{"id":87682,"date":"2024-12-06T11:41:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/2024\/12\/06\/witt-rabon-jamar-brown-building-dro-a-cannabis-lifestyle-brand\/"},"modified":"2024-12-06T11:41:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:41:07","slug":"witt-rabon-jamar-brown-building-dro-a-cannabis-lifestyle-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/2024\/12\/06\/witt-rabon-jamar-brown-building-dro-a-cannabis-lifestyle-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"Witt Rabon & Jamar Brown: Building DRO, a Cannabis Lifestyle Brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur podcast, host TG Branfalt is joined by Witt Rabon, co-founder and COO, and Jamar Brown, co-founder and President of Brand Development for DRO<\/a>, a Colorado-based cannabis lifestyle brand that has been redefining cannabis culture since its launch in 2014. DRO stands out by weaving authentic storytelling, cultural identity, and bold design into its clothing and cannabis products<\/a>. In this episode, Witt and Jamar share the origins of DRO, reflecting on how their personal journeys\u2014from professional sports and corporate branding to a shared love for cannabis\u2014helped shape the company\u2019s unique voice and vision. They delve into how DRO transitioned from an idea sparked during their time as coworkers to a thriving lifestyle brand blending cannabis and fashion.<\/p>\n

Other topics discussed in this interview include:<\/p>\n

The importance of connecting with consumers through authentic, relatable stories
\nThe role of design in bridging cannabis culture with mainstream audiences
\nThe importance of advocacy, social equity, expungement, and using their platform for cannabis education
\nDRO\u2019s approach to licensing deals, and the challenges and opportunities of entering big-box retailers
\nAnd more!<\/p>\n

This conversation offers a compelling look at the intersection of cannabis, culture, and business, highlighting DRO\u2019s journey as a brand that honors legacy culture while helping shape the landscape of the legal cannabis industry.<\/p>\n

Listen to this episode via the player below, find it on your favorite podcast app, or scroll down for the full transcript!<\/p>\n

Listen to the episode:<\/h3>\n\n
Ganjapreneur<\/a> \u00b7 Witt Rabon & Jamar Brown: Building DRO, a Cannabis Lifestyle Brand<\/a><\/div>\n

Read the transcript<\/h3>\n

Editor\u2019s note: this transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors.<\/em><\/p>\n

Commercial (00:03):<\/p>\n

The Ganjapreneur Podcast is made possible by over 500 cannabis industry service providers in Ganjapreneurs Cannabis Business Index. At some point, every plant touching brand experiences the stigma that many industries still have to toward cannabis going strong. Since 2015, our business index is the most comprehensive and frequently visited directory for cannabis friendly services on the internet, saving you the time and hassle of sifting through uninformed and unwelcoming providers with categories for everything from business financing, to extraction equipment to interior designers and public relations. You\u2019ll find every kind of specialist and business service you could ever need. Check out the business index today at ganjapreneur.com\/businesses.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (00:49):<\/p>\n

Hey there, I\u2019m your host, TG Branfalt, and this is the Ganjapreneur.com podcast where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of entrepreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today I\u2019m joined by Witt RayBan. He\u2019s the co-founder and COO and Jamar Brown, co-founder and president of Brand Development of Colorado based cannabis lifestyle brand DRO, which first launched in 2014. How are you guys doing this afternoon?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (01:18):<\/p>\n

Oh, we\u2019re doing good, man. How about you?<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (01:20):<\/p>\n

Cool, man. Cool. I\u2019m really excited to have you guys on. You\u2019re the first sort of cannabis lifestyle brand that I\u2019ve had on the show, so a lot of questions that I have for you. But before we get to those, tell me about yourselves. What\u2019s your background and how\u2019d you end up at DRO? I\u2019ll let you go first. Jamar.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (02:00):<\/p>\n

My background, basically it is how I ended up in Colorado. So I actually went to school at CSU Pueblo and I played probably professional 10 years. For 10 years, and I just ended up staying in Denver. So while I was in Denver, I was up at MusclePharm. One of my friends introduced me to MusclePharm, and this is how I met Witt. And then our other business partner that was with us and Whit just came with me with an opportunity for Dr, and I thought about it, it\u2019s my lifestyle. That\u2019s how I was raised. I\u2019m from Cali, drove life. It was supposed to be even. It was supposed to be no matter what. Like my mom, my dad, the background, marijuana, hydro, it\u2019s me. It\u2019s always in me.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (02:58):<\/p>\n

What about you? How\u2019d you end up at DRO?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (03:03):<\/p>\n

Kind of similar story to Jamar\u2019s. Basically we started out, we were both all working at MusclePharm together, and then me, Jamar and our other partner at the time, we were like, this is a facility filled with, I don\u2019t know, it was filled with a bunch of Mormon meatheads. So us three with Jamar being from we all three kind of liked weed. And with weed, right, you pick up real quick in any sort of work environment or social environment who\u2019s down, right? And we figured out the smokers. Yeah, we figured out that us three were kind of down with the weed stuff a lot more than everybody else there. So we kind of all latched onto each other a little bit more. So we were all just really good work friends and our partner at the time, like I said, we were all working at MusclePharm and saw the, it was kind of going from its pinnacle to, its more of a, I wouldn\u2019t say a downward trend, but just definitely was not as hyped as it once was. And we were like, man, we can really do this. And once we saw DRO and the opportunity to jump on, me and Jamar are both like, this is us. We love weed, we love branding, we love marketing. We\u2019ve had a lot of success in the sports nutrition field in the MMA industry with the clothing. We were like, we can do this ourselves. So that was pretty much just being at MusclePharm and seeing other brands while we were working there and basically learning how to build a brand was really what brought us all together.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (04:45):<\/p>\n

And so MusclePharm, it\u2019s like you said, it\u2019s a sort of sports lifestyle, sort of MMA lifestyle type brand. So then in your opinions, what defines a cannabis lifestyle brand?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (05:00):<\/p>\n

I would say just a brand that people feel like they\u2019re connected to through the brand\u2019s story. And that\u2019s because everybody wants to hear a story and be attached to a story. And in cannabis it\u2019s a bunch of just product. And these guys are like, oh, look we\u2019re \u201cLeaf Company\u201d or whatever. And you\u2019re like, okay, well outside of your dad gave you some money, what\u2019s your story? Why is this weed special? It\u2019s all just a bunch of warehouse weed at the end of the day. And whether it\u2019s good warehouse weed or mediocre or bad, it\u2019s all out of a warehouse. So how do you make this lifestyle and connect your customers to your product? And that\u2019s, one, through your story. And then also through cultivating certain strains that actually have a little bit of a story behind them as well. Because if you go back to the beginning days of drug dealing before legal cannabis, the really good stuff always came with a story. You remember that the good stuff always had a story about the certain grower who grew it up in the mountains in Humboldt or what in Kentucky or wherever this shit came from. Nobody just sold it to you. Hey, it\u2019s a bag of weed, it\u2019s this price, buy it. They probably did, but at least when I was doing it, man, we always have a story behind that shit. Like I said, where it came from, who grew the shit, how it made it into your hands,<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (06:40):<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the bigger story because how it made it to your hands, that\u2019s a story behind the story. And it\u2019s all about being organic and people love to watch people. That\u2019s not trying hard, not to say not trying hard, but being their self and being organic within the culture.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (06:58):<\/p>\n

Well, and I think it speaks to what you guys are sort of creating, because if somebody clicks on about section on your website, it\u2019s a story. It\u2019s esoteric. It\u2019s very, very different.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (07:11):<\/p>\n

Yeah. Yeah. So<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (07:15):<\/p>\n

Go ahead.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (07:15):<\/p>\n

Yeah. Oh my fault. But yeah, it\u2019s different. And then it\u2019s different stories within, because I play basketball, I smoke weed all around the world. I come from a heavy marijuana culture back home and you just keep building that story.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (07:33):<\/p>\n

So let me ask you, Jamar, what did you take away from that previous life before DRO? I mean, it\u2019s one thing, the sort of MusclePharm aspect of it, but to be a professional international basketball player, I mean, that\u2019s an entirely different sort of path.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (07:51):<\/p>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s a different path. And then how social media is today when I was playing, I wouldn\u2019t even talk about weed. I wouldn\u2019t wear a weed shirt because it\u2019s a business at the end of the day and I need a contract to provide for me family, et cetera or whatever. So you\u2019ll be, they know you smoke, but they don\u2019t want to know that you smoke. So I got a story where I went to Turkey and as soon as I landed in Alia, they tested me and the team manager came to me and he was just like, yo, make sure you just don\u2019t smoke out here no more. I be don\u2019t smoke out here. So they knew previous when I took my test, it came up dirty. They knew I was smoking, so I just waited till the end of the season and me and one of my teammates, so we had a soccer club too, so it was like 50,000 people, and we were just at his condo looking at the stadium, and he barely knew English. I definitely barely knew Turkish, but we both smoking a joint looking at the game, trying to figure out how we could win a championship for basketball. It\u2019s just like the weed for me, bro. The world is full of hellos.<\/p>\n

(08:59):<\/p>\n

So the previous life, it\u2019s easier now because when we first started, me being in that industry, I had players in there, it was just hard to get to players to wear DRO or whatnot just because, and now it\u2019s a lot of players that are aware it represent it, it opened up, they\u2019re not getting tested no more. So it\u2019s a lot easier now.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (09:25):<\/p>\n

And so why are these sort of lifestyle brands important to the broader cannabis culture, which is really what we\u2019re talking about here.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (09:33):<\/p>\n

Yeah, so I think the reason why is because one, it\u2019s helping it become more acceptable and also helping it become more mainstream. Because if you\u2019re just looking at cannabis itself and you\u2019re telling some old guy like, oh yeah, it\u2019s this dried up plant and you grind it up and smoke it, they\u2019re thinking, oh, that\u2019s devil\u2019s lettuce. But when they get it presented to \u2019em, have you ever taken your parents in a cookie store? I mean, dude, they\u2019re so overwhelmed. They\u2019re like, look how professional this is. Everything\u2019s all bright and colorful and dude, my parents don\u2019t smoke weed or eat edibles at all. They bought shit in the store because they felt so comfortable with the branding and the way it was product was presented to \u2019em, right? I don\u2019t think my dad would ever buy a bag of flower in a Ziploc, but when he saw it presented as a real nice pre-roll with some gold foil packaging, he was a lot more curious about the product and he wanted to try it.<\/p>\n

(10:41):<\/p>\n

And then he starts identifying the brands and seeing what\u2019s what. And I don\u2019t know, I think like you said, the brands really, really helped. The people that were not buying Ziploc bags of flower be a part of this. And what\u2019s funny is eventually those people move from the branded packaging in stores, and once they start smoking, they\u2019re like, oh, I want some street shit too. Then they start going backwards and wanting the Ziploc fire because it\u2019s just funny to watch the natural progression of everything. But like I said, and even how everybody\u2019s branding the product now, right? Too is everybody\u2019s branding products. That\u2019s not a hard thing to do is come up with a logo and brand yourself, but it\u2019s just the fact of what brands we\u2019re seeing now the people latch onto and gravitate to. And those are the ones that have a story behind them, like I said, where the people can actually relate to the company owners.<\/p>\n

(11:42):<\/p>\n

Maybe they can relate to the grower or even the story behind some of the genetics that they\u2019re growing. Whereas like I said, a lot of these brands are just like, oh, my company\u2019s called \u201cOcean Leafs,\u201d buy my product. We grow weed. And you\u2019re like, what else do you do? But yeah, I think that\u2019s why lifestyle brands are important is because it\u2019s the gateway to education really is what it is, and it gives people something to stand behind. I mean, if you look at any industry, like alcohol industry, people have their go-to beverages and there\u2019s people that they don\u2019t drink shit else, but Coors Light, they\u2019re diehard Coors Light fans. And some of that\u2019s the same thing is somehow at some point in time, Coors Light spoke to that person and made them a lifetime drinker. Whether it was just maybe the old Coors Light commercials where that just heavy were marketed towards the blue collar working man. Same thing with a lot of flower brands too. Look at that brand old pal, right? They were always known for giving you a little bit more. It was just grounded up weed in a tobacco pouch, but it\u2019s actually one of the bigger brands in cannabis today. We might not know about it because we\u2019re not that old dude buying that, but at the same time, they have that market cornered.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (13:14):<\/p>\n

Interesting. What about for you, Jamar? What are lifestyle brands? Why are they important to the broader cannabis culture?<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (13:25):<\/p>\n

For me, the reason why it\u2019s important because say if I go in the store, I see five different brands, one of them brands going to relate to my lifestyle, and if the weed is good and everything\u2019s on point, I\u2019m going with that brand. So it might be two strains I really, really like, but they might introduce me to a third strain that I really, really love. But it\u2019s got to be within my lifestyle. I can\u2019t just go smoke to the left because it\u2019s cool. I got to smoke it. I like it, I want it, and I\u2019ll pay for it,<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (14:06):<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s got to be different. It sounds like one of the things about your designs, your clothing designs that really struck me was they\u2019re very interesting. They\u2019re different. Again, this sort of esoteric-ness comes up. I\u2019m a guy who, 40 years old, watches adultswim, and the shirts, the designs, they speak to me and I want to know what does that idea\u2019s process look like? You\u2019ve got a Calico cat holding a weapon, and it\u2019s great. It speaks to me as different and a bit charming, if you will. So what does that process look like?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (14:50):<\/p>\n

So basically what we come up with the clothing designs is we try to do themes. Each collection where it sort of speaks, we might do a summer theme that was just related to, we did a whole beach club line where this whole entire collection was just dedicated to, it was almost like the lifestyle of lounging at a resort every day and the lifestyle that these kids that live on beach towns get to live every day where they just wake up and roll out of bed, throw some board shorts on and go kick to the beach with a bunch of chicks and have bonfires and parties. So we just try to do designs based upon different themes of what we feel like at the moment is cool and fun. Some of those other designs like the Coleco T and a lot of the ones you see on the website now, we do have some more classic based designs that we\u2019re, we like to bring back in different colors or put it on different mediums, which the one you\u2019re referring to is one of those that it was actually part of a collection dedicated to El Chapo that we did, and that was a piece that went with some Florence prison kind of themed year that we did.<\/p>\n

(16:07):<\/p>\n

But we brought it back in those new colors this summer because we wanted to do a whole drill classics line in new colorways for this summer just because now we\u2019re at that point where we can go bring back shit from eight years ago. So yeah, that\u2019s one of the design processes. I guess the creative process in coming up with these is a little bit more, it\u2019s really based upon whatever the designers feeling on their pop culture vibes.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (16:35):<\/p>\n

And Jamal, you\u2019re the president of brand development, so what role do you sort have in all of this<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (16:42):<\/p>\n

Placement? Product placement, getting stuff to artists, making shit cool.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (16:50):<\/p>\n

You\u2019re the guy responsible for making shit cool.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (16:53):<\/p>\n

Pretty much being at the right time at the right place, luck, it all comes together being six foot nine being a bully.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (17:05):<\/p>\n

I guess if you walked into Rube, I\u2019d feel compelled to work with you in some form or fashion or else you\u2019ll dump.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (17:12):<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not coming in to break no legs or that, you know what I\u2019m saying? I did all smiles. That\u2019s what I roll with.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (17:20):<\/p>\n

It works because when JB walks in the room, he\u2019s six nine and he\u2019s got a drill hat on. What\u2019s the one thing you\u2019re going to see? You\u2019re going to remember from that event, that networking event you went to? You\u2019re like, that\u2019s all I remember is this big guy with a drill hat on. But I don\u2019t know, we\u2019re going to do some business with him,<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (17:36):<\/p>\n

Walking billboard, walking billboard.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (17:42):<\/p>\n

So it works because it\u2019s, like I said, jb, it works well because JB is somebody that people want to talk to and immediately like, I got to hear this guy\u2019s story, so it works well. I walk into a room or whatever. I kind of have to push it a little bit further. But it\u2019s cool because it all works. Everybody can go in different rooms and come out with different results and it can all come together in the end.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (18:14):<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for any company, clothing company, cannabis company, small business startups to stay in business for as long as you guys have going on 10 years as a company. How have you maintained the success for that long?<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (18:32):<\/p>\n

Consistency? Pretty much. I mean, sleepless nights, early mornings, just being true to the brand and once we are the brand, so people gravitate around us, it\u2019s a lot to deal with, but at the same time, I wouldn\u2019t switch it up for nothing.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (18:58):<\/p>\n

I would say as far as being around for this long, it\u2019s learning to deal with the ebbs and flows of the apparel and cannabis industry really is just knowing in your mind that, Hey, summer 22 might not have been that great. You got to stick with it and because summer 23, you\u2019re going to be doing 10 times as much as you were. So I think that\u2019s really a lot of it is just persistence, being consistent like JB just said, and just being willing to not give up when it\u2019s not going your way. Really the hardest part is the discouragement because you can do everything in the world, but when you\u2019re dealing with partnerships, licensing deals, third party manufacturers, somebody somewhere\u2019s going to mess up and you got to figure out how to pivot from that really quickly and keep going and not just roll up in a corner and cry.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (20:00):<\/p>\n

How much have you guys had to learn on the job?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (20:04):<\/p>\n

Oh, everything.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (20:06):<\/p>\n

Everything\u2019s hands on<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (20:09):<\/p>\n

Every day. We learn something new every day. It changes too. Every single day in the cannabis industry is a new rule, a new law, a new packaging formulation you have to go and follow. So yeah, there\u2019s a lot of that. It\u2019s a lot of fires to be put out all the time, but that\u2019s just part of it. There\u2019s not a single industry in the world where I don\u2019t think this goes on.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (20:38):<\/p>\n

So you guys have partnered with a variety\u2013 you had a variety of partnerships. One of the ones that I particularly like is that Riot Society line. How do you identify partnerships and what qualities do you look for in a partner?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (20:55):<\/p>\n

A lot of times it\u2019s honestly just our relationships is who you end up partnering with because all humans, so we all tend to grab the low hanging fruit. So you just start, we were friends that have known the guys from Riot Society since we started the company, and we\u2019ve been ping ponging back and forth a collaboration idea for damn seven years prior to doing it.<\/p>\n

(21:22):<\/p>\n

And then finally one day we were just finally one day planets aligned. Everybody had enough time at the moment to sit down and actually execute it. So that\u2019s kind of how the Riot Society thing started. We obviously like and respect Riot Society in terms of their practices as far as being able to penetrate big box stores and be successful in those stores, their speed to market capabilities. Like I said, there\u2019s a lot of partnerships we turned down. Unfortunately, it\u2019s just because you talk to \u2019em and you just don\u2019t vibe with each other and you\u2019re like, man, I don\u2019t know if I could work with them. But Riot Society was a very easy project to work on. We work a lot with Waka fka, he\u2019s one of the owners of the company as well. So I knew Waka from a previous, I used to work for Live Nation and be in the concert business, so I knew Waka before this. And the second I saw DRO, I was like, I know who\u2019s going to be a part of this is Waka. I was like, this is made for him too.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (22:30):<\/p>\n

Bit of serendipity.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (22:32):<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s pretty much how the partnerships happen is just through people. And a lot of times too, man, it\u2019s like you get hit up randomly by a company on the internet and you just go partner with them because there\u2019s old saying that strangers will make you rich. I mean, not necessarily saying strangers have made us rich by any means. We\u2019re still trying to get there, but at the same time, we\u2019ve seen a lot of support from strangers. People come out of the blue, big time people and they\u2019re just like, yo, I mess with this. This speaks to me. What can we do together? And it just works out. So I would say that\u2019s how collabs are determined really is through our relationships. And then if the right person hits us up at the right time, sometimes the magic happens.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (23:28):<\/p>\n

And Jamar, when do you know things are going right? When you\u2019re talking to a potential partner,<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (23:34):<\/p>\n

When they\u2019re interested, very, very interested in the bread, it speaks volume, and that\u2019s what they locked on there. But then I know when it\u2019s right, the vibe between us and a potential partner because you could have somebody come in and it could just be a money grab for them while we\u2019re working a company, which we done seen it before, and you catch that red flag. But it is the vibe, how passionate they are about the brand. If you\u2019re passionate, I\u2019m passionate, let\u2019s get on some paper and let\u2019s dance pretty much because yo, I use it as a speed bump. Either take your time going two miles an hour or go 90 and crash everywhere. There\u2019s a lot of Crashers out there. I used to be one, now I know how to take my time and figure it out.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (24:31):<\/p>\n

And so you guys have penetrated Zumiez?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (24:37):<\/p>\n

Yes. So we were in Zumiez back in, we actually got into Zumiez in the middle of Covid. Ironically, probably not the best timing on our part. Lesson learned. You get hit up by a big box store, man, I don\u2019t care what time, there\u2019s never a good time. I mean, obviously there\u2019s better times than others, but you\u2019re just like hindsight. We should have waited till after Covid was done where people could go in the store and shop. But now it was a good experience to be in the store to learn how these hangar programs work and how these big box stores need their stuff delivered and accomplished. We\u2019re not in Zumiez right now. We\u2019re still in their matrix, so I\u2019m not saying you won\u2019t ever see it in there again. Hopefully you will. We\u2019re actually in Tillys and PacSun right now.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (25:29):<\/p>\n

So how did those deals come about? You said that Zoomies found you.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (25:35):<\/p>\n

No, we solicited Zumiez. We, once Waka came on board and then once we knew W\u2019s TV show was going to be on Netflix, that was just the perfect storm to go pitch Zumiez. One of our sales manager actually used to be, he used to sell for Boulevard Last Kings, a bunch of bigger streetwear brands that were in Zumiez. So it was fairly easy to use his past relationships to enter into Zumiez because it was the same business model as before, rinse and Repeat. But yeah, like I said, these big box stores, I mean, they\u2019re really cool. They\u2019re fun to deal with, but man, you better be prepared to spend a lot of money on marketing to make sure that\u2019s very successful in the store. And other than that, I think it\u2019s, we\u2019re very happy to be in Tillys and PacSun right now.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (26:36):<\/p>\n

How important is that for the company\u2019s growth?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (26:41):<\/p>\n

I would say it\u2019s pretty important. It puts your brand into the mainstream audience of people that might not have ever seen it before, as most people that are in shopping malls are not really the counterculture people.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (26:55):<\/p>\n

No. So you get<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (26:56):<\/p>\n

Different demographics of people, and it\u2019s a little, I do say it\u2019s a little similar to how Nike always wants to give all the people and all the kids in high school, Nike, they supply all the football cleats, they supply all the, they\u2019re planting the seed early, right? Because when you leave college and you have your own money, you\u2019re like, yo, I remember Nike always gave me stuff all through high school and college in my sports career, when I go in the store, what are you going to buy? You\u2019re going to buy Nike.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (27:29):<\/p>\n

Well, most famous brands, examples of Jordan\u2019s, not a shoe. Jordan\u2019s not a sneaker.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (27:41):<\/p>\n

Yeah, no, it\u2019s a complete lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (27:43):<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lifestyle for sure. It\u2019s a lifestyle. But Jordan\u2019s a lifestyle to the point where used to watch, what was that movie Come Fly with me with Michael Jordan after I finished watching that, I wanted to go put on some Jordans, go outside and work on my game. So now it\u2019s a part of my lifestyle.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (28:06):<\/p>\n

Well, and you mentioned the sort of demographics, Jamar, is it something that you do is identifying the sort of demographics and doing that sort of work?<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (28:16):<\/p>\n

Yeah, because even with the demographics, say we got a \u201cDelta nine\u201d shirt, and I could have somebody that come up probably like I\u2019m in a grocery store and I got a hoodie on or something, and that person, it could be like 60, 65, and tell me a story about that. Tell me a story about that. Tell me a story about the triple beam and everything. Because back in their day, that\u2019s what they used. So if I got somebody coming up to me 65 years old, it\u2019s like it is culture of marijuana, but it\u2019s different demographics, but everybody have a story, so this person might be real preservative or whatever, but oh, let me tell you about my story. Boom. Oh, then it opened up more doors. That\u2019s what it does.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (29:09):<\/p>\n

I saw the triple beam design and I thought that it was fascinating that you are young guys and to have this sort of relic, it sort of speaks to that. Did that actually happen to you or somebody came up to you because you had that shirt on?<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (29:27):<\/p>\n

Yes. Oh yeah. Every shirt I have, it\u2019s a story behind it or loose lip sink shifts that relates to life. It look cool as hell and relates to life. So you might get a story or somebody walked by was like, ain\u2019t that, that\u2019s the damn truth. And I\u2019m like, yeah. Then I might get into a story about it. Different avenues of life that you in corporate at the bottom, in the middle, it doesn\u2019t matter and it relates. So everything we pretty much do relates one way or the other.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (30:03):<\/p>\n

So how does your brand continue to evolve and how in the next sort of few years as more states go online with legalized cannabis, how do you plan to evolve to those markets as well?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (30:19):<\/p>\n

So we do that through licensing deals. So we have our own line of genetics, so we\u2019re able to, we just actually got a license deal in Florida, so you\u2019ll see drove Florida, I would say, in stores by December. So yeah, we have, it\u2019s just basically through licensing. You can start, unless somebody wants to give us a billion dollars, who\u2019s listening to this? That\u2019s about the only way to start penetrating other states really, really fast is basically you have to figure out your way to get in there and licensing, licensing is what we\u2019re good at and what we know, and it makes perfect sense because now we can go to grows and alleviate their marketing burdens. Like, Hey, you guys want to go try and create a brand yourself and go through the 10 years of brand building it takes, or do you want to just latch onto us and alleviate your entire, give your marketing budget to us and let us do it, and now we all win. You can just focus on growing your product and making it the best possible, and you don\u2019t have to worry about the sell in and sell through.<\/p>\n

(31:41):<\/p>\n

We come in and focus there, and nine times out of 10, as long as you have a good operating partner who has good intentions, it works,<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (31:55):<\/p>\n

Makes life easier.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (31:59):<\/p>\n

And finally, what role can specifically cannabis lifestyle brands play in the broader conversation of advocacy?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (32:12):<\/p>\n

I think as far as brand kind of relating to earlier, as far as advocacy goes is like you said I was getting to is brands make these naysayers, I guess, or people fighting legalization a little bit. I feel like it makes it more comfortable for them and it makes it easier for them to accept and digest that this is a business and this is actually a real, there\u2019s a lot more to this. It\u2019s not just somebody growing some weed, a basement and trying to sell it in a book bag. It\u2019s actually like now these people can look at these companies like, oh wow, there\u2019s entire marketing teams, web developers, there\u2019s a lot of stuff going into this other than just the plant,<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (32:57):<\/p>\n

Just from pumping it out the basement to the streets, now you got a whole team, marketing, sales, ambassadors, partnerships.<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (33:13):<\/p>\n

And then also we can kind of also bring more, because we have an audience, so we can also bring a little bit more education to our audience as well through last prisoner project type stuff. Or just telling people what\u2019s going on in the industry that they might not be aware of. Like, oh, hey, do you guys know there\u2019s a vote upcoming in this November where they want to lower your THC limit or they want to lower your amount you can purchase. And we can actually go and put stuff out there saying, Hey, vote no on this proposition because this is going to destroy your industry or our industry that we all love. Or we can come through with the positive things and be like, Hey, there\u2019s a bill right here that\u2019s going to help everybody. Safe banking, that\u2019s going to help everybody win. Let\u2019s make sure that you guys are aware of this and want this to move forward. Make sure the ones that want to tell your politician.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (34:15):<\/p>\n

DeMar. Do you find yourself doing a lot more of advocacy in your role than,<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (34:23):<\/p>\n

I mean, yeah. Yeah. Even from the way how I grew up, my mom and dad, my mom and dad sold drugs. My mom had tremors runners, my mom had testers, house being raided, everything. And I used to just be a sponge on the wall, played basketball, but it always was in me. So me to transition to a legal business. And then even for reform, expunging, it\u2019s a lot of people still in jail. I\u2019ve been in jail for marijuana, and it\u2019s just like now I have a company, but the thing is to keep spitting the knowledge, keep helping. Even the youth that\u2019s coming up, this Gen Z and everything, it\u2019s just different right now. But just to keep getting the knowledge out there and helping people and really identifying with these people. I\u2019ve been through it, what these people been through, probably not at the certain extent what they\u2019ve been through, but on the same path, I just chose to go this path to make your path easier. So it\u2019s just more of getting out there, knocking on doors or kicking doors down. Because that small space, if you could get through that small space, it\u2019ll open up for a lot of people. Not only you, but the people behind you in front of you, right or left<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (35:51):<\/p>\n

Jamar. When you started in this industry, you said you grew up sort of around your parents selling weed and that sort of thing?<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (36:01):<\/p>\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (36:03):<\/p>\n

What was their reaction?<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (36:06):<\/p>\n

My mom<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (36:07):<\/p>\n

To it sort of coming full circle.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (36:11):<\/p>\n

I remember my sister came out here. I wasn\u2019t even at where we\u2019re at right now. I just showed my sister a little something, something. Next thing you know, my sister told my mom to the point, JB out here, you got a whole grow or whatnot. Then my mom was like, I used to make a hundred thousand a week doing this. Well, I\u2019m like, okay. I learned from you. I just figured out how to transition it to a legal business. But the one thing that I take from my mom, she passed two years ago. I was in New York at Times Square. We had a billboard at Times Square. No way. And I happened to Facetimer at probably 5:00 AM and the billboard popped up and I showed her, and then she was just like, God damn that marijuana, your dad is turning in this grave of how far this shit will go.<\/p>\n

(37:06):<\/p>\n

I just got to be straight up. That\u2019s just how she was. But she was proud. And my mom, once everything went down and my dad went to jail, my mom was going to jail on the weekends, so I think my mom was visiting my dad on the weekends. She was actually turning herself in. So once my mom stopped, she stopped. It was to the point she started calling Weed dope. I\u2019m like, mom, this is not dope. And then when she was sick, I\u2019ll send her stuff. And gradually, I think the older the people get and they get in situations, they start accepting some things, but I\u2019m like, mom, you\u2019ve been through it, but it was different back then, so I get it. So she proud when she was proud, for sure. She told me. So<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (37:54):<\/p>\n

The advocacy side of it probably hits you a little harder than other people in your position, I reckon.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (38:02):<\/p>\n

Yeah, because bro, you ever, my auntie, I was young, but I seen it. But the way my auntie told me how the house get raided, she putting muddy in our Pampers, they throwing pounds out the window. The swat, catching the, that\u2019s a real story. They catching the fucking pounds laughing, but that\u2019s a real story. But the thing with my mom, once she got in trouble, she stopped. So I wish she was still here just to see how everything transitioned into legalization, everything and how she was alive when marijuana became legal, even in Vegas and Cali, but just so she could see the process and everything. I\u2019m like, mom, I don\u2019t got to look behind my back or left and right or meet somebody in a dark alley or get robbed or go to jail. I could drive with 30 pounds in a car, get pulled over. Oh, here\u2019s my paperwork, sir. Okay, Mr. Brown, you can keep going. Well, thank you. Today\u2019s not your day for that big bust. Peace.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (39:09):<\/p>\n

I would love to sit here and hear all of your stories about towns being thrown out of windows, but we got to wrap it up here. Where can people find out more about you guys, more about DRO social media, that sort of thing?<\/p>\n

Witt Rabon (39:29):<\/p>\n

So they can go toro life.com if they want to peep out some of the clothing we have, and then also follow us on Instagram at @DROLife. That\u2019s more of the lifestyle aspect of everything. If you want to go dive into the cannabis aspect of it, DROflower.com or @DROFlower on Instagram,<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (39:50):<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Witt Rabon, the co-founder and COO and Jamar Brown, co-founder and president of Brand Development of Colorado based cannabis lifestyle brand DRO, which first launched in 2014. Thank you guys so much for being on the show. Really appreciate it.<\/p>\n

Jamar Brown (40:04):<\/p>\n

Thank you. Welcome. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n

TG Branfalt (40:06):<\/p>\n

You can find more episodes of Ganjapreneur.com podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Ganjaprener.com website, you\u2019ll find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast. You can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Wayward Sound Studio. I\u2019ve been your host, TG Branfalt.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur podcast, host TG Branfalt is joined by Witt Rabon, co-founder and COO, and Jamar Brown, co-founder and President of Brand Development for DRO, a Colorado-based cannabis lifestyle brand that has been redefining cannabis culture since its launch in 2014. DRO stands out by weaving authentic storytelling, cultural identity, and bold design into its clothing and cannabis products. In this episode, Witt and Jamar share the origins of DRO, reflecting on how their personal journeys\u2014from professional sports and corporate branding to a shared love for cannabis\u2014helped shape the company\u2019s unique voice and vision. They delve into how DRO transitioned from an idea sparked during their time as coworkers to a thriving lifestyle brand blending cannabis and fashion. Other topics discussed in this interview include: The importance of connecting with consumers through authentic, relatable stories The role of design in bridging cannabis culture with mainstream audiences The importance of advocacy, social equity, expungement, and using their platform for cannabis education DRO\u2019s approach to licensing deals, and the challenges and opportunities of entering big-box retailers And more! This conversation offers a compelling look at the intersection of cannabis, culture, and business, highlighting DRO\u2019s journey as a brand that honors legacy culture while helping shape the landscape of the legal cannabis industry. Listen to this episode via the player below, find it on your favorite podcast app, or scroll down for the full transcript! Listen to the episode: Ganjapreneur \u00b7 Witt Rabon & Jamar Brown: Building DRO, a Cannabis Lifestyle Brand Read the transcript Editor\u2019s note: this transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors. Commercial (00:03): The Ganjapreneur Podcast is made possible by over 500 cannabis industry service providers in Ganjapreneurs Cannabis Business Index. At some point, every plant touching brand experiences the stigma that many industries still have to toward cannabis going strong. Since 2015, our business index is the most comprehensive and frequently visited directory for cannabis friendly services on the internet, saving you the time and hassle of sifting through uninformed and unwelcoming providers with categories for everything from business financing, to extraction equipment to interior designers and public relations. You\u2019ll find every kind of specialist and business service you could ever need. Check out the business index today at ganjapreneur.com\/businesses. TG Branfalt (00:49): Hey there, I\u2019m your host, TG Branfalt, and this is the Ganjapreneur.com podcast where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of entrepreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today I\u2019m joined by Witt RayBan. He\u2019s the co-founder and COO and Jamar Brown, co-founder and president of Brand Development of Colorado based cannabis lifestyle brand DRO, which first launched in 2014. How are you guys doing this afternoon? Witt Rabon (01:18): Oh, we\u2019re doing good, man. How about you? TG Branfalt (01:20): Cool, man. Cool. I\u2019m really excited to have you guys on. You\u2019re the first sort of cannabis lifestyle brand that I\u2019ve had on the show, so a lot of questions that I have for you. But before we get to those, tell me about yourselves. What\u2019s your background and how\u2019d you end up at DRO? I\u2019ll let you go first. Jamar. Jamar Brown (02:00): My background, basically it is how I ended up in Colorado. So I actually went to school at CSU Pueblo and I played probably professional 10 years. For 10 years, and I just ended up staying in Denver. So while I was in Denver, I was up at MusclePharm. One of my friends introduced me to MusclePharm, and this is how I met Witt. And then our other business partner that was with us and Whit just came with me with an opportunity for Dr, and I thought about it, it\u2019s my lifestyle. That\u2019s how I was raised. I\u2019m from Cali, drove life. It was supposed to be even. It was supposed to be no matter what. Like my mom, my dad, the background, marijuana, hydro, it\u2019s me. It\u2019s always in me. TG Branfalt (02:58): What about you? How\u2019d you end up at DRO? Witt Rabon (03:03): Kind of similar story to Jamar\u2019s. Basically we started out, we were both all working at MusclePharm together, and then me, Jamar and our other partner at the time, we were like, this is a facility filled with, I don\u2019t know, it was filled with a bunch of Mormon meatheads. So us three with Jamar being from we all three kind of liked weed. And with weed, right, you pick up real quick in any sort of work environment or social environment who\u2019s down, right? And we figured out the smokers. Yeah, we figured out that us three were kind of down with the weed stuff a lot more than everybody else there. So we kind of all latched onto each other a little bit more. So we were all just really good work friends and our partner at the time, like I said, we were all working at MusclePharm and saw the, it was kind of going from its pinnacle to, its more of a, I wouldn\u2019t say a downward trend, but just definitely was not as hyped as it once was. And we were like, man, we can really do this. And once we saw DRO and the opportunity to jump on, me and Jamar are both like, this is us. We love weed, we love branding, we love marketing. We\u2019ve had a lot of success in the sports nutrition field in the MMA industry with the clothing. We were like, we can do this ourselves. So that was pretty much just being at MusclePharm and seeing other brands while we were working there and basically learning how to build a brand was really what brought us all together. TG Branfalt (04:45): And so MusclePharm, it\u2019s like you said, it\u2019s a sort of sports lifestyle, sort of MMA lifestyle type brand. So then in your opinions, what defines a cannabis lifestyle brand? Witt Rabon (05:00): I would say just a brand that people feel like they\u2019re connected to through the brand\u2019s story. And that\u2019s because everybody wants to hear a story and be attached to a story. And in cannabis it\u2019s a bunch of just product. And these guys are like, oh, look we\u2019re \u201cLeaf Company\u201d or whatever. And you\u2019re like, okay, well outside of your dad gave you some money, what\u2019s your story? Why is this weed special? It\u2019s all just a bunch of warehouse weed at the end of the day. And whether it\u2019s good warehouse weed or mediocre or bad, it\u2019s all out of a warehouse. So how do you make this lifestyle and connect your customers to your product? And that\u2019s, one, through your story. And then also through cultivating certain strains that actually have a little bit of a story behind them as well. Because if you go back to the beginning days of drug dealing before legal cannabis, the really good stuff always came with a story. You remember that the good stuff always had a story about the certain grower who grew it up in the mountains in Humboldt or what in Kentucky or wherever this shit came from. Nobody just sold it to you. Hey, it\u2019s a bag of weed, it\u2019s this price, buy it. They probably did, but at least when I was doing it, man, we always have a story behind that shit. Like I said, where it came from, who grew the shit, how it made it into your hands, Jamar Brown (06:40): That\u2019s the bigger story because how it made it to your hands, that\u2019s a story behind the story. And it\u2019s all about being organic and people love to watch people. That\u2019s not trying hard, not to say not trying hard, but being their self and being organic within the culture. TG Branfalt (06:58): Well, and I think it speaks to what you guys are sort of creating, because if somebody clicks on about section on your website, it\u2019s a story. It\u2019s esoteric. It\u2019s very, very different. Jamar Brown (07:11): Yeah. Yeah. So Witt Rabon (07:15): Go ahead. Jamar Brown (07:15): Yeah. Oh my fault. But yeah, it\u2019s different. And then it\u2019s different stories within, because I play basketball, I smoke weed all around the world. I come from a heavy marijuana culture back home and you just keep building that story. TG Branfalt (07:33): So let me ask you, Jamar, what did you take away from that previous life before DRO? I mean, it\u2019s one thing, the sort of MusclePharm aspect of it, but to be a professional international basketball player, I mean, that\u2019s an entirely different sort of path. Jamar Brown (07:51): Yeah, it\u2019s a different path. And then how social media is today when I was playing, I wouldn\u2019t even talk about weed. I wouldn\u2019t wear a weed shirt because it\u2019s a business at the end of the day and I need a contract to provide for me family, et cetera or whatever. So you\u2019ll be, they know you smoke, but they don\u2019t want to know that you smoke. So I got a story where I went to Turkey and as soon as I landed in Alia, they tested me and the team manager came to me and he was just like, yo, make sure you just don\u2019t smoke out here no more. I be don\u2019t smoke out here. So they knew previous when I took my test, it came up dirty. They knew I was smoking, so I just waited till the end of the season and me and one of my teammates, so we had a soccer club too, so it was like 50,000 people, and we were just at his condo looking at the stadium, and he barely knew English. I definitely barely knew Turkish, but we both smoking a joint looking at the game, trying to figure out how we could win a championship for basketball. It\u2019s just like the weed for me, bro. The world is full of hellos. (08:59): So the previous life, it\u2019s easier now because when we first started, me being in that industry, I had players in there, it was just hard to get to players to wear DRO or whatnot just because, and now it\u2019s a lot of players that are aware it represent it, it opened up, they\u2019re not getting tested no more. So it\u2019s a lot easier now. TG Branfalt (09:25): And so why are these sort of lifestyle brands important to the broader cannabis culture, which is really what we\u2019re talking about here. Witt Rabon (09:33): Yeah, so I think the reason why is because one, it\u2019s helping it become more acceptable and also helping it become more mainstream. Because if you\u2019re just looking at cannabis itself and you\u2019re telling some old guy like, oh yeah, it\u2019s this dried up plant and you grind it up and smoke it, they\u2019re thinking, oh, that\u2019s devil\u2019s lettuce. But when they get it presented to \u2019em, have you ever taken your parents in a cookie store? I mean, dude, they\u2019re so overwhelmed. They\u2019re like, look how professional this is. Everything\u2019s all bright and colorful and dude, my parents don\u2019t smoke weed or eat edibles at all. They bought shit in the store because they felt so comfortable with the branding and the way it was product was presented to \u2019em, right? I don\u2019t think my dad would ever buy a bag of flower in a Ziploc, but when he saw it presented as a real nice pre-roll with some gold foil packaging, he was a lot more curious about the product and he wanted to try it. (10:41): And then he starts identifying the brands and seeing what\u2019s what. And I don\u2019t know, I think like you said, the brands really, really helped. The people that were not buying Ziploc bags of flower be a part of this. And what\u2019s funny is eventually those people move from the branded packaging in stores, and once they start…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bubbling-fog-81918.wp1.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}