I am excited to share this interview with my friend Oscar Velasco-Schmitz. Oscar is an entrepreneur and one of the owners of Dockside Cannabis, a cannabis retailer here in Seattle.

We chat about his business and the history of political change that led to recreational cannabis being legalized in Washington State—something that is expanding across the United States and world.

But I was also curious to talk with Oscar about how he connects with the mind of his customer, how he deeply empathizes with his customers’ needs, and how he uses that empathy to build customers experience.

Dockside Cannabis serves all kinds of people. It was fascinating to hear Oscar talk about that and also to hear him share his philosophy of providing excellent customer service, even as he engages in what he calls an “industrialized act of civil disobedience.”