Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Joe Jernegan, founder of GOHCo Operations LLC., located in Steamboat Springs, CO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are a vertically integrated holistic wellness company in Colorado. We work directly with small farmers many female-owned businesses to formulate and manufacture products with hemp cannabis, mushrooms, adaptogens, nervines, nootropics, Ayurvedic and Native American herbs, and many other botanicals. Our clients are distributors and private businesses that are creating new product lines in holistic wellness or looking to add new formulations to their existing lines. A majority of our clients come to us because of our radically transparent supply chain, our USDA organic certification, and our commitment to work with women and minority farmers.
Tell us about yourself
Our family has been in the cannabis business for over 14 years officially, and cannabis is what we focused the business on in the first three years. Hemp cannabis, to be more specific. Cannabis represents so much to so many. Its potential to help the world in so many ways is hard to comprehend, especially when you have so many industries and regulatory agencies trying to hold it down and stifle its uses. I was and still am inspired by the work of those before me, like Jack Herer and Raphael Mechoulam. It has become a passion of ours at GardenOm to continue the fight for truth and the right to use all the herbs and botanicals on God's green earth for the betterment of the human race and the planet. Over the last year, we have transitioned to a holistic wellness company. We have expanded our focus around cannabis to include mushrooms, adaptogens, nervines, nootropics, Ayurvedic and Native American herbs, and many other botanicals.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Despite the ridiculous lack of regulation by the FDA, we have successfully gotten hemp-derived wellness products into the hands of tens of thousands of consumers with great results. We hope to increase that number to the tens of millions and more now that we have made the transition to holistic wellness products.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Well, the hours aren't so hot, but I would say it's been team building. During the past two years with the pandemic, the uncertainty has been amplified in the hemp industry. Business picks up, and then the regulatory issues will stifle growth. Hence, everybody plays the waiting game until the legal teams are satisfied. If you are lucky enough to put together a good team, you soon realize it is even harder to keep them in such a volatile industry.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start slow financially. Don't be too eager to invest in technologies that may soon be outdated or the like.
- Surround yourself with smarter people than you are and make sure they have different perspectives than your own to offer. No, yes-men!
- Make a business out of your passion project.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
It is a complicated world these days. Don't be afraid to turn on your lovelight and leave it on! Express yourself. It's OK to be wrong and make mistakes. As my wife, Candice, would say, "Keep It Pure and it's all gonna work out."
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://gardenom.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardenOmHolistic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gardenomhemp/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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