In the Season 3 premier of ‘Yes, We Are Open’ Al goes to Port Sydney, Ontario to visit Heather Huff-Bogart, Owner of The Green Bouquet Cannabis Inc. Heather opened her dream business in the middle of the pandemic lockdown. In addition, she had to navigate the restrictive and ever-changing regulations in Ontario’s cannabis industry, overcome objections from her own family and friends and even some of her own neighbours. How did she do it? Listen to find out.
In the Season 3 premier of ‘Yes, We Are Open’ Al goes to Port Sydney, Ontario to visit Heather Huff-Bogart, Owner of The Green Bouquet Cannabis Inc.
Heather opened her dream business in the middle of the pandemic lockdown. In addition, she had to navigate the restrictive and ever-changing regulations in Ontario’s cannabis industry, overcome objections from her own family and friends and even some of her own neighbours.
How did she do it? Listen to find out.
You can learn more about The Green Bouquet Cannabis Inc. at thegreenbouquetcannabis.com.
Al Grego:
Hey everyone, Al here. I hope you had a great summer. Thank you for joining me again this season. If this is your first episode, thank you for giving it a listen. I hope you enjoy it. Now, I don't know about you, but this past summer has almost been a return to normal for me and my family. We went on our first family vacation in two years to Newfoundland. We've gone to concerts, sporting events, and live theater. I took in my first ever movie at TIFF. My band has even started playing live shows again. Professionally, things have also been good. This podcast has been nominated for two Canadian podcast awards, outstanding business series and outstanding branded series. So thank you to everyone who's listened, liked, and shared the podcast over the last two seasons. Now, I know things still aren't great across the country, and I won't even get into what's happening abroad.
The supply chain has a lot of catching up to do, and inflation is at an all time high. All of this is being covered more than adequately in many other podcasts. As you know, on this podcast, I like to try to tell the happy stories. Sure, there's stories of struggle and hard lessons learned, but there're also stories of perseverance and triumph. So now we begin season three with eight new Canadian businesses and eight new stories, and these are very different kinds of businesses. I can't wait for you to listen to them. So with all that being said, hello everyone. I'm Al Grego, and this is the premiere of season three of Yes We Are Open podcast.
Before I begin telling this week's story, you should know that we're going to be talking about cannabis. And as such, this episode is not recommended for audiences under 19 years of age. Now, a quick glance at this podcast demographic data assures me that that disclaimer was wholly unnecessary, but I assure you I'm not being a square. It was at the behest of the business owner herself that I deliver that message. Back to me not being a square. When I found out about this merchant, I was actually really excited to do this story for no other reason than that of sheer curiosity. Since cannabis became legalized in 2018 and shops began popping up everywhere in Ontario, I was always curious but reluctant to go. They don't make it very easy to just take a peek in the store. I'll come to learn that this is on purpose.
So if you're curious, you actually have to commit to walking in and talking to someone. The thought of that was especially daunting for someone like me who's had limited experience with cannabis. Just had these visions of walking into a scene from a Cheech and Chong movie. I know I'm dating myself. How about Pineapple Express? Is that more current? Anyway, in this scene, there's a smoke-filled room. Everyone's high, and I'm feeling completely out of place and out of my element. Yes, I know, square, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. So I hope that if you're listening to this and you're as curious as I was, you'll really enjoy this episode because that anxiety inducing vision couldn't be further from the truth.
So here I am in a strip plaza off Highway 11 in Muskoka, Ontario. Muskoka is one of the four regions that make up Ontario's cottage country. It borders Algonquin Provincial Park, the oldest provincial park in Canada. The main industry in Muskoka is clearly tourism. It's an outdoor living paradise with lakes and cottages for summer and ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter. Muskoka is made up of several villages and towns. One of those is Port Sydney on the south shore of Mary Lake, which is where I am at that strip plaza off Highway 11. Other tenants of the plaza include a thrift store, tourism office, fireplace and wood stove store, and the anchor tenant, a home hardware. And between the thrift store and the tourism office is the subject of today's episode, The Green Bouquet Cannabis Incorporated. As I approached the storefront, the first thing I noticed is the front window is broken. It looks as if perhaps someone threw a brick through it. I'm sure there's a story there.
Dave:
Hey, how are you?
Al Grego:
I'm well, how are you?
Dave:
Good. Come on in.
Al Grego:
As I enter, I find myself in this small enclosed area where I wait to be ID'd, and then a second door opens letting me in. I'm Al.
Dave:
Oh, hey, I saw you sitting out there.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Oh, hi Al. How you doing? I'm Heather.
Al Grego:
Nice to meet you guys.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Nice to meet you.
Al Grego:
Thank you for having me.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Welcome. Welcome. This is my little store.
Al Grego:
Very nice. That's Heather, the owner. And the one who initially welcomed me in was Dave, the store manager. I'll talk to him a little later too. What happened out there?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Oh, back in June, somebody tried to rob us. You know.
Al Grego:
Oh no.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
We're still-
Al Grego:
And their storefront is indeed little. One wall, there's a shelving unit displaying bongs, rolling papers, pipes, diffusers, grinders, and any other accessory you can think of. On the opposite wall, there's some more products including posters, vapes, greeting cards for all occasions, et cetera. And then the front counter where the actual controlled product is purchased, all the items are either behind a glass display, in a drawer or back in the vault. I'll get a tour of that later.
Dave:
Something where we can have a table between us.
Al Grego:
After a quick tour of the back, Heather and I settle into the staff room for our interview.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Hi, I'm Heather Huff-Bogart. I'm the owner operator of The Green Bouquet Cannabis Inc.
Al Grego:
When did Green Bouquet open its doors?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
We opened our doors May 20th of 2021.
Al Grego:
So during the pandemic.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
During the pandemic, during the lockdown. So customers were not allowed in our store. We were all curbside pickup at the time.
Al Grego:
Why cannabis? What made you pick this kind of business?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
When I was 21, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and I went through a lot of health issues, and eating was a really big challenge. My brother introduced me to cannabis and I got my medical license. And from there I have learned quite a bit about the plant, and I am one of the few patients now that can successfully say I am a hundred percent pharmaceutical free of any medication for my disease. And my doctor is very encouraging. She's never seen a patient like myself who has gone from being guaranteed surgeries every five years and a bag on my side to being as free as I am. So I'm her little anomaly, and she's been studying me for a while.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
And then also it's helped my brother tremendously as well with his MS so that's kind of where cannabis and the love has grown from there.
Al Grego:
While Heather credits her cannabis use as a major aid in her battle with Crohn's disease, it's important to note that she's still in constant consultation with her physician. You've probably heard of many claims of the medical benefits of cannabis, but the fact of the matter is there hasn't been adequate scientific study or proof of these claims. As such, sellers are not allowed to sell cannabis as, quote unquote, medicine, and Heather and her staff are very careful about that. What were you doing before that?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Before that I was actually working for a licensed producer. I was their educator as well as their store manager. We ran a pop-up educational store in Bracebridge.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So I set all of that up and then they went through bankruptcy so I was laid off at the time. So then I went to bartending. So I didn't actually get into a contract of a non-compete because every time I've worked for a licensed producer, they've never wanted me to open a retail store unless it was under them. So that is the route I took. So then I didn't have to have that over my head. And from bartending to being laid off because of COVID, I took all of that time to focus and open the store.
Al Grego:
So you knew this was something you ultimately wanted.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Absolutely. I have been waiting very patiently, and I'm not a patient person for the legalization of this to happen. Yes.
Dave:
Hi, I'm Dave Viozi, manager and budtender at The Green Bouquet Cannabis.
Al Grego:
How long have you been here?
Dave:
Since we opened last April so just over a year. Year and a bit, year and a half.
Al Grego:
How you like it here?
Dave:
Love it. Love the interaction with the customers. I was a cop for 32 years before this, so I worked at the LCBO when I first retired. And the interaction with the customers at the cannabis store is completely different than working at the LCBO. It's more of a one-on-one interaction, a lot more personal. Working at the LCBO, people know what they want. They come in, there's not really that dialogue between the customer and the budtender. Whereas here it's constantly people come in and ask questions, ask for referrals. So yeah, it's totally different.
Al Grego:
Are you from this area?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
No, I'm not. I'm actually born and raised from Goderich.
Al Grego:
Goderich.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Yeah, so I came to this area in my twenties just working for hospitality and fun and met the man I'm married to and just, I left to go work in Toronto for a couple years to build my career in cannabis. And at the same time I was commuting to Muskoka every single weekend.
Al Grego:
Oh, wow.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So, I've never really left.
Al Grego:
So now you live here?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
I live here full time, yes.
Al Grego:
So let's talk about how you started. Cannabis was legalized in 2017, and at that time there was a lottery for businesses who wanted to open a cannabis store.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Correct.
Al Grego:
But when you went to open yours, what was the process though?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
It was actually very stressful because it's all done blind. So you have to pay for a fee to apply to even be a retail operating manager is I think what it's deemed as. And that took about six months for us waiting to hear from Health Canada if my husband and I passed their background checks. They do a very extensive background check and into two to three years of your taxes as well as your personal life. I don't even know how deep they went, but they do quite that. And then from there you have to go for your store license. So to get your store license, you actually have to have the lease of the building signed before you even apply.
Al Grego:
Oh, wow. How long does it take?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
It took me months.
Al Grego:
So how do you become a budtender?
Dave:
You have to take a course.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Dave:
It's an online course. You have to pass that to legally be able. It's like the can sell for alcohol.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Dave:
Same as that. And you really do have to partake. You have to-
Al Grego:
Sure.
Dave:
You have to because you can't give an honest opinion to a customer if you're not using, if you're not sampling the product or trying the product. So that helps a lot.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
I had a verbal agreement with the landlord for a year and a half before I actually started paying rent. I applied in December of 2020, I believe. And then from there I got approved to open after three stages of our inspections. He originally approved me for June. I got accelerated to July and then again to May.
Al Grego:
2021.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Of 2021. So it took from December 2022 to May 2021. And then the whole time, there's no guarantee that you're going to actually pass those inspections while you're doing your renovations and your build out. AGCO doesn't hold your hand and tell you what you're doing right or what you're doing wrong until you're going through that inspection phase. And then there they just expect you to be able to pass. And if not, they give you a failing grade on the spot.
Al Grego:
So it's not the easiest thing to get licensed for, but you finally got it. And then in May of 2021, you opened your doors. How were you received initially?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
It was interesting. I think the majority of the community was really excited. We had a lot of people always stopping by while we were doing renovations or what's going in here. We also had a lot of people not approving of our store. Now, there is a two-week time period that the AGCO makes all cannabis retailers post for people to put in their grievances, and then they could fight you in court, or they can take you to the community hall to discuss. So I never had anybody object to my store opening, which is wonderful. But I did have a woman tell me she wanted to burn my store down, and I just said she wanted to smell the fumes.
Al Grego:
Oh no.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
We had those two little ladies like what Dave was explaining to you.
Al Grego:
Well, tell the story because I didn't record it.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Oh. So the story was is we literally just opened. We also have quite a few stores in our plaza. The clothing store that opened beside us, it's actually owned by a church group and it is a secondhand store. They have been very interesting neighbors as well. And then some of their clientele don't necessarily approve of cannabis. So we had two little old ladies give us the bird as they were walking by, and we just waved and smiled and said, thank you for acknowledging us. But that's about it.
Al Grego:
But the funny part there is they didn't know you could see them because your windows weren't-
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Correct. Everybody sees that our windows are blacked out, but we have a two-way windows so we can see everything that people are doing outside. So I think I actually walked out the door and I waved at them and I acknowledged them. Just made light of it because if you take it all too seriously, it hurts.
Al Grego:
Sure.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Being in cannabis as long as I have, I have dealt with a lot of naysayers on the topic. I have had a family intervention about me working in the cannabis industry of my family not approving. So I've been through a lot of this, and I just return it all with a smile and a nod because I don't have to support what they agree on, and they don't have to support what I believe in so that's kind of how I look at it.
Al Grego:
What do your former police colleagues think about what you do?
Dave:
Listen, I'll be honest. I smoked weed the whole 32 years I was a cop. Never arrested anyone for possession. That wasn't my kind of hypocrite. But yeah, I had got my medical license about 15 years ago. I have had three back injuries. I've got a broad in my back now, and I was terrified to get addicted to the oxys and all that stuff so I use it as pain management. And the RSO caps I've got, I just had knee surgery. I'm using the RSO caps to help with my pain as opposed to using Tylenol 3s or that type of thing.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Dave:
So yeah, that's helped me huge.
Al Grego:
How did business go early on?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
It was slow. I don't know. Yeah, weekends were busy for us, but during the week it was definitely slower. Definitely noticed a difference when we could finally open our doors and let people into the store.
Al Grego:
Sure.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
That made a huge difference on our numbers and on our sales.
Al Grego:
What point though, was there a point? Is there a point now? I'm sure there is where you finally could say, oh, this is working. This is working, we're good.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Yep. I found as soon as lockdown was done, I saw a massive increase. And now that I'm into getting close to a year and a half, I do feel like we have a very stable support from the community. We have a lot of regulars that are here on a daily to a weekly basis. We know a lot of our customers by name. And in the winter, that is where we really learned our community. So we really focused in on what all of our community wanted because we didn't have the tourists last winter. So we catered to the people that we had and that's been our whole goal. And that I think is what's kept us alive and what's thriving and growing. It's definitely interesting because we get such a wide variety of customers. You really have to stay on your toes. And my store is also known for education, and we have a lot of people sent here to learn or have been told, go talk to Heather.
Go talk to her team at the store, and they will help you. That is one thing I've learned as well as going to other stores. I've done a lot of dispensary touring lately because I wanted to see how my store compares and the knowledge base, I'm very confident with my team and how we explain the products. Because sometimes it can be very tricky, especially with how customers talk about pain or arthritis, and you have to pivot because we're not allowed to talk about that. So we go anywhere from dealing with a connoisseur who can talk to us about these strain lineage to terpenes all the way down to the brand new person. But we also have a lot of people that tell us a lot of personal things. I find it's very much like being a bartender when you get everybody's woes and all their problems.
Al Grego:
Sure.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
We hear it all. I have... I can't count on my hands how many people have cried in my store.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So it's definitely been an interesting eyeopener.
Al Grego:
Up next, starting any business is stressful. When you factor in negative public sentiment, ever-changing regulations and an uneven playing field in the industry, is it even possible to succeed as a small independent cannabis store? Stay tuned to find out. You're listening to Yes We Are Open. Heather Huff-Bogart couldn't wait until the legalization of cannabis in order to fulfill her dream of owning and operating her own cannabis shop. When it finally happened, she jumped at the opportunity, and despite all the risk and regulatory hurdles, she was able to finally open the doors to her dream business. But knowing your product is only half the battle in business, and Heather was about to learn that lesson the hard way. So if I were to ask you about a time or struggle that you went through starting up your business or running your business that maybe almost threatened to shut you down, what would that be?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So I guess one of my hardest struggles that I had before opening was actually getting wifi set up for my store.
Al Grego:
Oh.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
It was very painful. I went through people telling me that wifi wasn't offered in this service, but yet my neighbors all had wifi. I had reps telling me to go to other companies, but there weren't other companies that serviced our area. I finally had to reach out and talk to a manager. He finally took the time to make it right. This is about my seventh phone call, and I think I was in tears at that time. I had the finally a technician come and do it, and he said it was the easiest fix he's ever done. So that's been really lovely. That was right before we were opening. That was a massive, massive challenge. The other challenge I had was actually was getting in trouble from the AGCO, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. They're one of the main regulators for cannabis.
They're like the police on us. And that just came down to we are mandated to have 24 hour camera backage, camera backup, sorry. If power goes out or anything. So what happened is I was fine and I was compliant when I first opened, and then I decided I needed more cameras. So I added more cameras to my system, and it actually overloaded my entire system. So when we had a power outage, I was not necessarily compliant to what they were deeming. And from there, I've spent a couple of thousand dollars to get up into my 24 hours coverage. So that was really close to just having my store closed down until I had that covered.
Al Grego:
Right. Is bad enough dealing with all of these unexpected setbacks. But another harsh reality of being a small cannabis retailer is the uneven playing field with other larger retailers. I witnessed this as I watched Heather put in her weekly order to the OCS. That's the Ontario Cannabis Store, for new stock.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So being in cannabis, we have a completely separate kind of ordering platform than what any other industry has to deal with.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
We're actually timed, and it's a lottery, so we're never guaranteed anything that we actually order. So even me doing this order today is technically a wishlist. Every order or every item on my order will go to a lottery of over a hundred retailers that are probably purchasing the same items. And then we get our confirmation order, and then that is where it actually tells us what items we've won, what items we don't get to bring in.
Al Grego:
Well it's almost like eBay for cannabis.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
It is. But it's extremely frustrating and you have a lot of disappointed customers. So even yesterday in my cart I had specific pre-rolls that are in very high demand. And today, now they're out of stock. So now I'm going to have very unhappy customers where they're potentially going to be going shopping at the stores because they got to stockpile. So the OCS doesn't also cap products. So larger stores with more money can go in and buy 20,000 cases, buy them out of stock and then people like us the next day because we all get certain days and certain time limits, then we lose out.
Dave:
We're learning to navigate through the OCSs issues. We've learnt to navigate through the LPs, the purchasing struggles. But some of the things we went through yeah, the vault, the cameras, how we were just going to run our day-to-day business. I don't think we knew what to expect before the doors opened. We didn't know if we were going to have lineups out the door, people waiting in line, do we need a ticket counter like the deli? Is it going to be that busy? Do we need walkie-talkies. We kind of fumbled through all that and we worked our way through it, but we opened during the pandemic. That was difficult.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Oh, it was so challenging. On windy days, get everything blowing away. You had people nervous to pay in front of the store because they didn't want people to see them buying cannabis or products. Even now, we still have people that park over at the grocery store or way down across the path from us, and will park in front of our store and will walk here and they do the look before they come in and they do the look before they go out. So it is still quite a stigma. So that was a good learning curve and a big challenge for us to get through during curbside pickup. But what the biggest issue was going back to COVID and the supply chain issue. So a product I was supposed to receive in October, I received in February. So it was going over that whole winter. And then just, I'm really lucky. I have a wonderful AGCO officer who worked with me and was very understanding.
I put out flags and I had sandwich boards. I kept getting in trouble from the MTO cause my sandwich boards and flags were too close to the highway. So I learned about all these other regulations I had to adhere to that I never even thought of because I was so focused on the cannabis regulations. So we had a really good MTL guy who was really understanding with us, and that was one of the biggest ways we were actually able to bring people in is going and standing beside the highway, which we learned we're not allowed to do. That was probably how we got in the majority of our customers when we first opened. Word of mouth was really big for us. We were really lucky about that.
Yeah, so working with Moneris, it was actually really helpful working with my rep. I wish I remembered that lad's name, because when I first started, we weren't in lock down and I didn't think about curbside pickup as an option for the store. So I wasn't prepared to get the portable debit machine that we have and he was convinced I was going to need it because he was watching how the world was going, I guess, and he kept it on the back burner for me. And then it came time I was like, okay, I'm opening up groups. I pick up. I need this piece immediately. "Okay, I already set it aside for you. I'll get it to you next day."
Al Grego:
Oh, wow.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
He was anticipating my needs, which was really helpful because I worked with so many companies that didn't do that for me. So that is one of the reasons why I'm such a cheerleader for Moneris, because they've actually been quite helpful for us.
Al Grego:
Amazing. Coming up after the break, we find out what the future holds for The Green Bouquet Cannabis Incorporated.
Mat Belanger:
At Moneris, we empower merchants to keep doing business their way while we handle the payment processing our way. What way would that be? The safe way, the always connected way, the awesome integrated tools to help you make more money way. We know your business never stops, so you deserve products that never stop working. That's why we are committed to providing our merchants with a payment partner that works just as hard as they do to make every sale. Moneris, proud partner of small Canadian business.
Al Grego:
Welcome back to Yes We Are Open. After a rocky start for The Green Bouquet Cannabis Incorporated, things seem to have stabilized somewhat. They'll always have the regulations to deal with, but it seemed Heather and her team are up to that task. It was the business side that they needed to iron out, and it seems they've done just that, at least to the point where they could dare to think about the future. So what is Heather's vision for the future of her business? We'll find out next.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
I definitely see the potential of me opening more stores in the future.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
I've currently been looking for locations as we speak.
Al Grego:
Oh.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Because my team is finally getting stable enough and my store is able to start running by itself. I don't need to be here holding the hand as much. So I do see growth for my store in the future.
Al Grego:
The new stores, are you looking to stay in the area or are you looking at specific areas?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
I have had my eye on Muskoka because that's where we are, and my husband is my contractor and he's done all of the custom woodwork out there so I would want the vibe. But I have also been looking near my hometown where all of my family is, because both my parents just recently retired and are very bored.
Al Grego:
Oh.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So I was thinking of entertaining them with a-
Al Grego:
With a job.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
So we'll see, because I also drive home a lot, so I got a five hour drive of locations I can go through. So I've definitely had my eye out.
Al Grego:
What did they think of this?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
My parents? So over the years, as I first mentioned, there was that whole family discussion. My dad has always been supportive of it. My mom has as well as much as she could. Now that it's legal the rest of my family has finally started supporting me on it and has taken a much different outlook. They're so proud of me. They've known I've wanted to work in cannabis forever and eventually have my own store. So just I think seeing from where I've started and from where I've ended up, they're pretty happy. They're very supportive.
Al Grego:
Okay.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
I've actually gotten them both using, not smoking, but minor cannabis products. I've always made cannabis stuff and I've always made my dad try it so he's much more of a guinea pig than my mom. But yeah, so it's interesting from how it was before to where it is now, it's a much different concept for the support I get.
Dave:
I'm happy what I'm doing. I really am. Manager is well more than I... I don't want to go any further than that obviously. I'm retired. I did 32 years. I'm retired. I thought I could just sit at home, fish and hunt. I got bored.
Al Grego:
Sure.
Dave:
I didn't realize I was going to get into something like this and I was going to enjoy it that much. And it's not the sales aspect of it. Well, I guess it kind of is. It's more of the relationships that I have with the customers. I, man, they come in, we're friends. First name basis, and I was off for six weeks with my knee. I missed everybody. Apparently there were customers coming and asking where I was. I missed all that. So I'm happy just to work at this store and serve the customers, okay. I love that.
Al Grego:
All right. How about you? How do you feel, looking at what you've already done, are you satisfied? Can you believe what you've been able to accomplish?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Well, it's crazy because I'm still at amazement that I was even able to open the store. As I said, I went from being a bartender to now a business owner, and I don't know, that's a big step to go from being an employee to an employer. I've had some really nice titles over the time that I've ran other people's companies so I have had experience doing that before. But yeah, I'm still pretty amazed that I was even able to accomplish this, accomplish it during a lockdown. I became a professional Amazon shopper because you couldn't buy a garbage can during lockdown.
I had to order everything online from getting items into the staff room to the office, to thinking about setting up the store, and then just even money, because I feel like there was such a view that you had to be a really rich person to open a cannabis retail store. You had to come from money. I do not come from money, and I've worked for everything I've had. So just the fact that my husband and I were even able to afford this, we gave up buying a house to open the store, hoping that having the store can help us buy a house later on.
Al Grego:
Sure. Yeah. A bigger house.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Yeah. So that's kind of the thought process we had. And I'm very happy. I love what I do. I'm always told I'm a happy salesperson. How can you not be happy? You're selling weed. People are happy coming in the store. It's like the most anybody gets angry is when they can't buy all of the cannabis that they want. So, yeah, it's a fun job.
Al Grego:
Thank you very much.
Heather Huff-Bogart:
My pleasure.
Al Grego:
So, Heather, Dave, is Green Bouquet Cannabis open?
Heather Huff-Bogart:
Yes We Are Open.
Dave:
Yes We Are Open.
Al Grego:
Perfect. That's the story of The Green Bouquet Cannabis Incorporated. Being an expert on something doesn't necessarily mean you'll succeed in business. Business is its own discipline to master. Heather Huff-Bogart was an expert in cannabis, but that didn't guarantee her a successful cannabis shop. A lot had to happen for Heather's dream to come true, much of it out of her control. The first and biggest hurdle was, of course, cannabis becoming legal. So imagine Heather's delight when that finally happened. This episode documented many of Heather's other struggles on her way to starting her business. What strikes me about her story is how certain she was about her success the entire time.
Through opening during a lockdown, to dealing with difficult service providers, to negative public sentiment, to changing regulations, to all of the other lessons learned along the way. Heather never seemed to waiver. She just kept going. I throw the word resilient around a lot on this podcast, and Heather certainly shows plenty of that. But I would dare say that Heather's greatest key to success in this case is her adaptability. In an industry so heavily regulated, adaptability is a must. Her ability to take what's given and make it work for her is, in my opinion, the biggest reason why she was able to achieve her dream. And I think it bodes well for her future and the future of The Green Bouquet Cannabis Incorporated.
Yes We Are Open is a Moneris podcast production. I'd like to thank Heather and Dave for taking time to share their story. You can learn more about The Green Bouquet Cannabis at thegreenbouquetcannabis.com. You can also follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook at Green Bouquet Muskoka, and on Instagram they're at the.greenbouquet. For more information about this podcast, visit our site, yesweareopenpodcast.com. If you'd like to support us, rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a Canadian small business owner or know of one with an interesting story of perseverance to tell, I'd love to help tell it. You can contact me at podcast@moneris.com. Tune in next week for another story of small business struggle and survival on the Yes We Are Open podcast. I'm Al Grego. Thank you for listening.