With all the talk about which coast has better weed, Magic Hour Cannabis is an Oregon-based cannabis brand that comes straight from the hands and hearts of East Coast natives Adriana Carlile and Will Perry.
Adriana and Will are responsible for the success of Magic Hour Cannabis and its burgeoning sister business, Magic Hour Consulting. They sat down with Leafly to answer a few questions about life in Oregon and the future of their dynamic brand.
What do you love about the cannabis industry?
MH: It’s the most exciting industry in the world right now because there’s unlimited opportunity, but at the same time, there’s no exact template or playbook for how to succeed with a cannabis venture.
One day we could be smoking a 3 foot joint with Trippie Redd or Ricky Williams, the next we could be mixing soil with our bare hands for 10 hours.
You have to have the foresight and understand where the industry is moving in real-time, while simultaneously creating amazing products and building your brand. This industry humbles you every day and you get to hone all of your skills at the same time.
What drew you to Oregon to start your cannabis business?
MH: Oregon’s low start-up cost. We had a small medical grow in LA, but the cost of operating in Los Angeles vs. Portland was astronomically higher. We realized we could move to Portland, get a license, and start a brand for much less than we could in LA.
To anyone out there wanting to get into the industry, you have to make sacrifices and go to where the opportunities are. We’re from New York, but there were no legal grow jobs or ways to learn there. We moved across the country to get knowledge and experience.
What is unique about the cannabis community in Oregon?
MH: The Oregon cannabis community is so unique- it’s almost solely comprised of craft growers and mom & pop style operators.
We saw that organic growing practices (soil-grown, compost teas) and the smaller scale of grows allowed people to focus more on quality than quantity and pumping out a ton of mids.
Why not go bigger than boutique?
MH: When we lived in LA, we thought that was the pinnacle of cannabis quality, but when we moved to Oregon our attitudes changed.
We believe cannabis is medicine and know just how many people turn to it to treat a whole slew of ailments – including ourselves. People with Crohn’s disease, chronic pain, anxiety/depression, and asthma, just to name a few, turn to this plant medicine instead of addictive pharmaceuticals- so it’s our responsibility to provide quality flower.
This is what made us focus on the boutique grow model, we grow for those who value quality, flavor, and attention to detail on every level of the plant cycle from our grow strategy to drying and curing methods.
What other cannabis growers or brands do you admire?
MH: Our favorite grower, hands down, is our homie Clent, the owner of Papajesus out in OKC. He’s an amazing friend and mentor to us. Also a big shoutout to Jesce Horton and the LOWD.
What are you most proud of as business owners?
MH: We’re proud that we executed what we set out to do.
“We quit our cushy white-collar jobs in fashion and advertising and dove headfirst into the cannabis industry. We put all our eggs in one basket and went all in-betting on ourselves and our vision.”
We started Magic Hour as two underfunded 27-year-olds from New York with a dream to do something crazy.
Now we’re competing alongside some of the best growers in the state, and we’re on the top shelf at the best stores in the world.
People love our brand because it’s authentic and we’re actually of the culture. We’re not suits that got into the industry just to make a quick buck.
A lot of people said “you’ve never run a company”, or “you’ve never owned a cannabis business”. Those things were true, but we didn’t care- we knew what we had the potential to do.
Magic Hour is more fun and relatable than most of the bland, soulless cannabis brands out there. We’re just two people who quit their jobs and followed their dreams- anyone can aspire or relate to that. We did this all while staying away from corporate suits looking to take all of our equity, and staying true to our tenets of growing high-quality organic flower and empowering our community.
We also did this as a team of only two, wearing all the company hats from growing, to marketing, to accounting. Everything we’ve done has been organic and came naturally, from our social media growth to media placements, to what we feed our plants.
Would you ever consider going back to the East Coast?
MH: Yes, we’re actually in talks with investors right now to bring Magic Hour back to New York or New Jersey. Now [that we’ve established ourselves] we actually have the leverage in our conversations.
They know it’s extremely rare to find successful operators on a commercial level who have competed in the toughest growers market in the world. We also have so many ideas on how to make Magic Hour a worldwide name, from apparel to media to events.
What’s in the future for Magic Hour?
Magic Hour will be much more than just a cultivation company, but a real lifestyle brand. It’s an exciting time and we’re beyond grateful for the opportunities this plant has afforded us.
We received so many inquiries about us teaching others the Magic Hour Methods of growing that we created a consulting company called Magic Hour Consulting.
We’re a one-stop-shop where we teach other licensed growers our organic methods of growing and operating as well as everything from facility design to sales strategy and brand identity.
Anything else you want to shout from the rooftops?
MH: We’re first and foremost proud to be known for the quality of our products, but we’re also proud to be one of the only licensed POC/women-owned AND operated grows in the world.
We want to use our business as a catalyst to empower our community whether it’s through education or direct employment opportunities with our company. We preach that cannabis is a lifelong career, not just a job- and there are endless opportunities for our people to thrive in this industry.
We also have a new line of apparel coming out that’s made with super high-quality materials and unique designs, watch our IG for more details about the drop!
Follow us on Instagram @magichourcannabis! We’re having fun with it!
