Editor's note: Presented by Cannabis Business Times in an as-told-to format. The company's leaders shared below information directly with CBT. Edited for length and clarity
Cannabis Business Times: Why Cannabis?
Farid Harrison: For me, there was an opportunity based on one of my closest friends being an early entry into the legalized space. We identified it as a unique opportunity to jump into an emerging industry, and for us now, it’s about the people.
Matt Morea: I’m a lifelong cannabis enthusiast, and we also enjoy the plant. So, this has been near and dear to our hearts. In 2015, we saw that legalization was coming [in California]. We thought this was a great opportunity to not only capitalize on an emerging market but to build something special, something significant, and to make a meaningful impact on the community we both grew up in, the Greater Bay Area.
CBT: How has the Velvet evolved since it started to meet the demands of a changing market?
MM: This is a business that takes a lot of time. It took over three and a half years to get the Martinez license pushed through and approved and for us to get shovels in the ground and get open. Our second store down on Eagle Rock has taken almost five years to get up and running. So, this is something where you must be patient and committed. Good things happen to people that are persistent.
CBT: What culture do you try to create/foster at your company?
FH: By nature, we’re very inclusive people. We have a transparent operation. Everybody from our hourly retail to our executive leadership has access to us. … We want everybody to be able to have input, and it’s a very collaborative environment. … We spend a lot of time on [our culture]. It’s a huge focus of ours, and it’s something we come to work every day thinking about.
MM: Everything about our culture has been built with purpose and intention. ... I got to go out and see all of the dispensaries that were in business in 2016, 2017, and 2018, from Seattle to San Diego. We realized there were some major gaps. Turnover was a major issue; diversity was a major issue; training, development, retention, and compensation were all challenges that we saw our competition struggling with. So, we set out to do a couple of things. Number one, to Farid’s point, it’s very inclusive and transparent. We also set out to build a very diverse team by design. We started hiring folks that were not in cannabis but were in other specialty retails. … Farid and I both have a lot of strong, powerful, influential women in our lives, and we felt strongly that we wanted to create a leadership team centered around strong female leaders that would not only differentiate us, but would set us up to be able to grow organically and scale our operations and have a bench of talent that we could provide opportunities to.
© Courtesy of Velvet Cannabis
Velvet Cannabis’ headquarters in Martinez, Calif.
CBT: How do you actively promote or encourage positive team culture?
FH: At our flagship Martinez location, our headquarters sits directly above the retail store. We have built a situation where everybody can [access us] and see us coming and going. We [are also in the] buildings a lot. Our hourly retail people now see us in Los Angeles since Matt is now down there. ... The biggest thing is just being available. In many organizations, you can’t touch the CEO, the COO, or the ownership group. We also don’t have offices. In our headquarters, my desk is right above the door, and then our ownership group sits at one end of the building, but all of our leadership and administration people are in a very open and available space.
MM: We focus on retention with our team. We have almost zero attrition; part of that is making a fun culture. Every other Friday is pay day, and we make sure that folks go home with samples. They test the product, they understand the product, they speak to the product, and so they kind of eat, sleep and breathe what we’re providing to the community. … Everybody in our building is compensated and tied to performance. So everybody’s got an incentive they earn every month based on how the overall company did. I think that’s gone a long way in helping everybody row the boat together, especially when things get tough.
CBT: How would your employees describe Velvet in three words?
MM: Fun. Transparent. Inclusive.
CBT: What is one quality that you look for in an employee when hiring at Velvet?
MM: We’re looking for people that are focused and reliable, and they’ve got to be a good fit for the culture. We’re also trying to find folks with high ceilings that are capable of being promoted multiple times. Our goal is to go from one to 12 stores in California over four and a half years. You’ve got to have a great bench of strength and talent, … and have people in your building that can be groomed and promoted.
CBT: What are some of the biggest business challenges, and how can team members mitigate those challenges?
FH: Our space is under tremendous pressure across the entire industry. It’s probably what keeps me up the most these days, the health of our industry, specifically in California. [Our employee's’] ability to be able to adapt to different departments within our building has been incredibly helpful given the challenges that the industry and we as a company have faced.
CBT: What do you think makes Velvet a great place to work?
FH: The people. We want people in our buildings that are cut from the same cloth as us and how we would want to be treated. Kind, generous, thoughtful, talented individuals are what we want and strive to be ourselves.
MM: There’s nothing we’re doing that anybody else couldn’t replicate. We hire great people; we compensate ’em well; we train ’em; we develop ’em, … we give them great benefits … we get to know them as people. We’re figuring out how we can improve their lives. They, in turn, do the same thing for our customers.
