Meet Micah Johnson | Editor and Co-Founder, Cannapages

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

Hi Micah, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Well over a decade after dispensaries opened in Colorado, Cannapages is one of few original “cannabis industry” media companies still standing for a few main reasons. The first, is that, during the inception of the industry, the sky was the limit for those with vision and resources. Many people get into an industry far into the evolution and have to work hard to carve a niche. The opposite was true for us, and it was easy to be big fish in a small pond, even with zero-to-little capital. The second piece, was that we leveraged every skill and service under the sun to co-brand and shamelessly self-promote for four years prior to printing magazines. We put our directory in other magazines, our logo, next to big-name brands, always striving to cement our place in the community. The third is that we built our services to return ultimate ROI for our customers based on actual research. We went from simple medical patients, to growers, to budtenders, dispensary managers, all the while, establishing the most direct ways to reach our audience and get them to respond to advertising. There’s almost no other cannabis magazine publisher out there who’s experienced every point in the supply chain–especially as a consumer–with a product so strategically tailored to facilitate its economy. But finally, we are living the dream. This is still a family-owned business, and even as we grow we are close and strong, and doing exactly what we set out to do. To have achieved a sort of team self-actualization on that scale is rare; we often feel more like a rock band than we do a company.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In the beginning there was a “Green Rush,” akin to the gold rush, which coincided with the Great Recession. It was madness, breaking out from an underground, unspoken economy, into the open, with all the money, novelty, and national infamy to go with. Colorado’s fully-structured medical cannabis system was an iconic first, worlds ahead of other states, and we, three brothers (one adopted) originally from mellow Eau Claire, Wisconsin, saw an opportunity. Freshly laid off from a job creating content for YellowPages, we set out to bring the “Pennysaver” concept back, especially given the ridiculously high prices consumers were paying. Nothing would have been possible without our friends, all of them, enthusiastic cannabis users. Our first “investor,” a buddy in construction, graciously donated $800, just enough to fly another web-savvy college roommate out to Denver for a week to launch the business. Whenever they were able, our social group would accompany us to events as “staff,” portraying a company five times its size as we tried to impress dispensary operators and garnish sales. For the first four years of our existence, “Cannapages” was essentially a syndicated directory and graphics agency with a built-in traveling posse–yet it was enough momentum to continue on despite a complete lack of monetary success.
As David vs. a number of Goliaths, we did everything to survive as a brand, from concerts and parties to corporate breakfasts, a radio show, “dabbing bus” and other gimmicks. Our “Directory & Digest,” first printed January 2014, became the cornerstone of that community outreach, and we sleeplessly put it together manually, page by page, for years before automation arrived. For a while, every issue, we asked, “could this be the last edition of Cannapages?” But being on the ground and taking turns wearing “all the hats” allowed us to establish real relationships with people doing the same thing at their own new companies within the industry. Our coupon book kept them in business and they kept us in business, while larger competitors fell by the wayside. Many of those relationships still exist today, and we are able to work within a special echelon of leaders, where the real dinosaurs roam.
It wasn’t just dispensaries, however. On nearly every path we’ve taken, we’ve accumulated trustworthy allies in grand camaraderie. Great example — at the THC Championship we presented in Denver in late October, one of the VIP’s was Yusef, the teller who helped with our first bank account. He was a similar age, just starting out his career at the time — and returned now, over a decade later, to celebrate in our lounge and reminisce about the good ol’ days. We all have kids of our own; no longer in our twenties, we’re all due over the hill soon, yet the youthful energy that launched Cannapages still excites, deep down. Lord knows we’ll probably still be feelin’ the love into retirement.
Together, our friends and family have proven to be our most crucial support. Every time we’ve met an obstacle, though daunting, we’ve gone through it together. And although it appeared a snail’s pace compared to other giants who were already throwing conventions and going public, we were instead cementing our niche, organically, and in our own style. Would it have been easier just taking a cool million-dollar investment in the beginning and avoiding the blood, sweat and tears? Maybe. But one could argue that our journey wouldn’t have been so fulfilling, or our eventual success, so sweet.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Denver and Colorado Springs offer some great things to do (think museums, stock show, drag racing, reservoirs with beach camping) and all the things you might expect from a metro out west. But the main attractions are the mountains outside these gateway cities, where you can hike “14’ers” and take trains through the gorges, visit old gold mines and casino towns, ski to your heart’s content, and stay at historic pioneer-era hotels. A prime “mile high” day would include a trip to window-shop the quaint Evergreen village center just outside Denver, then perhaps a jaunt down to Red Rocks to hike beautiful terrain and visit the historical amphitheater’s museum of music, ending with an evening in Morrison, enjoying some of the tallest margaritas and best crispy rellenos in the state.

People visiting from out-of-state typically rely on Cannapages for a “different” sort of tour in the area, one that we can only describe here in limited form. But for the absolute best places, prices, and guided map to help, you can pick up our magazine at most grocery stores and 7-Elevens or find us online. Let’s just say, whether hiking or planning a date night at Casa Bonita, it’ll be much more fun if you make a certain “pit stop” first.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Unfortunately there is not one small group of people responsible for Cannapages’ success–or the success of the Colorado Cannabis industry. Everything has been collaborative, and we owe our debt of gratitude to an entire community of entrepreneurs and experts. Luke Bonow, our official first sales guy, now co-owner of Altitude Organic. Vince and Miguel from MMAPA, who made us a part of everything they did. Jason Lauve, first-ever registered medical marijuana patient, who inspired us to launch our own mag. “Professor” Dave Gawitt, who introduced us to cannabinoid therapy. Our old jugband, George W. Nixon, who accompanied us on many a gig in the community, including a Halloween benefit concert where we all dressed as DEA agents. Green Leaf (AZ), Post420, and Cronic Magazines, all first publishers of our directory and coupons. Ryan, our first print salesman. Steve from Adilas, who used to fly us via Cessna from Salida to AZ for business. Nick and Sue from Act4Colorado, who oversaw the initial industry-state collaboration to craft medical cannabis rules. Tae Darnell, early legal advisor. Rie Guy, who helped us make our first line of T-shirts in a basement. Gabe, owner of La Bodega and the whole dispensary crew. Anselmo and Amy, who helped us craft our first pitches to investors. JB Woods of Greenpoint Insurance, who encouraged us to do it on our own, without bending over for sharks. Charlie from Herbal Synergy, who we partnered with to test and review products, including those for the first High Times Cup when it moved to Denver from Amsterdam. AJ, whose “Hash Bash” events turned into our birthday parties, Josh from Sensible Colorado, Aaron from NCIA, Mike from MMIG — all big names who were kind enough to let us assist with first websites and graphics, cementing our “place” in the industry. Amy from Kush Magazine, who tried to unite us right before they folded. And of course our whole Cannapages team and writers, especially long-timers like Dillon in sales, Cousin D, who made our gigantic medicated cakes and party food for years, Molly our tenacious admin, and Mike G for his glorious production work. Also Scheid, Garnier, Taffel, Joseph “of Arimathea”, and the rest of the “Lords,” our first street-crew. And above all, our families.

Website: www.cannapages.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cannapages/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cannapages

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cannapages

Image Credits
Katie Johnson, J. Paul, Kim Sidwell