From conceptual, to design, to manufacturing, to printing, to promotional, to fulfillment, MERCHtender does it all so you can focus on farming, distributing, manufacturing, selling, and branding.
MERCHtender provides
curated and personalized soft goods and accessories production services
comprehensive inventory & fulfillment solutions
unparalleled customer service & support
cannabis-friendly merchandise marketplace that caters 24/7/365 to cannabis aficionados worldwide
I love discovering and developing great brands be it in entertainment, mobile technology and now cannabis. I am blessed to have begun my career working for some incomparable individuals and artists at Virgin Records America (VRA). VRA instilled in me a lifelong passion for brand development, while always respecting the creative source. It’s a cultivated skill set that I used often as the C.O.O. and co-founder of PwrdBy, a next generation tech development company for nonprofits and mission driven organizations. Today, it’s central to how we’re launching and developing MERCHtender, and partnering with Canna Brands.
I spent my formative years in Santa Monica, California, and went to High School and UCLA living here. Santa Monica is also the place where I learned how to surf and why 40+ years later it is still my home. My reverence for the sea and surfing knows no bounds. I live my life informed by what the ocean provides: passion, humility, solace, peace, oneness, and endless joy. As a fervent devotee of the Church of the Seven Seas I am committed to a sustainable approach to work and life making it a central tenet of MERCHtender.
My anecdotal experiences around cannabis long ago convinced me that this vilified and greatly misunderstood plant is here to help and heal, versus being used as a baton to conduct the failed War On Drugs and as a reason to incarcerate so many people of color.
Delivering great design should not come at a cost or be a nice to have. Design sets up first impressions, great designs seal them. I believe great design is the foundation of your brand, your most effective leverage for differentiation and growth.
I am a lover of cannabis and design and I live in Humboldt, California. My journey started over 25 years ago in New England designing, creating and manufacturing merchandise with pot leaves on them and selling them on college campuses throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. In my early 20s I owned Porcupine Graphix, a screen print facility in Vermont, where my clients included Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, and Woody Jackson the famous Cow artist and creator of Ben & Jerry’s brand.
I started experimenting with online shopping carts in 1992, and had one of the first online tee shirt shop websites, Knighthood Tees, which was a music related merchandise line that sold Phish PhanArt work. A decade ago I made my way to Humboldt County to help a friend on a cannabis farm for a year and I fell in love with Humboldt. I have been involved with community and nonprofit endeavors ever since I moved here. Today I am the Founder of The Yak Group, a full service branding & design agency for the cannabis industry. I am also the Co-Host of Hotboxing in Humboldt, a podcast focused on strains, breeders and farmers with the star of the show being the strain(s)..
