High Functioning podcast gives postmortem treatment to closed Wareham cultivator-retailer
We don’t fetishize company closures at Talking Joints Memo. Our reporters definitely note when stores or cultivators shut their doors when it is relevant, but we don’t focus on failure like the biz journals that largely show up when shit sours. Newspapers of record love to put closed pot shops on blast too; it’s pure hater prohibitionism, behavior that reminds me of how mainstream outlets gloated when the first gay divorces started happening. They’re all, See, we told ya so! Rarely with any compassion for the people who gave it their everything only to lose in the end.
With that said, there’s a lot to learn from operators who unfortunately don’t make it. There’s no need to harass most of them, but if they are willing to talk from their experience, it’s worth a listen. That is certainly the case for Carl Giannone, the co-founder of Trade Roots in Wareham. His business was the first vertically-integrated Social Equity licensee in Mass, and in addition to maintaining productive relationships across the industry that fostered friendships and collaborations, their team grew some outstanding weed and will be missed.
In this hour-and-a-half-plus episode of “High Functioning” with Jason Reposa of Good Feels, Giannone does not hold back. Hardly bitter or angry at perceived rivals, the latter instead uses the platform to share lessons that he learned in several years of battling industry giants. That includes insight on how multi-state operators play the long game, and about the constantly evolving distillate hustle. As Reposa explains in the teaser, “Giannone built a well-known cannabis company in Massachusetts. Then he had to shut it down.
“In this episode, he opens up about the reality of closing Trade Roots, what it taught him about leadership, and how he’s picking up the pieces and moving forward.” Check it out below …
