Building a multi-state lifestyle cannabis brand, Higgs, with Founder & CEO, Oliver Higgins - Lit Up Founders

Episode 25

Building a multi-state lifestyle cannabis brand, Higgs, with Founder & CEO, Oliver Higgins

For those of you looking to start, and scale, a cannabis brand, this episode is for you. This one is also for all of you that follow your passion and run! The details… well, they’ll just figure themselves out later. I love this guy, and this episode!

Serendipity is a funny thing. The Universe has a way of presenting in front of you exactly what you need. You liking it, or not, at the time is irrelevant. It’s October, 2021, a colleague and I are at a happy hour (reception) in Las Vegas hosted by a prospective vendor. As one does at a cocktail hour… you mingle. We start chatting with this guy who is all smiles, in that genuine, friendly, neighbor next door you’ve known for a few years kinda way. I really like his hat too. It’s this teal blue with pink script on it. As a lifelong East Coaster, it reminds me of 80’s Miami. He’s just chill.

Turns out, this friendly neighbor guy has a cannabis brand he’s been growing for a few years. Go figure! His hat, that I really like, is his brand. As we wait for the negroni's that never came, he shares his journey with us. While we work in the industry, my guest and I are long-time tech people; we're amazed how one actually starts a cannabis brand… on top of all that, without actually touching the plant. We come to find out in this interview, he did enough of that in his mom’s garage earlier in life. After University, he got into a few fashion startups too. It all goes to show, when you find your passions, lean into them, follow those veins, it will all eventually come together to something amazing you’re compelled to do and really good at. 

Please enjoy our founders journey of building a multi-state cannabis lifestyle brand, Higgs, with Founder and CEO, Oliver Higgins.

Professional Summary:

Oliver founded Higgs in 2016 and has taken it from a small medical market brand in CA into a nationally recognized brand with operations in three states. Before founding Higgs, Oliver launched fashion brands, directed and produced music videos for his production company R.H. and worked for acclaimed writer/producer David Milch, involved in the creative and also overseeing production on multiple HBO series.  He has deep roots in the cannabis industry as a cultivator for over a decade and was a part owner of an early Los Angeles dispensary before it was forced to close.

Company Summary:

Higgs is always a good time. The color scheme is meant to bring you back to the early 90s and inspire that kind of feel-good raw energy that has shaped so many aspects of our culture. 


Show Notes:


Quotes:

“The only job you have as CEO is to raise money, hire good people, keep good people… and do on podcasts… and get your own podcasts.”


Top 5 Articles/Interview with our Guest:

  1. A Proper High: Oliver Higgins, Higgs Pre-Rolls
  2. Ask Growers: Grower Stories #63: Oliver
  3. Green Entrepreneur: How This Cannabis Brand Got Its Electrifying Look
  4. Investing in Cannabis: Higgs and the Rise of Lifestyle Brands
  5. Flood Magazine: Venice Beach Celebrates 4/20 with “Buds on Rose”


Oliver Higgins, Founder & CEO, Higgs

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-higgins-020618183/

https://www.instagram.com/higgs/

Brian Weber, Producer & Host, Lit Up: A Founder's Journey

linkedin.com/in/briancweber


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About the Podcast

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Lit Up Founders
A show about the founders of the Modern Cannabis Industry and the Organizations they are building.

About your host

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Brian Weber

In addition to producing and hosting Lit Up Founders. Brian is the Director of Omnichannel Strategy and Partnerships for Flourish Software, a leading ERP Seed-to-sale Software company serving Cannabis and Hemp operators up and down the supply chain.

Prior to Flourish, through his company Digital Realty, Brian served the Retail and Hospitality Industries as a technology and business consultant focusing on POS, eCommerce, Payments, Loyalty, and other related services for the past 9 years.

In researching the Cannabis Industry, largely because of its Federal status and history in the US, he was fascinated in seeing what the entrepreneurs were building. With his experience as an entrepreneur, supporting entrepreneurship, some background in broadcast radio, and a love for the amazing medium of podcasts (especially "How I built this" by Guy Raz); all converged to create the spark moment that spawned Lit Up Founders. I hope you enjoy!

Brian holds a B.S. in Management Science & Information Systems from Rutgers University Business School. He currently lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his dog Zeke.