Albert Gary: Handcrafting Hemp Goods for Life
Albert Gary Lewis: Hempy’s
You won’t find another entrepreneur who is so short, sweet, and to the point quite like Albert Gary Lewis of Hempy’s. It’s certainly a talent to keep things concise though robust, but it’s definitely Albert’s trick-of-the-trade to keep his businesses agile in moving with the current of the industry. He has successfully harnessed the one-love concept of the hippie generation and flawlessly implemented that as the drive that is sending Hempy’s Love to the top! Pay close attention because this particular interview is one that will flash before your eyes and be ten steps ahead of you before you know it!
What was the deciding factor for you to join this particular industry?
I love hemp for the freedom and the myriad of possibilities it represents for humankind. I think hemp found me, not the other way around. My decision was part fatal attraction and part survival. I was paying my way through grad school as a construction worker and decided I wanted a hemp backpack. The backpack I ended up purchasing was expensive and lacked quality. That disappointment led me to the realization that I could start my own hemp clothing and accessory company and create a much better line of products than were currently on the market. So in 1995, that’s what I did; I’ve been at it ever since.
I love hemp for the freedom and the myriad of possibilities it represents for humankind.
What were you doing before?
I’ve been in the cannabis industry so long it’s as if nothing existed before. As I said before, I was as a construction worker during my high school and college years and I had a few other odd jobs as a teenager but for the most part it’s been hemp.
Tell me about the point in time you realized the coming of the ‘green rush’?
I’ve watched this ‘coming of the green rush’ over a 20 year period and that’s the honest answer. It’s like watching someone grow up; The change happens every day in little steps and then one day you wake up and that person is an adult. The change is ultimately significant and profound, but not something that happened in a single perceptible moment.
Right now, where are you guiding your passion and energy towards?
Anything and everything that includes passion, love, and an appreciation for the gift of living. Right now, that includes my family, my farm, my hemp businesses, chocolate, surfing, and winemaking.
Describe your work ethic to me in one word.
Hard.
Tell me about a time in your career that didn’t go as planned and what you did about that? How did you handle it?
You mean like almost every day?!! I just keep going until I either get it right, figure it out, or decide that I’m simply going in the wrong direction at which point I let myself off the hook and grant myself permission to change my plans.
What book have you read that you’ve been inspired by? Any particular read we should put on our list?
That would definitely be, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. The ‘take-home’ is that success (of any kind) happens in small baby steps through consistent daily actions that lead you to where you want to go. It’s less about massive strokes of genius and more about simple daily actions that, over time, add up to the life you want. It’s a message I see relevant in all areas of life and career.
Tell me about an esteemed achievement of yours.
Getting married and having kids! Family is very important to me and is part of the core passion that drives me in my hemp businesses.
Family is very important to me and is part of the core passion that drives me in my hemp businesses.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
It’s this: When you’re at the sunset of your life, you’re not going to be wishing you spent more time in the office or that you made more money; You’re going to be wishing that you spent more time with friends and family soaking up the beauty of living.
What is the most important thing for us to know now about the legal marijuana industry?
There’s no stopping us!
If we are sitting across from each other a year from now, how will our conversation about the ‘green rush’ be going?
Can you believe how far this has all come since last year?!
