We were lucky to catch up with Chirali Patel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chirali , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I think the ability to take a chance on yourself and take risks are some keys to making you successful. I once had a job where I had the potential to make 7 figures if I just stayed long enough. My former boss had a private jet so trust me, the possibility was very real. But the work environment was suffocating for me and I didn’t feel welcome or valued. The type of work I was doing was also not fulfilling my purpose of making a real impact or tangible difference in the world around me. I was able to do the work and was even told I was a natural, so if I just kept my head down, at some point soon, I would’ve had a major payout. But, money wasn’t the motivating factor for me. I wanted to feel like I was doing something meaningful and in alignment with my vision in life. Success to me isn’t just measured by net worth, but rather by how you feel at the end of the day and whether you love what you do so much that it no longer is work, it is just part of your life.
I had to take a chance on myself and find a way to do what I dreamt of which was to be in the cannabis industry. I didn’t know how I was going to make my dreams come true, I just knew I wasn’t going to stop until I did. I had to embrace the uncertainty and trust that I have everything within me to accomplish my goals. Launching my own business was the scariest thing I have done because I had no clue how to be an owner or manage a team. But you take it one day at a time and you listen to people who have been through the process so you can learn from them and cushion your failures to a degree. You can’t succeed without failing so you realize it’s just part of the game to level up. I’m blessed to have people in my life like my husband to learn from, but it all starts with believing in yourself and diving into the unknown out of your comfort zone. I haven’t looked back since and one day, I’m confident I’ll be flying high on my hemp fuel-powered jet.
Chirali , 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?
I had a love for the plant long before I got into the cannabis industry. I used to joke with one of my friends, Haris, who’s an angel above, that I would be part of getting it legal in NJ – long before it was. When the opioid epidemic was at a peak, I decided to learn more about cannabis because I saw how it helped loved ones stay clean and off hard core drugs. I took a trip out to Colorado and visited legal operations and asked as many questions as I could think of. I even negotiated a job offer for myself out there at a vertically integrated facility but decided to bring the knowledge back to my home state and figure out a way to get into the legalization efforts. I started networking as early as 2017 in the NY/NJ area and educating myself on cannabis. Then in 2018, I had several losses in my household, losing two uncles, my dear aunt, Prapti, whom I shared a bond with, and my friend, Haris. It weighed heavy on me because everyone was too young and suffered in ways they shouldn’t have had to. I used to medicate my aunt with cannabis oils, topicals, and edibles to help her from the effects of chemotherapy when the opioids prescribed to her made her comatose. While it gave her some quality of life, it couldn’t save her. My friend was a medical patient when he was alive and he was a connoisseur of cannabis long before it was mainstream. Both of their losses pushed me to learn more about cannabis and share it with others as an alternative to prescription meds.
In 2018, I ideated the name, Blaze Responsibly, and sat on it for a while because I didn’t want to launch it until I felt credible to share with the world. So I spent more time educating myself, networking, and slowly getting connected with the right people and organizations in New Jersey. My prayers were answered when the ACLU-NJ launched the Vote Yes campaign in 2020 and I was able to be involved as the South Asian liaison to educate the community on the ballot initiative to vote yes to legalizing adult-use cannabis. Once we legalized in November, I launched Blaze Responsibly via social media and the campaign to educate on what a safe and responsible industry should look like began. It started with simple posts like, now that cannabis is legal, “where can I blaze responsibly,” or “what are my rights as an employee/employer.”
Eventually, I secured a partnership with Cookies Social Impact and we hosted a two-day boot camp to educate entrepreneurs seeking to get a cannabis business license. We had over 200 participants and the feedback was clear – the content and programming were some of the best they had access to. I had a woman in particular tell me that she went into an investor meeting after taking the boot camp and they asked her if she had taken a course or what happened because she was much more informed than the week before. The goal was simple, to provide reliable information to the masses in a manner that could be digestable by all, with a focus on best practices. As an attorney by profession, my job at the time was to help applicants secure cannabis licenses so I was prepared and willing to share the knowledge to anyone who would listen. The education series then evolved and for the past year, the company has been focusing on building out corporate social responsibility initiatives with partners such as Ascend Wellness Holdings and Ayr Wellness. Our expungement clinics hosted by these companies throughout the state of NJ have helped nearly a thousand individuals with access to free record clearing services, job placement in the industry, and numerous resources to services to help them gain upward mobility. Blaze Responsibly has become a trusted organization centered around goodwill and giving back to the community. It’s about empowering the right individuals to be part of the industry and creating safe practices to ensure a responsible industry where everyone can thrive.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
While there are many books and videos I’ve read that have helped, the most significant resource I have access to is talking to others who have been through the entrepreneurial journey to help guide me. Most importantly, my husband, who is a born entrepreneur. When I started my law firm, I told him to stay out of it because he isn’t a lawyer and it’s a law firm, not a business – little did I know how wrong/naive I was. He told me he was just trying to help make sure I didn’t have to suffer as much as he did when he started his businesses, but I was stubborn and confident at the time that I knew what I was doing – even though it was the first time I didn’t have a paycheck to rely on. My law degree had very little if at all, to do with the success of my business. It turned out I needed to learn business fundamentals, client acquisition/retention methods, and crucial financial planning skills to ensure continuity. Listening to him helped me change my philosophy and become open to listening to others. I realized that not only did I not know it all, I knew nothing at all about business. I grew up with the library being my favorite place because books were my escape in my childhood. I thought reading books on business would help, and while they did reinforce things, they certainly were no replacement for real life conversations with people who are successful and willing to help you by sharing their mistakes. The key is the openness to listen and implement.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think being genuine in my approach and wanting to help people without taking shortcuts helped build my reputation. I spent years of writing articles and sitting on webinars and panels in person just sharing my knowledge with others. The bulk of my time in the industry revolves around helping others for free, especially individuals with prior cannabis convictions. The industry is small in a sense and word gets around – good or bad. Just doing the work for the community without the desire for a reward helped others see my approach was different, it was authentic. When you do things for the right reasons, people recognize and the work starts to speak for itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blazelawfirm.com
- Instagram: @BlazeResponsibly
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chirali-patel-42a82914
- Twitter: @BlazeResponsbly
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blazeresponsibly/videos
Image Credits
NJ.com