With a degree in horticulture, and a minor in botany, people expected me to find a job on a farm.
This is foolish, because every farmer is already a botanist! The only way to grow crops is to become an expert, so I didn’t think I would have anything to offer these people.
Instead I found a major city with a high population, because it was these people who needed my botanical expertise. The reason I selected Denver, Colorado as my new home was because of the cannabis market around here. In Denver cannabis is big business, and I knew it would be my best chance to find a high-paying job. My goal was not to work in a cannabis dispensary, nor to own a shop of my own. I wanted to get involved with the corporate development side of the cannabis industry, and Denver is home to some of the biggest weed companies in the world. With my background and experience I could work in a lab developing new types of cannabis products, and Denver would be the testing ground. There are other places I could have gone, but Denver is nationally recognized for its cannabis, and I wanted to start at the top! Perhaps it was premature to move to Denver before I found a job, but that’s how committed I was to this plan! I rented a small room in a dirty hostel in downtown Denver for three weeks before I got my first interview. Now I have a chance to be a cannabis botanist for one of the biggest dispensaries in Denver.