Founder & CEO of PufCreativ | Creative Leader | Dad | Musician | Builder of Good Shit
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.
The Hotbox with John Shute
There are people you meet in this industry who change how you think about what’s possible. Not just in cannabis, but in life, leadership, and how you show up for your people. John Shute is one of those people for me.
Somewhere between late-night calls, hard questions, big ideas, and moments of quiet honesty, John became someone I look up to deeply. Someone I trust, regularly learn from, and someone I ask real questions of because his guidance actually matters.
John is the Founder and CEO of PufCreativ, an award-winning, community-driven cannabis marketing agency that has helped reshape how this industry communicates, connects, and grows. But that’s just the surface layer.
What really drives it home is the consistency. PufCreativ didn’t just have one good year, they won EMJAY Awards for Branding and Marketing Agency of the Year back-to-back in 2023 and 2024, and were nominated again in 2025. In an industry as volatile, over-regulated, and unforgiving as cannabis, even being in the conversation three years in a row says everything. That level of sustained excellence doesn’t happen by accident; it’s leadership, culture, talent, and execution all lining up at once.
But what I really admire is watching him be a human while doing all of it. A dad, leader, and creative force. A guy who can charge down a mountain, surf the water, skate with zero fear, then turn around and absolutely rip the drums in a band called Bubala. I finally got to see Bubala live at Light Up Las Vegas during MJBiz 2025, and yeah, it was one of those moments where everything clicks, and you think, of course, he’s this good at this, too.
John has built something special with PufCreativ. It’s not just an agency; it’s a culture, team, and the standard for the industry. And every single person who crosses his path is better for it. He’s the type of human we need leading our industry forward. I’m proud to be a partner with PufCreativ, incredibly lucky to call John my friend, and genuinely excited every time his name pops up on my phone.
I want to be him when I grow up. So let’s step into THE HOTBOX.
The Hotbox Q&A: 5 Questions with John Schute
You wear a lot of hats: founder, CEO, creative, musician, athlete, and dad. Let’s start with family. How has being a father shaped the way you lead, create, and move through this world?
Being a father changed the frequency of my life. It shifted how I move, how I listen, and how intentional I am with my energy. There’s a depth of love, responsibility, and awareness that comes with it that’s hard to explain unless you’ve felt it yourself. Everything I do now carries more meaning because it’s no longer just about me. It’s about the world my children are inheriting and the example I’m setting for them every day.
Fatherhood brought patience and humility into my life in a way nothing else could. It slowed me down in the best way and helped me find a sense of calm and composure that I didn’t have before. Around the time my first child was born, I also made the choice to live sober aside from cannabis, which gave me clarity and presence I didn’t realize I was missing. That decision helped me honor my time more intentionally, with my family, my work, and myself.
What’s beautiful is that even though life is fuller and busier than ever, it feels more balanced. I’m able to lead my business, be fully present with my family, and stay connected to my body through movement. I used to struggle with consistency and routine, and now rhythm feels natural. Fatherhood didn’t just change my priorities; it realigned me with who I was always meant to be.
Outside of cannabis, you LIVE, and I mean that in every way possible. Mountains, water, skateboards, drums. Music especially feels like it runs through you. What does that creative outlet give you that business never could?
Those outlets are where I come back to myself. Business is intellectual, strategic, and future-focused, but music and movement live entirely in the present. They ask something different of me. They ask me to be inside my body instead of my head.
Over time, I’ve realized my brain finds peace through intensity and chaos. When I’m skating, in the mountains, on the water, or behind a drum kit, there’s no room for distraction. You’re either fully present, or you get hurt, fall, or miss the moment. That level of focus quiets everything else. Stress, anxiety, noise, it all disappears because awareness becomes the only thing that exists.
Music, especially, feels spiritual to me. Drumming, singing, improvising, require complete surrender. You can’t overthink it. You have to let go and trust that something bigger than you will move through you. Improvisational music is pure flow state. There’s no plan, no script, just energy syncing between people in real time. When it clicks, it feels like alignment, like tapping into the same frequency and letting something beautiful unfold on its own.
Those moments give me something business never could. They remind me that creation doesn’t always come from control. Sometimes it comes from presence, trust, and allowing yourself to disappear into the moment. That balance keeps me grounded and reminds me why I create in the first place.
Watching you build PufCreativ is inspiring. The awards are real: EMJAYs, CLIOs, ADCANN, etc., but the culture you’ve built feels even bigger and better. What actually drives you every day to keep building this thing?
To be completely honest, I don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly, but what drives me feels less like a goal and more like a destiny. When I look back, there are so many moments, lessons, and experiences across my life that feel like they were quietly guiding me to this exact place.
My parents came from nothing and became entrepreneurs, and that foundation shaped everything for me. They taught me work ethic, resilience, and the importance of building something bigger than yourself. Teachers and coaches would often pull me aside because they saw something in me I didn’t fully understand yet. Friends and peers believed in me during hard moments, when things felt uncertain or when a new perspective was needed. All of those experiences stacked on each other and led me here.
A huge influence on how I operate PufCreativ comes directly from watching my parents build their lives and businesses. They showed me that you’re nothing without your family, nothing without your team, and nothing without your community. I watched them work relentlessly, not just to succeed financially, but to bring people together and help their staff see themselves as part of something meaningful.
My mom’s story, especially, lives inside everything I do. She survived childhood cancer and was told she’d never have children. Instead of letting that define her, she turned gratitude into purpose. She started a nonprofit, wrote two books and a comic book, and gave back tens of thousands of dollars every year to cancer research, nonprofits, schools, and her community. My dad supported her through all of it, and together they supported me unconditionally.
So when people ask what drives me, it’s really everything around me. My family. My friends. My team. Our community. The world my kids and future generations will inherit. I work harder than I ever thought possible, not because I’m chasing awards or validation, but because I can see the bigger picture. Building PufCreativ isn’t just about a company. It’s about honoring where I came from and using what I’ve been given to create something that truly matters.
You’ve been deeply involved in community work through Cannabis Doing Good, the Cannabis Creative Movement, and the Cannabis Impact Fund. Why has giving back been a non-negotiable for you?
Giving back has never felt optional to me. It feels foundational. Everything I’ve shared about my family, my upbringing, and the path that led me here plays into it, but it goes even deeper than that.
I genuinely believe that every person, every interaction, and every moment carries energy. When that energy is focused toward doing good, it doesn’t just impact one outcome, it ripples outward. It fulfills you, your family, your friends, your team, and your clients. And when people feel supported, seen, and empowered, they naturally go on to influence others in the same way. That’s how real compounds change.
I read my daughter a book every few weeks about “filling other people’s cups,” and that idea has become a quiet compass for how I try to live. If I can help fill someone else’s cup, whether that’s through community work, business, creativity, or simply showing up with intention, then I know I’m moving in the right direction.
The world doesn’t always make it easy. Things feel heavy, divided, and challenging more often than not. But I’ve also learned that sometimes things need to get hard to create the best outcomes. Pressure has a way of revealing truth and pushing people toward growth. Giving back keeps me grounded in that belief. It reminds me that even in difficult moments, choosing to lead with care, generosity, and purpose is how we shape a better future together.
Let’s get uncomfortable for a minute. The country feels fractured, trust in institutions is eroding, and cannabis still sits in political limbo despite overwhelming public support. From your seat, what’s your honest take on where we are, and where cannabis fits into the future of this country?
I’m honestly both scared and excited at the same time. It’s hard not to feel the fracture right now. Trust in institutions is thin, people are exhausted, and there’s a lot of fear, anger, and disconnection sitting just under the surface. From where I stand, cannabis and alternative medicine have real potential to help heal some of that. Not in a naïve, cure-all way, but as tools that can slow people down, open hearts, reduce suffering, and shift perspective. I’ve seen it do that on an individual level over and over again.
At the same time, I don’t trust the systems that are suddenly paying attention. Watching cannabis get rescheduled and discussed at higher political levels is exciting on paper, but I’m skeptical of what happens when the government and large corporations fully step in. History hasn’t been kind to grassroots movements once they’re absorbed by power structures focused primarily on profit and control. The plant has always existed outside of those systems, and I worry about what gets lost when it’s stripped of its culture, community roots, and purpose.
Because of that, I actually believe this is a critical moment. The people who truly care about cannabis, its potential, its ethics, its role in healing, need to unite now more than ever. This isn’t the time to fragment further or wait on someone else to define the future for us. It’s the time to protect what makes this plant special, to build responsibly, and to ensure that cannabis doesn’t just become another commodity, but remains a force for good in a country that desperately needs repair.
John Shute is the real deal – a leader with heart, a creative with soul, and a professional who elevates everyone around him. He’s a reminder that success doesn’t have to come at the cost of humanity. If you want to understand what modern cannabis leadership should look like, pay attention to what John is building at PufCreativ.
John, thanks for being exactly who you are, and for the lessons, laughs, music, and the inspiration.
Thanks for stepping into THE HOTBOX with me.
