Elevate Your Grind

Scot Crow has extensive experience in corporate, mergers and acquisitions and tax law. His clients rely on him to advise them with respect to their complex financial transactions as well as serving as their outside general counsel. Scot provides proactive advice with respect to sensitive management matters, litigation management, day to day transactional needs and objective assessments for the development of successful business strategies.

Scot has served as lead counsel in numerous mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, private offerings, venture capital financings, mezzanine debt offerings, divestures and other related transactions, with an emphasis in the following business sectors:

Dental Services (DSO)
Assisted Living
Legalized Marijuana (Growth, Production and Sales)
Commercial Transportation
Healthcare Consulting
Precious Metal Refinement
Charter School
Legal
Industrial Manufacturing
Restaurant/Entertainment

Wanda James is the founder and CEO of Simply Pure Dispensary. Along with her husband Scott Durrah, they became the first African Americans, legally licensed in America, to own a dispensary, a cultivation facility and an edible company. As a leading advocate in the cannabis industry, Wanda’s political and entrepreneurial work on cannabis reform has led to her being named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Cannabis by High Times magazine in 2018, one of the 2016 Cannabis Business Executive (CBE) 50 Most Important Women in the Cannabis Industry, and has been featured in numerous shows including The BBC, Democracy Now,The Atlantic, MIC.com, MSNBC, Smile Jamaica, ViceLand, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CBS Sunday Morning Holiday Special, “Eat, Drink and be Merry” and CNBC’s Marijuana USA.

Maha has dedicated nearly a decade in working and studying cannabis and plans to continue researching the plant and other botanical drugs. Maha has her M.S. in pharmacological sciences, concentrating on Medical Cannabis Sciences and Therapeutics at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, the nation’s first graduate program dedicated to studying cannabis. Maha is President of The Highspitality Group, an LA based cannabis consumption lounge operations and biz dev firm, bringing together the two worlds of hospitality and cannabis. Maha is also the Founder and CEO of CREA (Cultivating Research, Education, & Advocacy) and Cannaclub, two collegiate organizations focusing on cannabis and drug education, activism, and opportunities for the next generation. Under Maha’s leadership, Cannaclub expanded to 20 universities across the nation with over 5,500 members since starting at her alma mater UCLA, where she also served as a researcher at the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative.

Emma Collard, aka Emma Greens, is a cannabis content creator on Instagram helping medical marijuana patients navigate the Florida market. Emma is the Community Relations Manager of Florida's largest medical marijuana physicians practice. She started with DocMJ as their first ever intern over 3.5 years ago and has been a key player in the development of both the company and the industry. 

Over the years she has experienced just about every behind-the-scenes aspect of the industry and has been trained by her physicians, head growers, extractionists, R&D teams, and a variety of other key players to be able to be the best advocate to the community she can be.

Brett is a multifaceted cannabis and hemp professional. His specialty is in the consumer facing worlds of media, retail, and communications of all forms. He is currently serving as Director of Communications for Central Flordia NORML. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Brett is happily married and lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and fur babies.

Zachary Pitts is chief executive officer and founding partner at Ganja Goddess. For thirteen years, he has operated a variety of legal cannabis businesses including retail, delivery, cultivation, and manufacturing. Pitts began his tenure in the industry producing Ganja Goddess edibles in 2007 and co-founded the statewide delivery service Goddess Delivers in 2011. In 2014, he opened a retail storefront, Ganja Goddess, in Seattle.

Dr. Vaught co-founded Front Range Biosciences with a deep belief in the importance of sustainable agriculture to improve human health and nutrition. An innovative problem solver with 15 years of experience developing and commercializing technologies for human diagnostics, food safety and agriculture, Dr. Vaught brings a diverse background with a strong scientific and practical business acumen. As CEO Dr. Vaught has built a team committed to bringing the best of modern agriculture to high-value crops to improve reliability, efficiency and safety for farmers and consumers.

Prior to starting Front Range, Dr. Vaught served as the Director of Assay Development for Velocity Sciences, and Senior Scientist for Beacon Biotechnology and SomaLogic. He is an inventor of two patents and an author on 7 publications in peer reviewed journals. He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Vaught also operates a small farm at his residence in Colorado and is founder of Mountain Flower Dairy, a 501c3 non-profit in Boulder CO, focused on providing educational opportunities for the local community to learn about animal husbandry and where their food is sourced.

A serial entrepreneur with a track record of transforming technical innovation into high impact applications. In 1994 he co-founded Visionary Information Systems Inc. VISI launched the modern electronic courtroom and changed the way attorneys litigate. In 2000 he founded Vodium, an internet-based video streaming, content management system with customers in government, healthcare, and financial services. His other ventures include Amazon-Mania USA, one of the original importers of Acai berry products from Brazil, and Delphi International Ent., an international steel trading firm.

Tom Celani has a few companies in his personal portfolio: MotorCity Harley-Davidson, Celani Family Vineyards, Luna Entertainment, and for the focus of our conversation, High Life Farms. His son's Ben and Vinnie Celani now head the grow and sales operations, respectively, for one of Michigan's oldest and largest recreational cultivators. We sit down with Ben and Vinnie to hear about the Michigan market and what its like to operate within a family business.

Daniel Abrahami is the cofounder of Headquarters (HQ), a strategic advisory collective focused on helping cannabis entrepreneurs unlock accelerated growth in California’s multibillion-dollar market. Daniel is also Managing Partner of AGM Ventures and has been advising companies and investing in cannabis operations since 2014. With a passion for the intersection of cannabis and commerce, his mission is to unlock innovation in the industry. Daniel led business development for ABC Gems, an international emerald mining, cutting and distribution company. He also co-founded Pravo, the first decentralized high-end jewelry manufacturing operation in Los Angeles, and helped launch numerous direct-to-consumer fashion and apparel companies.