Bellevue University

University of Nebraska at Kearney

Bellevue East Sr High School

Business Development Manager at Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency

The Cannabis Chamber of Commerce was created to support the growth and development of businesses that serve the regulated cannabis industry by offering a meaningful trade association that offers resources at the local level and a unified voice on the national stage.

The Cannabis Chamber of Commerce

Executive Director

An at-home confectionary counter-top appliance where In under an hour, consumers can create reliable and consistent botanical-infused gummies, chocolates, or hard candies, from a device that is secure, discreet, and stylish; compatible with their preferred inputs, and customizable to desired dosage and quantity outputs.

Beuhi

Member of the Board of Advisors

GreenLists has reimagined the wholesale cannabis experience by creating an innovative auction-based marketplace. Greenlists first of it’s kind platform connects cultivators, manufacturers, and retailers to facilitate seamless transactions with just a click of a button. 

With no upfront cost or subscription fees, GreenLists provide a smooth and compliant platform to streamline buying and selling wholesale cannabis products.

GreenLists

Who They Are
710SCI is a subsidiary of Rocky Mountain Reagents and provides equipment, chemicals and consumable supplies to leading extraction, infusion and analytical laboratories serving the cannabis, hemp and mycology industries in North America.

What I Did
- Led the launch of the new 710SCI brand at MJUnpacked in NYC, including booth design, networking events, and collaborations.
- Oversaw content creation for sales and marketing tools.
- Managed design, development, and content creation for e-commerce website.
- Completed an extensive market and competitive analysis
- Overhauled and streamlined product descriptions, photos, and tech specs for over 3,000 individual product SKUs
- Elevated the 710SCI brand through various trade show appearances, networking opportunities, and introductions to my professional network.

710Sci®

Director of Business Development

Who They Are
Grasslands is a Clio and EmJays award winning, journalism-minded marketing agency located in Denver, Colorado. Their team is fluent in the complex business languages of cannabis, tech and psychedelics, and they are committed to telling stories, elevating brands, and amplifying their value.

What I Did
- Led all new business development efforts which ultimately landed marquee marketing and public relations clients for the agency including AVD, MariMed, PuffCo, Nabis, Cheeba Chew, Blaze, Grodan, Dosatron, Escape Artists, Purple Lotus, NOXX and more.
- Nurtured, grew, and maintained a new business pipeline with a value of over $5m 
- Planned, organized and produced curated industry networking events in Colorado, Las Vegas, California and New York, including the marquee ‘Grasslands Party’ attended by 1,200 of the cannabis industry's VIPs.
- Created and improved upon sales and marketing materials including revamping the agency’s master proposal, master services agreement, and direct / digital marketing materials.
- Acted as a conduit between our clients and the various departments within the agency.
- Developed and managed strategic partnerships to grow business.
- Oversaw the implementation of a new CRM (SharpSpring/Constant Contact) and migration from old CRM (Pipedrive). Acted as Administrator for all CRM customization and development needs.
- Maintained incredibly deep relationships with our clients, media and industry connections through networking events and by being resourceful and continuously adding value.

Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency

Business Development Manager

Who They Are
Trellis was a 'seed to sale' SaaS ERP platform built for the cannabis and hemp industries. The platform was tailored to licensed cultivators, manufacturing (infusion/extraction) labs, as well as distribution facilities.

What I Did
- Oversaw all aspects of both Sales and Marketing for the business
- Led new business efforts which landed marquee cannabis clients in the United States, Canada, Israel and Uruguay.
- Executed the company’s CRM migration from Pipedrive to Hubspot. 
- Acted as CRM Administrator and developed custom workflows, sales processes and reporting in order to provide better data insights to our business.
- Developed sales and marketing materials including sales sheets, blog content, website copy and social media posts.
- Maintained incredibly deep relationships with our clients, media and industry connections through networking events, speaking panels, being resourceful and continuously adding value.

Trellis was acquired by Akerna in April 2020.

Trellis

Director of Sales and Marketing

Nug News was a podcast providing all the cannabis industry news three times a week in twenty minute episodes.

Nug News

Founder, Producer, Host

Provided guidance on strategy, sales, marketing and compliance for a number of cannabis brands across legal markets.

CUE Cannabis

Consultant // Market & Product Research

Who They Are
Green Bits (Now Dutchie) simplifies the complexities of cannabis commerce, making regulated retail function like regular retail. By helping dispensaries optimize operations and maximize performance, Green Bits dispensary point of sale software elevates cannabis retail to a more efficient and enjoyable experience for you and your customers.

What I Did
- Led Business Development efforts in the emerging legal California cannabis market.
- Attended industry policy events to learn and advise on upcoming cannabis industry policy decisions in California.
- Met in person with over 300 cannabis retail owners to educate them on upcoming policy and compliance changes.
- Presented on panel events to industry leaders and government policy makers in order to help them make educated decisions for the future of California cannabis.
- Planned, produced and hosted networking events from San Diego to Mendocino in order to bring the cannabis industry leaders together.

Green Bits, Inc.

Who They Are
Flowhub is a leading cannabis retail point of sale software platform used in dispensaries across North America.

What I Did
- As one of the original employees I oversaw all aspects of new business development, sales, implementation and customer success.
-Implemented sales strategies and operating procedures which resulted in incredible growth of the company, establishing it as an early leader in retail cannabis point of sale technology.
- Oversaw and implemented a migration from Pipedrive CRM to SalesForce and acted as the Administrator for all CRM needs, including customization of workflows, data repositories, reporting and other needs as they arose.
- Developed and implemented SOPs, quotas, and oversaw the success of a team of three Account Executives and two Business Development Representatives.
- Oversaw all new client implementations, including on-site installation of software, initial training, and ongoing maintenance needs.
- Represented Executive Leadership at trade shows, networking events, speaking panels and the like.

Flowhub

Director of Sales and Customer Success

TheBodaShow was a long-form (2 hours+) podcast covering the topics of the day in an irreverent manner.

TheBodaShow

Who They Are
Stack Overflow is the largest, most trusted online community for software developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. More than 50 million professional and aspiring programmers visit Stack Overflow each month to help solve coding problems, develop new skills, and find job opportunities.

What I Did
- Managed a sales pipeline of over 150 prospective start up technology accounts while continuously hitting monthly, quarterly and annual sales targets.
- Worked directly with early cannabis SaaS providers Flowhub, BioTrack and MJFreeway to find and hire software engineers based on their unique tech stacks, goals, and culture.

Stack Overflow

Senior Account Executive

Who They Are
Multi-state cannabis license holder with cultivation, retail and manufacturing facilities.

What I Did
- Managed a team of Retail Associates in a Medical/Recreational Cannabis Dispensary
- Responsible for keeping the shop in line with all Metrc track and trace compliance requirements.
- Responsible for educating and assisting patients who used cannabis to treat a variety of ailments
- Assisted in team scheduling, conflict resolution, and all training on new products and services
- Promoted a positive, customer service focused environment which was compliant with all State policies and procedures

John Svoboda