TSC Talks! Full Circle; Farming to Finance~Cancer & Cannabis w/Jon Workman, VP Industrial Hemp Business Dev. at American Cannabis Co.

Jon Workman is Vice President - Industrial Hemp Business Development at American Cannabis Company and President - Arkansas Hemp Assoc. He has had a long career in the industry, starting out growing up on a farm in Arkansas, getting into the finance industry in California, having much success, then a random snowboarding accident revealed he had multiple myeloma. Given 3 years to live, he was hit with another disease called TTP ( Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

He shares, "I was in the hospital for over 60 days at City of Hope in Los Angeles, I was down to about 139 pounds. I'm six-one and it didn't look real real good on me. In fact, I was scared I was going to not make it out of there. So I I took it upon myself to bring in some assistance in the form of cannabis edibles" While Jon would not say cancer cured him, it definitely helped ease his recovery and he's gone on to be in remission since shortly after his last bone marrow transplant to address his TTP. In his own words,

"I am a stage 2 cancer survivor of multiple myeloma bone marrow cancer. After two bone marrow transplants and countless hours in the infusion room getting the poison they call chemotherapy I can say I didn't know if I was going to survive. Fast forward 19 years later and looking back I see with clarity that my survival was comforted by the use of medicinal cannabis. Now I am here to share my story in an industry that is growing like a weed (bad joke)."

Jon discusses his entrance into the hemp and cannabis industry, moving back to his home state of Arkansas, being inspired and encouraged by a childhood best friend to enter the cannabis industry; "at the end of the day, I came to think that it's what brought me to where I am, it saved me in some ways, and it's a message. I think that it's something God really wants me to do. I really you're put in places in your life and sometimes it's just opportunistic, but at the same time, I think it's a thing called luck. What is luck? I think John Wooden called it "when opportunity meets preparation meets opportunity" ".

Jon describes his current role with American Cannabis Company; "with what happened in 2018 with the new farm bill, at the beginning of this year it transitioned my role at American Cannabis Company to the role I'm in now, which is the Vice President of Hemp Business Development. And so throughout this year, I've been working with farmers throughout the country to basically offer the same services we did with our marijuana but, but more for outdoor applications, then of course, indoor and there are quite a few greenhouse operations that we consult with as well for hemp, but we've been involved with quite a few different states and in these states are university pilot programs. In fact, just this morning, about two hours ago, we got the release of the USDA interim rules on hemp cultivation, for 2020. crop year. This is the first USDA rules we've had since well since 1937"

Jon continues to outline his extensive involvement in the cannabis industry," I also work with a team of cannabis industry professionals to help individuals and organizations gain entry into the legal recreational and medical marijuana industry. We provide business to business consultative services for dispensaries, grow operations and extraction facilities. Our team is dedicated to providing real-world solutions for the ever-changing cannabis markets in the U.S. and abroad."

There's much more within this rich episode. Thanks so much to Jon Workman for this education on overcoming adversity and finding inspiration and motivation within and without the cannabis industry; "When people I meet ask me what I do in the industry, I usually reply with, "I connect the dots for those that are trying to start an industrial hemp business as well as find markets for them to sell their product." Simply put my approach is to provide my customers with Best of Class products and service which I do on a daily basis." Thank you Jon!

Here are Jon's links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonworkman/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jsworkman63
Press Release: https://americancannabisconsulting.com/american-cannabis-company-inc-announces-hemp-business-development-appointment-of-chief-operations-officer/
Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/20938691
American Cannabis Company: https://americancannabisconsulting.com/

Thanks for listening! Reviews on our FB page, or ITunes are much appreciated! https://tscatlks.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/tsctalks/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tsc-talks--1666046/support.