Growing Your Business in the Cannabis Industry - Fireside Chat

Hosted by experts in the Cannabis Industry, Leaf Trade and Rebel Rock invite you to a fireside event to learn about growing and scale your business in the cannabis industry. Leaf Trade is the wholesale ordering technology platform made for sellers and buyers of cannabis to optimize ordering and fulfillment. Leaf Trade helps sellers manage, market, and cultivate the growth of their business. Rebel Rock utilizes cutting edge technology along with unrivaled accounting and business expertise to help cannabis companies grow, scale, and succeed with confidence. Rebel Rock – Putting the Confidence in Cannabis.

Together, they invite cannabis cultivators, processors, manufacturers, dispensary owners, executives, investors and thought-leaders in the space, to a fireside chat where they will share their expertise, successes, analysis and commentary regarding how to grow and scale your business in the cannabis industry.

This event will focus on trending and hot topics in the industry, as well as advice and real experience case studies that provide insights and guidance. We invite you to come out, meet and network with other professionals in the AZ cannabis industry and learn from leaders in the community.

Fireside Chat Panel

Moderator: Melissa Diaz, CPA, CFO & Co-Founder, Rebel Rock

Melissa’s accounting experience spans numerous industries, both domestically and internationally, including healthcare, hospitality and, of course, cannabis. In addition to co-founding and serving as CFO to Rebel Rock, Melissa is CFO and Shareholder for High Rock Accounting, which places an emphasis on utilizing technology to strategically make day-to-day and long-term financial decisions, while pursuing company goals and compliancy. At High Rock and Rebel Rock, Melissa helps companies remain competitive and efficient in increasingly high-pressure and high-stakes environments. Before launching successful accounting firms from the ground up, Melissa served as the Manager of Global Revenues and Receivables at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. She performed in-depth reporting and analysis and worked closely with senior management to develop comprehensive financial analysis that influenced company direction.

1. Michael Piermont, President & CRO, Leaf Trade:

Michael is the President, Chief Revenue Officer and board member of Leaf Trade. He is responsible for all sales and business strategy; including marketing, customer success and market expansion. Often described as possessing a “leading-edge voice and a visionary mind,” Michael Piermont,  is driven by his focus, courage, and innovative approach to thinking. He has helped start ups like Gohealth and Fooda scale. His brain child, amSTATZ, a SaaS (software as a service) platform for the fitness industry, is an online community that connects personal trainers with their clients. Following launch, it quickly grew to 102,000 users, and, within five years, Piermont had sold the company to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Shortly after, he co-founded a sports fan box platform called Fanchest which was named Inc. 500's fastest growing companies (#41). He was subsequently recruited to become the CEO of EcoFit Networks, which provides asset-management tools for health clubs. In 2018 he met and established a great relationship with James Yi, founder of Leaf Trade. He immediately saw the potential of Leaf Trade and joined the team as President & CRO. “My goal is to make the cannabis industry more stream-lined so it’s easier for owners and operators to run their business,” says Piermont. “Using data and technology, Leaf Trade allows them to deliver a better experience, be more efficient and increase operational consistency.”  Michael was named one of the Health and Fitness industries “Rising Stars” by IHRSA in 2017.

2. Andrejs (Andy) Bunkse, President & Founder, Endurance Strategies Group, LLC; Attorney & Founder, Rain Legal

An attorney and entrepreneur with multiple decades of experience guiding companies in heavily regulated industries, Andrejs acts as chief legal officer, senior advisor and board member for a variety of enterprises and investors, with an emphasis on the cannabis industry and high tech. Since 2013, his focus has been on supporting transactions, licensing support, business development and providing overall guidance in the complex and evolving cannabis industry.

3. Chris Perez, Managing Director of Paradigm Coaching Solutions, LLC; Investor, Columbia Care

Chris Perez is the Managing Director of Paradigm Coaching Solutions, LLC, a business coaching and consulting company that specializes in strategically accelerating growth, increasing productivity and optimizing performance and outcomes for small to mid-sized organizations. His experience includes over 35 years of business participation, including over 23 years of business ownership in the real estate investment, development and brokerage industry. Chris started his career by spending 8 ½ years as a CPA with Ernst and Young and Pannell Kerr Forster, working with over 100 companies. Chris went on to establish his own practice, where he conducted financial and operational reviews, as well as conducting forensic accounting consulting engagements. This foundation helps Chris assist clients in finding and correcting financial and operating inefficiencies, which leads to greater productivity and profitability.

4. Patrick Hannigan, National Sales Manager, Aeriz.

Aerīz is a national medical cannabis brand based in Phoenix, AZ. They provide patients with the purest tasting, burning, and feeling aeroponically cultivated cannabis. They're fast growing, with cultivation centers in Illinois and Arizona and more on the way. They know that as a cannabis consumer, purity is essential. Aeroponic cannabis is cleaner, purer cannabis than traditional soil-grown flower. Free from contamination and computer-controlled for the precise nutrition, Aeriz flower is wholesome, unadulterated cannabis that consistently receives some of the lowest ppm contamination test results in the industry.

Who Should Come To This Event:

Cannabis cultivation, processor, manufacturer executives and employees.

Dispensary owners and operators.

Entrepreneurs interested in the cannabis Industry.

Venture capitalists.

Stakeholders in the cannabis and innovation community.

People curious starting or growing successful cannabis companies.

Anyone Interested in great discussion.

*Food & Beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) will be provided*