3 Keys to Crafting a Cannabis Career That Won’t Crash and Burn

Before I tell you the Keys to success, I have to tell you the Risks you face!

The cannabis industry is very different from the cannabis culture. 

Too often, those differences result in an environment where starry-eyed professionals become burnt-out cynics who believe there’s no way to work with the plant and keep your soul intact.

Honestly, that’s how I’ve felt about it many times along the way. It seemed like a dream come true to work with the plant I love and around others who love her the same way.  But that was only half of the story.

Watch the rest of the story on Youtube here.

Last week, I wrote about the 10 secrets you need to know before starting a Cannabiz and many of those secrets make working in the biz tough too, even if you’re not an owner or C-suite executive.

Never fear, there is hope and a way to build your career in cannabis so it won’t crash and burn.

First, though, let me share a few of the specific risks that come with taking a job in cannabis.

1. Buyouts – this is the biggest risk because the ownership of both small and large dispensaries and licensed canna businesses can change hands frequently and often with no warning to the general operating team. Just when you and your team think you’ve hit a stride, a new owner could come in and change everything, including firing or laying off a significant portion of the team. New owners are not obliged to honor promises your last manager made about promotions or the future.

2. Federal Prohibition – because cannabis businesses are illegal at the federal level, employees may find themselves without access to federal protections. The Department of Labor still doesn’t count legal marijuana jobs in its Bureau of Labor Statistics report even though there are now over 428,000 people working in legal US cannabis. This can also be a negative factor in banking, mortgages, insurance, housing, and more.

3. Resume Trail – Marijuana is still taboo in a lot of workplaces. When you have a dispensary or other cannabis-related business on your resume, you may have more difficulty securing jobs in non-cannabis roles afterward because of the associated stigma. Taking the company off your resume leaves a gap that you deserve credit for, but may not be able to openly share in all settings or industries. 

4. Hustle Culture – most of the cannabis folks I know are pretty relaxed and like to take life at a balanced and reasonable pace. That is NOT how the cannabis industry works.  I joke that the people running the industry at the top are more likely to be lawyers doing cocaine and working 24/7 behind closed doors than cannabis farmers sitting at the conference table smoking with the team while solutions are discussed. This translates into an often chaotic work environment, incredible turnover and churn rates, and overall high pressure and stress.

Please keep in mind, this list is short and limited. It doesn’t cover half of the possible risks associated with working in the marijuana industry, but it begins to give a realistic preview.

Now that you understand some of those risks, let’s discuss the keys to building a cannabis career that WON’T crash and burn.

Do your homework

All canna brands are not created equally.  If you want to develop a great career in the industry, you need to take the time upfront to do your homework.  Find out who the owners are behind the brands you want to work with, read up on their history and challenges until now, get to know the folks who already work for them, and pay attention to how they feel about working there.

Google the company, owners, and managers for lawsuits, bad publicity, and contract defaults. One of my favorite resources to find out about companies’ commitment to inclusion and accountability is Cannaclusive.

There is no guarantee the place you get hired at won’t get bought out or become a toxic workplace, but having some time at a steady, positive company can start your career off on the right foot and give you a great opportunity to build your network. Alternatively, working for the wrong folks can leave you feeling distrustful, burnt out, and defeated.

If you’re really serious about your rise to stardom, taking the time to craft a you-centric vision of your cannabis career dreams will be crucial. Think about the type of work you’d like to be doing and who you’d like to be doing it with. There’s a saying that in a gold rush, the people who make the most money sell the picks and shovels. In this situation, that means you can consider what your skill set, gifts, and passions are compared to the job titles available in both the cannabis-touching companies and the cannabis-adjacent industries.

A phenomenal career in cannabis can easily move across different brands, sub-markets, and locales, especially as legalization continues in the US.

Stay focused on YOU and YOUR vision

Our society doesn’t really emphasize young people creating a vision for their life, but it’s one of the most important things to do if you want to build a brilliant, sustainable career.

Even though you’ll be working for others to collect that paycheck, you are ALWAYS working for yourself.  Every person you interact with in your cannabis job could be your next employer, vendor, or client. You ARE your own brand and that is ALWAYS valuable, it’s your choice whether you’ll put it to work for you or not. 

If you’re focused on what you want from each position you accept and where you hope it will get you on your career journey, you can always stay a step ahead of the chaos that surrounds the cannabis industry. YOU are one of a kind. A completely unique human.  We need you to execute your vision even more than theirs.  They can help you along the way and you will be helping them (because folks who have internal motivation are the best ones on the team), so don’t forgo your vision for a paycheck.

Also, here’s a little secret, recruiters would much rather pull someone from a “good” job with an attractive offer than give a job to someone who’s unemployed and looking.  It seems backward, but maybe they think it’s more likely you’ll stay if you’ve been staying.

It’s not hard to get on the radar of recruiters on a tool like Linkedin. Make sure you keep your profile current and add those skill keywords to it. Pay special attention to the most specialized and expensive skills you have.

If you have trouble seeing yourself as the star you already are, you’re like most of us. I coach professionals who are ready to break through to the next level by building better relationships with themselves and others.  It’s the only strategy I’ve seen work 100% of the time.

If that sounds like something you want, let’s chat with no obligation. I love hearing about your visions.

Create BOUNDARIES that work for you

When you work in the chaotic cannabis industry, you’ll find out quickly that if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.

On the one hand, there are enough folks with no boundaries that enforcing your own CAN cost you a job, on the other hand, you probably don’t want that job.  They are going to chew you up and spit you out when they’ve gotten everything out of you they can.

I’ve had many clients over the years who gave their all every day only to be tossed aside like last week’s lunch without so much as a week’s notice. I found out I was fired from my first dispensary job by not being able to log into my email one morning. 

Instead, think about the boundaries you need in place to create the life you envision for yourself (see point 2 above).

Perhaps you only want to work 9 – 5, or maybe you want to work as many hours as possible every week. You definitely need to be paid your worth, and it could be that you need to have headphones on when working in an open space to keep you focused and calm. I use a tool called brain.fm to help keep my mind where I want it when I’m creating, working, resting, or meditating. 

Sometimes, you may need to ACTUALLY schedule and use PTO even though there’s a hectic marketing schedule for every week of the year.

Hint: it will never slow down and they DON’T NEED you, even though you’re awesome and do so much great work.

Whatever your boundaries are, make sure you set them up for yourself.  No one else will do it for you. I help clients with this process all the time because sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to do it when you’re in the middle of it all and you need a birds-eye view for yourself.

Over the past 11 years, I’ve been in and around the Arizona cannabis industry, I’ve seen a lot of careers crash and burn, some fizzle and die, and a few turn into superstardom.

The careers I’ve personally seen flourish have included: Sales Execs, Marketing Execs, Chefs, Graphic Designers, Branding Pros, Lawyers, Politicians, Lobbyists, Community builders, Cultivators, Packaging Pros, Yogis, Scientists, and more.

The limit is not on what is needed, because EVERYTHING is still needed and as the industry continues to grow, that will only become more true. Rather, the only limits are those you place on yourself, and sometimes, a few limits are FANTASTIC for getting you to the stars!

I’ve included a link below to my framework, The Hart Habits, which can help you work through some of these things for yourself or if you still have more questions than answers, let’s set up a quick call to talk about your vision and how to get there. I can’t wait to chat!