An hour after the Heritage Club's first sale in Boston It all started through conversations with her mom. Nike John's entrepreneurial streak was made evident when she launched her first real estate brokerage in 2015, but she entered a brand new world when she became Boston's first Black woman owner of a cannabis dispensary. And she did it after being encouraged to give it a shot by her mother. Not your typical cannabis entrepreneurial story — but nothing about Nike's journey is typical. Her flight club-themed cannabis retail outlet, The Heritage Club in Boston, is moving away from the traditional budtender model and toward a more customer- and education-focused retail experience with clerks called "flight attendants because they help you safely get on and off your flight," Nike told Vangst CEO Karson Humiston less than an hour after her first sale. But it hasn't exactly been a turbulence-free journey. As a social equity applicant in Massachusetts' burgeoning cannabis industry, Nike tells Karson about the 1,000 steps she had to take just to open her door, and how her three-year journey through a pandemic and supply-chain issues has shaped her perspective on the industry. Listen to this week's Proud to Work in Cannabis podcast to hear more about how she built a workforce, lessons learned along the way, and advice for others considering opening their own businesses. Produced by PodConx Proud To Work In Cannabis - https://podconx.com/podcasts/proud-to-work-in-cannabis Karson Humiston - https://podconx.com/guests/karson-humiston Vangst - https://vangst.com/ Nike John - https://podconx.com/guests/nike-john Heritage Club - https://heritageclubthc.com Heritage Club on Instagram: heritageclubthc12
An hour after the Heritage Club's first sale in Boston
It all started through conversations with her mom. Nike John's entrepreneurial streak was made evident when she launched her first real estate brokerage in 2015, but she entered a brand new world when she became Boston's first Black woman owner of a cannabis dispensary. And she did it after being encouraged to give it a shot by her mother. Not your typical cannabis entrepreneurial story — but nothing about Nike's journey is typical.
Her flight club-themed cannabis retail outlet, The Heritage Club in Boston, is moving away from the traditional budtender model and toward a more customer- and education-focused retail experience with clerks called "flight attendants because they help you safely get on and off your flight," Nike told Vangst CEO Karson Humiston less than an hour after her first sale.
But it hasn't exactly been a turbulence-free journey. As a social equity applicant in Massachusetts' burgeoning cannabis industry, Nike tells Karson about the 1,000 steps she had to take just to open her door, and how her three-year journey through a pandemic and supply-chain issues has shaped her perspective on the industry.
Listen to this week's Proud to Work in Cannabis podcast to hear more about how she built a workforce, lessons learned along the way, and advice for others considering opening their own businesses.
Proud To Work In Cannabis - https://podconx.com/podcasts/proud-to-work-in-cannabis
Karson Humiston - https://podconx.com/guests/karson-humiston
Vangst - https://vangst.com/
Nike John - https://podconx.com/guests/nike-john
Heritage Club - https://heritageclubthc.com
Heritage Club on Instagram: heritageclubthc12
Nike John: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Nikki John, and I'm proud to work in the cannabis industry because we're able to make history here, bring more diversity to the space and to educate people on something. That's been a taboo topic for a really long time.
Karson Humiston: Hey everybody. And welcome to the proud to work in cannabis podcast. I'm your host Carson, the founder of banks. And today. So excited because we have a very special guest. We have John joining us today. Nikki is the first black dispensary owner in Massachusetts. And actually the crazy thing is that Nikki told me that just today, just before getting onto this podcast, had her first sales for her dispensary.
So what a time to join us? I'm honored that you're with us right now to celebrate this moment, welcome to the show.
Nike John: thank you so much. Yeah. I'm excited to be here. It's been a long process, so it's nice to share the story and also connect with you since I [00:01:00] followed your career as well. So this is really cool.
Karson Humiston: This is great. Well, let's jump into it, Nikki. Tell us about yourself and your background pre into the cannabis industry.
Nike John: Yeah. So before this, I was in real estate. So I've been in real estate in Boston for 10 years, and I do residential rentals and sales. And I had been in conversations with my mom about joining this industry and I bring my mom up because out here I probably would not have joined. of those things where I had smoked weed, but I wasn't like the person you go to to see, like, did you bring anything to the party?
definitely more of a tequila girl, but it's been really cool. As soon as I learned about the history of the war on drugs and just seeing the lack of diversity in the space, the lab of women laugh with people of color. I knew I needed to get in at the ownership level at the CEO level, which I'm sure you understand, like decision-making power and trying to earn respect in a male dominated industry.
It's a whole different ball game, but I felt like it was really important. So before that I brought that [00:02:00] business skill. I had started my first real estate brokerage in 2015. kinda got cut my teeth in the business world there. So it's not completely new to me, but that was my first business before.
Karson Humiston: And then what came over you that you decided? All right, I'm going for it. gonna for a license. , talk to us about that.
Nike John: Yeah. So as soon as I started to look at different opportunities, there was the equity program, Massachusetts. The cannabis control commission had a social equity. And they had a few different tracks. They had like an ancillary check for people who want to do things outside of the space. But if you want it to be plant touching, then entrepreneurship, , things like opening your own shop cultivation.
Delivery licenses. And I realized I wanted to be able to sell something. I didn't really think so much about brand creation, which is kind of where I'm hoping to move to, but just to get like boots on the ground owner shop, I was looking at who owned these shops? And I said, why not me? Why not? , be the person that if anybody else, any other women, women of color see [00:03:00] me, they can say, I can do this too.
I definitely thought it was going to be easier than it was. And yeah, after the first couple of years I realized it was not a cakewalk.
Karson Humiston: Yeah. So talk to us about how the process went. You decided that you were going to apply for that equity program. You decided that you wanted to open a retail store. does that process look like from being in your head as an idea to actually getting started?
Nike John: Yeah. So the entire world, like idea for their business. I like wrote down and one night my mom suggested I wrote it down. I was like, okay. So we need to talk about this. Seeing more of like a flight club than just a shop focused on education. Our budtenders are called flight attendants because they help you safely to get on and off of your flight, but they still serve sacks and champagne.
And we wanted to make sure that we keep the fun part in there. , and I thought through all of like the fun aspects of the business, , even like down to a name before I had a license, which is nice to keep hope alive, not the most important thing, but nice for hope. And then when you get to the city and the state [00:04:00] level, You realize that you're about, start an obstacle course.
So the state has about like a 10 step list of what's required to open a shop. The city of Boston has a seven step list. I've calculated over a thousand steps. I use Austin at attract my project management and there's been over a thousand little steps required to get to where I am now. , but the first thing is finding a building, finding a landlord who wants to work with you securing a lease and being able to pay for it.
If that's required. Working with the community. And then you apply with the city and the state more formally and create your SOP, which are your standard operating procedures. , and then it's more of like a waiting game from there. So that's like the high level overview. So if you do break it down to those 10 and seven steps, it seems a lot more simple, but it's a very complicated, political, costly process.
Karson Humiston: what was the timeline of this? From, when you started process to today, your first sale that happened.
Nike John: Yeah. So I think we're a little over 1500 days. It was [00:05:00] June 6th, 2019 that I applied for the social equity program. , and I founded the business in August of 2019, and we're opening our doors today, September 6th. , and one really big milestone was the provisional license from the state, which we got last September.
So it took about a year from provisional licensure to open to the public. So it's been a long three year hall, but we made it.
Karson Humiston: Not to mention a pandemic talk to us about how the pandemic impacted the process.
Nike John: Definitely. So it's a new industry and it's new to Massachusetts, new to Boston. So they were just ramping up their entire process. As the city itself was kind of shutting me down. So being able to move things on to zoom as every business. And a lot of people know, like nobody knew how to turn on zoom, turn on their cameras, let alone have community meetings on zoom.
So a lot of that, , was a shift that everyone had to make, which took some time and getting like dates on the books and making sure the community heard about what was going on. , you want to make sure that you're reaching out to [00:06:00] people and that they don't feel like you're trying to like straighten the system.
So you had to give notice and help those people get online to hear our story and what we think we can bring to this town of Charlestown and the city of Boston. So that was a really different part of the process. And then just the slow part of people not being in their office that just slows down.
Paperwork. So that was definitely a factor. And then the last important thing is the cost of materials. So we were doing a build-out and there were backorders things are like three times as expensive as when we got our first slope. So we were juggling a lot of different things with, with COVID.
Karson Humiston: Doctor. So and funding and how that process was, right? Every, everything that you're just describing of out the store and hiring legal fees, all those things are capital intensive. How did you fund this operation?
Nike John: Yeah. So the really cool thing that I'm really proud of is that we didn't take in any money until December of last year. [00:07:00] So those first two years, like I had a landlord who was committed to letting me hold onto this space and I could not be here without their help. not paying. For those first, like the year and a half that after we got the LOI in place, otherwise they would've drowned.
That would have been at least $150,000. And as an equity applicant, as a black person in America, it's not like I can just still ask someone to lend me that until I try my hand at this and it's not guaranteed. So that was one really scary part and not wanting to let all the people supporting me down, whether it was my landlord, my mom, my colleague.
So there's that extra pressure, which I think pressure makes diamonds. That's a good thing if you, if you can survive it. I ended up doing a friends and family round and that's how we ended up funding this. And I tried to keep it as lean as possible in terms of costs. My biggest recommendation to anyone starting a business is save as much money as possible.
, I picked the brains of a lot of other dispensary owners were willing to just talk to me about their process if they were kind of privately funded and how. , and when I first started to do my [00:08:00] fundraising, I spoke to a few different people who were like, okay, if you give me 49%, I'll fund it. And I'm like, well, that leaves me in a really bad spot.
So I really couldn't take, I had offers for money the whole time. And I think that's really unique in the space. It can be difficult obviously, as you know, like the banking, , they can't lend to us right now and not readily. So it's a very different industry, but. I used all the different programs that I could.
I was part of, , lanterns delivery accelerator. , I am planning to apply for delivery and it was really helpful to learn about that process, but they connected me with the Sunday Cedarburg and who, I know you just interviewed one of the founders and partners there. , they've been a huge help in licensing.
It's like a daunting process, even though I like went to school for fine. I feel like I understand how to run a business. There's a, you need a lawyer. You need a lawyer, even if you don't want to, unfortunately you need one. And they worked really well with social equity programs. They have low bono and pro bono options.
So I was able to save a lot of money and I was able to do the entire [00:09:00] project on about a third of what people told me it would cost. So that was really important.
Karson Humiston: And it really sounds to me like you're just relentless. So if someone tells you, no, , you're going to find another answer. If someone says it's going to cost this much, you're going to figure out a way to do it at a third of the cost, which is really what entrepreneurship is all about.
And it's so inspiring to hear the story. And I can't wait for so many other people to be tuning in listening because a lot of times when people think about a cannabis business and they see that 1000. Step list. they think it's too much. What, what motivated you to keep going over these last 1500 days through a pandemic?
When all the odds were against you to get to today, your first sale?
Nike John: definitely. Yeah. I asked myself that same question. Cause I was like, what am I doing here? If you had asked me last week, I told one of my co-founders. I told them I was like, I want to quit. I was like, look to sell it. I was like, it's crazy in one week from the open and when you want to quit, that means you're really, really close.
So just don't give up, do not do what I [00:10:00] was thinking about doing, but I think that's why I talked about my mom and this a lot is I'm a mom as girl. Like when my mom tells me to do something, I'm going to do it. So finding accountability partners, my landlord helped me outside. Like I told them I was going to get it done.
I got to get it done. And like all of these tiny little ways to like find a new way to push. And one of the things that would always kind of move me the most is when I would see. Black people who are interested in joining the space. And they would find out that I was the owner of the business. I could see it on their face, like this, how proud they were for me.
Would always bring me to tears. , I was like, this is what I wake up for. So if you can know what it is that gets you up in the morning, just don't give that up and you can survive. I could do one more year after a while. I'd have to reevaluate, but one more year.
Karson Humiston: we'll have to have you back on the show in a year to see how year one went quest, switching gears a little bit to actually getting ready to operate and getting ready to open the store. So once you got the LOI in place, you, you did a small friends and family round. You're now getting ready for [00:11:00] opening day. to how did you go about finding the staff? How did you go about figuring out what products that you wanted on the shelf? Just talk to us a little. Uh, like operationally getting ready to go.
Nike John: Yeah, that was definitely scary because now you just put everything that you didn't know and to actually, so there was a lot of picking brains. Like I would text other people and be like, Hey, how do I find a GM? And I'm lucky, really fortunate. One of my family friends has been in retail for 10 years and retail is different than just starting a business.
Retail is a really difficult business. The restaurant industry, these kinds of industries, you know, from a staffing side, reliable staff. A lot of the theft that happens in cannabis is internal, right? So having SLPs and hiring the right people that you can trust, the CCC has an entire grid on who's eligible to work in this space and then there's those hoops.
So that part, the hiring part was just one portion of learning to trust and let go, and to delegate as a manager, which is very new and different. [00:12:00] The neutral side of who are we going to sell? What products do we want to sell? And we've made an effort to decide that we want to have 25 to 30% of our products be mission-driven meaning they're either diversity owned or they give back to something with emission.
when you're new, you're balancing working with these large MSO. Who, some of them do have plans to give back. And some of them don't, some of them have great product and some of them have product that sells. and I think you're juggling time to have a good list. And then you're also learning the merchandise and do all of these systems.
So as we're doing this, the big thing for me was asking other operators what they do. and then seeing if I could go tour their shops, I've been touring places. That's what I've been doing for the past three years to like keep myself moving is like seeing what other people are doing. And especially looking at smaller operators, because that's something you can copy from.
I don't have a 10,000 square foot grow. So it's really cool to see that large industrial space and how they have these little booties that like you can step into. But like, if you're doing something small, you might have to like bend over and put the booties [00:13:00] on, you know? So I think it's like finding ways to make it attainable for yourself.
Karson Humiston: So what are your, what are your favorites? You said . You've been touring so many places like who, who are people that are inspiring you when, when you walk through their doors?
Nike John: So payroll. Oh, it's so cool. Her name's Sarah and there's actually two women in canvas and mouse have been mentors. So Caroline's, gentleman's in Oxford and then Caroline Pineau from Sam and hero, both of them mentors. And when I spoke to Caroline from Caroline's candidates, The first thing she said to me, she said, anything you can do to your, do yourself, do it yourself from the build-out to everything.
That's how you're going to save money. That's how you're going to be successful. And I've taken that with me from that first year to now. And then on this last year, it's been really helpful as far as far as, vetting vendors a lot of times right now, Figuring out how to run the shop. She's been open. She was one of the first EES to open in the state. she bootstrapped this as [00:14:00] well. So being able to see where she was when she started to where she is now and kind of seeing what's changed for her, what, what worked and what didn't, that was a, a freebie find these people who want to hold your hand and help you out Coby Evans from pure Oasis.
He's the owner of their. He first black owned and he's the first black one. I'm the first black woman owned in Boston, but he was really helpful in terms of encouraging me, giving me advice, reminding me like it's doable. There are definitely times where it's like, is this real life? And he's like, yes, it is keep going.
And so you need those, people that you can kind of like look after and ask for help.
Karson Humiston: I really love the line. Anything you can do, do what yourself. That's such a great piece of advice for any founder. Clearly, that you live by that this whole story shows that you live by that. How do you build a culture now that you're bringing other people in?
How do you make your culture? Anything we can do it ourselves because one thing. We've found is that as the [00:15:00] business grows and you bring more people in, it's hard to take the founder's personality and really spread it throughout. So what, what have you done to build your culture around anything we can do, do it ourselves.
Nike John: , I mean, it's something that we're still all working through together, but with the managers that I have right now, James and Rachel once seen me do it and I've been able to ask them, like, what can I do to be more helpful? And they're like, well, being able to see what you do and how you do it, has kind of encouraged them to do that as well.
And I've been able to see. Put that into action. So problem solving when something's not working, if somebody is not willing to give us terms, I was like, well, what did we tell them guys? I was like, we're a start up. Is that our first 60 days of open, we can't afford it. , you have to believe it's going to work.
We've had so many people on policy to us. We don't do 60 days. And I was like, okay, we'll just tell them, that's what we can do because we're, we're really trying. And we don't want to pay late. And James calls me and he's like they said, they've never, ever done this in the history of their business. And I was like, good.
That's what we're here to do. We want it to be different. We want people to work with us, believe [00:16:00] in us still partnerships. And I think that mindset is something that everybody's kind of onboard with both in the community, but in the company. and that I hope is contagious further. So we'll see.
Karson Humiston: It's contagious, just listening to, and so I really liked what you said around how employees have seen this as how you act, and these are your values and then they follow. So I think that's a really great tip for other entrepreneurs. your, the culture, right?
And so people are going to follow how you act. So another I have for you on a personal note, like this is your first time being a founder business owner. What kind of personal obstacles have you had to in this all consuming role that you've now quickly found yourself in
Nike John: It's like, it's a silly situation to be in where like other people are really counting on you. So before this, like I did to open the real estate brokerage, but it's all, permission-based, I've never had like a consistent like paycheck type job and not long-term. So it's [00:17:00] very different. And when I was trying to figure out how to create what benefits we would have, I've never had benefits.
So I was like, how do I be the boss that I want to work for? When you don't have a lot of experience, it's just asking, passing a lot of people, being able to take feedback. like it's so humbling when other people can give you feedback about something you don't know. And like, even from a diversity standpoint, like I'm black, but like, I don't know everything about, what the workplace is, is like for someone who's trans LGBTQ community members, women in business.
If you're like an immigrant, my dad's one of my group, but it's like different, like in this space and you're like applying for the job and you're like, okay, Do I have a green card? Like all the things that we can learn to how, um, about how do we include other people? obviously like my focus is definitely around people affected by the war on drugs, but I want to be inclusive outside of just what I see as an issue.
I think that's, that's the best way to be a good manager is to listen and learn. So. Down to our uniforms. I wanted to have flight attendant outfits and have people wear [00:18:00] dresses. And I'm like the old school style offensive, but that's not like size conscious. That's not like what if somebody is not, doesn't want to wear a dress.
And I was like, okay, fair. You know, and how do you pivot and how do you be open to other people's ideas? And it's not that you're wrong, but how do you, or sometimes you are, but. Incorporate that. So I think that's going to be a long process of learning, but it's really cool to have people who aren't afraid to speak up around you.
And those are the people you want to hire and promote. And with the.
Karson Humiston: Oh, wait, is going off topic a little bit, but I want to hear a little bit more about the flight attender, concept and where that came from and how on day one it's going and how customers are responding to it. I've not seen anything.
Nike John: Yeah. So I pleased doesn't even look like an airport. I really wanted it to be like a rental report. It's more of a speakeasy vibe still just like honor the prohibition aspect of cannabis and legalization here. cause Massachusetts aside note, but Massachusetts was the first state to ban cannabis.
So our store number is 1911 [00:19:00] because that was a year that they banned it. So I thought that was really cool, but all the little things. The flight attendants. That's what we're calling our sales staff. Whichever else would be called budtenders. And the focus is on education. Um, making sure people have a safe flight and that hopefully as we're able to add loyalty programs, that you can join our flyer program or mile high club and have that kind of full immersion into how great cannabis can be.
and then we also have tiers of product. So we have like our business class, we have our first class. And then we have our mile high, which is like really special things that, we may not have all the time that, that we'd wanted to carry and showcase to people. So it's really cool to like bring out theme and kind of move away from the bud tender, idea.
It's not that it's bad. I definitely go to bars, but I think bartending is certainly shots. And like, this is so different. So you wanted to bring that. And so far people have found it really fun and, inviting and we wanted it to be invited. You don't have to know everything about cannabis. You can ask the question.[00:20:00]
it's okay. If you're new, like my favorite way to explain it is I'm the CEO of a cannabis company and I can't roll a joint, you know, so if I can be in this and I can still find edibles that I like, they'd say, like, there's something for everyone. And that's the idea. And so far, , I think it's going well.
Karson Humiston: it's only been an hour, but I can't wait to come. And , we talked to so many people who are trying to do something different and move away from bud tenders and be more educational focused. But I haven't seen anyone come up with something. Creative as this. And I absolutely love the business class. first-class all the different kinds of products you can sell. I mean, people are probably going to try to be getting their product onto your, , business class shelves. So I think it's like a super, super cool and, , unique way to differentiate yourself. So we're,
Nike John: Thank you.
Karson Humiston: up on time, but , I still have, , two more questions.
So the first one is just. Major pieces of advice you would give to people out there you've given so much great advice, but [00:21:00] any final advice to someone that's listening, that's saying I want to go for it. I want to go through those 1000 steps. , I know it's going to be a long road, any final pieces of advice for people aspiring to be an entrepreneur like you.
Nike John: Yeah. So I would say the Tuesday. Well, no three, but Carolyn said anything. You can do yourself, do it yourself. but my things I would add to that is go where, you know, people, this is because it's political. It's a lot easier to be in a community with friends, with family and people who can come out and support you.
If you're opening a business, a lot of. There are stories that open, you don't know who the owner is, but when people need to get to know you, who better than to tell people who you are, then your family, your friends and people you've met along the way who support what you're doing. And that gives you something that makes it, makes it real.
You're not just a person on a zoom screen to them anymore. And they can hear like how you've touched other people's lives. That was huge for me, in terms of community outreach. and then the last thing is, believe don't give up, write it down on a piece of paper and store [00:22:00] that piece of paper. Put a date on it and put an amount of money on it, store it.
Don't forget it. And then whenever you're in doubt, look at it. That's like my secret little thing that I do is I have a vision board and I write myself like affirmations about what I believe will happen. And then I, it happens. I love it.
Karson Humiston: I love that advice and our sales team just read this book very similar to what you're describing about believing, right? It's like I'm hitting this target and nothing can get into your way. So I am a believer in that philosophy. I think belief is the most important thing. It's more important than skills, which
Nike John: Exactly.
Karson Humiston: would say it's crazy, but okay.
And my last question. How do people find your dispensary? Right? I think people listening, hopefully if they're in Massachusetts or Boston, right now, they should be driving your way to get on the plane. So, so, so where can they find you?
Nike John: yeah, soon as I, so we're located in Charlestown. Our name is the heritage club. You can follow us at heritage club THC on Instagram, or go to our [00:23:00] website, which is heritage club, thc.com. And you can place an online order or come in and talk to one of the flight attendants. So yeah, hope you can see.
Karson Humiston: Hope to see you soon. Well, thank you so much, Nikki, for coming onto the show today. . I'll be in Boston next month. We have to hang out. , let's do some kind of women and cannabis Boston event next month. If you're listening and you want to come drop us a line, and I will be there.
So, Nikki, thanks again for joining us today.
Nike John: Thank you.