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

Scott, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

In the rollercoaster journey of entrepreneurship, I’ve encountered many highs and lows, but nothing quite compares to the saga of trust and betrayal that unfolded with someone I considered not just a business partner, but a friend.

Imagine this: you’ve built a business from the ground up, pouring your heart and soul into it, often working without pay, driven by the vision of what it could become. Now, picture a key investor, someone who’s not only a significant shareholder but also a guest at your wedding, someone you’ve trusted with weekly strategy sessions and shared values. This was my reality with Mina Mishrikey, the head of investments at Merida Capital.

Our relationship was built on mutual respect and shared goals, or so I thought. As our company faced the typical ebbs and flows of market conditions, I was assured by Mina that the next round of funding was merely delayed, not denied. Trusting in our friendship and the irrevocable legal agreement we had in place, I reassured my team that everything was under control. I even dipped into my personal resources to bridge the funding gap, believing in the integrity of our partnership.

However, what started as delays turned into a pattern of excuses. Each promise of imminent funding from Mina was followed by another delay, always with a new reason, often citing a ‘whale investor’ who was just about to join their fund. This investor, much like the funding, never materialized.

The realization hit hard when, after two years of this, Mina suggested I sue him if I wanted the money. It was a moment of stark betrayal. Here was a man who had been at my wedding, who knew my family, suggesting legal action as if our relationship was merely transactional. It wasn’t just about the money; it was about the trust that had been so callously shattered.

This experience wasn’t just a business lesson; it was a profound personal betrayal. It taught me the harsh reality that in business, as in life, trust can be a double-edged sword. While I continue to believe in the power of integrity and relationships, this ordeal underscored the importance of safeguarding your interests, even with those you trust implicitly.

In the end, trusting Mina and relying on our legal agreement ended up killing my business. It’s a story that serves as a stark reminder: in the world of business, sometimes the most significant risks come not from market forces, but from the people you least expect.

Scott, 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?

Scott Jennings, once a Wall Street executive, transitioned from the high-stakes world of finance to become the founder and CEO of Pantry, a company that represents a blend of his entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for wellness through cannabis. Jennings’ journey into the cannabis industry was not just a career shift but a mission to address personal and widespread health issues through natural means, particularly focusing on sleep and stress management.

Scott Jennings’ Background:
Before founding Pantry, Scott Jennings spent nearly a decade on Wall Street, working with institutions like Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley. His time in finance was marked by a growing interest in impact investing, where he sought to merge profitability with societal good. This ethos carried over into his venture with Pantry, where he aimed to make a positive impact in the health and wellness sector through cannabis-infused products.

Pantry’s Business Model:
Pantry stands out in the cannabis industry by integrating functional foods with cannabis, aiming to offer products that not only provide the benefits of cannabis but also incorporate adaptogens, superfoods, and functional mushrooms. Here’s a look at Pantry’s approach:

Product Innovation: Pantry introduced products like Good Day Bites and Nite Bites, which combine cannabis with ingredients known for their health benefits. Good Day Bites, for instance, aim to boost mood and mental clarity with a blend of functional mushrooms, adaptogens, and a microdose of CBD and THC. Nite Bites focus on sleep, utilizing valerian root, L-theanine, and a specific ratio of THC and CBN.

Wellness Focus: The company’s products are designed to address issues like stress, anxiety, and insomnia, which Jennings himself struggled with, emphasizing a holistic approach to health.

Quality and Ethics: Pantry prides itself on using clean, sustainable, and ethically-sourced ingredients. This commitment to quality extends to their production processes, ensuring that their cannabis-infused foods are not only effective but also responsibly made.

Market Position: Pantry positions itself at the intersection of food, health, and cannabis, aiming to educate consumers about the benefits of cannabis in daily wellness routines. This educational approach helps in destigmatizing cannabis use, focusing instead on its therapeutic potentials.

Jennings’ move from Wall Street to cannabis wellness reflects a broader cultural shift towards natural remedies and a reevaluation of health paradigms. Pantry’s business model, combining cannabis with nutrition, not only challenges traditional views on cannabis use but also pushes the boundaries of what wellness products can be.

In summary, Scott Jennings and Pantry represent a new wave of cannabis entrepreneurship, where the focus is not just on the psychoactive effects of cannabis but on its integration into daily health practices, offering a new lens through which consumers view wellness.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Growing a business in today’s environment, which is constantly changing, requires entrepreneurs and founders to mix focus & discipline with flexibility. There is a lot of noise and you have to filter through what is noise, which you should ignore and stay focused on executing your strategy, and what is a signal of a changing landscape that would require your business to pivot.

At Pantry we started like most CPG brands with a heavy focus on selling our products through brick and mortar dispensaries. As we did this, and I was on the front lines growing the business while also observing what was going on from the ground floor, it became crystal clear that selling a great product to the wrong demographic won’t result in the value the business needs to achieve.

While many look at cannabis as one category that would be like looking at all food as one category. Which isn’t the right way to look at it. Many consumers eat for pleasure just like many buy cannabis for pleasure. That was not out core customer base. Our core consumer demographic are consumers who are buying for health & wellness or therapeutic reasons looking to solve an ailment in their life to improve their quality of life.

Most brick and mortar dispensaries were focused on just getting customers ‘high’. Seeing this and realizing our Brand and Products were not receiving the value we put into it we had to pivot. We started an aggressive multi-year pivot to go from selling our products in stores to reaching out core customers directly and delivering the products directly to their door.

The pivot and response was nothing short of amazing. Where we often received feedback from stores that customers wanted higher potency and more sugary options when we pivoted to online and selling to our core base the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We saw an a huge influx of positive feedback from customers saying how much they appreciate what we created and how much it was needed in the market. In addition, the feedback was quite emotional as we were clearly improving the lives of our customers and they let us hear it. That will be one of my proudest moments knowing we made a positive impact on society and our customers.

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

Launching a business in a rapidly emerging industry that’s highly regulated, taxed and controversial is not for the faint of heart. We ran into challenges at every turn. From producing high quality products with real ingredients, to navigating the compliance & regulatory complexities and operating in a highly competitive market tested the soul and resilience of our team daily.

If you start a business just to make money you won’t make it passed half of these challenges. It was our passion and purpose that we started Pantry to help address major ailments millions of Americans are dealing with that inspired us to continue to fight through the constant challenges we faced.

The character of a person, team or a company is not how they operates when things are easy but how they operate when challenges occur. I couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished and the resilience we showed in the face of enormous challenges.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pantryfoodco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pantryfoodco.us/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pantry-cannabis/