Josh Kesselman Email & Phone Number

I know that my personal ethos — to live and run my business like a rolling paper — sounds a bit half-baked to some people. But let me explain. A rolling paper has one simple, beautiful job: to burn. Burn the material it’s wrapped around and give that person a positive experience, whether it’s through a rush of THC or nicotine, or the downright simple rush of life. And I have one simple, beautiful goal.Starting with the first, tiny smoke shop I opened more than 30 years ago, my goal has always been to uplift smokers. That’s why I founded HBI International and created multiple smoke-related brands like RAW, Elements, Juicy Jay’s, and Kingpin. To help people get high in a better way. That starts with the people we do business with — the smoke shops, dispensaries, wholesalers, and distributors. When I first started out, I saw people building their business like a tall mountain. They were on the top peak, making all the money, while everyone below was making nearly nothing. This was especially prevalent in the rolling paper industry. We upended that and built our business on a hill instead. If you fall from the top of a hill, it’s a slow, gradual tumble — not the sudden, devastating crash of falling off a mountaintop cliff. Instead of HBI International determining how much our sellers make, we follow a less ruthless model and bring those stores along with us. This is why you won’t find me opening a RAW store. Why would I compete with my customers? I’d rather continue our disruptive model of uplifting stores and creating entrepreneurs who make a lot of money selling our products. If you believe there are secrets to success, I’ll tell you ours. It’s empathy. We’re able to be extremely innovative because we smoke. And we pay attention. If you empathetically understand what the consumer needs and wants, you can just go and create. Now, as founder of a vegan-owned company with more than 2,500 SKUs and so many patents that I don’t always file for them, I’m thinking about my legacy and how I can elevate our company. It’s not all about profits. It’s also about helping others as well, which we accomplish through RAW Giving’s donations of millions of dollars and our time to causes that are close to our hearts, both at home and across the world.Do you have a great idea for the smoking life? Maybe it’s a new PRAWduct? If so, pitch it to me here. We want to meet partners who can add to the fold — not with dollars, but with capabilities — so the overall brand and everything we do is stronger. Because this is how we all get higher together.

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  University Of Florida

  Marketing