What started out as a devastating failure has morphed into a big opportunity for Michael Wilson.
The local entrepreneur has traded luxury watches for cannabis and is tangible evidence of the power of a network.
Wilson previously co-founded North Kansas City-based Niall, a luxury watchmaker that sought to become America’s watch company. It developed a technology to microetch designs on the dials, and its watches graced the wrists of celebrities and sports figures such as Paul Rudd, Kurt Russell, Robert Downey Jr., Bill Self and Ned Yost. In 2018, the company went defunct after six years. At the time, Wilson described the experience as “almost like having a part of you dying.”
It marked his first failure as an entrepreneur. And it was painfully public. People called and ridiculed him, he said. But about six months after closing Niall, mentor and family friend Jim Mueller gauged his interest in working as an application writer for his company, Greenlight Dispensary.
“For every entrepreneur, the first time their company fails, they think they’re never going to get back on their feet, and all it takes is a fellow entrepreneur that has experienced the spectrum of life to understand,” Wilson said. “People undervalue the relationships that get you to where you are. We all naturally think we want to get out here and be self-made and nobody helped me. And that’s not the case. To have that feeling where you’re really down and out, and you’re scrapping to get by, and somebody says, ‘Look, I know you’ve got talent. I want you to come be a part of this.’ It’s one of the best feelings in the world to be given a second chance and a chance to shine.”
Wilson likened his experience at Greenlight to earning an MBA in cannabis. He learned the corporate side, how to navigate state regulations and licensing and the capital required to make it work. Ultimately, it led Wilson to co-found Kansas City-based Franklin’s Stash House last year with friend and former colleague, Ronald Rice, who’s also a DJ and music producer. Like Mueller, Rice took a chance on Wilson and helped him rebuild his confidence, Wilson said.
The cannabis brand sources its hemp from local growers and offers a line of hemp blunts, high-terpene hemp flower and apparel. They’re available in dispensaries, smoke shops and convenience stores, primarily in the Kansas City metro. One of the companies carrying Franklin’s Stash is Greenlight.
“You wouldn’t think there’s crossovers between watches and weed, but there sure is,” Wilson said, citing aspects such as the production line and a drive for innovation and creativity.
Wilson likes being part of a booming industry that’s also inclusive and welcoming to people from all walks of life. Franklin’s Stash already has accomplished in 9 months what it took Niall four years to do, he said. It’s built revenue faster, is cash flow positive and more efficient.
In the future, Franklin’s Stash wants to open a dispensary and is laying the groundwork to eventually make that a reality. It’s also focused on giving back, from helping other entrepreneurs build businesses in the cannabis space to supporting organizations like the Last Prisoner Project.
“If you want to talk big vision … I can very much see that Franklin’s has an opportunity to be a beacon and an example for what’s possible in the cannabis industry.”
