As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Brandon Pollock, co-founder and CEO of Theory Wellness.

Brandon is a passionate advocate for the thoughtful repeal of cannabis prohibition and a serial entrepreneur with a successful history of managing and growing mission-driven companies. He began his cannabis career by consulting in emerging markets in 2014, prior to focusing on Theory Wellness in 2015. As CEO, Brandon is committed to building a world-class cannabis organization that is a great place to work, produces high-quality products, and leads by example with progressive initiatives such as Theory’s social equity program and outdoor cannabis farm.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My business partner and I had always been curious about this industry and passionate about cannabis in general. He and I met in college in 2006, just as medical cannabis reform was gaining steam in California. It was something that we were interested in as entrepreneurs and also on a personal level. After we started our first company, a water purification business, we started consulting in cannabis. We then reunited for Theory in around 2015, five years after we graduated from college when the East Coast, specifically Massachusetts, was getting going with medical cannabis.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

There are quite a few at this point, so it’s hard to say.

When we first opened our Great Barrington location for recreational sales it was really wild. We were the sixth recreational cannabis dispensary in Massachusetts to open, and closest to New York City– the demand was overwhelming. We are always cautiously optimistic about charting the unknowns of the industry, but when we opened to massive lines and saw the traffic on our website, we knew it was a turning point for us.

Today, and back then, we worked diligently to make sound decisions to improve based on available metrics we collect. This means evaluating our operations, our staffing, our marketing, and even product choices. While it was a wild moment in our history, it was an opportunity to position our brand and services to show what a world class cannabis operation can look like. We took that seriously, and still do today.”

To read the full story visit Authority Magazine on Medium below.