Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Dills.
Hi Ryan, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I recall nights spent in the ICU as my dad rested- my laptop opened as my business partner and I emailed one another potential DBA/brand names for our soon-to-be new business. We had named the parent company, RYJO LLC, for Ryan and Joe as we knew we couldn’t use names with ‘hemp’ in order to do banking and such. The light from my laptop would occasionally wake up my dad, and we’d chat about what I planned to accomplish with this new endeavor and how I planned to accomplish it. His health took an unexpected turn, leading to his final breaths during that week in the ICU, but those ‘middle of the night’ conversations still guide me today. What and how are always critical when starting a business, and maintaining sight of such as the business starts to grow and evolve proves just as essential.
Our ‘what’ was to provide quality hemp products and education while raising awareness to an industry too often misunderstood due to decades of propaganda. Our ‘how’ was to take each day as it came, leveraging our limited resources and diverse networks to their limits and asking for forgiveness as opposed to permission while pushing the limits of any established regulation or lack thereof. Six years later, we expect to open locations 5 & 6 within the next 2 months while still staying highly active within the community by supporting events and maintaining a presence and thus access for those wanting to learn more. We have a growing wholesale department and two active online sites, and we have now partnered with the Braves, the Swarm, the Gladiators, and several other athletes/brands with similar interests in a higher quality of life. Strikes & gutters, perceived and literal, and an evolving industry both locally and nationally- life is fun.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Progress is limited, even nonexistent, without friction and discomfort, and we’ve made progress indeed. To clarify, yes. Due to our industry and lack of regulation, and cannabis still being Schedule I, the financial hurdles have led to a slower approach, which had its benefits in and of itself. Regular banking, and bank products, and payment processing, and insurances- all things financial have thus been the biggest hurdle to manage and address, especially as a small company and neither one of us having financial resources to lean upon. So much like one’s approach should be to a new workout, new relationship, or a thc edicle- low and slow proves the most efficient route, so that’s the approach we have taken with most initiatives.
And worth mentioning, the Covid chapter of the world happened 2 years after starting our company, and due to solid personnel and a flexible business model, we were able to maintain self-sufficiency and continue our business in general, though hindered, and as the markets have started to fully stretch its legs once again, we’re poised to continue the road to further growth.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are The Georgia Hemp Company & Sympleaf Sport, providers of hemp-derived products and education in the Atlanta area and online.
I’m proud of the journey from the end of 2017 to now, and the challenges we’ve managed in being able to make it this far. And as of last year, we are the official CBD partner of the Atlanta Braves, a first for a professional sports team, and as a result, we’ve been able to have and create conversations with folks who before we had no access.
Our industry is highly unregulated, yet we’ve always operated as if we were. So, all products undergo third-party testing, and if we wouldn’t take it- we don’t sell it. We operate under the motto, ‘We have hemp products for sale, we don’t sell hemp products,’ meaning we’re a resource and exist to have a conversation for folks seeking an alternative & sustainable approach to their health and if what one is seeking is offered by our company, they can trust that the label actually matches the ingredients in the product, and we’re accessible for when questions arise.
Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
People can contact us through the websites www.thegeorgiahempcompany.com & www.sympleafsport.com, as well as through their Instagram accounts, thegahempco & sympleafsportcbd. Give us a follow and check out our online shops and see what all we have going on. Our current locations are in Woodstock, Duluth, Decatur, and south Sandy Springs, with locations in North Sandy Springs & Kennesaw coming soon. My email is ryan@ryjollc.com, and folks are welcome to reach out to me to assess potential synergies.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thegeorgiahempcompany.com
- Instagram: thegahempco
- Linkedin: thegeorgiahempcompany
- Youtube: sympleafsportcbd
- Other: sympleafsportcbd.com
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
