"Our Academy gave me the ability to work with Ted Lichtenberger from the Flower Company and make a genuine connection with someone from a different walk of life who also taught me a different way of culturally doing business. It showed me that there are people on the other side of the train tracks to bond with and learn from. The program also provided me with a built-in network to flourish nationwide. Since OA, I have worked with another mentee and social equity applicant, Tre Hobbs, and taught him what I learned in California to apply it to his launch in his home state, Michigan. OA also helped us all work together and learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses as a unit, helping us support each other’s ventures in CA and MI. Going into the next stage of my career, Tess Taylor, who’s also an OA alum, has helped me showcase my strengths in other states for consulting contracts. There’s been a positive sorority/fraternity effect where alumni vouch for one another in the real world to create more representation in the cannabis industry."

Morris Kelly