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What’s the biggest challenge facing the cannabis industry right now, and how are you and/or your company addressing it?
Oversupply, taxes, regulation—those are red herrings. The real problem is that too much of this industry still runs on individual talent instead of systems. One person knows how to do something, they do it well, then they leave and everything breaks.
At Surreal Yields, we’ve built the opposite. Standard operating procedures. Data. Accountability. Leadership development. Whether we’re running 500 square feet or 500,000, the goal stays the same: consistent, high-quality results through repeatable systems.
Cannabis doesn’t need shortcuts. It needs operators who can actually build businesses that last.
Where do you see the most exciting opportunity for growth and innovation in cannabis?
The companies winning over the next decade won’t necessarily have the biggest facilities. They’ll have the best data and the best systems.
AI, automation, precision cultivation—those are tools. But they only matter if you have the discipline to use them. And as consumers get more educated about quality and consistency, the operators who can actually deliver on that will pull away from everyone else.
The future is growing cannabis more intelligently. That’s where the real separation happens.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to break into the cannabis industry?
Don’t fall in love with cannabis. Fall in love with solving problems.
Cannabis is the product. The business is operations, finance, compliance, logistics, leadership, building teams that work. Show up every day willing to learn, stay humble, outwork everyone around you.
The plant rewards discipline.
What is the most important thing you have learned from your experiences in the cannabis industry?
Consistency is far more difficult than excellence. Anyone can produce one great harvest. Building systems that consistently deliver exceptional results across multiple facilities, multiple teams, year after year—that’s what separates real companies from growers with luck.
I’ve also learned that culture beats technology every single time. You can buy equipment. You can buy buildings. You can’t buy trust or a team committed to the same mission.
What do you want your legacy to be as it relates to the cannabis industry?
Not a strain. Not a brand. The people.
If the people who worked with me go on to build successful companies because of the leadership and operational principles they learned at Surreal Yields, that’s my legacy. I want to help move cannabis from an emerging industry into a profession built on integrity, innovation, and operational excellence.
Here’s what I believe: people think we’re in the cannabis business. We’re not. We’re in the business of building great people and great systems. Cannabis is what those systems produce.