Founder & CEO of LuvBuds LLC | NEW Phoenix Holdings LLC
The Hotbox with Dustin Hoxworth isn’t your polished PR interview. It’s me getting stoned and asking people the questions they probably aren’t ready for. These aren’t cold reads or copy-paste Q&As; I sit with my guests, usually multiple times, and I’ve likely met them in person, which gives me a window to learn who they really are before I ever send the questions. By the time the words hit the page, it’s smoke-thick honesty, not surface-level bullshit. These are cannabis conversations that showcase the voices, stories, and truths that won’t show up in the boardroom.
I tend to pay attention to people who build solutions instead of screaming about problems. People who see what’s broken, accept that it’s broken, and then go to work fixing it without asking for applause. Brett Harris is wired that way. He doesn’t operate in hypotheticals. He operates in systems, structure, and execution. In an industry that still survives on improvisation and reaction, Brett is building discipline.
With more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, Brett has grown LuvBuds LLC into one of the most trusted and fastest-growing dispensary and smoke shop supply partners in cannabis. Under NEW Phoenix Holdings LLC, he operates Swag Supply, SirEEL Brands, and LuvBuds PR LLC, creating an ecosystem that blends logistics, data, merchandising, branding, and hospitality into something that actually functions like a modern business.
LuvBuds isn’t respected because its leadership is loud. It’s respected because they put in the work. They’re data-driven, sharp, and built to help dispensaries make smarter decisions that protect margins, reduce chaos, and create long-term stability. Brett’s mission is clear: give cannabis operators the tools, insight, and infrastructure they need to thrive while improving quality of life for founders, employees, and customers alike.
That philosophy shows up clearly in the launch of The Triad, the industry’s first true Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) program for cannabis accessories. This isn’t marketing, it’s infrastructure. It’s about optimizing inventory, increasing profitability, reducing operational friction, and bringing cannabis retail closer to the standard other serious industries have operated under for decades.
Brett is also expanding fully into brand creation. ZaZa Grinders, which launched in Q4 2025, is a performance-driven grinder brand built for longevity, not novelty. Harmon, a women-focused accessory brand named after his wife Janet, launching in Q2 2026, brings a necessary shift in voice and leadership into the category.
Brett has shared his perspective across the industry, including on the Cannacurio Podcast.
This Hotbox isn’t about praise. It’s about pressure, responsibility, and what it really takes to build something that lasts in an industry that wasn’t designed to let you win.
The Hotbox Q&A: 5 Questions with Brett Harris
The Triad is a real structural shift for cannabis retail. Vendor Managed Inventory has existed forever in other industries, but cannabis has resisted it. What finally made this the right moment, and what broken part of retail were you most determined to fix?
VMI only works when you have three things in place: clean data, consistent execution, and a vendor partner who will actually own the outcome. Cannabis finally has enough POS data and enough pressure on margins to make operators willing to demand structure instead of “more options.”
The broken part of retail I wanted to fix is simple: accessories are treated like an afterthought, so they get bought like an afterthought. That creates stockouts on winners, overstock on losers, cash trapped on shelves, and a customer experience that feels random. The Triad gives stores a tight, proven assortment, a merchandising standard, and a replenishment system that keeps the right SKUs in the right place – automatically. When you run accessories like a real category, they stop being “miscellaneous” and start becoming meaningful profit.
280E continues to punish operators for surviving. From where you sit, how has it distorted inventory decisions, margins, and long-term strategy inside dispensaries?
280E turns normal business decisions into survival decisions. When you can’t deduct the operating expenses it takes to run a store – training, technology, merchandising labor, even basic process – every one of those investments feels like it costs 30-50% more than it should. So operators cut the exact things that would make them more efficient and profitable.
On the inventory side, it pushes people into bad habits: buying too wide, chasing discounts, hoarding “just in case,” and carrying slow movers because nobody has time to clean the shelf. It also drives discounting because cash flow is always tight, which compresses margin further. The way out is discipline: tighter SKU counts, higher turns, and a category strategy that prioritizes contribution margin and velocity – not just “cheap” cost of goods.
There’s constant noise around rescheduling, but very little movement. Do you think the industry has been harmed more by false hope and political theater more than by direct opposition, and how should operators mentally prepare for that reality?
Yes — the “wait for Washington” mindset has probably done as much damage as the policies themselves. False hope makes people delay hard decisions: cutting dead weight, fixing inventory, renegotiating terms, rebuilding pricing, and tightening AR. You can’t run a business on a headline.
What’s different right now is there’s finally a real push: President Trump’s December 18, 2025, executive order directs the DOJ to expedite the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. That’s meaningful momentum, but it’s still a process — timelines can slip, and outcomes can change.
So the mindset has to be: operate like nothing changes, and prepare like it could. Treat policy shifts as upside — not the strategy. Build what you can control: inventory turns, gross margin, SOPs, retail execution, vendor accountability, and cash discipline. If Schedule III lands and 280E pressure eases, you’ll be positioned to scale. If it drags out, you’ll still be one of the few built to survive.
You’re now building brands like ZaZa and J. Harmon alongside LuvBuds. What does owning brands give you that distribution never could, and how do these projects reflect your values?
Distribution can get you scale. Owning brands gives you control. It lets us design products around what actually sells, lock in quality and supply, and build programs that create repeat purchases instead of one-time novelty. It also creates a more resilient margin profile for both us and the retailer.
ZaZa is about performance and longevity – a grinder that feels like a tool, not a trinket. J. Harmon is about bringing a different voice into the category and building products that respect the customer experience for women and for anyone who wants something cleaner, more elevated, and more intentional. Both brands reflect the same value: stop improvising and start building things that last. SirEEL has been wildly successful as we provided higher quality product at lower prices by removing middlemen and creating a line with a very high value proposition for both retailer and end user alike.
Outside of business, who is Brett Harris? What grounds you, what do you enjoy, and how do you protect space for real life while running companies at this level?
I’m an entrepreneur and a builder at my core, but what really grounds me is routine and standards — especially when things get busy. I move my body every day, I stay close to my family and a tight circle of friends, and I keep my calendar aligned to what actually matters.
I live in Puerto Rico, and the business operates out of Denver, so I’m constantly protecting blocks of time where I’m not “on.” No meetings, no noise — just recovery, thinking, and getting my head straight. I love traveling with my wife, spending time with my two sons, and I’m obsessed with my two French Bulldogs, Tiberius and Ramesses.
I still think like an athlete: you don’t get results from intensity once in a while — you get them from consistency. The way I protect real life is by being ruthless about priorities, delegating what I shouldn’t own, and keeping a few weekly non-negotiables that have nothing to do with work.
This industry doesn’t need more noise. It needs more structure, accountability, and people willing to build things that work instead of selling ideas that sound good. Brett Harris operates in that space. He’s building systems that reduce chaos, protect operators, and quietly move cannabis forward without needing a spotlight.
That kind of leadership isn’t flashy. It carries responsibility, consequence, and in many cases, the future of whether this industry becomes sustainable or stays trapped in survival mode.
Thanks for stepping into THE HOTBOX with me.
