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

Will, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I don’t spend time studying how others do things; I focus on how we do things, and what matters to my customers. At CannaPlanners, what sets us apart is our unwavering focus on customer experience and service. Frankly, the cannabis industry as a whole struggles with customer service. With so many companies entering and exiting the space, it’s hard for many to get their bearings—let alone build meaningful relationships with their clients.
So from day one, I’ve made it clear to every employee: you’re here not just because you’re good at your craft (design, SEO, development, whatever it may be), but because you’re a good person who knows how to deal with people. We don’t just build websites or develop brands; we give our clients an experience that makes them feel like we’re undeniably good at what we do. If we can be undeniable, our clients don’t leave. That’s the goal.

Will, 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’m not a digital marketer by trade. Naturally, I’m a salesperson and maybe even a leader. I worked for a digital marketing agency during a time when cannabis was becoming legal in places like Colorado, and I saw a massive opportunity. I’d been a medical cannabis patient for years, so I had a personal connection to the plant, but this move was also deeply strategic. The timing aligned perfectly with where I was personally, professionally and what was happening in the market.

We actually got our start working with CBD brands in Vermont. After the Farm Bill passed, hemp cultivation exploded here, and tons of small farmers started launching brands. It was the perfect testing ground to prove our business model and we’ve been scaling ever since.

We’re a creative digital agency that focuses on a few very specific things:

1. Creative & Branding: We build fun, emotionally resonant brands that stand out.

2. Web Development: We build modern, fast, and functional websites.

3. SEO & Content Strategy: We drive traffic to those websites by optimizing them and creating strategic content.

4. Retention Marketing: We help our clients stay connected with their audience through email and SMS marketing.

Importantly, we don’t do everything. We don’t do social media, programmatic, or Google Ads because in cannabis, those can become liabilities. We’re transparent about what we won’t do, and we educate our clients about what works.
What problems you solve for your clients

One major problem we solve is cost and complexity. Many cannabis businesses don’t have the resources to hire an in-house dev team, SEO specialist, or retention marketer. We give them a full team of experts without them having to increase headcount. We also solve the problem of tech overwhelm. The cannabis space is filled with platforms and tools, and most operators don’t have time to become experts in all of them. We help our clients navigate that complexity by managing key parts of their digital stack so they don’t have to.

What I’m most proud of is my team. I love hiring talented, hungry, kind people who are aligned with our mission and then watching them succeed. I love paying out commissions. I love being able to reward performance. I love onboarding new team members and helping them understand that they’re here to do more than just a job—they’re here to care. I want people to know that at CannaPlanners, we’re not chasing scale for the sake of scale. We’re not trying to be everything to everyone. We do a few things, we do them well, and we take pride in making sure our clients have a remarkable experience with us.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the need to validate my ideas with everyone around me. When I started CannaPlanners, I didn’t tell many people about it—not even my parents for the first four years. And that wasn’t because of cannabis stigma, but because I didn’t want feedback. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this by building an extraordinary team to work with and turn the idea into reality . The second you start asking everyone their opinion, you get paralyzed. One person says it’s a great idea, another says it’s terrible, and suddenly you’re stuck. I used to live my life that way. So starting CannaPlanners in isolation helped me develop self-belief. It was hard to resist the urge for validation, but it was the best thing I ever did.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Hands down: referrals and in-person events. If you deliver a great experience, your clients become your biggest advocates. We’ve had clients refer us to their friends, peers, and even competitors because they believe in what we do. Trade shows and field events are also huge. People get to meet us, get a sense of our energy and values, and see that we walk the talk. We’ve built our reputation through consistency and word of mouth, and that’s been the foundation of our growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cannaplanners.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cannaplanners/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wpread/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQCAlWUa7i34325PUrMSeJQ