Why take this leap?
SULLIVAN: I had a very clear
vision when I started my pro-
duction company 20 years ago:
I’m going to make short-form
commercials that move the nee-
dle and sell products. And now,
with the advent of cellphones
and mass media, the barrier to
entry into production is low-
ered. It doesn’t excite me as
much. I don’t want to compete
with people making cat videos
and 6-year-olds opening boxes.
That’s not to say that I lost
excitement for the brands I was
working on. I love OxiClean.
But I think deep down, I was
looking for something. That
entrepreneurial spirit was like,
I’ve got to do something. I need
to get out of my comfort zone.
That sounds like the divid-
ing line between entrepre-
neurs and non-entrepreneurs.
You recognize the need for
change—and instead of being
afraid of it, you’re excited by it.
SULLIVAN: Yeah. And I was
seeing this Green Rush and
thinking, This looks exciting.
It looks dangerous. It’s got all
the elements. But if I jump into
the cannabis space, people are
going to say, “Here he goes—
OxiClean Guy is seeing an
opportunity and he’s taken it.”
So I thought, I’m going to have
to get in the trenches.
You were seeing your advan-
tage as a disadvantage. You
could have just leveraged your
celebrity, but you thought if
you did that, people wouldn’t
take it seriously.
SULLIVAN: Right. And for the
first six months, I operated
under the radar. I didn’t want
anyone to know. Because of
course, being the face of a brand
like OxiClean, my fan base are
moms and kids. One of my
biggest fears was, like, How are
the guys at OxiClean going to
interpret this?
How did the conversation
finally go with OxiClean?
SULLIVAN: Once we had the
75,000 plants in the ground,
I felt like the train had left
the station. So I invited a cou-
ple of people from the brand
up to take a look. And they’re
smart enough to realize that
CBD is coming. There’s a well-
ness component to this that
you can’t ignore. I think there
was a little worry, like, Are you
going to be able to do both? But
I’ve been able to continue my
marketing- and-production
company, and also really go two
feet first with MontKush.You guys have been longtime
friends, but has this project
challenged your partnership?
CHRISTIAN: I think our friend-
ship has only gotten stronger
this year. I mean, we talk more
than I talk to my wife. You really
have to get along with some-
body to have that much interac-
tion. I listen to him, he listens tome, so it’s not like there’s a lot of
convincing that has to happen.
SULLIVAN: One day, we were
running into rocks. There’s a
massive amount of rock on our
land; we’d broken every piece
of equipment we had. I called
Dave up and he says, “I’m at
the John Deere dealership.
I’m looking at a tractor.” How
much? He goes, “Ninety-five
grand.” I’m like, “How much is
it normally?” It’s $126,000—no
one wants it; it’s too big. I said
we should buy it. He says, “I
already did.”
That was a time when I feltcan capture this moment in time,
we have all the makings of a phe-
nomenal story. We’ve got fish out
of water. Two of us have never
farmed before. We’ve put it all on
the line—superhigh stakes.
So I made some phone calls,
and we were filming with a skel-
eton crew, and we got into har-
vest and Dave and I were like,
“We have to turn this into a full-
tilt Hollywood crew.” I think
it’s going to give us a competi-
tive advantage. Not only are we
going to be able to tell the story
of our farm, but we’ll tell the
story of an entire journey.To compete in this industry, do
you think others will need to
start ground-up like you?
CHRISTIAN: Everybody doesn’t
have to do what we did. We felt
it was the right formula for us,
because neither one of us are
potheads. We didn’t understand
the plant. So we wanted to have
the farm as some validation,
and as an anchor, and to get aneducation. I would say to any
entrepreneurs looking to get
into a new business: At some
point, you have to educate your-
self as deeply as possible.
SULLIVAN: And just because it’s
cannabis, and just because it’s
exciting, and just because it’s all
over the financial news—this is
still something to be taken with
a healthy dose of respect. I think
it makes it harder because there
is a rush. There’s a lot of hype.
There’s a lot of misinformation.
This is a space where people
need to do even more research
than normal.like there’s great trust between
us. I think some partners will
never have that; you spend two
weeks talking about it, and then
the opportunity’s closed.Let’s talk marketing. How do
you approach the crowded
CBD space?
SULLIVAN: I’ll let Dave talk
about distinguishing ourselves.
CHRISTIAN: The marketing
guru turns it over to me! Well,
I think Sully made a brilliant
choice in starting with the farm,
and intimately understanding
the plant and what it takes to
raise a seedling to full harvest.
We can speak from a place of
authenticity that very few peo-
ple can.
And we have a compelling
message, having the first cus-
tomer be his daughter, and other
friends and family. This is the
only business I’ve ever been in
that people have thanked me for
being in business. They’re like,
“My wife struggles with nausea,and she’s been smoking mari-
juana to get through the day, and
she hates being high all day—so
man, CBD changed our lives.”It sounds like what you’re say-
ing is: Earnestness is a big part
of your appeal.
SULLIVAN: I remember when I
was up in Vermont the first time,
and everywhere I looked, I saw
a TV show. I vowed never to do
a reality show again after I lost
Billy Mays. [Sullivan and Mays
starred in the Discovery series
PitchMen until Mays’ death.]
But here I was thinking, If weJUST BECAUSE IT’S CANNABIS, AND JUST BECAUSE
IT’S EXCITING, AND JUST BECAUSE IT’S ALL OVER
THE FINANCIAL NEWS—THIS IS STILL SOMETHING TO
BE TAKEN WITH A HEALTHY DOSE OF RESPECT.”FOR MORE INSIGHTS ON THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY,
VISIT GREENENTREPRENEUR.COMMarch 2020 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / 51