Five Textured Questions With Seti: Creative Director Of Cut & Dry Flower

I had the opportunity to smoke a small sample of Cut & Dry cannabis recently and wanted dig deeper into the brand. What follows is an interview with Seti, which is his real name, like Madonna or Sting also go by one name. I get it Seti, I’m the one who is honored to know someone with just one name, it’s really cool.

Then the curious in me wanted to learn more about this ebullient brand of cannabis flowers that really got me stoned.

There is no doubt about that. I have glaucoma and the Play variety works for me. That’s very rare, thank you.

This cannabis version also unlocks my lucid dreams. It’s uncanny to recognize that place between awake and asleep. The right cannabis strains can unlock this door of perception, a road-map for my deeper consciousness and creativity.

What I tried to achieve in the following words becomes even more intrinsic and nuanced. It’s best experienced through smoking the variety of Cut & Dry flower of your choice. The appreciation of high quality flower is the most important part of the experience. The right strain can open a portal into a place of intellectualism, at least it does for me. Smoking flowers of this strata surrounds one of my favorite arts, the one of hand-nurturing the plant, like tending grapes by hand. And of course the quality of the flower to begin with.

But the part that I most want to shout out about is the perfectly executed art of curing. In my opinion the artist in charge of curing your lush cannabis flower is utterly world-class. This person understands humidity and ventilation. I love the art of curing tobacco and the art of curing cannabis is an obsession for me.

Seti, you are doing a fantastic job creatively at Cut & Dry. Thank you for working so hard to do what you obviously love, it shows.

Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me about yourself.  What was your path to our plant? How has the plant helped you in your life?

Seti: My name is Seti, I am the creative director for the brand Cut and Dry.  I’ve been extremely blessed to have the plant in my life. My path to the plant first started in a drawer in my best friend’s parent’s bedroom in the 5th grade. I slowly graduated from a young adolescent consumer to an urban teenager trying to find his way in life using the plant as currency. It evolved into a job, or hustle, so I could escape having to work a traditional 9-5. I wanted to have the freedom to live the hip hop/ graffiti lifestyle, which at that point in my life, was everything to me. During that time of growth and transformation I met a lot of people who shared similar interests towards the plant. They were from all different walks of life and related to the plant in many different ways but all using it as a way to sustain their lifestyles and evolve their lives. 

 Whether a consumer, hustler, broker, breeder or grower one thing was for sure, I was walking through doors that were reserved for those seeking to make the plant an essential part of their everyday life. At that point I had met someone who deemed me worthy of being an apprentice and showed me “the way of the green thumb.”  To be honest there’s not many ways the plant hasn’t helped me- it’s changed my life. Cannabis has given me the freedom to investigate the meaning of life and dream without limits. It’s taught me how to be a farmer whether inside buildings and houses (where most kids like me from the concrete jungle started) or getting closer to nature with outdoor and greenhouse growing. I learned the importance of organics and permaculture philosophy, something that’s so important to outdoor growing. 

 WB: Please tell me what you’re working on right now?  How are you achieving your goals?

 Seti: Currently I’m working on the brand Cut and Dry. The mantra behind the brand is premium quality at a fair price. We are a recreational brand whose goal is to simplify the general consumer experience by offering a curated menu based on 3 categories: work, rest and play. No matter your lifestyle, almost everyone has some aspect of work, rest and play in their life. Our goal is to strip down the niche side of the cannabis world which tends to focus on complex strains and cannabis subculture. By building trust with the consumer through curation, we want the process of choosing a brand to be an uncomplicated, great experience. All we want to know is what you’re going to be doing while using cannabis and from there we got you covered. It’s cut and dry! 

 We are achieving our goals by integrating more structure into our business. Being efficient with a constant team-first mindset allows us to embrace challenges in order to maximize our growth potential. Alignment of our vision is also very important. To be in cannabis or any business, you can’t be afraid to take risks from time-to-time. You have to be willing to think and go outside the box in today’s age of business in order to succeed.

WB: What obstacles stand in your way? Who is your mentor? Or inspiration ? Why? What are your six and twelve month goals? 

Seti: That’s a loaded question! In the current landscape there are so many obstacles for every cannabis company. Inconsistency in lab testing, lack of banking solutions, constant changes in the tax structures and higher tax regulations than most other industries are just some of the obstacles we regularly deal with. Not to mention the cost to get started. Permits, build outs, navigating through the political landscape is definitely a slow learning curve. Plus, not knowing who to trust when going through the consulting process can be incredibly frustrating. I’ve had experiences where lawyers turn to consultants who want equity in our business. I’ve had consultants manipulating situations to get higher pay days or get their names known for their own best interest. It really is the wild West on so many levels. It feels like the government doesn’t want businesses to succeed or this industry to grow organically but they definitely want your money. 

 All these contributing factors lead to a thriving black market that becomes the biggest competition/obstacle of all. I’ve had a lot of mentors over the years, but failure has been my greatest mentor. You learn so much from falling down and being able to get back up and still believing in your dreams. It’s part of the process and you learn that if you don’t shoot you can’t score. Our 6 month goals are to prove the concept and get the brand familiarized into the industry and identifying how we can make an impact. Our 12 month plan is market penetration and leveraging our strengths and evaluating the market to take the brand national.

WB: What is your favorite kind of food? Do you cook? Any amazing food memory you’d like to share? 

Seti: You might laugh but my favorite food is vegetables. I love vegetables with an elevated preparation, or where the star of the dish is the vegetables.  Every culture has a unique take on veggie dishes, and yes, I am vegan and have been for more than half my life. If you ask my friends they will also tell you I love sauces; I’m a very saucy individual. Sauce adds depths and layers that I can’t get enough of. In our household cooking is essential, you have to have some skills in the kitchen, it’s always game on! Growing up my mom always put an emphasis on learning how to cook, having us take turns making dinner for the family was a ritual. Digging into our family heritage to make traditional dishes was always special, especially pasta. We would make homemade “gravy” on the stove top all day, constantly stirring and adding the right fresh herbs and spices to get the right taste and consistency. It’s a very fond memory that I’ll never forget, because let’s be honest, without a great gravy,  pasta just isn’t the same! 

Speaking of food and the magic of bringing people together, my team and I are working on a special top secret project with another brand I’m involved with. We’re bringing to life a unique experience of hash, art, fashion, culture and elevated food in the form of a mixer. We want to gather creatives into the same room to exchange ideas and energy with no limits in the hopes of breaking boundaries and allowing new collaborations to happen. Be on the lookout for that in the form of a whisper from those in the know. This is an invitation only gathering happening on a global level.

WB: What is your passion? 

 Seti: I’m a very energy driven being and exchanging that energy with the world is my passion.  Constant self-reflection with the intention of making space for change to evolve to the highest version of myself is the foundation of who I am. I believe in self-engineering with the goal of transforming self into living art. Reason being, the exchange needs to be authentic so it’s felt and can leave a lasting impact. There’s an art and a science to everything in life. Building that is bigger than me. Leaving a lasting legacy/impression behind is the mission at hand.