The Cannabis Chronicles: An Interview with Director of Cultivation, Brandon DeBoer (Ep 106)

Host Kelly interviews Brandon DeBoer, Director of Cultivation at Ilera Holistic Healthcare (flower brand Ayo, meaning “share joy”), about his path from university hemp trials and hydroponics to launching Ilera’s Louisiana operation in 2019—arriving to a 120-degree warehouse with only an 8x16 tent. Brandon explains early regulatory red tape, cannabis production basics (seeds vs. clones, mother plants, veg/flower cycles, trichomes, terpenes), and how the program evolved from only tinctures/topicals to metered-dose inhalers, vape products, and later smokable flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, and edibles. He details major growth: expanding to a 46,000-square-foot facility, improved yields and quality, and scaling to ~150 employees. They discuss strain selection, packaging tiers (including Sapphire), Louisiana’s dispensary-only, in-state sales rules, testing standards, and cannabis as a plant-based option amid lingering stigma.

From the Episode: 

• " Ayo actually means to share joy in the Yoruba language, and Ilera also means healthy. So we're 'Healthy Holistic Healthcare.' "
• " I actually took an eight-day kayak trip down the Green River in Utah, and we did 120 miles,  just as like a little break after college and before I got into working. And then when I finished that trip, I actually got a call from Ilera and said they wanted to bring me on board."
• "You know, he's like, "Who want ... " I think his exact words were, "Who wants to go down to Louisiana, wrestle some alligators, and grow some weed down there?" "
• " ...currently we have 80 strains, and we started with, you know, maybe 15."
• "  We had our first harvest going back I guess three months ago now out of that building and crushed our record. You know, we hit ... I think we were trying to aim for 80 grams per square foot. We hit 113 grams per square foot."
• " If I wasn't growing cannabis, I'd be growing something else somewhere, you know? I'll be growing plants my whole life."

Notes and Considerations: 

• Illera Holistic Healthcare
• Brandon on Instagram
• Ilera on Instagram
• The Reset Room
• Click Here to explore Kelly's offerings: The Reset Room, Self-Love Uni, workshops, in-person experiences, coaching containers, and opportunities to go deeper into this work together
• Click here to join Moon Letters

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