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Why December Matters
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By Jeremy Amos
Published: Friday, Dec 5, 2025
December has a way of making you reflective. Not because it's magic. Not because there's something inherently profound about the twelfth month. But because it's the end. The calendar runs out. And endings force you to look at what you did with the time you had.
Did you build what you said you'd build? Did you become who you said you'd become? Did the year move you closer to what matters or further from it?
December asks these questions whether you're ready to answer them or not.
Title
What's Important
I've been thinking about what we're carrying into 2026.
Not resolutions. Not grand plans. Not the things we tell ourselves in January when everything feels possible and nothing feels hard yet.
But the actual things. The lessons we learned the expensive way. The standards we held when it cost us. The people we became through difficulty. The work that mattered even when nobody was watching.
That's what December is for. Taking inventory of what's worth keeping.
Title
Carrying Forward
Here's what I know we're carrying forward:
Quality isn't negotiable.
This year tested that. Multiple times. There were moments when the easier path was right there, tempting us. Ship the batch that's almost right. Loosen the standard just this once. Cut the corner nobody would notice.
We didn't. Not because we're better than anyone else. But because we decided a long time ago who we are. And difficult years don't change that. They reveal it.
That's coming with us. The understanding that quality isn't something you do when it's convenient. It's who you are when it's not.
Partnership beats transactions.
We learned this over and over this year. The difference between customers who see you as a vendor and partners who see you as... well, partners.
When things got complicated—and they did—the transactional relationships got difficult. The partnerships got stronger.
The brands who understood we're building something together? Those relationships deepened. Because difficulty shows you who's in it for the long term and who's in it until it gets hard.
We're carrying that with us. The commitment to building partnerships, not just filling orders. To choosing quality over volume. To understanding that the right customers are worth more than a lot of the wrong ones.
The plant still matters.
Amidst all the regulatory chaos and market shifts and industry drama, this got lost: hemp has real value.
Not because of loopholes or clever interpretations. Because the plant itself offers something useful to people. CBD helps. CBG helps. CBN helps. The minor cannabinoids we're just beginning to understand? They help too.
That's not marketing. That's chemistry. That's why we're here.
We're carrying that with us. The belief that if you focus on making things that actually help people, the rest works itself out eventually. Maybe not quickly. Maybe not easily. But eventually.
Standards matter more when nobody's watching.
This year had a lot of moments when nobody was watching. When the easy choice was available and nobody would have known.
We learned—again—that the choices you make in those moments are the ones that define you.
The batch you reject when you could have shipped it. The test you run even though you already know the answer. The documentation you complete even though it's tedious. The standard you hold even though it costs you something.
Those moments don't get celebrated. They don't make for good content. But they're what actually builds something lasting.
We're carrying that forward. The understanding that integrity isn't performed for an audience. It's practiced in private.
Change is constant. Mission isn't.
The regulations changed. The market shifted. The landscape evolved. Things we built needed to be rebuilt. Plans got disrupted.
But the mission? That stayed constant.
Help people through plant-based wellness. Make the highest quality ingredients we can. Build partnerships based on trust. Do the work right, even when nobody's making us.
That's not new. That's not a pivot. That's been true since the beginning. It was true before this year's changes. It'll be true after next year's changes.
We're carrying that with us. The anchor of knowing why we're doing this, even when how we're doing it has to adapt.
Title
December's Teaching
You don't get to choose what happens to you. You only get to choose what you do with it.
This year happened to all of us. The regulations. The uncertainty. The difficulty. None of us chose that.
But we did choose how we responded.
Some people panicked. Some people gave up. Some people cut corners to survive.
We chose to hold standards. To invest in quality. To build partnerships. To keep believing the plant matters. To do the work right even when it was hard.
That's not heroic. That's just what you do when you believe in something worth protecting.
And that's what we're carrying into 2025.
Title
Playing Our Cards
There's a quote from the writer Cheryl Strayed that reads:
"You don't have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you're holding."
This year dealt us some cards we didn't ask for. 2025 probably will too. But we're going to play the hell out of them.
With quality that doesn't bend. With partnerships that matter. With belief in the plant's value. With standards we hold privately. With a mission that doesn't shift when the landscape does.
That's what December taught us to carry forward.
Title
Following Our Values
December matters because it forces inventory.
Not just of what happened, but of what you're taking with you. What you learned. What you're keeping. What made you stronger instead of just making you tired.
For us, it's this:
Quality is non-negotiable. Partnerships beat transactions. The plant matters. Standards matter when nobody's watching. Mission stays constant even when everything else changes.
That's what we're carrying into 2026.
Not because the path ahead is clear. It's not. But because these things are true regardless of what path we're on. And truth is a pretty good thing to carry with you into an uncertain year.
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Cheers December
So here's to December. For forcing us to look at what we did with the time we had. For making us inventory what matters. For showing us what's worth carrying forward.
And here's to 2026. Whatever cards it deals us, we'll play the hell out of them.
With quality. With partnership. With belief in the plant. With standards. With mission.
Same as we always have. Same as we always will.
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