I think it goes without saying, but 2020 has been the strangest, most wild and unpredictable year of our lives. And we’re only halfway through. These “unprecedented times” (just in case you haven’t heard that one enough) have caused many businesses to pivot or make changes in their day-to-day operations and Communal Cowboy is by no means immune to any of that. When we started this, it was our vision to build community-based in-person experiences and now we must shift our focus to growing the Cowboy Posse via an online community. It’s changing how we imagined next stages of growth and turning our community building plans on their head.
Beyond COVID-19 and the world having to redefine what normal life is like we have also had to adjust our business due to factors that aren’t even related to the current global pandemic. If you would have told us that COVID-19 wouldn't even be the biggest disrupter for our Austin-based company, none of us would have believed you. Sadly, there were more roadblocks ahead of us. As of July 20th, 2020, Texas DSHS (Department of State Health Services) approved code 300.104 that bans the retail and distribution of smokable hemp products. So not all that surprising if you know anything about Texas you know they aren’t exactly CBD/Weeds number 1 fan. Now for us, this means our CBD branch of the Communal Cowboy brand had to start shuffling things around and adapt to these rules. With this code approved Texas retailers and brands are no longer allowed to sell smokable CBD to Texas. However you can still order CBD products online from other states. Makes complete sense right? This puts a snag in trying to build out “Austin’s original cannabis company,” but when life gives you lemons you make sure you can legally sell your lemonade.
If this year has taught us anything it is that you have to be willing to adjust and roll with the punches. With this new legislation it accelerated some of our early brand visions and opened up new opportunities to grow our cowboy crew. We have now moved our cannabis-related activities to California and brought on another cali-based Cowboy into the posse. So now when you order our CBD products online you can expect to see a west coast address on all your packages. Even though the news wasn't timely, we now have a unique opportunity to explore adding THC products into our lineup much sooner than we had planned on doing. Something we have long planned to do and we look forward to exploring into the world of recreational psychoactive cannabis.
We hope this goes without saying, but Communal Cowboy is and always will be an Austin brand. And we are still on a mission to hold our own as “Austin’s original cannabis brand.” Even though the CBD has headed out west, the operations behind Communal Cowboy and Communal Cowboy Presents arm of the business will still be HQ’d in our East Austin neighborhood. The moment we can, we will continue to focus on building out our cowboy community through an open space for getting like-minded folks together to celebrate this wonderful city we call home. Our original values and culture in this brand will never change.
As always, we want to thank our fellow cowboys for your support over this crazy past year, and we look forward to getting better acquainted with the west coast while still bringing you Ritualistic Relaxation.
-The ‘Boys