We had the good fortune of connecting with Jill Reddish and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jill, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I had been working alongside my now-business partner and close friend, Chris Day, for a few years at MJBiz, which puts on the world’s largest trade show for cannabis business. That experience was a crash course in an emerging industry, and then when the pandemic hit and we both left in the spring of 2020, Chris had the idea for the GCNC. I knew it was a good one — investing in people and knowledge-share is always relevant, and I had learned that in cannabis especially, business gets done through who you know. As well, not many Americans were thinking about international cannabis markets, so there was opportunity. We both knew that if we could create a system that solves the problem of bringing together like-minded people from different parts of the world, we could make it work. Then it just made sense to partner with the Denver-based consulting firm, Gateway Proven Strategies, to be able to offer very high-quality consulting services when our members and partners need really dedicated operational support. What’s great is how much of our business has grown organically because we offer authentic solutions in a challenging industry.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Global Cannabis Network Collective is intentionally designed to facilitate meaningful connections as a pathway to deal flow. We recognize that a business organization is created by people – there’s a passionate person or group of people behind that corporate mission statement, so in the GCNC, we prioritize creating authentic relationships and connections to help someone’s business grow. We think about which executives would mesh well with people at another company, and make introductions that focus more on authentic relationships rather than sales transactions. And then we see our members pay it forward, and share their own networks, knowledge and experiences with other members to help reduce their learning curve and drive commerce. In that kind of “giving” situation, everybody wins. One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is that who you work with really, really matters, from your own team to who you conduct business with. And you have to work with other people who understand that, too. Cannabis is a particularly volatile and challenging space to be in at this point in time, so surrounding yourself with people who share your vision, who can be flexible while keeping the focus on what really matters, is a gamechanger. When those things are aligned, growth happens organically, the money will flow, and you won’t be chasing it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best part of living in Denver is our access to the Great Outdoors, with our access to high-quality legal cannabis a super close second. When people visit, I love to showcase some of our amazing dispensaries, particularly Simply Pure owned by Wanda James, and WolfPac Cannabis, owned by Emanuel Bernal. It’s rewarding to see visitors embrace the diversity and different points of view in the space.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My business partner, Chris Day, has always been an amazing friend, mentor and cheerleader for me. He’s one of those people who sees so much potential in the world and in me, and he’s always been so generous in sharing the benefit of his experience in support of my growth. I completely appreciate his faith in me, and I love how we both show up to support each other. It’s been amazing to build with him and see our partnership and friendship grow.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianreddish/

Other: www.gcnc.global www.gps.global

Image Credits
Christen Skinner

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