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Brandon Carter is a new business owner whose family has a history of cannabis arrests, and his dispensary is set to open on Feb. 29 in Long Island City. He answered eight simple questions for NY Cannabis Insider’s “People to know” series.
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What is your position and what do you/your company do in the cannabis space?
I’m opening my retail store on Feb. 29. I’m the co-founder and chief of operations for Trends Dispensaries.
How long have you worked in the cannabis space?
This is my first foray into the cannabis space as a career or business owner. I’ve only been a consumer. However, my brother Rodney “Hurricane” Carter is a legacy operator who dealt cannabis for many years in the past before opening his own fitness studio.
What did you do before you were involved in the cannabis industry?
Before cannabis I was – and still am – a software developer. I built our website: https://trendslic.com.
What led you to the cannabis industry?
My journey is a short one but still a rollercoaster nonetheless. We applied for the license back in September 2022 after a group my father was dealing with backed out on him. I looked at the paperwork and said forget them, we can apply on our own. We had less than a week to fill out that laborious application. My brother, my father and I all had cannabis arrests back in the days, however my and my brothers charges were dropped to lesser offenses. My father is the one who qualified us for the justice-involved status.
We got the call that we were awarded the license in April of 2023 and from there it’s been a hell of a ride. We’ve been at almost every industry event networking, learning what we need to learn to be successful in this business, meeting the who’s who and getting our store ready while dealing with all the chaos surrounding OCM and the lawsuits and other issues.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to get into the NY weed industry?
The first thing I would say is attend as many cannabis events as you can find. There are so many and they’re filled with cool people looking to network and make connections. Now is the time – everyone getting into the industry now is a pioneer and really can dictate the course they want to navigate. You can easily get a job at any sector of the industry from retail, to cultivator, processors, farms, or any of the ancillary businesses. You can even see what is a need in the space and create your own business from it. The opportunities are endless at the moment.
Take some time to write about what you think the NY cannabis ecosystem will look like in five years.
The NY cannabis ecosystem will be huge! The biggest market in the country. Of course there will be thousands of dispensaries by then and a lot of MSO’s & RO’s trying to gobble up the small operators, but there will definitely be some diamonds amongst us. I believe the quality of flower will get better, the indoor consumption will be a huge thing and the mindset of a lot of consumers on the sidelines will shift to a more favorable and positive outlook on cannabis use.
Do you use cannabis? If so, what’s your favorite method and why?
I grew up mostly smoking flower. Purple Haze is my all time favorite. Then I switched to edibles. I make a phenomenal infused brownie! Now I’m getting more interested in beverages and exploring that whole market. I still like a nice edible, but can’t wait until New York allows more variety instead of gummies.
Who should contact you, and what’s the best method?