As soon as legalization started happening in Seattle , the underground market started tanking , and making ends meet became more and more difficult . “ We had to make a decision to cross over to the legal commercial space ,” said Staton . “ I started ‘ getting my feet wet ’ by consulting on the regulatory side of commercial grow build-outs on the West Coast , and I started making a name for myself .”
At this same time , the East Coast was about to blow up in the legal cannabis market , and Staton got a call from an agent representing a large MSO about to build one of the largest , most elaborate grows out East , to the tune of 60 million dollars . The timing couldn ’ t have been any better or worse as money was tight for Staton and his family , plus he had to pay his own way to the East Coast for the job interview . He arrived at a minus 20-degree Boston , freezing his butt off , and only six dollars left in his pocket . Luckily , he landed the job , but it was short-lived . “ Just to show you how commercial cannabis can work — after a few months there , I moved the entire family from the West Coast to the East Coast ,” said Staton . “ Then , literally two weeks after the coast-to-coast relocation , I went into a board meeting with the MSO that didn ’ t go well . We were on two different wavelengths , and I resigned from my position .
“ I went home and told my wife , ‘ Honey , pack your shit ; we are moving back to Seattle .’” Having saved up a little money in the short time he was there , Staton and his family rented a U-Haul truck and car hauler and filled them with all their belongings . Making the most out of the situation , they turned their move back to the West Coast into a family camping adventure .
Later , back in Seattle , Staton ’ s first commercial cannabis opportunity had left a bad taste in his mouth . “ Most of the West Coast underground market growers gave up as that market was tanking , and most didn ’ t want to go corporate . “ It ’ s hard quitting something that has been part of your whole life ,” Staton reflected . “ I remember my wife asking , ‘ are we done with cannabis yet ?’”
Although he may not have known the answer at that time , a mere six months later , the phone started ringing again from other legal cannabis opportunities . The first one came from Vegas , and surprisingly , the next came from a different group all the way back in Boston .
At this point , I couldn ’ t imagine being Byron Staton and asking his wife for a ride to the airport for an interview back in Boston ! Luckily , this second opportunity would prove to be a much better situation than the first . Much to his wife ’ s dismay at that time , Staton and his family eventually moved back to Boston and laid some resume fame down , helping launch and run the first greenhouse cannabis grow in Massachusetts . During his five years as COO with Apothca , he made “ A Lot ” of connections in the cannabis space and was even allowed to do consulting on the side while running the greenhouse operations .
After his contract with Apothca ended , Staton found his way to his current position as COO of Bloom / Wondergrove , but his journey all started in a much different form of displacement than what he deals with now . He went from seclusion from society with his family displaced in the mountains of Seattle to seclusion from his family and displaced in small-town Missouri hotels trying to gain the attention of a society now building legal cannabis brands . When Staton first told me the number of times he spent in those hotels this year , I couldn ’ t understand how he dealt with it . Not until I heard the stories and the number of occasions he and his family had dealt with displacement .
If you are reading this and find yourself in similar displacement situations in the cannabis industry , I hope you find hope and inspiration from OG stories like Byron Staton ’ s . Thank all of you for the sacrifices you ’ ve made and continue to make to bring us great cannabis products , and we want to
hear your stories , too . If you can relate and want your story told in our new Displacement Series , please reach out to us . You never know who else is going through similar trials and who could gain inspiration by reading and relating to your story .
Although there is so much more to Staton ’ s story and cannabis career journey that we just didn ’ t have the space for in this article , I asked him what advice he would give our readers and others in their cannabis industry roles who are similarly displaced . Staton said , “ The journey , that ’ s what life is about . We ’ ve had really good wins and really bad losses , but that all made me who I am and my family who they are . That ’ s why I like to say , ‘ We ’ ve eaten more hot dogs and steaks than any family out there — hard times and good times . But the more people I can teach along the way , the easier the displacement is to deal with .”
Clayton Stallings is the Director of Sales & Marketing for
The EVOLUTION Magazine
January 2024 33