High Functioning Podcast

Michael Mulkern built and sold a CBD company, lost his investment in a bad acquisition, got laid off with a newborn at home, and launched MAVZ Naturals the same week. He now runs 34 dispensary accounts across Massachusetts with zero ad spend.In this episode he breaks down the sample jar tactic that wins retail floor space, why he bought his own product back off dispensary shelves during his rebrand, how he keeps manufacturing lean enough to survive market swings, and what independent hemp operators need to do now as the 2026 federal hemp deadline approaches.If you sell into dispensaries or manufacture hemp products, this is the operational playbook.Topics covered:How he rebuilt from a failed acquisition with no outside investmentThe sample jar strategy that converts buyers without paid mediaWhy he targets 10 to 20 core accounts instead of chasing volumeSkincare and New York distribution as hedges against the hemp cliffWriting a children's book named after his son as a legacy project21+ where legal. Nothing for sale.Full Episodes: highfunctioning.show

A cannabis label company asked Adam O'Day to design their packaging. He said yes — until he saw the rest of their branding was AI-generated. He walked.That decision is the center of gravity for this episode. Adam O'Day (muralist, fine artist, 13 years full-time) and Allan "Alz" Sousa (fine artist, gallery director at Black Walls Gallery) sit down with Jason to talk about what authentic creative work costs, what AI is actually doing to both the art world and cannabis branding, and why the intersection of cannabis and the arts in New England is an opportunity nobody is moving on yet.Alz lays out a direct argument: if a cannabis company has enough capital to bring a product to market, it has enough to pay a local artist a few thousand dollars instead of prompting a model. He's already building he framework to connect cannabis operators in Massachusetts with real artists — and explains exactly why that matters for brand equity, not just optics.They also get into the pay-to-play reality behind Art Basel ($80K to get in the door), why Alz deliberately makes certain pieces unsellable, how Adam's daughters outsell him at a Provincetown gallery, and what it actually takes to run a community art program inside a dispensary without the drama. No theory. Two working artists, one B2B cannabis host, zero filters.Chapters below.Adam O'Day: @adam_oday | SCAPES solo show at Black Walls GalleryAlz (Allan Sousa): @alz_next | Gallery Director, Black Walls Gallery | alzandkitty.com1:49 What Makes Someone an Artist6:25 The Real Artist's Day16:15 The Business of Art: 13 Years Full-Time Without Selling Out29:01 Social Media Is a Trap If You Need the Validation41:49 AI Art in Cannabis: Where the Line Is and Why Adam Walked Away47:15 The Cannabis–Arts Pipeline Nobody Has Built Yet56:34 Don't Make Painting Your Only Income1:04:00 What's Next: Shows, Books, and Art Basel21+ where legal. Nothing for sale.🎧 Full Episodes: highfunctioning.show🔔 Subscribe: tr.ee/highfunctioningsubscribe🎙️ Listen on Spotify: tr.ee/highfunctioningspotify🍎 Apple Podcasts: tr.ee/highfunctioningapple

Dispensary menus train customers to buy the highest THC percentage. That is not a product strategy. That is a race to the bottom.Dr. Riley Kirk is a PhD pharmaceutical scientist, co-founder of the Network of Applied Pharmacognosy, and author of Reefer Wellness, distributed by Penguin Random House. She built 425 thousand followers on TikTok making cannabis science readable for anyone. She joins Jason to break down what operators and budtenders are still getting wrong every day on the floor.In this episode: why indica and sativa are marketing categories and not scientific ones, how THCV drives daytime consumer demand and kills the munchies, why high THC produces a shorter and hollower experience than full-spectrum products, how cannabis beverages sit between edibles and smokables in the body, what the hemp beverage ban actually does to consumer spending, and how Penguin Random House published a cannabis book without knowing the cover photography was weed.If you run a dispensary, train a sales floor, or formulate products, this one is worth your full attention.Find Riley at cannabichem on TikTok and Instagram. Reefer Wellness is available at dispensaries nationwide and on Amazon. The Network of Applied Pharmacognosy is at networkofappliedpharmacognosy.com.21+ where legal. Nothing for sale. Full episodes at highfunctioning.show