Shane Terry, CEO and Founder of TapRoot Brands – Interview Series

Since January of 2017, Shane Terry has served as the CEO and Founder of the wildly popular TapRoot Brands. Their diverse Roots brand of cartridges in particular have won numerous cannabis-related awards from Las Vegas Weekly. Interestingly, Terry is also a decorated Air Force veteran and has used his platform as both a cannabis business owner and as a United States Armed Forces veteran to advocate for cannabis reform and expansion.

Tell me about yourself a little. Where did you grow up and when did you enlist in the military?

I grew up in Northern California, and I pretty much went straight down the military path out of high school. I was actually accepted to the Air Force Academy, so I started there in 1997 through four years of “college”, just a different experience than most, before beginning Active Duty when I graduated in 2001.

What were your duties while serving in the US Armed Forces and what ranks/awards did you receive while serving? Were you deployed anywhere in particular?

I was an F-16 fight pilot, which was a bit of a bait and switch after watching Top Gun when I was a kid. No motorcycles, no beach volleyball, girls don’t care to hear about jets, and for every hour of flying there’s about 12 hours of planning, briefing and debriefing! All jokes aside, I loved what I did in the military and especially the F-16. I was lucky enough to be stationed in Korea so we flew all over Asia, did about 3 years in Italy, and then came back to Nellis Air Force Base here in Vegas. I also did tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and a few other places around the Middle East. I also had a pretty unique role in the F-16 and specialized in Close Air Support (CAS) and was one of the only Forward Air (FWRD ) Controllers (FAC-A) which meant that I would communicate directly with the guys on the ground and help call in airstrikes, direct artillery, and pretty much try and quarterback all the airborne assets around a battle zone. So for me it was a lot easier to keep the politics out of everything and just focus on my mission, which in my mind was being responsible for ensuring that everyone on the ground, whether 18 year old Army infantrymen or experienced Navy SEALs, got back home safely. I didn’t really count the awards, to me nothing was more rewarding then getting through a pretty stressful firefight, expending every bomb and bullet we had on the jet, and then getting to meet some of the ground guys that I fought with knowing everyone got home safely. I’m still friends with some of those guys 10 years later.

But as far as accomplishments or other awards, I’d say I was most proud to be selected to go to Air Force Weapons School (which is the real name for Air Force Top Gun) where I graduated #1 in my class. A few years later I was asked to come back to Top Gun as an instructor and eventually was the Flight Commander of the CAS/FAC(A) division.

Because overall life can be incredibly difficult for veterans, I wanted to ask what struggles you faced upon returning home and transitioning into veteran life?

Honestly, my biggest struggle was just letting go a bit and understanding the rest of the civilian world doesn’t always move at a combat pace. There’s a brotherhood and sisterhood in the military that just holds a unique place in soul that can’t be replaced with anything else. I guess that’s what comes with the territory when you literally trust the person next to you with your life every day. And that also creates a sense of self-responsibility because if I’m not on my game, or I’m not able to do exactly what’s required of me at any given time in the military, then I’m putting someone else’s life at risk. Of course we never took that responsibility lightly. But thankfully we don’t have to live on that same edge in the civilian world, although I’ll admit there are definitely times where I feel like I’m in a battle in this industry.

What made you interested in entering this roller coaster of an industry?

Around 2013, I was taxiing my jet down the runway and I remember having the first text exchange about starting a cannabis company. It was right before Nevada opened up the medical license applications. To me, cannabis represented the change that I wanted to see in our society. Plant medicines have been an incredible source for me to process some of the things of my past, and of course cannabis is part of that family. I always joke that cannabis IS a gateway drug, but not with the negative connotations that you typically here. Cannabis opened the door for our society to have a relationship with plant medicines without having to lurk in the shadows. If it wasn’t for cannabis, we wouldn’t be talking about psylocibin legalization and some of the other substances that have shown some real promise in helping people work through PTSD and other traumas. And cannabis has such a strong culture behind it. The conversations back in 2014 represented not only political and drug reform, but a social movement, a culture, an art. It represented our win against prohibition and a freedom of expression. I also thought that cannabis would be such a strong economic platform that we could use that to influence and inspire change in our communities, and that cannabis companies could lead by example and show that there’s a different way to do business than what we typically see from the corporate giants. Cannabis felt like a grassroots (pun intended) movement for social reform that would carry over into our business and political structures. I guess not all of that played out like I hoped it would.

How did Tap Roots come to fruition, and what encouraged you to create the brand?

We named it that because the taproot is the first root that sprouts from a seed. It becomes the anchor root from which all the rest of the root system branches out from. And that’s what we wanted to represent, the grounding presence that would build a community of connected roots.

What have been some of your best highlights/accomplishments as owner with Tap Root? And why do you feel the brand sticks out among its competition?

Well, I won’t take credit for TapRoot’s accomplishments. We all have a role to play and we all contribute to different parts of our success. What our customers experience through our brand and product isn’t my contribution, although I definitely would love to say it is! We have some exceptionally talented people in our lab that have dedicated their lives to learning how to get the plant to express herself in the most beautiful and delicate ways. We pride ourselves in focusing on creating natural products without needing to adulterate or add things to it, the way the plant was supposed to be enjoyed. We also have an incredibly talented sales and marketing team that is able to create art through design and storytelling. Then of course we have people with exceptional attention to detail that takes all that magic, packages it up and makes sure it finds its way to the dispensary shelves so people can actually enjoy it.

Then me? Well, I guess similar to my military days of doing close air support. If I can provide the top cover to allow the rest of the team to make the real magic happen, then that’s a contribution I can be proud of.

How have you seen cannabis help you and your fellow veterans when it comes to the many physical and mental ailments that veterans oftentimes face after returning home?

It’s calming for sure. I often have trouble sleeping. Little things will wake me up through the night. But I have a vape pen under my pillow that I find to be incredibly effective at helping me sleep, and probably 95% of my cannabis consumption comes either right before bed or in the middle of the night.

If you think about it, for years our society has been totally comfortable with the idea of coming home from a hard day’s work and having a beer, wine or whiskey to “take the edge off.” Cannabis does that but in a healthier way. So if we’re using it for a similar stress relief, are we using it medicinally or recreationally? Or does it even matter? This day in age medical vs recreational cannabis defines taxes and regulatory structures and that’s about it. Who gives a shit what classification its use falls under? If people can commune with a natural plant as part of their personal wellness routine and it makes them feel more relaxed, happy, euphoric, whatever – you’ll get no judgment from me if it helps you be a better human and deal with the stress we all deal with every day. And I don’t think that’s just limited to veterans.

So although there are combat stresses that aren’t relatable to most civilians, there are a lot of people that are trying to figure out their personal battles in different ways. Cannabis can help with that, but what we really need to focus on is being better humans for each other. Not to withdraw but to step up. Be okay with being vulnerable and figure out how to be there for each other and connect in ways that create hope and inspiration in our communities. I don’t think we can expect any single plant to be able to enable that for us, but if cannabis represents community and connection, then I’m always down to share a joint with my closest friends or total strangers, whatever path they came from.

As a veteran yourself, why do you feel that it’s incredibly important for veterans who’ve found relief through cannabis to become cannabis advocates themselves?

For a lot of vets that just get out of the military, they don’t even know cannabis is an option. For awhile the VA (Veterans Affairs) couldn’t talk about it, and it was more common to leave with a dozen prescriptions for pharmaceuticals, and pharmaceuticals to counter the negative effects of other pharmaceuticals, then to have someone suggest that maybe cannabis can take away a few of those medications. Or at least remind people to reconnect with the natural things that already exist for us on this planet that don’t come out of pharma factories.

There’s also a sort of respect that’s given to veterans by people that tend to be more conservative with their socio-political views. Especially early on with legalization, I’d always find there would be a few elected officials that were surprised that someone with a military background would be involved in the industry. So I used my story and background to de-stigmatize cannabis to those that felt like they could relate more to me than to someone that’s been growing in Humboldt for the last few decades and just came down from the mountain. So in that sense, we all, vets especially, have an opportunity to be an ambassador for the plant and the movement that follows it.

If cannabis were to be eventually rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III, how do you see that massive reform impacting both TapRoot and the greater Nevada cannabis industry?

Honestly, I think it comes from as many challenges as benefits. We need tax reform to survive, that’s for sure. And we need to be able to provide access to those that want it. Not just because that should be a constitutional right, but also for the business side. Its no secret that our Nevada cannabis industry has become economically crippled in the last few years. Its bloody. I’ve seen the passion taken from a lot of great companies as they can no longer compete with over-taxation, over-regulation and compressed prices with limited distribution channels (i.e- dispensaries). I’ve seen people invest millions into their businesses only to auction off their equipment and turn their licenses in because they have minimal value.

Meanwhile, the latest reports show that the illicit market does about $370 million in sales in Nevada which is almost half of our legal market. And guess what? They deliver to the Strip, they deliver to hotels and they ship product to your door. We need to see some regulatory change quick, because government really screwed up one of America’s greatest opportunities. I don’t know if Schedule III will help with some of that, but it’s a step closer. It should help with tax reform, but then again it also opens the door for other federal and state tax. It might help with distribution and more access. But my biggest fear is that we’ll see a consolidation into larger corporations. We’ll also see big alcohol, tobacco and pharma start to play more than they have already. Everyone always compares us to the legalization (post-prohibition) of alcohol and how craft beer is thriving, and that cannabis will follow that path. I definitely think it will. Not everyone will want mass-produced, budget weed. But people forget that after prohibition we didn’t just jump right into a thriving craft beer market. There were decades where all you’d see on tap was Budweiser, Coors and all the other flavorless beers that I can’t stand. So we might have a long ways to go if we don’t establish the need and appreciation for craft cannabis today, while smaller companies can still have an influence.

Thank you for joining us Shane! If you wanted to find out more about TapRoot Brands, please follow their website.