Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the the podcast for cannabis businesses looking to launch, grow, and scale their operations.
Tommy Truong: Wally, thank you so much for joining me today.
Wally Daniel (2): Tommy, it's a pleasure, man.
Tommy Truong: What are some of the biggest common issues that you find that growers are, may think that they're doing well, but actually there's so much more that, that they can do.
Wally Daniel (2): Um, that's a great question. I have the benefit of saying it's been a while since I've had, you know, just dumpster fires, so to speak. Um, but I will. Reference that generally, it's like, if I'm gonna reference examples from the past, generally it's like I, it's almost like, uh, a proselytizing, uh, religious individual of like, [00:01:00] this, I, I'm doing it this way 'cause I know this is the way and yet.
Uh, not acknowledging that like, yo, you are below kind of industry benchmarks, whether we want to call it a pounds per light or a, you know, um, pounds per square foot metric. And you got a whole lot of additives that are unnecessary and it's actually your boss who hired me to audit all these practices because it costs too much and we're not making enough weed.
And, um. I, I would say that, that that's a more common archetype from my past and generally it didn't, it didn't work out well for the individual unless they could have a personal growth moment, which I would kind of segue into the maturation of my business and what I feel like my purpose is in, in consulting a lot is that sort of people personal growth moments and like you said, the good entrepreneurs that I have the opportunity working with like presently and have had the most.
Fun and best results with [00:02:00] those are like, I know that my way is not the way and or, or that I need help finding the optimal way. And um, you know, I got an empty, uh, I got extra, I got an extra passenger seat here and passenger seat here. Do you want to get in for a while? And I'm like, hell yeah, let's do it.
Yeah.
Tommy Truong: Yeah, because I, I can see the. When you talk to any grower, their stuff is the best stuff. So there's a lot of ego in this game, right? And you kind of have to have that from a marketing perspective,
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I
Tommy Truong: you know, so I can see that being a problem if that bleeds into operations as well.
Wally Daniel (2): yep, you're right. I mean, that trickles down. That trickles down in the culture, and then we're blinded to what can be really obvious impediments to our success, and I'm, I'm just saying that. That almost sounds like a truism, but I'm just speaking from my own experience and in full circle to [00:03:00] like upbringing and being told that by people I respect.
Uh, and you kind of commenting on it now, like Yeah,
Tommy Truong: See I have the, with that. Bit of LLM models now and the internet. Uh, I have the advantage of all pretty much having a, a, a consultant in my pocket, and I talk to Claude every day about, we're doing this. What is the best practice? How are other companies doing it? And we're always evolving best practices and just taking in as much information as possible and using it or applying it if it, if it fits our business.
But in the space of agriculture, especially in cannabis, it's not there. And you have to have somebody like yourself to come in. 'cause you've seen so many different, you're in the cloud, right? You have the chat, right? You've seen so many different environments. You've helped so many different grows that you can summarize your experiences into this particular situation [00:04:00] and give them the best practices.
So I, I, I always think about like today versus like, which industries benefit the most? Definitely my industry. 'cause things are very public in, in the tech space, but in your industry, not so much.
Wally Daniel (2): It's true. Yeah, it is true. I'm glad you brought up ai. That's definitely a huge contemporary. Consideration. Um, I will say I'm, I'm pretty stoked on what I've got to experience to help either help implement or colleagues of mine implementing AI in their, you know, various businesses as a vendor. But to your point, I still, yeah, like for me it's chat GPT.
Right. I, I utilize it as, as a lovely tool and a trustworthy assistant. But I will to, to your point about ag or. Horticulture in general. I'm still reaching out to a trusted colleague for my final vetting. Like I, I recognize my own, um, ego or how I could [00:05:00] get too reliant on what seems like a very rosy and efficient information gatherer.
Um, yeah. I still think with living systems, you, you know, a living person at the end of the day is who I want to is, is who I wanna have. My sort of final. Vetting moment with, um, yeah. Yeah. And those cumulative experiences within that human brain.
Tommy Truong: I, I could, I, I, I couldn't agree with you more in how. Much of a science and art that plant is, it's so different than any other plant in the world. You know? It's kinda like magic how things happen. I was talking to a grower and he explained to me kind of the plant itself, how it grows, the, all of these things, and his, I, I remember the conversation.
He just said, this is a very different plant than any other plant in the world. It's kind of like voodoo. I'm like, wow, how do you, how, how can you be consistent? [00:06:00] How do you have a crop that is consistent crop over? That must be such a, a thing to chase that it's such so hard to do, you know?
Wally Daniel (2): Right, right. Yeah, I, I certainly recognize the sentiment there. I would say, yeah, scientists, Wally, because I do a lot of other agricultural stuff too, and I like, you know, um, consulted with other crops and helped with other hydroponics. I will. I will agree with you that like, yeah, it is a super special plant and there are nuances, but at the end of the day, it is still a plant that we're growing.
Um, just supercharged. To me, scientists, Wally is like the, the, the challenge is how many damn varieties we, you know, right. How many damn varieties they are and the nuances per, you know, countless varieties. Uh, so to your point, and as we discussed before, recording. It is like we can, we can lock in the science [00:07:00] of all the parameters.
We know all the parameters. Clawed in chat. GP will tell you and me both right now after this call, like this is how, this is what you should do for optimal sub stage of growth per cannabis. But at the end of the day, it's a living system and a keen, a keen observer of the plant, of the particular variety who's seen a bazillion other varieties and their sort of, uh, growth patterns might Yeah.
Is gonna be able to. I think better achieve the consistency, run over, run of the same variety, um, you know, better than a machine, right? To put it that way. Or, um, or, or, or it's, it's just, it's a challenge. And, and, and there has to be, there has to be some sort of, uh, passion behind it, right? That I think is the artist, right?
We, uh, uh, we, we, we talked about a little bit earlier, but you know, the passion to keenly observe said living system. To catch those nuances. Um, and then back to the engineer, [00:08:00] engineer, Wally, shit can just go sideways. Uh, you know, something might break, uh, uh, a key, um, a key environmental control element or something like that, right?
So just being on it, uh, again, and I think the, I think of the fastidious artist or the passionate artist, you know, you're on top of it. In, in the context of this highly engineered, scientific, uh, you know, management system for a, for a living, uh, you
Tommy Truong: What is your typical customer archetype? Do you primarily work with customers that have systems in place? They've been growing for a while and they want to improve, or somebody that's just starting out. And looking to scale their operations.
Wally Daniel (2): uh. Another great both and, uh, even presently at time of recording, dear listener, um, I have early stage right? Let's model this with sensibility from the get go. You know, like, oh, I just got money, or I'm close to having money. Um, [00:09:00] Wally helped me out with your expertise and then my sort of either stable of go-to consultants or my network of, of very trustworthy, seasoned professionals.
Also, I have very mature, uh, mature market folks with systems deeply in place. And again, back to, to answer your question, pointedly, the archetype there who's usually, uh, reaching out to me is a savvy business person or savvy entrepreneur. Like, Hey, we're doing good, but I know I could do better. And I heard about you.
Or, you know, um, someone directed me your website, or I, you know, I was searching on the line and I found you. Can we have a conversation like Sweet discovery call? Low hanging fruit. Let's get after it.
Tommy Truong: What are some I want to talk about both.
Wally Daniel (2): Sweet.
Tommy Truong: I was somebody that, um, you know, I have a background in maybe the gray market and I'm now I want to build, or I just got funding and I'm building out a legit facility. [00:10:00] What are some of the questions I should be asking myself to not waste hundreds of thousands of dollars, uh, in the future?
Right?
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah, because I like keeping it simple. What, what is it that I, what is it that I need and nothing less, right? I'm a parent, right? So I, it's like sometimes some of my language sounds like I'm talking to my kids. What's a need versus what's a want? You know, what's, what's a flashy thing that's an industry kind of distraction or shiny object versus what do I need to just make consistent quality product?
So they can have a successful business. It's, it sounds boring, but that is that
Tommy Truong: but how, how would you differentiate between the two? If, if you are starting out and you're now analyzing the equipment to buy?
Wally Daniel (2): right. Um, great question. I would say let's work [00:11:00] on a, how reverse it, excuse me, back into. What we need to produce, right? Like what? Okay, great. Sounds great. You got some money. Presumably you already got a financial model. What are we saying we're gonna make? What size and scale is required to make that? And then how do we build out that scale with the appropriate systems, the appropriate standardized practices that all of our staff is, is gonna agree upon to guarantee what we said to either our investor or friends and family, whomever, uh, to make good on the promise.
Tommy Truong: Have you seen, what are some common pitfalls that people that are just starting out get themselves into in terms of, uh, equipments that they're purchasing or some of the, maybe the goals that they have? That may be not sustainable or may be too expensive to carry out or not profitable, for [00:12:00] example.
Wally Daniel (2): right. Let me, um, I can tackle a couple of those I think. The one that comes to mind most quickly and that I think I've seen the most 'cause, uh, and I will reference some of my background and experience again, more. I've, I, I get a lot of like second or third, like I'm second or third cleanup or turnaround, you know, some of those terms I don't like 'cause they have a ne negative stigma.
But where I'm going with that is unvetted, unvetted advice, unvetted vendors. Uh. Unvetted, mechanical engineering, plumbing, you know, air quotes, uh, experts, I guess preventable, preventable mistakes and, and, and, you know, just building out the system by someone who is not vetted. Um, furthermore, it's a, it's, it's a touchy subject, but I say it 'cause I think it's good advice, you know, going with, it's like, oh, my, my bro's [00:13:00] done this, or, you know, my family member's done this.
And, uh, and just ignoring, ignoring the reality that like, ah, that's, that's likely not scalable. This person actually doesn't have a lot of experience and, um, you know, the model and the systems they're putting forth are not best practices yet. We're going to, we're know, blow a bunch of money on it. Yeah.
Tommy Truong: That's really sound advice.
Wally Daniel (2): about that. Uh, you know, it's like, I, I take like a sober tone there, but like, I mean, it's, it's reality. I, I'm sure a lot of listeners can, uh, will,
Tommy Truong: Well, nepotism and trust is weighed so high in our industry versus the actual vetting of people that are gonna help us grow and also the people that are responsible for millions of investor dollars.
Wally Daniel (2): for sure, for sure. That, and that's, that's a super touchy one. And, um, but it's, it's sensible at the end of the day, and I have a lot of conviction and I think I have been hired, uh, I can think of at least case, a couple cases where I've been hired to be that vetting entity for [00:14:00] ownership. Um, or leadership that, um, that, that recognizes We might have, yeah.
We might have some nepotism going on or like we might making be, making buddy decisions, not business decisions. Yeah. That's, that's real. And, and been there help with that. Not, not afraid to go there either. Right? That's, we gotta get through, get through the storms to, to have the sunny skies.
Tommy Truong: Mm-hmm. That's so true. So if I was first starting off, the first thing that that I should do is make sure that I have really good counsel. Make sure that it's vetted, that these people have done it before, and I'm relying on past experiences. They're not learning on the job. Per se and that I'm building out the right team. Now, I would imagine that head growers are very hard to come by.
Wally Daniel (2): You making a joke there? I think you're all right. yeah, I think, I think we're, I mean, I just got off a, a different call today where Yeah. A recruitment specialist [00:15:00] was talking about the current state of, uh, the, the voluminous application, uh, quantity of anytime a, a head grower post is, is. Uh,
Tommy Truong: Yeah, but then,
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah.
Tommy Truong: sorry. Really good head growers
Wally Daniel (2): Okay. Okay, cool. Yeah, I was like, uh, let's figure out if this is a joke or not.
Yeah. I think, I think you're right about that. Mm-hmm.
Tommy Truong: Yeah, so how would, how would somebody vet a head? That's probably the most important position.
Wally Daniel (2): On, on the cultivation side of things. Yeah. A good leadership in the captain's seat of the cultivation production area. Abso freaking. Great question. Um, you kind of already said it, you kind of summarized what I was already getting at, right? Like, have they done this before? Have we talked to folks, uh, they've worked with before?
I'm basically gonna say a bunch of things that are, are just different iterations of like, have they [00:16:00] done this before with reproducible results, right. Scientists, Wally, and business guy Wally. Uh, just asking those kind of rhetorical but also literal questions and then not being afraid to do that vetting or sub out that vetting to someone.
Again, this, this person I'm talking to is, is a very esteemed colleague in recruitment globally. Um, maybe you hire someone for a peer to peer vetting. 'cause maybe you or me as the entrepreneur or the, uh, uh, ops person is not, we, we know what we're skilled at and what we're not. Maybe you have a trusted, uh, confidant or counsel to your point where you could say, Hey, will you, can you connect this person?
'cause I know they're probably gonna be more real with you 'cause you speak the lingo. Um, I think that's a really good exercise. I, I've seen that to be, I, I, I've witnessed that to be very effective. I
Tommy Truong: That I wanna pivot a little bit on. Let's say I have operations already. I've been running for a while. I know what I'm doing, right? Why are some. [00:17:00] Or if you can share with us some stories where, um, somebody came to you, their operations were running smoothly, but these were some of the things that, that they, that you've helped them implement that really increased their yield or consistency.
Like how would I, as an operator spot that these are the, these are some of the low hanging food improvements I can, that I can implement.
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah, that's a great question. What comes to mind, uh, most quickly and I think will be relevant to most listeners is, and I'll even add again, sorry to do like run on sentences and, and pros, but I think people generally know if their tech is dated. Like e even if it's just basic tech like lighting or um, verigation systems or something like that, that I think is a good place to start.
Generally, we're not as. Um, we don't feel as vulnerable just being like, dude, I know I'm rocking lights from five years ago. Um, [00:18:00] and, and perhaps it's worth a capital investment to upgrade 'em. Or maybe there's a pathway to get some rebates and get better lights. That's just one easy example. But if I'm gonna give some practical, like, practical anecdotes is similar to that.
Uh, um, a local client here in Oregon with a retail establishment in two farms, just a little bit of that, like, Hey, I know I've got. Some old tech. I've already capital, I've already done the capital investment and I've got a few rooms in the New Tech. I just need help wrapping my brain around implementing this, uh, you know, most effectively.
Um, 'cause I know I can do better, but I'm not quite doing it better presently. Can you help out? You know, you, your network, that kind of thing. And, um, simply put, that's, that's been highly effective. The person I'm referencing we're easily able to increase yields just by diWallyng in the tech, utilizing the tech support to its, um, full
Tommy Truong: What do you mean by, what do you mean by u utilizing the tech properly?
Wally Daniel (2): [00:19:00] Um, great question. For instance, fertigation systems, um, especially with new, um. AI assisted plugins and stuff, just having the conviction to work closely with that vendor, uh, to make appropriate, make sure we're just running the system to, you know, optimal standards as, as presented by the manufacturer, the vendor kinda. Doesn't sound very sexy. I'm trying to make that sexier. I'm trying to make that sexier, but the, the, I think you're about to say what I'm gonna say. Yeah.
Tommy Truong: yeah, the thing is with businesses, it's a 20 mile march, and if you think that there's a silver bullet. That's gonna magically increase your yield by a hundred percent, then you're in the wrong game. 'cause you're setting yourself for up for failure. Right. It's often the boring stuff that, uh, that makes [00:20:00] businesses run or grow.
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah. Yeah. We, we dis Well, failure and disappointment, I think is what results, what you're talking about For
Tommy Truong: It's funny 'cause I see that on the other side too. I oftentimes see. Uh, entrepreneurs buy technology. So say a loyalty program, for example, or even our platform or whatever, and not invest the time to learn what are, what is the value and why does this, what is the problem does this company trying to solve?
Why does this company exist and am I extracting as much value as possible out of the money that I'm paying this company? So oftentimes, you know, you'll have the people that are really, really well run operators, small percentage of them, maybe 20%, that are just fanatical on extracting the values from their ven vendors.
And the rest of the 80% is just tip of the iceberg in terms of their utilization. And I'm, I'm guessing that that's ring true in your [00:21:00] industry as well.
Wally Daniel (2): I think so. Yeah. In in, in many cases. Yeah. I'm trying to think of some specific examples. I'm just having a relatability moment and then I identify as one of the ones to. Have the conviction to utilize all resources put forth by a company like yours or, um, an analogous one to yours. 'cause they're set up to help the, the, the best ones are set up to help you succeed.
There are people, I, I've said this in my narrative a lot with new clients. Uh, there are people getting paid to help you. You know, um, you're now, you're paying me to help you. Like basically just get the conviction. Like you can call the engineer on staff anytime they, they are getting paid to respond to you and troubleshoot things.
And to your point, help you extract the maximum value out of what they're providing. Right. And
Tommy Truong: It's kind of our job. Like
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah. That's your Exactly. I'm like, utilize it. We don't have to just stand by idly like, you know, why are we paying this whatever expense per month? It's like kind of [00:22:00] helping. I'm like, no, it's definitely helping, but we can, we can, we can dive deeper.
There are people there to, you know, add even more value.
Tommy Truong: What are some of the most, what is the lack of a better word, most fun project that you've worked on
Wally Daniel (2): Most
Tommy Truong: you can share?
Wally Daniel (2): most fun project I've worked on.
I, I, I, I hesitate a little bit, but I shouldn't. I really like problems. I think that's why I, I think that's why I've had good feedback as a consultant, as a general employee. So it's generally the massive problems that I think about when you ask me a question about, uh, where, for instance, I'm not gonna like name, names or companies, but for instance, coming into a, a, a situation where there were some errors in the design of the facility.
Um, we're, we're handicapped in a few key, uh, [00:23:00] means of maintaining temperature and humidity. And there is probably every pest under the sun. 'cause the integrated pest management system or approach is, is lacking or very reactionary. And everyone has said, Hey, burn this down, start over. You know, I, I, I'm referred by a, uh, uh, an esteemed, uh, accounting professional for this job.
Yeah, and I like, I like, I like being able to come in with the experience I have and be like, all right, yeah, this is dire, but we can't overcome this. And there are some practices that we put in place and we put our heads down and we all agree to a standard schedule to, you know, clean these bugs up, prevent this mold, scrub this mold up from ever happening again.
Invest in, like redo the math on, you know, the facility design and make the case for Yeah. Actually, it's not just me co consultants saying this, my HVAC professional saying this. My other friend who's been [00:24:00] growing for longer than me says the same thing. Um, uh, and we'll, we'll fix it. And I think the, the project I'm referencing fits in that category.
Favorite ever. I, the, the problems are opportunities to me
Tommy Truong: How, what was the work involved in fixing that? What was the equipment that that was needed to replace and how much did they save? Not breaking the entire thing down, but more or less,
Wally Daniel (2): I am gonna, I'm gonna think of, I'm gonna think of two different projects just to make this conversation a little more, uh, scintillating as I'm talking about like problems and, you know, sober issues. Um, the work involved in like, let's say the pest cleanup I'm referencing. You know, a handful of months. But, and, and a lot of hours, especially on behalf of the integrated pests management team.
Um, and I mean, the, and what's, we are able to salvage a lot of that crop for [00:25:00] derivative products. So, to answer your question, kind of conceptually, not a, not a just total, hey, we're, we have zero revenue or we have like zero, uh, output for, 'cause if you start over, right? That's. Several months. Um, so, you know, you can kind of infer there.
Um, otherwise, let's see, equipment needed, uh, project I'm referencing there a couple more really yard, really large, uh, rooftop units, right? Um, upwards of, you know, more than 30 tons of cooling capacity. Uh, yeah. So, but that's what it took. And,
Tommy Truong: And it's better than the alternative, right? Just blowing things up and
Wally Daniel (2): you know, just
Tommy Truong: completely
Wally Daniel (2): struggling with, um, a lack of control, uh, and therefore a lack of consistent output, like that's
Tommy Truong: So what was,
Wally Daniel (2): generally a business [00:26:00] killer in the more mature markets,
Tommy Truong: so what was the decision making process of that company? As much as you can share in. How did they design their facility that bad, and what were some of the warning signs that, hey, this is not good.
Wally Daniel (2): Great question. Again, I'm tr I'm gonna tread lightly. Um,
back to back to vetting those in charge of the DI design process. Uh, I think just some assumptions were made, made based on theory and not practice, and then, you know, pretty massive errors and omissions just in the design process, which wasn't, which wasn't as professional and high and high end tight as I think you, and you wanna
Tommy Truong: wondered, I've always wondered this, and you know, we were talking about it before where cannabis is very different than other plants, but it's still a plant. If you were to compare like the cannabis facility. [00:27:00] another plant that can, that would share that shares the same problems as cannabis.
What would be, is there another plant that you can compare that, hey, this is more or less a good blueprint of how you should set up your, your operations?
Wally Daniel (2): Good question. My mind goes to. Um, you know, high tech tomato greenhouses, just 'cause I've worked in some of 'em and some big fancy and, uh, some fancy ones domestically. You know, I've, I like, I like the company, um, what is it? Plant empowerment. The eng, the engineers over in the Netherlands. You know, it's like tomatoes and cucumbers, you know, listener.
I'm not saying weed is like directly like tomatoes and cucumbers, but a lot of the sophisticated systems around growing those year round. Um, have similar tech, and there's e and there's even more. I almost like, um, it's, it's almost an example of how fastidious I think we could [00:28:00] be for capturing data.
Because there's such slim mar there, it's a slimmer margin crop, so there's even more, uh, detailing and engineering around, you know, greenhouses or, and, and supplemental lighting for those, for those type of crops. That's what comes.
Tommy Truong: to be said about that for me, because the cannabis industry is such a small industry that it's not as a vendor. There's not a lot of r and d or a lot of not, not a lot of money that somebody can specialize their equipment to. And as an industry that's in its industry, you gotta look outside of the industry to learn and take best practices and bring in,
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah.
Tommy Truong: and that's for software too.
Wally Daniel (2): I love, I love that you brought that up. Yeah, I am. As I referenced my, my interest in general Ag, I have a pending certification with the American society agronomy, where I had to, you know, I have to know about other crops and how to recommend them. And then, uh, certainly there's, at the end of the day, it's a plant that we're growing [00:29:00] in an organized way for production purposes, and we can stand on the shoulders of academic giants, um, like American floral of endowment, floral culture in general.
Like you're saying, there's already best practices in how to. Grow massive amounts of these things in a very controlled way with consistent output, right? Get into poinsettias and everything's gotta look the exact same. Um, yeah. Great, great point. And I couldn't agree more. And I do lean on my just general horticulture and ag network all the time, uh, to help, to help with expense reduction hacks, or again, they've seen more things go sideways under the sun in the context of a different crop where the stakes are higher.
Uh, uh, because of margins are slimmer, right? So there's, yeah.
Tommy Truong: Before we do rapid fire questions, is there anything that we didn't talk about that you wanna share with our listeners?
Wally Daniel (2): Great. Que nothing's coming to mind. I'm like super conscious of, of, of time. Um, no, if [00:30:00] anything. I, I think I clarified, I think I was able to, in, in, you know, talk a little bit more of my background organically throughout, just, you know, have been in the trenches, so to speak, cannabis production and, and you know, the whole value stream since 2011, you know, and professional and, and associated professional development.
So those kind of, I think that more, more promo stuff.
Tommy Truong: Well, you've been helping so many grow ops since, you know, I always say that five years in cannabis is a lifetime, and you've been doing it since 2011, so a few lifetimes.
Wally Daniel (2): Yeah, there's some lines on my face, you know, that indicate that for sure.
Tommy Truong: We have a new segment called Rapid Fire Questions Owen our producer and the purpose of this is really for us to get to know you better. So get ready for this
Wally Daniel (2): in blind listeners. I'm going in blind.
Tommy Truong: rapid fire questions. Okay. When was the first time you tried cannabis?
Wally Daniel (2): Oh, great. [00:31:00] First time I tried cannabis. Eighth grade.
Tommy Truong: Eighth grade.
Wally Daniel (2): grade.
Tommy Truong: Same as me, THC or CB. D. Daytime or nighttime. Consumer
Wally Daniel (2): Daytime. End of day to be clear.
Tommy Truong: end of day. Uh, favorite strain or terpene?
Wally Daniel (2): Oh, lovely. These, these questions are great. By the way. That's my initial feedback. I, man, okay. I got my start in Mendocino County. I'm still just a gassy. I'm, I'm a gas lover, so to this day, diesel crosses bring it on all, all day long. Yeah.
Tommy Truong: I, I love diesel too.
Wally Daniel (2): Cool.
Tommy Truong: I love diesel too. Um, what's one thing that, that you'd change about the cannabis industry right now?
Wally Daniel (2): Wow. Geez. Change. That's a tough one. I genuinely celebrate the industry and I think it is evolving the way I think it should change. It's been kind of [00:32:00] a, a, a theme of this conversation, so. I don't know if I have to say I would change. I'm trying to like be the change of, hey, let's, let's, we can have fun.
This is a rad plant. We can have fun using it, but like, let's, let's, let's professionWallyze our, um, our systems and our approach, you know, so that the, the consumer and, and all of us benefit consistent quality, et cetera. Is that
Tommy Truong: I, I agree with
Wally Daniel (2): good? Is that cool? Yeah.
Tommy Truong: Yeah, I totally agree with you. And that's the, we're in the infancy of the industry, right? So.
Wally Daniel (2): And I appreciate, you know, appreciate people like you inviting me on. Like I feel like I really do feel it. I'm feeling in my body right now, there is a synergy and, and among us, like, hey, we're, we do utilize this plant. We do celebrate this plant, but we reWallyze, hey, it is, it is a business. We're maturing as people and, and a culture.
We gotta, um, we gotta be adults about producing it a little bit. Yeah.
Tommy Truong: What's, what's one piece of advice that you would give somebody, an entrepreneur looking to get into the cannabis industry?
Wally Daniel (2): keep a, so keep a [00:33:00] sober mind. And I mean that, like, I don't mean that literally, you know, like, you know, I'm not saying don't consume cannabis or substances. I, I, I mean, just. Here, here's something I like saying a lot. Just make sure you're reconciling the romance with the reality. And I re, and something you said earlier is very important.
I recog, I recognize and also celebrate the romance of our brand and, and our, and our approach to selling ourselves or our company. But just stay grounded. And, and, and the reality of what it takes and, and, and again, down to the business of the numbers and making sure we're making accurate forecast and, and, and as best we can sober, uh, projections of what we can do.
Tommy Truong: Hmm, Wally, what I, I want to give you some, uh, some space to really. to or describe your company in 30 [00:34:00] seconds. What? What you do or maybe yourself.
Wally Daniel (2): Great elevator pitch. Here we go. Uh, green Garden Consulting based in Oregon primarily tackle, uh, anything related to plants, processes, and people, plants is, uh, plant. Health, fertility, quality assurance processes along the whole value stream, uh, the value stream, commercial standards and practices and all the devils in the details they're in, um, to guarantee consistent output and consistent delivery of value to our consumers.
People, which I list lasts a lot, but a lot of people say, Hey, you might wanna put that first. And as you recognize from this conversation, uh, people in the sense of leadership culture, um. Chain of, you know, chain of command to get into some of the details there, but leadership culture, um, and basically coordinated organizational elements, right?
A [00:35:00] holistic, uh, approach to a business that's also a living system. You know, kind of like where nested microcosms in this cool, uh, cannabis metaphor. Um, also, um, consult in that realm as well.
Tommy Truong: Guys, if you guys are looking for a company that can help you with consistency, 'cause I think consistency is the name of the game, particularly in the space, then your, your reputation precedes you. So definitely check out Wally.
Wally Daniel (2): Cheers. Yeah, QC QA is near and dear to my heart and I should mention, I have an engineer on my team who's, uh, been in botanical extraction, especially cannabis for a very long time. And, uh, quality assurance, uh, specialists, manufacturing specialists, and f and very talented formulator also, having done this a long time, so we, you know, we're boutique, but we're agile and we're friendly and, uh, and, and we like delivering results.
Do,
Tommy Truong: Well, if for [00:36:00] people that are listening that want. To get in touch with you, how can they find you?
Wally Daniel (2): uh, my website is green garden consulting.org. You know, the, if you fill out that form, it comes directly to me. You can search for me on LinkedIn, um, I can provide you with my email address right here, or you, you tell me any other way.
Tommy Truong: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And we'll, we'll link it to the pod too.
Wally Daniel (2): great. Yeah. My, so my contact info will be on the podcast.
I'll even put my direct number on there. Not, not afraid. Reach out. Uh, I hope, I hope listeners, uh, Tommy, I think you've given me good feedback on who you see. I'm an approachable person. Um, and, and about results. Mm-hmm.
Tommy Truong: Wally, thank you so much for joining me today.
Wally Daniel (2): I am. I'm grateful for the opportunity, Tommy. Thank you man.
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