Christopher Allyn said his 2 1/2 years working at Jaderoom in Torrance have cemented his love for this industry and a passion for compassion. “It just feels like where I’m supposed to be,” Allyn said to the Leaf.
Originally from the Sacramento area, Allyn said the positive experiences he had with budtenders in college gave him the idea that the Cannabis industry might be a fit, but it wasn’t until he moved down to Los Angeles that he started out by driving for a delivery service.
On a visit to a dispensary to help his girlfriend’s mother pick out some Cannabis items to help with sleep, he said they had a less-than-helpful budtender who wasn’t interested in answering their questions. Allyn naturally picked up the slack, searching online for what he could to find the right item. Afterward, his girlfriend’s mom told him, “You’re good at this, you should be doing this as a job.”
That moment, and a desire to get more knowledge than he could get from delivery, drove him to enter the budtending space, which he’s been loving for three years now.
Helping people is a part of the job he enjoys the most, being able to answer questions and concerns to guide them to a product, whether that’s an alternative cannabinoid or the new strain they saw online.
Allyn is a flower smoker primarily, but said he also really enjoys vape cartridges: “I got my start with 510 carts back in college because it was discreet, and that’s still a form of consumption I use daily.”
We asked him if there were any strains that held a special place on his shelf. “I love the euphoric feeling of smoking Blue Dream,” he told the Leaf, citing the Coastal Sun phenotype as a great example of the strain. “If I had to choose something to smoke for the rest of my life, it’s probably Connected Biscotti.”
For anyone stepping into a job in retail Cannabis, Allyn said one thing people often overlook is knowing the basic rules and regulations for their city, county and state.
We asked what his dream Cannabis job is, and though he doesn’t have cultivation experience, Allyn would love to someday grow a community garden that provides Cannabis and fresh vegetables to people.
He feels that there are a lot of doors left to open on his journey to discover more about Cannabis. “It’s still a budding industry, and it has its hiccups,” Allyn said. “But if you’re ready to hold on, it’s an amazing ride.”
