From Red to Pink - Part I: The Beginning
Photo Courtesy of Girl With Red Hat/Unsplash
THE BEGINNING: I’ll never forget a co-worker asking to meet for a break that day. This was strange, since he hadn’t for quite some time. We had both been promoted to managing different states on different teams, and were effectively on almost different schedules entirely as a result. I came in two hours sooner because Arizona wakes up at least two hours before us Californians do. But, on this day of days, there was an impending “All Hands” meeting vaguely and suspiciously defined to start at what appeared to be changing times.
A friend in the sprawling tech department had already called the night before with what sounded like paranoid fears of a mass layoff. My co-worker and I vaguely discussed this on what would be our last “break” together, because, soon after, the correspondence finally came through instructing everyone to make their way downstairs.
We wandered to two tables where we found our name cards sorted alphabetically. Mine said to report to “Paradise,” an ironic conference room within which to notify a bunch of people they’ve been laid off, amirite? Those who did not have this fate in store were instructed to leave the building and report to the newly opened distribution facility, so the crowd dispersed according to cards with no questions asked.
I remember the shock of my fellow layoffs as the news sank in and questions flew, emotions understandably high. I simply shook hands to my left and my right, relayed my pleasure in working with such wonderful people and collected my things. We were to be on paid administrative leave until our official layoff date.
This would not be my first nor my last graceful exit, but, at that time, I was not as upset as most of the others, and I felt more than compensated. I didn’t feel personally wronged, that my time had been wasted, or that I learned nothing. Quite the opposite; I felt like I had learned about a whole new world of business and more about myself in the process. I met some incredible professionals and had access to mentorships I never dreamed would be possible for me, both resulting in career strides I believe I will build on for the rest of my life.
I remember my manager at the time still invited the team over that day for melancholy drinks after work. This manager even hosted a Christmas party a month later despite the mixed bag of emotions, because that’s what good people do. That’s the type of person I worked with, and I did my best to take their example with me into my next professional cannabis opportunity. Was I fearful of the unknown? Yes. Was I seeing red? No. I was starting to think pink.
Photo Courtesy of tofutyklein/Shutterstock
For the record, pink is the dilution of the color red with white. The more white pigment is added, the lighter pink you get. I’m not sure how to go from red to Pepto pink, but I am sure that my indigestion has been disproportionately affected by the cannabis industry for someone of my age. Don’t look at me like that, I’m only 30. This, cannabis colleagues, is an account (for some, maybe a cautionary tale) of transitioning from a big, multi-state operating “Corporate Cannabis” company (we’ll call it “Red”), to a single, solitary location in West Hollywood (we’ll call her “Pink”).
Usually, stories like this are about starting out small and moving on to a bigger job/place. In industries like cannabis, however, there’s always more to learn, and absolutely nothing is as it seems. That being said, there is much to relate to within this five-part series for plenty of people in parallel industries, too! Cannabis is, in many ways, a good reflection of the current social and economic temperatures in this country - not to mention a potential-packed resource for the world of tomorrow.
Stay tuned for next week’s Part II, where you will learn more about who I am and why I care so much about cannabis, the industry at large, and its workers.
