pandemic hits us in 2020, just a short 4 months later. We find ourselves struggling like everyone else, with shutdowns and the chaos that ensued for over 2 years. Fortunately, we stayed the course as best we could, offering free shipping and free deliveries, which my son and I made from our home as we were locked down for a bit here in TN.

We managed to keep afloat during that phase, thanks in some part to the pandemic, as many were plagued with the stress and anxiety we all were going through during those times. Many looked for options to keep anxiety at bay and to improve sleep issues. So we look back today with some level of observations that we were able to take some sort of ‘silver lining’ moment out of the pandemic if such a concept could exist.

So for the last three years now, we have continued to grow along with all of the advancements in the cannabis industry. New discoveries translate to new product lines and we’ve been drinking through the firehose consistently in order to keep up with these new developments. We don’t jump into every new fad out there, and there are many, because we strive to only offer very high-quality product lines, that are ‘proven’ to be beneficial and provide results. We demand the strictest of standards from any product we chose to carry. Third-party lab test results are just the beginning of product selection for us. We research the company and those running it for a track record of success and honesty, which can be very challenging to find in any new emerging industry. We test the products ourselves, with both independent lab tests we have performed, along with our own experience in testing out the products ourselves and with our Green Daisy team. Everything we offer has been double lab tested (third party and our own) and personally tested by us for quality and potency effects.

Our shop is not your typical “smoke/vape” type shop at all. That was not what we envisioned as we put our plan together. We wanted a professional, but not clinical, environment, so our customers can feel comfortable visiting and feel free to ask any and all questions they have. We wanted an environment where folks can feel at ease bringing in their friends and family members, even their dogs!! Yes, we offer a lot of products specifically for our pets as well. So our plan was to cover multiple needs throughout the community, from those looking for great quality recreational level cannabis products to those with severe debilitating health conditions, looking for any possible avenues to make their lives better. That has been our mission from the start and we will continue down that path as more and more evidence is unearthed proving the health benefits these products can provide.

It makes our hearts full to hear the stories and experiences our customers share with us each and every day. Seeing and hearing these heartfelt success stories drives us every day to make a difference in as many lives as we can possibly touch. This is what our vision was all about and it feels awesome to share it with you today in this brief background of Green Daisy. This is not just a business to our family, but a commitment to helping our fellow humans lead a better and more fulfilling life through natural solutions.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When we opened in November of 2019, we had just received my wife’s breast cancer diagnosis, so that introduced some levels of anxiety we hadn’t anticipated. Together, we moved ahead with her treatment paths and getting the new business off the ground until…….January 2020 when the pandemic hit the world!! So 4 months later, we find ourselves dealing with a global pandemic and shut down and quarantined and so forth. We navigated through that time as best we could and somehow came out on the other side!!! In this industry, we are still shunned by many the financial services due to the federal laws on marijuana. So in our short business life cycle, we are on our third bank and third credit card processor.

You have to be prepared for this going into this industry or you’ll never survive. From financial services to all of the advertising outlets in social media, our industry faces constant discrimination due to the nature of our products. We cannot advertise on any social media outlets for fear of being shut down. I’m constantly receiving Facebook hits for posts made over 2 years ago, that were perfectly fine back then. At any rate, we have to rely on word-of-mouth organic advertising to spread the word about our business and the products we offer. Fortunately, we. have a very loyal customer base who have supported us from the beginning and are the major driver behind our continued growth and success today!! Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of those who have helped us along the way these past 4 years!!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our primary vision has always been to help spread the word and educate people about the cannabis products we offer and how they may assist them in achieving their health goals. We are not here to “sell” products but to guide people along the path to finding solutions that work for them. We spend a lot of time just talking with our customers, getting to know them and what they are in need of to help improve their lives or the lives of their loved ones. We take a true caring focus on everyone that walks through our doors or calls us on the phone. We specialize in our vast knowledge of the products out there and provide that insight to our customers as they try to figure it all out. It can be very overwhelming as one is first looking into these products, We are here to ease that apprehension.

We are blessed with the best, most well-trained staff of any similar business around. Our staff exudes that same level of caring and passion that we do and it shows. Our customers know and trust each and every one of our team as they know we have their best interests at heart. We have fun, we cry, and we are just being good human beings and doing our best to help our fellow humans out. That is what sets us apart from all the others. We aren’t just a team….we are family.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
With all the resources out there, it can be very daunting to search for the accurate information one needs. I can’t point to any one source of information we leverage as it is a constant search for the “truth.” You can find just about the answer you are looking for with some time and effort in Internet searches, but it’s wading through all the misinformation out there that is most challenging.

We focus on reputable proven sources for our research and always look to back up those sources with several others that support the information we are researching, It’s a large part of what we do every day, as there are always new studies and research coming out that help us learn more about the benefits of cannabis.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.greendaisy.net
• Instagram: @greendaisyfranklin
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greendaisyfranklin/
• Youtube:https://youtube.com/@greendaisy3312