Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenny Germano. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jenny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I often think about this question a lot, especially seeing young adults starting businesses in their 20’s. I founded ICS Consulting at the perfect time, at age 42. Honestly, I would have not been ready any sooner. I am enjoying the journey I have embarked upon and everything I have learned about myself and business along the way. I would not change a thing, including the ups and the downs – that is what made me a better person. I continually work on improving who I am as a business owner, career professional and I am always looking for growth opportunities. It really took me until my 40’s to have this mindset, which is why it was the right time to step into running a business. If I had started this journey in my 20’s I would have failed right out of the gate, as I had no clue who I was when I was younger.

Career-wise, in 2008 (Denver) finding work was a challenge due to the recession and I was looking for a change in my life after working in commercial kitchens for 20+ years. A mentor of mine suggested I look at Dispensaries for a new career change. I ended up knocking on a few doors at some Medical Dispensaries in 2009 and that is when I got my break and took my first job as a receptionist. From that first job is when my entire life changed, and I began this journey of uncovering my potential and whole new career.

I am incredibly grateful for the experience I had as an employee in the Cannabis Industry and the opportunity it gave me to carve out my path and help me figure out what I wanted to do. Being an employee is the reason I was able to create my business, and to have an insider experience of how each facility type operated.

Jenny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

If someone would have told me what I do now in my career 30 plus years ago, I would have laughed at them and never believed one word of it. For one, I never thought Cannabis would be legal in my lifetime and secondly never in a million years would I have thought, that I would have a role in Cannabis Compliance.

As an employee I discovered my knack early on for compliance, structure, processes and systems. I understood that I thrived in structured environments and I could take the same process I applied in my own life/career, to help operators do the same for their businesses.

Because of these systems I apply in my every day life, it basically arms me in a way, when I enter into a business I can tell right away whether or not if they have good structure or systems in place and if everyone is even engaged with their processes or not.

I am able to see gaps where others see nothing, and I think that is what makes me a little different from others. I learned from my mentor a while back about the importance of not being an empty teacher – that I need to live it, not just speak it.

I am in the business of helping people move away from being not responsible to responsible in how they operate in a regulated cannabis environment. The company I founded, ICS Consulting has three main focuses as it relates to working with Cannabis operators; Training, Operational Audits and Specification/Technical Writing.

ICS will come in and basically look under the “hood” of your business operationally and provide an assessment of what currently exists, providing licensed operators with a way to measure themselves on the scale of compliance.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

As a solo consultant starting in 2015, and trying to learn how to grow the business was a grass roots approach. I did not have a team or employees to really spread the word. I relied on doing it the old fashioned way, face to face. For the first 3+ years in business, I did in person cold calling at almost every Dispensary in the Colorado market. It was such an “out of my comfort zone” experience and it was the best way to get ICS out there by talking with employees.

I learned a lot believe it or not in visiting stores all day long, it did not matter if I got a no or a yes because I was able to speak directly to employees getting the pulse of the issues they’re up against, seeing what products were flooding the market and also I looked for common compliance issues from just walking in the door. I basically created a daily schedule where I had routes and would visit anywhere from 4 to 6 stores about 3 times a week.

Additionally, I pushed myself to do public speaking and received training in Toastmasters where I could practice and build my skills. I launched myself into the public speaking arena in 2016 and that has proven to be very effective, especially when operating a business alone. ICS has grown leaps and bounds over the last 7 years of operating, and I am part of a team now. I still publicly speak on compliance topics relevant to what is happening in the cannabis industry about 12 times a year and it is a very effective strategy tool.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

This is lesson I have learned many different times at different stages in my life. From being managed by someone else, to being a manager as an employee, to being a solo consultant and now ICS has expanded and is part of a whole team.

Here are a few that stick out to me the most and what I have learned along the way and am still working on in myself daily.

Being an authentic leader – I am willing to do the same things I ask of my team and/or employees.

Be humble – Treat people on my team the same way I want to be treated.

Be an equal – Do not think I am better than anyone else on the team.

Be honest – I am willing to take responsibility for my mistakes with grace and the ability to grow and learn from them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.icsconsultingservice.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ics_consulting_service
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndustryCompliance
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-germano-2a003270
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7SDdL4_rcUnRSUMJXYw72g

Image Credits
All the images belong to ICS