From One Field To Another: Mike Smith

Life comes at you fast. One day you can be lined up and ready to break through holes on a football field, to growing bud and rubbing shoulders with Jim Belushi. That’s the life that Mike Smith is currently living. 

Executive sales rep for the Illinois-based Korner Boyz brand, Mike has expanded his resume recently. We spoke with Mike in Boston for NECANN about how he found himself growing cannabis, the legendary Korner Boyz location, working with Jim Belushi, and more. 

CashColorCannabis: First off, what was your first time ever consuming? When did you get into cannabis?

Mic Smitty:
Man, my first time ever consuming is funny because I was a late bloomer. I was an all-state running back, went to a Division II college in Michigan. They recruited me for one position, then switched me when I got there. By winter ball, it wasn’t working out, so I quit.

I was always the “I’m not anti-smoking, but I don’t smoke” type. But once I told my coaches I wasn’t coming back, we got high. I kid you not, a .2 mile walk took me an hour and 15 minutes to get to my room. It was the funniest thing ever. I was about 19 when I first consumed.

CCC: What got you into cultivation? What made you want to put your hands in the dirt and grow?

MS:
I got laid off working on the railroad after seven years. It was good money, but layoffs hit like they did for a lot of people. My homie owned a company in Cali—GLC—he’s a rapper and one of my best friends.

He told me to come work in cannabis, so I did. I made cold calls from Chicago to California because they couldn’t get a license in Chicago. We ended up getting into over 200 dispensaries.

Things slowed down, so I found a job back in Chicago with Corner Boys. After about a year, I built strong relationships and helped bring the project back home. That’s how everything started coming together.

CCC: The grow you all have is legendary because of the location. Can you talk about that?

MS:
Yeah, it’s in Chicago Heights, a legendary community just outside the city. The crazy part is—it used to be a bowling alley.

We turned that bowling alley into a full grow facility. When I first got there, the lanes were still there. I came in as a beginner grower, and next thing you know, I’m building out rooms. I helped build three of the seven flower rooms and both dry rooms—and I had no construction experience.

CCC: What is Emerald Gardens overall?

MS:
Emerald Gardens is the umbrella—the conglomerate. It’s the cultivation facility we built out of that bowling alley.

We house five brands under it: Corner Boys, Tickle Pink, Dollar Trees, plus partners like Belushi Farms and Transit Culture. So everything operates under that Emerald Gardens umbrella.

CCC: Do you have a favorite strain?

MS:
Blood Diamond Brunch is always going to be my favorite. When we first got those genetics, we smoked some samples at my OG’s crib and were stuck for like three hours.

Couldn’t move, couldn’t do nothing. I knew right then—that was it. And it tests crazy high too, around 37% THC. It’s just a special one.

CCC: What’s it like working with celebrities, especially someone like Jim Belushi?

MS:
Man, Mr. Belushi is a beautiful soul. They kept it quiet at first—then one day I walk into work and they tell me he’s involved. I’m like, “Who?” Then he walks out.

He’s like a rich uncle. We sat and talked for hours one time. He told me stories about working with Tupac on The Principal. He just likes to chill, talk, and smoke.

What’s dope is he shows me a different side of Chicago. Coming from working with GLC and being rooted in the culture, I saw one side. But Belushi brings that whole other world. Bringing those together has been something special.

CCC: What advice would you give someone trying to get into cultivation or the cannabis space the way you did?

MS:
Hard work pays off. That’s really it.

Be a great listener. I was just the guy who came in every day, on time, did my job, and paid attention. The small things matter.

I come from a Southern family—older parents—so I was raised to work hard and listen. That’ll take you far.

And be willing to do something different. That’s key.