Ryan Kocot started out in the cannabis industry by litigating criminal charges relating to cannabis. Eventually, Ryan began focusing on licensing and regulatory compliance in the cannabis industry. After running his solo law practice, Kocot has been appointed as the Chief Compliance Officer of a vertically integrated cannabis company.
Getting here wasn’t easy, and required self-taught marketing and networking skills. Kocot says one challenge, in the beginning, was simply staying afloat. Building a solid social media network brought him closer to his current successes.
“In all seriousness, in the legal industry, it does not matter how good of an attorney you are if your phone is not ringing and potential clients are not hiring you. I spent a lot of time reading up on marketing at the outset which allowed me to cover my overhead and eventually lead to building a community on Instagram,” said Ryan Kocot.
The cannabis company where Kocot serves as Chief Compliance Officer, ikänik Farms, is based in California and expanding across the US as well as internationally. One of ikänik Farms’ missions is to genuinely benefit each and every community that they are awarded the privilege of doing business in.
Kocot believes that the success of ikänik Farms is largely due to the dedication and passion that their team brings to the table.
“It’s just about impossible to scale any business without assembling a knowledgeable and efficient team. The team we have assembled at ikänik Farms will distinguish our company, particularly as we continue to scale into new markets,” says Ryan.
California’s cannabis industry is flooding with hopeful applicants looking to enter the legal market. An important factor of each application is the company’s willingness and creativity when it comes to enriching the neighborhoods surrounding their cannabis business.
Kocot explains that companies can get by on fluff when it comes to illustrating plans to improve the community, “It’s very easy to put together a community benefit plan for a cannabis application full of empty promises that simply sound good in an attempt to obtain a cannabis license.”
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Kocot told Candid Chronicle that he’s proud to work with a team that prioritizes people over profit, adding that ikänik Farms “takes the time to identify local pressure points to genuinely figure out the best way to benefit each community we intend to operate in.”
The Future of Cannabis, as Ryan Kocot Sees It
Kocot told Candid Chronicle that he looks forward to working further within the international cannabis market.
“I predict that Federal Legalization will occur in the United States by the end of 2019, and that the large players in the market will shift their focus to international markets if and until Federal Legalization occurs.” – Ryan Kocot
