We were lucky to catch up with Emily Schafrick recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

I’ve been lucky enough to help many people during the last 2 1/2 years with this company, but there was one woman in particular that sticks out in my mind. She came in one day about a year ago and was absolutely desperate for help. She had been suffering from a 6-month constant debilitating migraine after hitting her head on a railing. She was in such pain, she even had a cold cap and dark sunglasses on while I helped her. I let her know we can’t ever promise results but she was willing to try anything. I talked her through the different cannabinoids and recommend dosages and we eventually got her set up with some infused gummy squares. The next day she came back in, asked for me specifically and just broke down in my arms, gave me the biggest hug and wouldn’t stop thanking me. Her and her mother both. The gummies had given her more relief than she had felt in the entire 6 months. The migraine wasn’t completely gone (she was still seeing specialists) but she was finally able to do her normal day-to-day tasks without insufferable pain. She’s still a customer to this day and has since gotten even more help from neurologists so the migraines are a lot less frequent. It’s moments like that, that truly make my day worthwhile. I’ve seen so many happy tears and I cannot express how grateful I am.

Emily, 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?

My name’s Emily, I was born and raised in Arizona and have a B.S. in Biology from Northern Arizona University. I found myself in Tennessee after spending a few years in Las Vegas. I’ve enjoyed cannabis for a number of years, but while in Vegas I got to experience recreational legalization which was incredible. I never imagined I would turn cannabis into a career but one day I was scrolling Facebook and saw a post from a new company called Burning Acre. Just on a whim, I commented on the post to see if they were hiring and in Nov. of 2020 I was brought on. I was the first retail associate, first B2B associate and had a hand in laying the foundation for the wonderful company we have now! We’re here because we saw the lack of quality cannabis edibles, and other cannabis products for that matter, in TN. Our founder, John Cureton, has 20+ years of experience in this industry and his goal is to end the stigma, educate the community and provide a clean, safe cannabis experience for everyone. We make everything from cookies to cheesecake bites to dessert jars to chocolate bars and so much more. We truly want to take cannabis to the next level, a luxurious level.
Burning Acre is now an 8x award-winning luxury, organic edible company in just 2 1/2 years. We services 40+ stores, just recently opened a second location in Nashville and our edibles will soon be featured in a film called Crust, directed by the lovely Sean Whalen (you may remember him from his role in Twister.) I am so so so proud of everyone’s hard work and how we’ve grown.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Hmm.. well as for close calls- I can tell you the scariest thing to happen to the business thus far. One Wednesday morning a few months back, John and I were conducting employee reviews. We heard the door bell in the back ring as people were coming in and out and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Next thing we know, we hear loud crashing. Now, we thought it was this bottle that once in a while falls off a shelf next to the door when someone slams it.. but then the crashing kept happening. I was the first one out in the lobby and lo and behold, there is a man with a rebar pipe smashing our entire front retail counter. Our 9ft long piece of display glass was shatter, throwing glass onto all of our products on the shelves below and behind the counter. Any items that we had on display or for sale were destroyed and smashed. Even the wood countertop was damaged. And here I am standing in the doorway, cursing like a sailor while this man starts walking toward me with the rebar. Luckily, once John walked out (he is twice this mans size) the man backed down. The cops were called and this man picked up a few criminal charges. We had to shut down for two days just to clean and bake more because all of our inventory was dusted with glass. Shutting down for multiple days is something no small business wants to do.. of course he choose to do this on a payroll week… We still find pieces of glass to this day. I had never handled a situation like that, it was a major learning moment. It’s important to me that my staff feels safe to come to work and I still can’t believe that happened. It’s hard for me to even watch the security camera footage. We’ve obviously made it to the other side, but definitely a close call.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

It’s going to sound cheesy- but it’s honesty, 100%. If the customer doesn’t feel like they can trust you or the products or the advice you give them, they won’t come back. Word-of-mouth is big for us since our flagship store is actually more so in an industrial area than a retail/strip mall area. We’ve become somewhat of a destination spot because of the bond we’ve created with our customers. We’ve had people travel up from Alabama and down from Kentucky just to buy our products. I make sure when customers come in they leave feeling educated and safe with what they’re consuming. I feel honored to have their trust and I feel honored they tell their friends and family!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.burningacre.com
• Instagram: @burningacre
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/burningacre
• Twitter: @burningacre

Image Credits
John Cureton Ray Liz – Ray Liz Studios