Marlo Richardson
If you don’t know who Marlo Richardson is, then it’s time to start paying attention. Marlo is a black businesswoman who is slowly becoming a powerhouse in the California cannabis business scene.
The thing is, Marlo Richardson didn’t get her start in the cannabis industry. Instead, she created her fortune by taking a leap of faith into entrepreneurship after leaving a steady career.
Marlo has had nothing but success as she got involved with real estate, insurance, production companies, crypto, and much more. With so much experience in different businesses, Marlo Richardson has the know-how to build profitable businesses.
Now, she’s turning her attention to the California cannabis industry by building several brands.
That’s why we decided to get in touch with Marlo and catch up with her current cannabis projects.
Tremendo Trees launch at Lemonade Van Nuys
First, we want to thank you for having this interview with us. Can you tell us first what got you interested in the cannabis industry?
Well, it all started with my mother. In 2018, she had a pretty tough year and ended up having a full hip replacement surgery.
Before the surgery, she was having a lot of pain, so the doctors prescribed her pain medication. The problem was, she only found relief when she was heavily under the influence of these narcotics.
It wasn’t until a friend gave me some CBD ointments and creams that she would have relief from the pain without the heavy sedating effects of the pain meds. From there, I started learning more about the cannabis industry and the true potential of cannabis.
Straight away, I started a cannabis and CBD brand called Just Mary. We’re a delivery service in the San Fernando Valley, but we hope to get some CBD products on the market in 2022.
You make that sound easy. But was it easy getting started in the cannabis industry, or was it just like any other business?
The main challenge of entering the cannabis industry is the cost. The cost in licensing is easily in the double-digit thousands once you pay for state and local licenses.
These prohibitive costs are what keep many people out of the cannabis industry, especially people of color. Sometimes the licensing can be offset with social equity licenses.
Since you’ve run so many businesses, do you think running a cannabis business is a lot different or more challenging than others?
Once again, it comes back to the cost. The cannabis industry is inundated with everyone trying to get a piece of the pie.
Landlords are typically trying to maximize the cost per square foot or request a percentage of the profit. Taxes are coming from every direction.
Keeping costs down while maintaining a focus on quality requires an extreme dedication to numbers. In that sense, I operate in the legal cannabis industry just as I would in any other business.
Everything is about the bottom line, margins, return on investment, overhead, and cost of goods. If it doesn’t make financial sense, I won’t do it.
That makes perfect sense, but are you into the cannabis industry strictly for money?
Well, I need to be able to run a profitable business, but cannabis is also important to me. As I mentioned, my mother benefited from it, and so can many other people.
The only problem is that there’s still a lot of stigma around cannabis use. My goal is to help de-stigmatize cannabis use and highlight the many benefits that it has by giving consumers more options as to how they prefer to medicate.
Besides the numbers, what’s the most important part of running a cannabis business?
Choosing the right partners and employees is the best and most important aspect of my business. I personally hand select anyone who will be in a position of authority and allow them to choose their subordinates.
Trust and reliability are key factors. There are a lot of people that want to get into the cannabis industry and will make all types of promises and try to sell you on future performances that can’t be predicted.
Always keep your third eye open and expect the unexpected.
Is that why you’re working with the legendary Xzibit?
That’s right, Xzibit is part of the Greenwood & Co team. He’s a person with a lot of connections, passion, and drive, which is why he was a natural choice.
Not just that, but he had already built a cannabis brand called Brass Knuckles which was valued at $170 million. Bringing X on the team was a great choice because we all have different expertise and complement each other.
Now, he’s working on his own cannabis brand called Napalm Cannabis Co. He’s already got a lot of unique products from Napalm that Just Mary is delivering.
Besides Just Mary, what else do you have going on in the cannabis space?
I have a lot going on right now. Right now, I’m focused on a few like Just Mary, Homeschool, and Tremendo.
Tremendo is one that I’m really nurturing right now. It’s a new lifestyle brand that’s bringing a high-end offering.
We want Tremendo to be the luxury brand in cannabis with superior quality in all aspects. From packaging down to the presentation, we want Tremendo to be an experience.
We’ve already started growing top-quality cannabis for Tremendo at our state-of-the-art cultivation facility. Soon, you’ll find Tremendo on the shelves of the best dispensaries around California.
We have just one last question—what is your advice to any BIPOC who want to get into the cannabis industry?
I would say—be very selective of who you do business with. Being unfamiliar with the legal cannabis market, people will try to manipulate and take advantage of you.
Do your homework and Align yourself with people that are doing a good job and representing quality in the industry.
Thanks for talking with us Marlo—for those interested, where can we learn more about what you’re up to?
Thank you for the opportunity. You can find out everything from my social media pages:
Instagram: @MsMarloNicole
Facebook: at Marlo Richardson
Twitter: @IamMarloNicole
YouTube: Marlo Nicole Business Bullish
