We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandee Spillman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brandee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

Investing in the cannabis industry is both the best and worst investment I have ever made. It has taken essentially all my money and almost 4 1/2 years of my life (and counting).

I came to the plant later in life as an attempt to deal with symptoms of PTSD and combat alcoholism. It worked miracles in my own life, and I feel passionate about sharing this knowledge with others. I am a Veteran and receive medical care through the VA Healthcare system. Veterans are over prescribed prescription medications on a regular basis that have debilitating side effects. Making this investment has given me the opportunity to be a part of creating products that offer an alternative to what is being prescribed at the VA.

I am also a middle-aged member of the LGBTQ+ community that has lived as an openly gay person for the last 26 years. Our community has been through a lot, and we are still going through a lot. As a result, many in this community struggle with mental health issues and substance abuse. This investment has given me the opportunity to be a part of an annual scholarship campaign to benefit a member of this community as well as offer education to other community members. Even being an openly gay small business co-owner is an important impact on this community.

People over 50 like myself, have so many issues that impact their daily lives that could be lessened and, in some cases, maybe completely resolved by the plant verses less healthy alternatives being used. This investment has given me an opportunity to be a part of creating a brand that breaks stigma in a way that allows us to reach the cannabis curious and offer them an alternative.

This investment also gives me a larger voice in shaping what the cannabis industry looks like in Oklahoma or does it?

In theory, it should, but that is where the bad part of the investment comes in. The investment has been tainted by complacency and lack of enforcement by the Oklahoma lawmakers and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. The cannabis market in Oklahoma has become increasing difficult to maneuver because the rules have not been enforced despite the millions of tax dollars that have been collected. That combined with failure to act quick enough on limiting the issuances of licenses has led to an oversaturation of the market and steep price declines that are not sustainable. To survive, the dispensaries by and large have moved to selling only very narrow spectrum products that are not representative of a medical market.

Meanwhile all aspects of our manufacturing supply chain and distribution channel have passed along their increase costs to us. This also includes non-manufacturing expenses such as commercial insurance where we experienced a 54% increase for the same coverage as the prior year with no past claims. At the time I made this investment, it looked like Safe Banking was going to pass. That was over 4 ½ years ago and we are still in the same place – nowhere. We are fortunate to be banked; however, it is at a premium and we do not have access to traditional lending channels. This puts our cost of capital, if we can find it at all, well over 20% in most cases. The other negative aspect of cannabis investing is 280E. There are so many expenses that are non-deductible under 280E that would be deductible in most other industries, including marketing expenses which are important expenditures in a competitive market.

I am proud to be a part of bringing medicinal quality products to Oklahoma. I truly believe Bison manufactures products that have the capacity to change people’s lives for the better. From that standpoint, the is the best investment I have ever made. I believe Oklahoma has made recent changes that put the framework in place to improve the current market conditions. The Bison Brands is pushing forward and hopeful that regulators will play their part in paving the way for well-intentioned legal operators to succeed.

Brandee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At Bison Extracts, we have a passion for giving back to community and making the world a better place. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are at the core of who we are and what we stand for.

The Bison family, or herd, is made up of talented, intelligent, and uniquely diverse and authentic individuals. Our family is chosen, not based on race, sexual orientation, or gender, but by their common values and desire to be a part of a creative brand and team.

We strive to create a platform in this industry that values all individuals and brings us all together with a common goal of bringing awareness to natural medicine. Through innovation, research, and community conversation, we work hard to create full spectrum products people can use to assist in a more balanced life.

I am proud of the product offerings we have on the market. We are one of the only true full spectrum producers in the Oklahoma market. We utilize CO2 extraction and offer cannabis and hemps infused products. Bison Brands has invested in top-of-the-line medical grade extraction equipment which allows us to not only extract many volatile cannabinoids that others cannot, but also high-quality terpenes which are killed off in many other extraction processes.

We strive to break the cannabis stigma not by talking about it, but by our actions as a brand. Our packaging design and our social media content are not off putting to older demographics or the cannabis curious. We offer one of the largest varieties of product delivery methods of any brand in Oklahoma which includes: topicals, edible, vapes, patches, tinctures, tablets and suppositories.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Necole and I met through a mutual friend who knew we were both interested in possibly entering the cannabis industry in some way. We spent approximately one month together doing research and working on a business plan before starting our company. That was 4 1/2 years ago and since then we have launched a hemp infused products company — Bison Hemp Extracts. Last July, we launched Social Bison, our terpene infused tonic that is brewed with Nothings Left — a local Tulsa brewer.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Necole and I had no prior experience in operating in the cannabis industry. We have successfully competed in one of the most competitive markets in the U.S. for the last 4 1/2 years with no investors other than ourselves. This requires a lot of discipline, a lot of careful planning, and tremendous personal sacrifice. We are passionate about the plant and are surrounded by a small but mighty team that shares our conviction about bringing Oklahomans the medical quality cannabis and hemp products they deserve.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bisonextracts.com, www.bisonhempextracts.com
• Instagram: @socialbison, @bisonextractstulsa, @bisonhempextracts, @monarchmedicinals
• Facebook: @bisonextracts, @bisonhempextracts