We were lucky to catch up with Scott Sparks recently and have shared our conversation below.

Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Vermont Hempicurean was established in early 2018 by Scott Sparks. Scott had worked in the foodservice industry his entire life. For the previous 30 years he had been in foodservice sales, with the last ten years as VP of Sales for a local distributor in Vermont that supplied restaurants and stores with farm to table products. He worked closely with local farmers, cheesemakers, and producers to help them bring their products to market.

When this local company was sold to a major national foodservice distributor, Scott decided it was time to explore a new way to work with local farmers and help them keep their farms productive. He had an epiphany in work one day and turned to his co-worker and stated he was going to open a hemp store. Within a few hours, fate stepped in, and out of the blue he received a “spam” email inviting him to attend the Northern Colorado Hemp Expo. He took it as a message and bought VIP tickets and never looked back.

In Colorado he met lots of people involved in the emerging CBD marketplace. On his return to Vermont he started searching for Vermonters looking to create a hemp economy. He attended the very first Heady Vermont meeting and soon after started making his business plan. He quit his stable job and jumped off a cliff to open Vermont Hempicurean almost a year to the day after attending the Colorado event.

Vermont Hempicurean continued to adapt to the marketplace and weathered the Covid pandemic. Some cannabis grow supplies were added to replace the original hemp paper, hemp seeds, and hemp seed oil that was stocked. Those supplies brought in some new customers.

With an eye on legalization, Scott put the pieces in place to open a cannabis dispensary. He had to relocate and found a big red Vermont barn on the outskirts of town that had the perfect space and vibe for the business expansion. The business moved in January 2022 and Vermont Hempicurean now had a sister business, Vermont Grow Barn, which was an extension of the limited grow supplies stocked in the original downtown location.

In October 2022, Scott opened one of the first dispensaries in the state, Vermont Bud Barn. This was the culmination of lots of hard work and never backing down. When you open a cannabis business you are told “no” at every step and you need to figure out how to get to yes. There are too many obstacles to discuss here but major hurdles are banking, credit card processing, insurance, and compliance.

The latest endeavor is In The Weeds which is an indoor cultivation room. All four businesses are located in the big red barn. He likes to think of it as a one stop shop for all this cannabis or “Weed Is Us”.

The journey has been more rewarding than he could have imagined, but the challenges are real. This is not a business for the weak willed. You must be passionate and determined to succeed.

Scott says he decided to let his freak flag fly and took the chance, determined to reinvent himself at 60 years old. To anyone reading this, he says just do it. Jump off the cliff and follow your passion. When taking chances, his motto is “What is the worst thing that can happen?”.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Believe in your vision and actively do things that move you forward, always. Be ready and willing to adapt and change as you figure out the marketplace. Get and stay involved in the business community and in my case the legislature. If you can’t be part of the conversation, at least be aware of the conversation. Don’t focus on the competition, focus on your own strengths and do the best you possibly can to achieve your vision.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the first two years of Vermont Hempicurean I went through five credit card processors. Every one of them knew I sold CBD and approved my applications. Every one of them shut me down. The reality of that is you have no online store and your brick and mortar store is hard to do business with as most people use cards to pay for products. I always picked myself up and brushed myself off and refused to accept defeat. I found a credit card partner that works, for the most part, as they have only shut me down once, but reinstated the product after a few weeks. Never give up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vthempicurean.com – www.vtgrowbarn.com – www.vtbudbarn.com
• Instagram: @vermonthempicurean @vermontgrowbarn @vermontbudbarn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vthempicurean https://www.facebook.com/vermontgrowbarn/ https://www.facebook.com/vermontbudbarn

Image Credits
All photos are owned by Scott Sparks