It’s one of our best Global Cannabis Times Interviews ever as FlowerHire’s David Belsky sits down for a wide-ranging conversation with Gilbert Milam, Jr., a.k.a. Berner, hip-hop star, cannabis icon and co-founder and CEO of Cookies. Berner’s ascent to the top of the cannabis world came in tandem with his star rising in the world of hip-hop, where he started as a battle rapper and mixtape artist. He founded his own label Bern One Entertainment at 23 and signed with Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang Entertainment in 2012, kicking out jams like 20 Joints and Wax Room.
Meanwhile, Berner was pursuing a parallel hustle—running a cannabis social club and serving as the front man for “Girl Scout Cookies,” the potent, tasty, OG Kush-derived hybrid strain perfected by Jai “Jigga” Chang in a garage in San Francisco’s Sunset District. Many years later, Berner and Chang remain partners at Cookies, the SF-based company they founded in 2010. Chang continues to develop kick-ass weed and Berner is now the face of perhaps the most recognizable and valuable cannabis brand on the planet.
Listen in as Belsky gets the straight dope from Berner on topics ranging from the Cookies origin story (0:51), balancing two careers (5:05) and advice for other entrepreneurs (7:38) to the Cookies business model and growth strategy (12:00), as well as R&D investments and (18:01) and global ambitions (36:08).
Host: David Belsky
Guest: Berner
Producers: Tekisha Harvey, Ashaun Jackson, Mike Siebold
Engineer: Dave Visaya