The People Who Showed Up

  • By Jeremy Amos

Published: Friday, Nov 28, 2025

There's a difference between people who are there when it's easy and people who are there when it's hard.

 

The first group shows up for the launch party. For the celebration. For the moment when everything's working and the path is clear.

 

The second group shows up on Tuesday at 3pm when something broke and nobody knows how to fix it. When the regulations changed again. When the plan that made sense last week doesn't make sense anymore.

 

The second group doesn't show up because it's easy. They show up because they believe in what you're building. Even when—especially when—it's not easy.

 

This year, we've had a lot of Tuesdays at 3pm.

 

And the people who showed up? That's who we're thinking about this week.

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The People

 

We're thinking about the scientists who reformulated when they had to. Who ran tests that came back wrong and ran them again. Who rejected batches that cost us money because the numbers weren't right, even when nobody would have known.

 

The people who understand that quality isn't what you do when someone's watching. It's what you do every single time because that's who you are.

 

We're thinking about the sales team who had conversations with customers that got harder this year. Who answered questions they didn't have perfect answers to. Who stayed in relationship with brands through uncertainty instead of disappearing when things got complicated.

 

The people who chose partnership over transactions. Who understood that trust is built in difficult moments, not easy ones.

 

We're thinking about the fulfillment team who packed boxes and loaded trucks and kept things moving when it would have been easier to slow down. When volume shifted. When priorities changed. When "business as usual" became anything but usual.

 

The people who showed up and did the work that keeps everything running, even when the work itself wasn't glamorous or celebrated.

 

We're thinking about the maintenance crew who kept that equipment running. The people whose names you'll never know but whose work you've benefited from.

 

The people who understand that excellence isn't one heroic moment. It's a thousand small decisions made right, every single day.

 

We're thinking about the farmers and the agricultural workers who taught us what we didn't know. The people of Person County, North Carolina, who welcomed a manufacturing facility into their community. Who learned new skills. Who gave us a chance when we were still figuring things out. Who became part of what we're building.

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The Support

 

We're thinking about every client who trusted us with their business. Not just the ones who stayed when things were easy. The ones who stayed when things got complicated. When timelines shifted. When we had to have hard conversations about what was changing and what we could commit to.

 

The brands who understood that partnership means weathering storms together. Who chose quality over convenience. Who believed that doing things right matters more than doing things fast.

 

You could have gone elsewhere, but you didn't. That means something.

 

We're thinking about our investors - the ones who have believed in us from the very beginning and continue to believe in us even when the industry shifted, regulations changed, the easy path disappeared.

 

The people who invested in what we're building, not just what we're selling. Who understood that creating something lasting takes time. And patience. And a lot of Tuesdays at 3pm.

 

I'm thinking about every partner who believed in us. The suppliers who worked with us through supply chain chaos. The labs who prioritized our samples when they were backed up. The advisors who took calls when we needed guidance. The industry colleagues who shared what they learned so we could all get better.

 

The people who understand that rising tides lift all boats. That we're building an industry together, not just competing for market share.

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Our Leaders

 

We're thinking about Oscar and Dave.

 

The two people who've been steering this ship through headwinds that haven't stopped. Who've made decisions nobody wants to make. Who've stayed committed when walking away would have been easier. Who've carried the weight of keeping this thing moving forward when that weight was heavy.

 

Leadership isn't making decisions when the path is clear. It's making decisions when every option is hard and you still have to choose one. And then living with the consequences and making the next decision.

 

They've done that. Every day. For years.

 

That kind of leadership doesn't get celebrated enough. So I'm celebrating it now.

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The Common Thread

 

Here's what all these people have in common: They didn't show up because it was easy. They showed up because they believed in something worth building.

 

Hemp has value. Quality matters. Standards aren't negotiable. Partnership beats transactions. The work itself is worth doing, even when it's hard.

Those aren't just words we put on a website. Those are principles people have lived out in their daily work. In the decisions they made. In the moments when nobody was looking and they chose to do the right thing anyway.

 

That's what "showing up" actually means.

 

Not being there for the launch party. Being there on Tuesday at 3pm when something broke and we had to figure it out together.

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We Did it Together

 

This year has been hard. We've faced changes that disrupted plans. Regulations that shifted ground. Moments where the path forward wasn't clear.

 

But here's the important thing: we didn't face any of it alone.

 

Every scientist who stayed committed to quality. Every sales person who maintained relationships through uncertainty. Every fulfillment worker who kept things moving. Every client who trusted us. Every investor who believed. Every partner who stuck with us...

 

You showed up. Not because it was easy. Because you believed in what we're building.

 

That's worth more than I can adequately express in a blog post. But I'm going to try anyway.

 

Thank you.

 

For the early mornings and the late nights. For the problems you solved that nobody saw. For the standards you maintained when it cost something. For the conversations you had when they weren't easy. For the trust you extended when you could have pulled back. For the patience when things took longer than they should have. For the commitment when walking away would have been simpler.

 

For showing up. Every day. Even the hard ones. Especially the hard ones.

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Path Forward

 

There's a beautiful and poignant quote by Anne Lamott that reads:

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."

 

This year had a lot of tough moments. A lot of uncertainty. A lot of Tuesdays at 3pm.

 

But the dawn keeps coming. Because people keep showing up. Keep trying to do the right thing. Keep working. Keep not giving up.

That's not sentiment. That's what actually happened. That's what you did.

 

So this Thanksgiving, we're grateful for the people who showed up. Not when it was easy. When it was hard.

 

You're the reason we're still here. Still building. Still committed to doing this right.

 

Thank you for believing in something worth the effort.

 

Thank you for being the kind of people who show up.

Thank you.