Skot Waldron:
Get ready for an interview, not only about unlocking the potential of our people and our organizations, but about the cannabis industry as well. Isaac Foster is a guy that starts things and he takes risks on things, and the next big opportunity for him is the cannabis industry. You're going to learn a little bit about his thoughts in there, about what he's doing, but also you're going to learn about what he deeply believes after working with several companies in various ways. He's going to tell you about the secret of building a company like this, to get people to jump on board without getting paid. What? Yeah. So, stay tuned for this interview. We're going to talk a little bit about that. We're going to talk a little bit about what a mission and a vision have to do with keeping loyalty with your internal groups and your internal people and how you can use that to excel and exceed expectations. So, get ready for this next interview with Isaac Foster
Hey, we've got a great conversation today with Isaac Foster, the CEO of Endourage. And this is going to be really interesting because of what you're doing now in the startup world and where you come from, which is healthcare, finance, kind of in the tech world, right? And bringing all of that experience to what you're doing now. So, give us a brief snippet of what's going on now and how did you even land here coming from that background?
Isaac Foster:
So, I was an investment banker back in the mid-'90s, and so I got to watch the internet happen and frankly I missed it. And what had inspired me though, after being up close to a fast growth, hypergrowth industry, I'm always keeping my eyes out for the next one. And so, when in 2013 Colorado legalized recreational use of marijuana, that was the first eye-opener and then watching more and more states, and then ultimately the Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and derivatives of hemp, I'm convinced that cannabis broadly is probably the largest single industry opportunity in our lifetimes. And so, when I got into it, having been an investment banker, having missed that opportunity, the question I had is what is going to be the single largest opportunity in cannabis? And if you could design a business plan from the ground up to be that, what would it be? And my conclusion was the clinician directed use of cannabinoids, so the true medical use of cannabis, and that's how I got involved in Endourage.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay. And how old is this company?
ISAAC FOSTER:
We started it, so just at the end of 2018. So, in November of that year, when it looked certain that the Farm Bill was going to be passed and now the Farm Bill didn't go into effect until January 1st of 2019.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay. So, brand new.
ISAAC FOSTER:
Brand new. Brand new.
SKOT WALDRON:
We're talking about the lifespan of a company, right?
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
Babies, you're babies.
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
This is exciting for you. Talk about, what's your team made up of. I mean, how many do you have on your team? What's the structure of that?
ISAAC FOSTER:
So, I co-founded the company with two other individuals and all of us have deep business experience. My main co-founder is Dr. Michael Steward and then also Lauri Kibby. Lauri's background is she's been a very successful entrepreneur throughout her life and she is the co-founder and CFO of King's Garden, which is California's largest indoor flower brand, premium indoor flower brand. And Dr. Michael Steward, who was originally an HIV family healthcare practitioner in the Denver area, had the largest HIV family practice and was responsible for bringing multiple therapeutics from concept to clinic back in the height of the AIDS epidemic, and before we had stability in the disease. It was through that, that he really became involved in cannabis because he was able to observe the difference in his patients who were on it versus those who weren't on it.
He was not a pro-cannabis doc, but what he saw in his patients was so compelling it set him off on a seven-year trek to study cannabis as medicine. And in many ways, our company is the fruition of that search. So, we've got him, we've got a scientific advisory board of three pharmaceutical execs retired who, though they've been involved in drug discovery and drug development, do see the medicinal promise of cannabis. I'm joined on the management team by our chief revenue officer comes out of the S&P 500, has multiple times built multi-billion dollar sales teams. We have a wonderful team of independent sales reps that are totally involved in us and our mission.
And they are out there getting into the doctor's offices, having conversations with doctors, because while CBD, which is how most people would see what we do, is prolific, it's all over the place. It's in gas stations, it's in your corner store, there's constant email ads, but it's not really a generic or a commodity product. It's a lot more complicated than that. And if you're trying to use these products to deal with a disease or a real health situation, you really shouldn't be experimenting on your own. You really should be involving your doctor. And so, that's why our team is out there talking to doctors, getting them the tools that they need. And even if your doctor isn't ready to recommend that you do it, they need to know about it so that you can be honest with them and say, "I've made the decision and I'm going to," because it should be viewed holistically in your entire healthcare.
SKOT WALDRON:
This is really important just from the business standpoint of understanding. So, for example, I have family members that are currently diagnosed with cancer, right? And some other issues that they're going through, and they may have a doctor that knows nothing about this, may not be educated about this, or maybe of course, they've heard of it and whatnot, but what would you recommend my family member do if they're interested in talking to somebody about this? So, they can talk to their doctor, their oncologist or whoever they're going to talk to about it, say their oncologist doesn't really know that much about it, or isn't educated enough to recommend dosages or whatever. What does that person do at that time?
ISAAC FOSTER:
So, there really are a tremendous number of resources online. And one of the things you will hear over and over again is, there's no studies, there's no studies, there's no studies. It's just patently not true. Israel has been studying cannabis in humans for 15 to 20 years in a clinical setting. And so, there is a tremendous body of evidence. It's just different than what we're used to because cannabis has been globally illegal. And so, the traditional FDA approved clinical trials, one, we don't have those. Second, our current pharmaceutical system is really focused on mono-molecule solutions, right? Where your drug is usually a single molecule. And the beauty of the way that cannabis works is that it's really ... When you use a full spectrum or a full representation of what's in the plant, that's the best use medicinally.
ISAAC FOSTER:
And so, if you do go online, for example, there's a great resource, healer.com, Dr. Sulak. He is probably one of the pioneers in terms of publishing information. But there are actually a lot of doctors that specialize in cannabis and if you spend a little time, there are several registries online, they're very easy to find. You should find a doc that has cannabis in their toolkit and it doesn't mean change the doctor you're working with, because obviously if you're in long-term care, they really understand your history. But finding that cannabis doc to bring into the conversation with your doctor is probably the best way to go, especially if you're dealing with something like cancer.
Cancer is still one of the least explored areas for cannabis medicine, even though there's been significant anecdotal evidence that it can be highly effective, but because of the life-threatening nature, I would definitely suggest find a cannabis doc specialized in oncology and introduce them to your primary care doctor and let them work together, because you don't want them fighting each other, and if they team up, you can open yourself to the best possible results.
SKOT WALDRON:
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You're building a company. You're a startup. You're investing a lot in it. Your partners are investing a lot in it. You seem to have a lot of credibility with the team that you're creating. There's credibility there. Okay. But let's talk about how ... I mean, and we spoke about this before, you've got about 20 people on your team or so.
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay. That you had to, "sell," on this idea and you had to talk about a mission. When I talk to companies, I talk a lot about a real vision, a real mission, a real purpose that is going to help people be on board and believe what you believe to the extent that they would work for you for free in order to bring forth that mission. Right? You've got a bit of an uphill battle, like I said, how have you brought the people on, how important is the culture, how important are the people that you're bringing on in order to make your vision, your mission come to life?
ISAAC FOSTER:
Well, it really does start with the mission, right? And then if you can articulate it and find people with whom that mission resonates with deeply, right? And I just want to address where the mission comes from, right? Because you talked about the uphill battle. And the truth is that cannabis up until about 90 years ago was everywhere and in everything, right? And it's so interesting because the entire history of our relationship with this plant was a erased, like when they burned down the library in Alexandria, right? We literally co-evolved with this plant and if you want to talk about America, it is literally woven into the fabric of our origins, right? Canvas is from the word cannabis, all of the sails from all of the ships, and all of the ropes, and all of the clothing that everybody wore when America was settled, was all made out of cannabis, right?
It was called hemp. We call it hemp today. The distinction between hemp and marijuana is actually very, very new. And it was cultivated and traded globally for all of recorded history. Right? And if you go back to the fact that we used to all be farmers, right? It's a very short time in human history that everybody isn't involved in agriculture. And so, in our evolution as farmers, our ancestors, all of us, no matter where they're from, all cultivated and used cannabis on a regular basis for everything. You've got to be involved with something that's going to be big.
And so, I think understanding the global mission and the size of it makes working with us a good bet, because even if we're not successful, they can be successful by having been involved with us. Even though, of course, I think we're going to be wildly successful. Everybody makes their own bet. And so, when you bring people onto a team, it can't be for your objectives, you have to be fulfilling their objectives. And when those are in alignment, when they understand that working with you will accelerate the things they want to do anyway, and that partnering with their other team members, where two plus two then equals to five, right? Or when the ants ... One ant can carry a lot, but 10 ants can carry a lot more. It's that alignment of company mission with personal mission, and I think that's the way you do it.
SKOT WALDRON:
So right on, I think that there is a big opportunity for companies to, talk to establish the leadership, right? And then, from that leadership comes the spark of a vision, a mission, a purpose. And that's what we call the foundations of a brand, right? The foundations of what we want to build going forward. A brand is that essence, it's that reputation we want to permeate through our organization and then on to our customers and clients.
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
When we have that understanding of who we are, it's so much easier to find people to come work for us, find people that are aligned with what we believe. So, you said, align your business, personal ... Your corporate mission with their mission in order to create alignment, consistency, better execution, to deliver a better product with more passion and to grow and strive. How are you ever going to find people that align, if you don't understand what you represent? Right?
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
And that's really, I think what you're talking about, is that ... And that's what I heard, is that you had a strong understanding of what you want to achieve and what you're trying to grow and be based on our history. And you're finding people that align with that, and that's what creates a great culture, right? And your world, coming from finance, coming from prior healthcare experience, whatever you've been in, you've been in the corporate world and understood the pains of not having good culture, good alignment. And now you were thinking, "Hmm, I don't want that. I want alignment."
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
Am I right?
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay. So, going on to the next thing, one of the biggest mistakes that companies can make is misalignment. You mentioned also that in some of our discussions earlier, was that people underestimating the value of long-term relationships with their employees. So, talk to me about that. Why is that so important to you?
ISAAC FOSTER:
When you and your employees have long-term relationships it builds on the prior knowledge of the company, right? They actually become part of the company. And if you view a company like an organism, like your body, right? I mean, sure there are other left arms out there and in a company it's not as traumatic, you can go get another left arm, but if you can keep the left arm you have, it's just going to function more efficiently. Right?
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah. I've never heard that analogy before. So, thank you for that. That's [crosstalk 00:19:19].
ISAAC FOSTER:
Sorry. I mean, it's a little graphic, but-
SKOT WALDRON:
I love it.
ISAAC FOSTER:
And organizations aren't stagnant, right? You're constantly building on top of what you have, building on top of what you have. And if you have a culture where ... So, long-term employees breeds long-term employees, right? Because when people show up and they're, "Oh, no, I've been here from the beginning." And then you're like, "Most of you ... I'm the new guy. Everybody's been here since the beginning." As opposed to, it's a three or four or five year old company, and we're all new, right? Because it's again, being a little graphic, it's the difference between dating to get married and dating to keep dating. Retraining, as I'm sure you know from all the data analysis, right? I mean, these things have been well-proven, replacing employees at any level in your organization is super expensive, and that's just in dollars. In terms of just knowledge and understanding, and again, alignment, you've got to start all over again.
And, I find it's better to bring in new blood that's bringing new ideas than bring in new blood to replace somebody you had. And part of that long-term relationship, especially in a growing company, right? So, I've been doing startups for 22 years, roles, positions, all of that stuff changes, right? When you're 10 people ... They talk about it growing from a band of wanderers to a village, to a city, to a country. If you can keep those citizens in that growth process and give them opportunities to discover themselves, it's just so much better. Everything functions better, they understand the history of the company. They understand the culture of the company. And if they're able to be involved in how it evolves, they're bought in, and you can't do that if you're constantly cycling people through.
SKOT WALDRON:
Your quote of, "Long-term employees breed long-term employees," is so right on. I've never heard it expressed that way either. So, that's two, I got a left arm quote from you and then that one too. So, brilliant, man. I love that because you're right. If I see that, even though I don't know what it is, I don't know why it's happening. I see the evidence of good health. It's just like somebody that can run a marathon in a record time. I don't know why they can do that, but I see that they just did it. And I'm like, I want that. If I'm a runner, I want to know the secrets to that. So, that's what's beautiful about investing in those employees. So I guess, that's what you mean and more about, and underestimating the value of long-term.
And it goes back to, we've determined that you've got 60% ... Companies working at 60%. If you have five teams that are functioning at 60%, you've got a million dollar problem. With all the costs, with the training, the turnover, the lack of productivity. You've got a million dollar problem on your hands. Who here can afford a million dollar problem, right? What's the word of advice. Coming from your background, your history of doing startups, of working in the world of people, how can we best foster those relationships in order to grow a company, to unlock the potential of our people, unlock the potential of our companies going forward?
ISAAC FOSTER:
If you stay focused as a leader, right? If you stay focused on the idea that you're growing a society or a part of society, you have your customers, right? And your organization exists to fulfill your customers. That's why they do business with you. So, you have to have a true and honest relationship with them as well. And so, if you become the conduit, as a leader, between your customers and your employees, and you get all of that in alignment, it's kind of like growing your own country. Where your customers are part of your culture, your employees are part of your culture, and there's the flow between all of the participants, and it's continuing to grow that. That may be a little conceptual, but if you connect to that as a leader, and you understand that, that it's one culture, customer, employees, and your success in facilitating that will impact your rate of growth either up or down.
SKOT WALDRON:
That's amazing. Yeah, you're right. I'm going to take some of these nuggets with me. I'm going to steal them and use them in my own coaching. So, thanks, man.
ISAAC FOSTER:
Well, as long as we keep sharing with everybody, right? It just makes a better world.
SKOT WALDRON:
Hey, that's right. Let's build it up. Hey, so I really appreciate this conversation, Isaac. I know that there were some good nuggets of information for us. You want to give us something, give my listeners something, how can they access that?
ISAAC FOSTER:
Yeah. So, first of all, our website is endourage.com. Www.endourage.com. And we specialize in clinician grade hemp-derived products. So, I know there's a lot of products out there in the world, and everybody thinks they're all the same, but they're not. And if you'd like to learn how to tell the difference, you can go to our site. And if you'd like to try one of our products, you can use the code ISAAC10, I-S-A-A-C-10 and I'm doing something here that I never do, I'm just doing it for your listeners. They'll be able to get 10% off and free shipping on any purchase from our site. And we're not a discount house. So, you're not going to find discounts or coupons all over the internet, but we really appreciate the opportunity to speak with everyone today and wanted to do something meaningful.
SKOT WALDRON:
Wow. That's fantastic. So, I'll include that in the show notes, if that's okay?
ISAAC FOSTER:
Perfect.
SKOT WALDRON:
For everybody, that they'll have access to that going forward. So again, thanks, Isaac. Really appreciate you and the time and good luck on launching this thing.
ISAAC FOSTER:
Thank you so much and thank you for the opportunity.
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah, man. So, not only did you learn a lot about what it takes to unlock the potential of people and businesses and organizations, but you learned a lot about that hemp and cannabis industry. I learned a lot. That's why I think I let that section go a little long. I was super fascinated. I think it's super educational and super interesting. And like Isaac said, he missed the .com bubble, right? He missed the explosion of the internet, and now he's not going to miss this. This is the next opportunity.
But what does it take to get somebody to invest their time, their energy, their soul, into something that is this early on in its growth patterns? And early, right? That's this early on and that there's controversy around and that there's all these other things around. How do you get people to do that through an aligned vision and mission? And I hope you are able to take that with you. Again, find me on youtube.com. You can find me there. All my videos are there. I've got some educational stuff there too. You can find me at skotwaldron.com. I've got educational stuff there as well, and all the things on my blog. Thank you. I will see you next time on Unlocked.
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