Alexis Major, Founder and CFO of Gumbo Brands- Interview Series

“People have a lottery type of mindset where they believe that you can do one thing and hit it big.  That’s not true for most people and Instagram overnight success stories are few and very far between.”

Alexis Major

In most states, black ownership of cannabis businesses does not exceed 5% or 1 in 20. Some sources indicate that black ownership of cannabis businesses nationwide is at 2%. In spite of diversity efforts that have been implemented in most states, people of color are still struggling to break past the numerous barriers to succeed in the cannabis industry. Fortunately there are a few exceptions. My Cannabis had the rare opportunity to interview Alexis Major who is a co-founder of a highly successful black-owned cannabis business- Gumbo Brands. Alexis shares with us her journey into the industry, how they have managed to succeed in spite of all the odds, and how Gumbo Brand is giving back to the black community. 

Meet Alexis.

As a brief introduction, can you share with us how you ended up as a cannabis entrepreneur.

I have always been a firm believer in the benefits of cannabis. I got heavy into it when I got involved with the NFL as a manager, liaison to agents, and an agent to players as well. I witnessed firsthand how many players got addicted to opioids that had been initially prescribed to manage pain. I knew right away that I had to seek a better solution.

Moss of the NFL players were already using cannabis and they seemed really good when they were smoking. They seemed to be in a better head space and were very functional.  I had heard that cannabis could help with pain. I started to do a lot of research on cannabis, that was around 2012/13. 

At that time I was managing my adopted brother Jordan who was a Florida Gator. By then he was a junior and wanted to leave the school because he had several injuries with concussions and he didn't want to miss an opportunity to join the NFL.  He asked me to manage him and he knew that this was going to be very hard. They told him that he wouldn't make it and even tried to black ball him. He had been a quarterback prior and his knowledge of the game was very intricate. We did a lot of work and eventually he was drafted third round in his NFL class. I ended up managing a lot of his friends who went to Florida and most of them were struggling with a lot of pain and inflammation. Jordan was the first person I dealt with as part of the NFL. 

The other significant NFL player that I managed was Dominique Easley. He was a first round draft pick which is a really big deal. He was coming out of college with a torn meniscus and an ACL injury. We had to work very hard to get him to where he needed to be to go in the first round. They did not want to draft him in the first round, they wanted him in the second round and that is a difference of about 10 million dollars.  

We did our due diligence and we were able to deal with the inflammation and injury. He had an amazing pro day and we eventually managed to secure the first round with the New England Patriots. 

Speaking of using cannabis to manage pain, have you been using cannabis together with opioids or have you been using cannabis to wean athletes off of opioids? 

In my experience I have used cannabis to wean athletes off of opioids. Since opioids are usually the first treatment option offered to athletes, that is how it has worked for me. 

Can you share with us briefly how Gumbo Brands came about?

I had wanted to acquire my license in Rhode Island years before I met Luka. But through the NFL I was able to acquire shares in a dispensary. When I met Luka I was in the process of selling out. Luka is business minded and very good at sales. He made me understand that it was better to have a business model that allows you to make money even when you are sleeping compared to a store where you have to be physically present to make money. I had a corporate background and together with Luca’s experience and business acumen we were able to put together the business that we now have. 

What about HOT 97, What is this about?

This is about bringing that good feeling back to the community. It is about making young people understand that whatever you want to do, you can do it. It's a platform that enables people to understand our personality. In New York City we hear that we are bringing back that good feeling back to the kids. We want to inspire the youth to not only want to become Djs or musicians but to want to own the record label itself and to be corporate heads and entrepreneurs.

Any parting shot?

If you find yourself doing something that is not popular or something that is frowned upon, such as cannabis, keep doing it. Even when it is difficult because you might not gain a lot of friendships, keep doing it. Focus on the long term reward of what you do and not the short term. How you are helping is more important than being popular. 

It was a great honor to have this conversation with Alexis Major, founder and CFO of Gumbo Brands.  If you are in NYC you can check out the upcoming 4/20 pop-up concert by Gumbo Brands.