The Hotbox with Chris VanAnden

In cannabis, that lesson is amplified because the rules are strict, constantly evolving, and different in every state. What works in one market may not even be allowed in another. That forces discipline. You have to think before you speak, and you have to make sure what you are saying can stand up to scrutiny.

Smithers has been around for over 100 years, which is almost unheard of in modern business, especially in scientific services. From your perspective, what allows a company like Smithers to stay relevant and credible across generations, industries, and technological shifts?

Longevity at that scale usually comes down to discipline. Smithers started as an independent testing organization, and that core purpose hasn’t changed. Industries have shifted. Technologies have evolved. Entire markets, like cannabis, have emerged; the expectation from clients has stayed consistent: they need objective, defensible data they can rely on.

What I think keeps an organization relevant over time is resisting the urge to reinvent its identity every time the market changes. Capabilities evolve, instrumentation improves, regulations shift, but the standard for credibility does not.

Relevance isn’t uniquely about chasing what’s new. It is about applying proven standards to those new things.

You’ve said that the best marketing comes from understanding human behavior and building genuine connections. In industries like cannabis, testing, and compliance, where fear, misinformation, and skepticism are common, how do you translate that philosophy into real-world strategy?

The first step is acknowledging that skepticism is rational. In cannabis, operators are navigating shifting regulations, financial pressure, and public scrutiny all at once. Given that reality, they are not looking for marketing that excites them in the traditional sense; they’re looking for partners who reduce uncertainty and ideally add value.

I deliberately force myself to view strategy through the customer’s perspective. In the case of cannabis as an industry, I know there is distrust and misinformation. That tells me the goal for us at Smithers Cannabis Testing Services is to be clear and avoid exaggeration. Make complex topics understandable without oversimplifying them. Show consistency over time rather than chasing attention. When focusing on reducing friction and uncertainty instead of solely increasing volume, trust tends to build naturally.

When Daniel and I toured the Smithers Phoenix lab, what stood out was the transparency and the pride people took in explaining their work. From the inside, how intentional is that culture, and how do you help communicate those values without turning them into empty buzzwords?

In my years in cannabis and with Smithers, I’ve learned that when scientists take the time to walk someone through their methodology, they’re confident and typically happy, if not excited, to share with you how they work. That’s not a culture you can fake.

From a marketing standpoint, the responsibility is to reflect that reality without inflating it. Instead of saying “We value transparency,” or “We’re here to help you”, we show it. We like to invite people into the lab and introduce them to the experts. The experts love to talk about the things they’re experts in.

If the culture is real, marketing does not need to decorate it. It just needs to represent it accurately. I’ve asked some of the same questions to our experts repeatedly, and they’ve always answered with a smile and real enthusiasm for the work they do. I can’t be happier with the people I work with daily.