“Our job is to lead the organization and to provide a clear strategic vision for the future. Certainly, this can be a difficult task in an industry that is changing, sometimes drastically, on a daily basis. But, it is necessary that you are committed and genuinely concerned, not just with the company’s success, but with the success and development of each and every member of your team.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jason Pasko. Jason has served as COO for High Life Farms since 2017. High Life Farms is located in Chesaning, Michigan. Pasko has spent most of his career in highly regulated environments including, the casinos and gaming industry and natural gas industry. Growing up in a family full of physicians made for colorful dining room conversations, but Pasko persevered and graduated from Alma College with degrees in both Accounting/Finance and Chemistry. At 23-years-old he became the youngest City Councilman to ever hold office in his hometown of Monroe, Michigan. Before High Life Farms, Pasko served as Controller for NewStar Energy USA, a NASDAQ traded oil and natural gas exploration company. He spent 15 years with Greektown Casino & Hotel in Detroit, progressing from Financial Controller to Senior Director of Accounting and Finance. During the last four years at Greektown Casino & Hotel, he moved into the operations side of the casino industry and served as Senior Director and Vice President of Casino Marketing for both Greektown Casino and The Golden Nugget Casino & Resort in Louisiana. Pasko transitioned into the cannabis industry in 2017 at the urging of his boss.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with the ‘backstory” about what brought you to the cannabis space?

I have always been somewhat of a risk-taker when it comes to my career. I spent time as a City Councilman, in the oil & gas space, and a great deal of time in the casino business. When the owner of High Life Farms pitched the job to me he said, “Come join us in this highly-regulated, newly-legalized, start-up business.” I guess I just couldn’t help myself.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It was day three of my new job, and I received a call that the municipality we had just purchased our building in was having a Village Council meeting to ban cannabis businesses. When I showed up to the meeting, cannabis supporters urged me to speak on their behalf. I gave a passionate speech about cannabis and all of the great things we would be doing for the town. I completely winged it and thankfully almost all of it has come true, but It was a tough crowd.

Are you working on any exciting projects now?

The business is changing rapidly, and we are diligently working on strategic partnerships to bring the best people to the right projects. Picking winners isn’t always easy, but planning, execution, and a compelling story are everything in this business.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My former CEO from the casino days will always be my best mentor and friend. He once told me, “It doesn’t matter how smart you are, it matters how well you help others around you to be smarter for you.” It was great advice.

This industry is young dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

The cannabis industry is literally brand-new, but we have seen huge leaps forward in terms of the marketing sophistication in the past year or so. As it develops, we need to stay ahead of the market, and bring all of our strategies to bear at a torrid pace. Those who hesitate will be left far behind.

Growing a cannabis business CBD High Life Farms

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Cannabis industry? Can you share 3 things that most concern you?

As a start-up industry, the opportunities for growth are almost limitless at the moment. There hasn’t been anything like it since the advent of the Internet. What’s most concerning is the inability of law-enforcement to shutter the black market marijuana trade. The black market hurts consumers, taxpayers, and law-abiding legal business.

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

You are going to smell different. Washing your clothes in rubbing alcohol works.
Sleeping is optional. Hopefully someone invents a bed that fits under the grow tables.
Build up your abdominal muscles like Houdini, because something will gut-punch you on a daily basis. Growing this wonderful plant is rewarding and hard to do. Don’t give up and plan, plan, plan.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Our job is to lead the organization and to provide a clear strategic vision for the future. Certainly, this can be a difficult task in an industry that is changing, sometimes drastically, on a daily basis. But, it is necessary that you are committed and genuinely concerned, not just with the company’s success, but with the success and development of each and every member of your team.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

You never know what your idea can trigger. I have always been concerned that people look at the “Government” as some all-knowing, all-helping benevolent creature. The government is, well… it’s us.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Our Instagram: @highlifefarmsmi, Facebook: @HighLifeFarmsMI, and Twitter: @HighLifeFarmsMI

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!‍