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Know Your Guide

Posted on by Ceeyar

When visiting a new province, state, country, or an unfamiliar body of water it is best to head out with a guide, at least for your first trip. Most beginners or non-anglers would believe that any guide service in a particular body of water will get you on some fish, maybe even that trophy you’ve been looking for. But any avid angler that has chartered a guide, especially a one that isn’t great, will tell you to do your research.

Recently, I took a trip to Fort Myers, Florida to visit my parents who have a small condo on a golf course. The bass fishing in the ponds around the course is good, but I had grown a little tired of fishing the same old spots. My brother-in-law, who also happened to be there at the same time, suggested that we go goliath grouper fishing. We had seen the videos online, which were absolutely insane, and decided without doing research on the guide or experiences had by others, to book a trip. He was charging $800USD for a 4-hour trip. I thought the price was a little steep, but he was supposedly the best.

We showed up to the marina about 15 minutes early and proceeded to wait. The guide showed up 20 minutes late, and made some excuses for his tardiness. It wasn’t a big deal to us as long as he gave us back the time on the end of the trip. However, to our disappointment, the story got worse.

He took us to the bridge pilings where the GG’s shelter themselves from the sun. He instructed me to grab a jack – a small but powerful fish – out of the bait well so that he could hook it up. I assumed, as I began to open the lid, that there would be at least a dozen or so in order for us to have enough bait to last the entire trip. Man was I wrong. He had one. Yes, only one baitfish for us to use on these monster fish. I grabbed the jack by the tail, pulled it out of the water and handed it to the guide. He hooked it up, then handed me the rod. He then verbally instructed me on how to lower the fish into the right area, and right away I got a bite. This is when things started to go really sour. Myself being a bass angler felt the bite and tried to set the hook. The GG ripped the jack from the hooks and I was left with no bait. The guide decided that now was the time to tell me that I was supposed to reel down on the fish, which was no help now that we were out of bait. He also had the audacity to ask if I had ever seen his videos on YouTube, hinting that I was supposed to learn everything about GG fishing from some low budget videos of him basically screaming like a banshee.

With no bait left, much to our dismay, we were now paying to do his job, which is preparing for a fishing trip. So he threw out a large bait net and dragged in a bunch of small bait fish, dumped them in the bait well and started up the motor so that we could head over to another area in order to catch more jacks to use as GG bait. Three hours later, we had two jacks in the boat and less than a half hour left in the trip. With the ride back, which he counted as time on the water, we were done for the day.

I have since been informed that this is not a unique experience, which did very little to calm me. I was angry because I had overpaid for jack and snook fishing which basically set up the guide with bait for his next trip, was yelled at for not being able to read his mind, and all the while had to listen to delusional stories of greatness by a guy who had just ripped us off.

I can’t stress enough, that should you use a guide service, do your research before you book anything. There are review websites and social media outlets that are littered with customer experiences. You could even call around the area to the marinas or bait shops, which usually know a number of guides. While they may not throw one of their own under the bus, they can steer you in the right direction.

Fishing you the best of luck!

You Need More Gary Vee in Your Life

Posted on by Ceeyar

“Get off your ass, find out what you’re fucking good at, and triple down on that thing.”

This was the first line I had ever heard from Gary Vaynerchuk aka. Gary Vee. He’s rough around the edges, he’s unorthodox, and he’s unapologetically straightforward. Gary takes the message of motivational speakers like Tony Robbins, flips it on its head, and beats you with it, but he’s not trying to be a jerk, just a realist.

Last year I was unemployed, stressed, angry, and sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. As I would do most days, I found myself searching for jobs that I didn’t want, and scrolling through the endless feeding trough of Facebook. I was consuming mostly mental garbage, when I stumbled across a video of Gary. He was harsh and he cursed a lot, but he told the truth and his words resonated with me. “If you’re lucky enough to be good at what you like, become tunnel fucking vision,” exclaims Gary. “The reason most people are not doing that thing [they’re supposed to] is they’re worried about the opinion of somebody else.” It was there and then that I stopped trying to live up to what I believed others expected of me, and decided to pursue a career in what I have always loved as a hobby, writing.

I have since been following Gary on different social media platforms, and have learned more about myself than I ever thought possible. I know that I am not unique in this personal revelation as millions of people following him throughout social media share similar stories. Gary also has dozens to hundreds of people voluntarily showing up to his “meet-ups”, which are impromptu gatherings in whatever city he finds himself that day, and are initiated through his social media channels. He openly answers questions, and to his benefit, has a chance to network with new and interesting people. He gives sound business and personal advice by telling people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear

Gary the Entrepreneur

At a very young age, Gary was already an entrepreneur. He would buy, sell, and trade baseball cards, comic books, and toys on the weekends, making himself thousands of dollars in the process. After graduating from college, Gary began working at his father’s liquor store. He transformed it from a 3 million dollar company into a 60 million dollar empire called the Wine Library in just 5 years. From his success in the wine industry, he branched out to digital marketing and investments by starting the companies Vayner Media and Vayner X. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch, and General Electric, and helped and invested in successful tech start-ups such a Twitter, Tumblr, and Uber. He continues to invest in new companies, start new businesses, and has recently been working with individual social media and music personalities, such as Rome Fortune and Tierra Whack, helping them to forward their own careers.

Gary believes that social media is the most powerful tool in business today and anyone not using it to its full potential results in missing numerous opportunities. Much like a contractor, he understands that the use of every tool (social media outlet) is necessary to do the job effectively. “If you have the greatest hammer, the greatest screwdriver, and the greatest wrench in front of you. If you don’t use them properly, you will lose,” he says.

Purchasing ad space on Facebook can help, but getting into the heads of your target market and penetrating all of the media channels available today is the way to truly win. He uses his own advice in all of his businesses by working 16-18 hours per day and providing content and information about his companies, his personal brand, and his mentorship to his followers and fans on a daily basis. He speaks mainly of his successes, failures, the realities of business, and the amount of hustle required in order to succeed.

For people like me who are relatively new to Gary Vee and his accomplishments, he can conveniently be lumped into a sea of social media personalities. However, unlike most people making money from social media and documenting their entire lives for the world to see, Gary understands how and why social media celebrity works.

Gary continues to be highly influential and a driving force behind a number of young entrepreneurs. He doles out new business ideas, by the mouthful, and when asked if he cares about people stealing his ideas, his answer is as direct as can be expected. “Ninety-nine point nine percent of people listening will not think twice about these ideas. Of the few that will, maybe one or two people will actually attempt to make it happen,” he says. Gary fully understands the reserved state of mind possessed by the typical human being, and does not fear having an idea “stolen” by someone. He would rather see someone take his idea, make it happen, and ask for advice if they get stumped somewhere throughout the process.

Gary Vee’s underlying message to anyone willing to listen is simple; self-awareness is the key to personal growth and success, love the process, put in the work, “don’t give a fuck about others’ opinions of your failures,” and patience, patience, patience. With a global following of millions of people ages 13-80, many successful businesses, and a keen eye for the next big thing, Gary isn’t just playing the game and winning, he’s rewriting the rules.

MMJ Canada: People Over Profits

Posted on by Ceeyar

Delving into the world of medical cannabis can be a frightening venture for anyone. “Do I have to be deathly ill to acquire cannabis for treatment?” or “aren’t they just drug dealers with a storefront?” are just two of the thousands of questions someone new to medical cannabis may be asking themselves. Those who have experienced these feelings of reluctance can rest assured there is a place that you can go to have your questions answered in a safe and comfortable space, without having the overly conflicting messages and click bait articles of some major news outlets and social media.

At MMJ Canada, CEO, Clint Younge works alongside Director of PR and creator of I Heart Dispensaries, Ben Rispin, and Rebecca Taube, Manager of the Hess Village location in Hamilton, ON and Founder of the LOST organization. They believe that education and healing is the most important aspect of their organization. According to Younge, MMJ is best considered a wellness retail boutique, where “[our] goal is to be a global brand, but more importantly it is to strengthen the community”, all while raising awareness of what medical cannabis can provide. “People over profits” is a saying at MMJ that can be witnessed through the staff and management’s consultative approach to assisting patients. “It’s really important for us to educate not only our staff, but the community as well. I run this store with complete transparency”, states Taube. The transparency is evident. Bud tenders help one another to answer their patients’ questions. The management deals directly with new and existing patients, and the on-site practitioner of traditional eastern medicine recommends not only the cannabis related products offered at MMJ, but other natural alternative products and healing exercises.

The demographics of MMJ’s patients span all age groups and ethnicities. However, the commonality between each is physical pain or mental illness. Both, when treated correctly, can lead to a better way of life.

It has been known for some years now that cannabis helps immensely with pain management. Indica strains, topical creams, and pure CBD (Cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid) extract, among others, can rid the body of (even if just for the short term) pain caused by illness or injury without the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs. MMJ also has some canine patients who are treated for ailments like hip dysplasia and high anxiety with CBD-infused dog treats. While the evidence is clear about the effective pain management properties of medical cannabis, there are still many who are skeptical of medical cannabis and it’s effects on mental illness.

Taube, a sufferer of mental illness created The LOST Organization (Living Outside of Suffering and Trauma). LOST is a mental health support group which aims at changing the way the world approaches mental illness by removing the stigma and creating an accessible community for those who are suffering. LOST works very closely with MMJ and Collective Care, an initiative started by Younge and Rispin to raise funds for individuals and charities, to inform, guide and most importantly, listen to the needs of people who suffer from mental illness every day. These illnesses include, but are not limited to, depression, anxiety and PTSD. Perhaps you haven’t been diagnosed with one of the more, well known mental illnesses. Maybe you suffer from severe stress due to your line of work or an obligation to a very sick family member. Perhaps you just need to relax and be able to clear your mind and enjoy life. Rispin proclaims, “Recreation is an important part of what the brain needs. It plays largely into your happiness” and consequently your mental health. For the government, however, regardless of what the community says and feels, there is a specific difference between medical and recreational cannabis.

 

The Uphill Legal Battle

Lately, the Ontario government has been cracking down on cannabis dispensaries, raiding every storefront in every city. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products designed to help those suffering from mental and physical ailments are being seized by the police to be locked away in evidence rooms or destroyed. While MMJ Canada is continuously trying to work with the government to change legislation, the battle is uphill for now, and the entire Canadian market is waiting to see if and when Mr. Trudeau will make good on his promises.

Through the voices of their patients, MMJ and all affiliate organizations; Rispin believes the examples of real stories from real people will help to shape legislation to include medical dispensaries. Rispin speaks of his contact with the public, “Because I’ve been overseeing social media, I’m the one who was getting all the messages from people saying ‘thank you for getting me off opiates”. And to further the reach, through I Heart Dispensaries, Rispin encourages people to send their testimonials directly to government representatives at all levels. In turn, he has agreed to post the testimonials online in an effort to encourage more people to come forward.

The economical benefits are also apparent as has been confirmed in places like Colorado. The February 2017 tax remittance shows a total reported tax, license and fee revenue of over $17.7 million. This newly generated revenue increases significantly when added to the money being saved by not having to police archaic laws, backlog courts or imprison violators. Also, by creating jobs and more taxable incomes, the profits soar to near immeasurable heights.

MMJ is happy to pay taxes, help local economies, and fit into the industry wherever the government feels is the right place. Rispin explains, “[whether it’s] a free-market or mixed economy approach with cannabis, the focus of MMJ will not change.” He goes on to explain that working directly with the government and community to increase exposure and debunk the myths behind mental illness is “how we will help and benefit the most people”.

As part of the MMJ mission to bring medical cannabis and mental illness to light, Clint Younge spoke at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin, Germany on April 10-12, 2017. Other speakers included Tommy Chong, U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and a number of high profile doctors and entrepreneurs.

For those interested in becoming a patient of MMJ Canada, you can book your free assessment by calling your nearest location or going to mmjcanada.ca, selecting your region (B.C. or Ontario) and clicking the appointments tab.