“I was born in Georgia, outside of Atlanta. When I was nine, my family moved to the Cincinnati area. While our home in Georgia was beautiful to a child with lots of woods and creeks to explore, the high school graduation rate in our county was something dismal like 40 percent, so my dad applied for a job transfer to Ohio.” 

We landed in a relatively affluent community with great public schools. This was the reason for our move, but that change really affected my sister and I. She had it worse than I did, if I’m being honest— she was 13 and kids can be mean. Instead of being bullied, I was largely ignored until I was a young teen. Then, I had my time being bullied. 

The fact is, I never felt poor until moving to this area of Ohio, and in reality, our family wasn’t poor, simply middle class. When compared to our neighbors however, we were seen as less-than and my classmates let me know it. That put me down a path of being an outsider from my school-peers and seeking out my own communities adjacent to the traditional groups a high schooler would find. Looking back, I absolutely think this was a gift since it forced me to learn self reliance, be more creative and take chances (not the dangerous ones). Trial by fire, right? It also taught me empathy in a profound way. 

While I realize I did live a privileged youth growing up in this ‘safe community with good schools’– I didn’t feel that gratitude until I had more life experience and perspective. Rather, I held a deep disdain for that community and the classism, bullying and anti-favoritism that I experienced. That sent me down a path to meet and experience new things, including widening my social circle and engaging with counter culture movements, communities of color, and other activities that were simply not condoned in the bubble of a town where we lived. 

“I think my experiences and those early struggles are largely responsible for where I am today…It is through this ‘forced adolescent exploration’ that I found all the things I value most in life: true friendship, love, self respect, and a drive to do good by others.”

I think my experiences and those early struggles are largely responsible for where I am today and the choices I’ve made with my life– from what I’ve spent my time doing, who I married, how I handle people, as well as my career choices. It is through this ‘forced adolescent exploration’ that I found all the things I value most in life: true friendship, love, self respect, and a drive to do good by others.

The advice I ignored early in my life was “do something you love, and the work won’t feel like work”. I think this is somewhat trite advice at this point, but I recall hearing this years before starting Goldleaf– and I simply ignored it because it felt too far-fetched and not very practical for my perceived skill set. I was a young dad and doing everything I could to create a foundation for our new family, playing it conservatively and aiming for traditional employment with safe benefits. I did that dance for a while (although it was paired with passion projects and side-hustles), but it became incredibly draining. I didn’t dive into my entrepreneurial efforts until years later… and that is where I found something that really resonated with my work style. Goldleaf is obviously part of those entrepreneurial efforts and I only wish I had listened to my heart and began working on the brand when the idea first manifested itself. 

I had been thinking about the ideas behind my company Goldleaf for years before executing my vision. My “Aha!” moment is actually quite vivid. I was on a walk with a close friend and colleague in Mt. Adams (a picturesque part of Cincinnati). The sun was shining and it was just starting to be spring. My friend, the gent I worked with when starting an organic clothing company, was telling me that he’d utterly and fully burned himself out, and wanted to depart the company. I remember not being all that surprised and even felt a little relieved. You see, while I loved working with him and building our brand, I always felt along for the ride since I just wasn’t passionate about clothing… even the sustainable/locally made kind. He was afraid I would take his news poorly and I suspect he lasted longer than he should have because he was concerned for my welfare. A solid dude. During that walk, he shared all his reasonings for wanting to leave the company and do something totally different– and I told him about my ‘Goldleaf’ idea. He was incredibly supportive and I saw excitement grow in his eyes… not because he wanted to contribute (though he’s always had an open invite), but because he could tell by my tone that it was something I cared about. He gave me the encouragement I needed to start down that path. That was my first ‘true’ step toward a career in cannabis, albeit ancillary.

“After starting Goldleaf, I quickly learned the scope of the deficits in cannabis information and it seemed like our work could really help alleviate that if we refined our focus.”

After starting Goldleaf, I quickly learned the scope of the deficits in cannabis information and it seemed like our work could really help alleviate that if we refined our focus. By 2017, we had published our first medical cannabis log book, The Patient Journal, and a series of infographics on some of the main subjects. It was around this time that I started hearing from random doctors, nurses and medical advisors with affirmation for what we were doing. Many of these folks heard about Goldleaf via word of mouth since we hadn’t yet figured out how to promote our work on a larger scale.

Since then, I regularly meet and talk with ‘strangers’ in the wellness field about the impact our work has for their patients and their own profession. I often get feedback on how we can improve, challenges that they have when communicating cannabis science, or ideas for additional topics to cover (this is part of the reason why we regularly iterate on our journal designs - to keep improving and updating our content!). I find these types of interactions to be very life-giving to me as a creative and certainly count these folks as allies in the fight against ‘ignorance’ or misinformation in the cannabis space. I really love how, in this day and age, I can talk with almost anyone with relative ease. Because Goldleaf exists in the ‘niche’, the community feels even more tight-knit. Anyone who opens up immediately feels like a friend.

“The Schedule 1 standing of cannabis is the most egregious, hurtful, illogical, hate-ridden and frustrating component of the US drug policy…I’ve seen the damage it does to families. I’ve had close friends who have served sentences for nonviolent cannabis possession and seen the disheartening result.”

The Schedule 1 standing of cannabis is the most egregious, hurtful, illogical, hate-ridden and frustrating component of the US drug policy. I’m vibrating with rage just thinking about it again. Now to be clear, I think there is certainly an argument to be made that cannabis comes with a risk, and could be regulated or even prohibited (I don’t agree with that, but sure, the argument could be made). However, this is different from assigning it a definition that is so epically false, it feels Orwellian. There is a precedent for this stupidity in American history, but many of the worst examples in our laws have been updated or at least improved upon. Cannabis’ scheduling has not, and it goes against the will of the people, costs our country ungodly amounts of money and is decidedly unconstitutional. I feel so strongly about this, in particular, because I’ve seen the damage it does to families. I’ve had close friends who have served sentences for nonviolent cannabis possession and seen the disheartening result. This is one reason why I’m elated to be able to support efforts by groups like Last Prisoners Project through our work at Goldleaf. They are on the front lines working to help people wrongfully incarcerated for cannabis related infractions. While I love that groups like this exist, I’m almost ashamed that they have to exist in this country… due to racist, outdated laws that represent clear money grabs from special interests and the lobbyists they employ.

“Right now, our biggest challenge is the current COVID-19 crisis…Because we’re a small, independently funded business, we don’t have as much of a runway as some in the cannabis space.”

Right now, our biggest challenge is the current COVID-19 crisis, and I know that’s true for everybody. Professionally speaking, the pandemic has caused a great deal of worry and uncertainty. It has been the only instance in Goldleaf’s history that we've had financial pinches (due to drops in sales, cancelled projects and delays all along our supply chain). I am aware we are not unique in this fact, and I’ve dealt with similar periods of strife with my other company (though those were more natural and not virus related). Still, the timing was rough for us– late spring is traditionally our best months of the year due to a number of factors and we simply missed it. Because we’re a small, independently funded business, we don’t have as much of a runway as some in the cannabis space. I’ve had to cut large amounts of our planned budget, marketing projects and product releases to keep things going.

The one bright spot is that we’ve not cut any hours or positions from our team. My wife and I decided that would be the priority through this challenge and we would go as long as possible before making those difficult adjustments. We have a close relationship with all of the folks on our team (which again, is certainly nothing new from a business owner), but we genuinely care about them and I’m very aware of the role that Goldleaf plays in their financial lives. We are lucky because our team is 100% remote, so the ‘work life during quarantine’ has not been much of an adjustment. I do know that a handful of our team also works second jobs (often in places that cannot transition to remote work), so my feelings of responsibility are that much more amplified. 

That said, it does feel like we are seeing the light at the end (dim and different as it may be), but it is an element of hope and we’re starting to see things shift back to normalcy. I can’t say that I think this is a clear sign of ‘the end’ of this pandemic, but if we are able to come out without having to cut any jobs, that would be one of our proudest moments.

About Charles McElroy:

Charles McElroy is the founder of Goldleaf, a science-forward printing company for cannabis growers, patients and enthusiasts. Goldleaf empowers people by helping them better understand their interactions with the plant, and works to make the subject more approachable to new audiences. A former volunteer with Marijuana Policy Project, a history supporting veterans education and access to medical marijuana, and several years studying permaculture and organic farming in Ohio and Colorado, McElroy created Goldleaf to benefit the evolving recreational and medical cannabis communities. Goldleaf products are available worldwide and the company also provides custom design services, now adorning select dispensaries and white-label products across the U.S. Formerly COO at Noble Denim & Victor Athletics, a sustainable and ethical clothing manufacturer, McElroy holds a B.S. in Engineering Technology and Management from Ohio University with an MBA track at Miami University in Business Informatics.

About Goldleaf:

With all of the myths and misconceptions surrounding the cannabis conversation, it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. Goldleaf brings a clear and credible perspective to the cannabis community by pairing compelling design with the latest peer-reviewed research, making the complex more approachable— beautiful, even. Specializing in guided notebooks and elegant print design for cannabis patients, growers and enthusiasts alike, Goldleaf products are available worldwide. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Goldleaf also provides custom design services for like-minded organizations around the world.