Under the Microscope with Jenny
I am your host, Jenny Germano - the founder of ICS Consulting. With over 17 years of hands-on experience in the regulated cannabis Industry, I spent 6 years operating vertically integrated licensed facilities in Colorado and the last 11 years consulting nationally across the U.S. This podcast is dedicated to new and existing cannabis operators and those looking to launch a licensed cannabis business in one state or across multiple. Expect candid conversations on compliance, market-specific insights, startup pitfalls, operational strategies, and tips to manage the overwhelm that comes with launching and scaling in this complex industry. Join Jenny Germano every Wednesday at 12pm EST in navigating cannabis compliance and launching successful regulated cannabis operations. Whether you’re just entering the industry or scaling up, this is your go-to resource for real talk, real truths, expert insights, and actionable strategies. I've got a great line up of interviews, expert breakdowns and host insights.
Episodes
🎙️In this episode of Under The Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Henry Crisler, Executive Director of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association to discuss Mississippi's medical cannabis program, DEA inspections, and what cannabis operators can learn from the state's experience. The conversation examines the challenges Mississippi cannabis operators are facing as federal requirements evolve, including DEA...
🎙️In this episode of Under The Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Lenny Berry, founder and CEO of the Ohio Cannabis Health & Business Summit, to explore the evolution of Ohio's cannabis market and the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry. Lenny shares his journey from more than 30 years in music, radio, and marketing into Ohio cannabis in 2017. He opened medical cannabis clinics, gaining firs...
🎙️In this episode of Under The Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Matt Kennicott, co-owner of High Maintenance and Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Cannabis Association of New Mexico, to explore the realities of operating a cannabis business in New Mexico. Matt shares his political, legislative, and public relations background, including his involvement in writing portions of New Mexico's Cannabis Reg...
🎙️ In this episode of Under The Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Tyler Works, Chief Growth Officer of Canna Spyglass and Colorado Chair of the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, to explore how cannabis operators can better use the data they already collect. Cannabis businesses generate enormous amounts of data, but many operators struggle to turn that information into useful business decisions. Tyler explains ho...
🎙️ In this episode of Under The Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Ellis Smith, CEO of Greensmith Consulting, to explore cannabis mergers and acquisitions and what it takes to build a business that is prepared for a future exit. Ellis shares his experience moving from legacy cultivation into regulated Colorado cannabis operations, global cultivation design, and the sale of American Cannabis Company before lau...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano breaks down the real financial impact of seed-to-sale tracking errors and why small discrepancies can quickly become a major drain on cannabis business margins. Jenny explains how inventory adjustments, POS and integration issues, physical count variances, and accounting mismatches can create hidden costs through additional labor, investigations, corrections, ...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Alex Hearding, Founder of Red Wolf Risk, to discuss DEA readiness as the first wave of inspections takes place at registered medical cannabis operations. Jenny and Alex break down the current rescheduling landscape and why operators should be preparing now rather than waiting for federal requirements to become finalized. They discuss the DEA reg...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Gail Rand, CPA and Founder of Grand Consulting, to discuss what it takes to run a smarter, more financially disciplined cannabis business. Gail shares her journey from cannabis advocacy and launching the first licensed medical cannabis cultivation operation in Maryland to helping operators better understand their finances, cash flow, and true co...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Annie Macheca, COO and Co-Founder of Monarch Waste Company in Missouri. Annie shares her journey from sustainable agriculture into the cannabis industry and building a specialized cannabis waste destruction company. Jenny and Annie break down common cannabis waste compliance mistakes, including improper waste destruction, mixing requirements, ca...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Nicole Kennebeck, Marketing Director at Michigan-based cannabis processor and manufacturer Lion Labs. Nicole began her career in Colorado's emerging medical cannabis market, giving her firsthand experience with the industry's rapid growth, evolving regulations, and changing consumer landscape. Drawing on that experience and her transition into c...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano explains why building a compliance-first culture is one of the most valuable investments a cannabis business can make. Drawing on her experience in cannabis operations since 2009 and consulting operators nationwide, Jenny discusses why compliance has evolved beyond simply passing inspections. Today, it serves as a competitive advantage that strengthens operati...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano continues the Cannabis Operator Series with Jarell Wall, CEO and Creative Director of Gentleman Quinns, a Retail Product Manufacturer in Denver, Colorado. Jarell shares his journey from television production in Atlanta and Colorado into cannabis, ultimately co-founding Gentleman Quinns with former dispensary coworkers. He discusses building the brand from the ...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano continues the Cannabis Operator Series with Tucker Holland, Partner and CFO of Entourage Cannabis in Eugene, Oregon. Tucker shares his journey from being a high school chemistry teacher and football coach to cannabis entrepreneur, detailing how they started with a small medical caregiver grow before expanding into extraction and processing. He discusses the ch...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano takes a deep dive into why every cannabis operator should have a compliance audit program and how an important tool like proactive auditing can help reduce risk, improve operations, and strengthen overall compliance.
Drawing on her hands-on experience in cannabis operations since 2009 and consulting operators nationwide, Jenny breaks down what a compliance au...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Scott Newman, a business consultant at Adaptive HR and OneDigital. Scott shares his journey into the cannabis industry in 2019 after attending NECANN in Boston and becoming Adaptive HR’s first full-time employee, and scaling nationally through acquisitions by Resourcing Edge and then OneDigital. Jenny and Scott explore how strong HR proces...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano continues the Cannabis Operator Series with Amanda Terpstra, CEO, and Laura Trujillo, COO and co-founders of BestBüds Dispensary, a women-owned dispensary in New Jersey. Laura shares her journey from graphic design and corporate work at Samsung to launching a community-focused cannabis retail business with Amanda, whose background includes finance, HR, wealth ...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano sits down with Darren Gleeman of MBO Ventures to discuss how cannabis founders can potentially scale and transition ownership without selling to MSOs or private equity. Darren shares his background in hedge funds and explains how ESOP-based ownership structures are being used in cannabis as operators face limited exit opportunities, scarce lending, valuation c...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano breaks down what it really takes to launch a cannabis business in a mature and saturated market. Jenny explains why licenses alone are no longer the competitive advantage in established markets and why success now comes down to execution, compliance controls, operational discipline, branding, customer experience, and financial sustainability. She covers the hi...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano continues the Cannabis Operator Series with Forest Palmer, CEO of Kansas City Cannabis. Forest shares his journey from the service industry and the United States Marine Corps into cannabis, including his early work with American Shaman before joining Kansas City Cannabis during the launch of the Missouri medical market. He walks through the early licensing pro...
🎙In this episode of Under the Microscope with Jenny, host Jenny Germano, welcomes Alex Hearding, President and Founder of Red Wolf Risk, to discuss the hidden costs of operating a cannabis facility without a Quality Management System (QMS). Alex explains how a QMS creates accountability, consistency, and continuous improvement while helping operators strengthen compliance, training, and traceability. Jenny and Alex break down why ...
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