Pete 0:00
Hello and welcome to another episode of hempire Pete Bahrenburg, along with me always is founder and CEO of pure Well, Nick DeFrancesco. How’re you doing, buddy?

Nick 0:10
Thanks, Pete. I’m doing well. I think we got a great show on today. Morning to everybody who we got.

Pete 0:16
We actually are dealing with a pretty much a new cat elaboration in the world, the first vertically integrated, it’s a minority owned and social equity commercial cannabis company. The collaboration we’re talking about is with excuse me, Chris ball, founder of ball family farms as well as star of P Valley, Alfonse. sqare. Nicholson. How’re you doing, Alphonse?

J Alphonse 0:42
I’m doing? Well, how you doing?

Pete 0:43
Doing? Well? How you doing? Chris?

Chris Ball 0:45
What’s up, Pete? Good morning, my brother.

Pete 0:47
Doing well doing well.

Nick 0:49
So let’s get into it. Chris, how do you and Alphonse connect and decide on a collaboration? I mean, tell us how that started.

Chris Ball 0:59
Well, the collaboration first began, or was birthed about almost two years ago now. And it’s pretty cool man. Like I was a I was a fan. I had watched P Valley. Before I actually knew Jay Alphonse, and was just a fan of the show, and was really a fan of his work. The work he was doing in the show, you know, the dynamics of his character and his, his abilities to storytelling, and fat. The this was right around COVID You know, when COVID was was in. So right around that time after the first season had ended. A buddy of mine, actually, who’s a Partner in ball family farms told me that, hey, there’s some actor, you know, who’s a fan of yours is a fan of the brand and would like to meet you. So I’m like, Well, who, you know, during that time during COVID, you know, we were soaring as a company and, you know, as the Black Lives Matter movement, so I had a lot of people, you know, wanting to talk to me and meet me at that time. So I’m like, Okay, well, who is it this time, like, who wants to ride my cannabis way? I saw

Nick 2:10
a nice way to ride.

Chris Ball 2:13
Now who wants you know, whatever picture he’s like, I don’t really know him, you know, but apparently, you know, he’s, he’s an actor, and he’s on the show. I said, Okay, send me a picture. So he sends me the picture. And I recognized him right away. I’m like, Oh, shit, you know, that’s, that’s low murder. Like, I fuck with him, like you know, my boys set the meeting, maybe it was about a week later, Jay Alphonse came over to the our Hollywood office. And immediately, man, we just kind of fucking hit it off, you know, he and when I walked in the door, you know, he, we were fans of each other. So there was mutual respect there already for both of our crafts. And as we sat there and talked, you know, we smoked a joint, you know, we poured a drink, and we just kind of sat there and talked and got to know one another. And he, you know, when he told me his story, and and the trials and tribulations that he had been through to get to where he was, I resonated with that, you know, it reminded me a lot of my journey, you know, in the cannabis space, only his was in the acting world, where he had come from, you know, being another inner city guy, you know, coming from nothing, and being able to create something of value for himself and his family. We just, I just felt a bond to him. And when we spoke, you know, he immediately told me, he was a fan of the, of the brand and the weed. But then he told me that he was interested in actually being in the cannabis space, this was something that he wanted to do, as he got older, he wanted to learn how to grow, you know, he wanted when he retired, he wanted to have his own garden. And that, you know, stuck with me, because most people in his position, you know, come into our space. And they believe that their celebrity gives them the right to culture vote, or our industry or that their celebrity is somehow going to help us sell weed. And, you know, he was very aware that it didn’t, you know, he came in, and he was very humble. And he was very just like, Yo, if you could just teach me how to potty be in this space at whatever capacity I’m willing to clean the floors in your facility if necessary. And that, to me was special, because here’s a guy who is successful at what he does, you know, he’s he’s in the acting world. I’m a fan of his and his work. And he’s sitting in my office telling me that he’ll do whatever he needs to do, to get into the space and to learn from me. So right at that moment, I knew there was something special about him and I had been off I had been asked, you know, by other celebrities and other people to random basketball, family farms to do collaborations and I always stayed away from it because I bought family farms. We are we are really big on offense. his city, right? We don’t partner with people just because you’re a rapper or you’re an actor and bring you into our space. Like, there needs to be a reason there needs to be a why behind anything we do at our family farm. So, you know, as we sat there and talked, you know, it went on for about three hours, you know, and at the end of it, you know, we’re both, we’re both high at this point. You know, emotions are running high. There’s so many other things that were connecting us. So, in that moment, you know, I was, you know, deep down, I’m kind of like, Damn, I should just, you know, talk to him about brand ambassador now. And I’m like, you know, what, Chris, like, don’t make any rash decisions. Don’t make any emotional decisions, you’ve been drinking, you’re high, you’re gonna go home and sleep on the shit and

Nick 5:54
everybody had that self control?

Chris Ball 6:00
A little bit. But yeah, lo and behold, you know, maybe about two or three weeks later, you know, I slept on it, we kept in touch. And then, you know, I finally, you know, did the How can I say, I proposed, we kind of propose brand ambassadors shit, and then, you know, after that the journey began.

Nick 6:29
So let’s talk about this. You said? And why is it important for you that it’s not about a celebrity status, right? Like, it’s because you’re building a brand, right? And you have the quality you said, and authenticity. So tell people, why is that important that it’s not just about who you are? And what hasn’t happened, your brand and what you’re making?

Chris Ball 6:49
Yeah, you know, it’s funny, man, because I’ve spoken to a lot of, you know, there’s been a lot of celebrities that have come into our space. And, you know, they just they don’t understand, right, and it’s not their fault. You know, they’re celebrities in life, they do and they touch, they get paid for it, because they’re going to bring awareness to something right. So I understand that I understand that train of thought. And in the beginning, you know, I too, also thought, you know, what, maybe celebrity does help, you know, sell cannabis, maybe, maybe it does bring more eyes to read. And then you quickly find out, you know, that the celebrity doesn’t do anything, right, it’s if the weed is shit, it doesn’t matter, right? I don’t care who’s selling it, I don’t care what celebrity has their face on it, you’ll get the one vibe. And then the consumer will go, this ain’t no good. And they’ll never buy it again. No value there. Right, the value is in the operator, the value is in the cultivator is in the product, I can take a course I can take a really good product and make some guy that nobody’s ever heard of extremely relevant in the cannabis world because the weed is good. The Weed that’s attached to his name is making waves around the industry and with the consumer. So, you know, when I explained that, you know, to fonts he understood, he got it. You know, he wasn’t he didn’t come in and ask me for no money, or what do I get out of the deal and all of that, he said, Man, I just want to be a part of this. I need this. This is medicine. For me. This is such I love you. I love I want to I want to learn how to grow, I want to learn how to clean the floor. I want to learn what are what’s pest what’s what’s IPM what does that you know, and so that I can get behind that I can fuck with because I put in my 10,000 hours for this, you know, I’ve earned the right to be here. I’ve sat in federal prison for this, you know, so for someone to come in and say, Man, teach me at the entry level. And then bring me along. You know, I don’t don’t just give me any strain. Like what is what do you call it? I’m like fino hunting. Can we do that? I like getting. Absolutely. Is there a way to make that one strain? I’m like, Yes. Jay Alphonse, there is a way to do that. Are you patient enough to wait for it? Absolutely. I want to go through the whole process. I want to I want to learn it all. So when a person is like that, then you don’t I don’t mind investing my time. I don’t mind investing my efforts. And yes, thank God, you know, his his show has a season two has come out. We started this two years ago, you know, we didn’t know where we didn’t know, we didn’t know where his career was gonna go. I didn’t you know, I looked at him. And I was like, This guy is a hell of an actor. And he’s not really known all over the world yet. You know, I think he had maybe 200,000 followers when I felt when we met and, you know, he was coming off his first season. He had done a couple of things. He wasn’t he was good at his arena, but not to the public. You know, he knew who he was and respected him. So I just looked at that and I said, You know what, if I can get get with this guy right now, everyone will know I didn’t just go get with a celebrity because of clout, right? I didn’t just go fine. Find a drink or, or a Michael B. Jordan somebody that the whole world knows to try to bring awareness to my brand. I said, Nah, man, we’re gonna do this the right way about the flower. Let’s let the flower tell the fucking story. And then once the flower tells the story, then it brings my consumer into your world. So they figure out who Jr. Cause Nicholson is. And if there’s people in your world and actor world who don’t know who ball family farms is, so it’s a win win. But it’s authentic. It’s real.

Nick 10:27
But you said it was your medicine. Right? So let’s talk about let’s let’s back this up, because then we’re gonna get under strain. And we’re gonna say what we obviously want to know that makes you different. We want to know what you stand for. Because that’s what this whole show is about. Right? It’s about cannabis. It’s about education. It’s about getting educated, but more on the differences and everything. But when you say it’s your medication, right? So, I mean, when you started, or both of you obviously, obviously, I don’t know what’s when you started smoking when you started using cannabis. But it’s something specifically that you said it’s my medication. So what does it help you with specifically?

J Alphonse 11:03
Yeah, definitely brother, it helps me with anxiety that I didn’t realize I had until I became an adult. You know, I probably started smoking cannabis around the age of 12, or 13, and tobacco and North Carolina tobacco statement, you know, so this is you rolling up puck and Reggie, and join in blunts, big eyes, blunts, and you’re just getting high, not realizing that it’s actually calming you down. It’s just taking your mind away from all the things that you had to go through that day, or whatever may have happened at school or at home. And so it wasn’t until I became an adult, that I realized that cannabis was something that actually put my mind at peace, and helped me relax throughout the, you know, the trials of my day. And so when I started acting around 18, professionally, you know, lifestyle moving very fast for me, I had my son two years after that I was 20 years old, and I had my son. And so I think at that point, I realized that Oh, cannabis is something that really helps me maintain my my kind of just, like I said, My peace, but as well as kind of this focus that I needed to have to get through co parenting that I need to have to get through being a street drummer. Some people know my story. You know, I was a street drummer in New York for a long time. And that’s how I made a living outside of acting. And so in order to sit down in those subways and make it through those tough days, and earning $1 for dollar, I will need something to kind of keep me at peace. And

Nick 12:29
how funny is that? Right? Everybody thinks you just it just happened like that right? There. All of a sudden, you woke up and you became an actor, and people knew who you are

Nick 12:43
backstory that happened

J Alphonse 12:48
is I’ve been in this industry. And I will say halfway through my career, it was when I really realized, okay, you know, what, you know, cannabis has, it has been a part of my journey. And I want to find a way to make the, you know, continue to have a part of my journey. So yeah, anxiety, man. That’s what it helps me with. That’s what is my, you know, my prescription. That’s why I’m prescribed with it from my good brother here. And it’s because it keeps me in a place where I can stay focused, it keeps me it now happened. There’s levels to this as well, you know, now I find myself being famous and being a celebrity. And so many people know who I am and walking down certain streets and getting stopped every block, you know, going to a restaurant, you can’t really finish your food. And so this beautiful plant, especially specifically this strain that we’ve created, all of our family farms products have been a resource in my life, but now specifically the Fonzie has become a very particular resource for calming anxiety, but at the same time, keeping your energy high, keep you in the loop, you know, keeping you up. You know, it’s long days, that set

Nick 13:50
when I was just gonna ask you, I was gonna ask you, it’s something that obviously helps you while you’re acting. It’s something that would you say that when you’re acting 90% of the time you’re smoking, something that keeps you a little more focused? Because obviously people don’t realize it, or they do realize, you know, because of the terpenes and how it makes you feel and are you going to be it’s not just always I’m gonna get high and sit on a couch and and be stupid, right? It can help you focus it can help you all these things. So what is that kind of how you got into it and how you created this strain or is it something like how much do you smoke during your acting? I mean, you

J Alphonse 14:27
definitely smoke every morning you know, when I get up it’s part of the routine no matter how early that morning may start sometimes you want to start 435 30 In the morning on a set. And so then I yeah, I roll a joint I have a coffee most of the time and then throughout the day, I may have a joint or two we’re just kind of told off one joint throughout the day, depending on what kind of keep you’re just kind of especially what people need anybody St. Pete guy, you know that it’s a lot. You know,

Nick 14:53
there’s a lot going on.

J Alphonse 15:00
But it’s a very important story to tell. And so you want to be focused, you want to be your best self when you’re telling them. So, the ball familyfarms always has this way of making sure that it keeps me right where I need to be. And, you know, just dealing with all the emails and the interviews and all the different things that come with being in this industry, man. So it’s a blessing that I’ve been able to be a brand ambassador going on two years now for, in my opinion, the best cannabis company on, you know, in the world.

Nick 15:30
So, yeah, no, go ahead. No, I didn’t mean to cut you off. I’m sorry. No, go ahead. No, I was gonna say so Chris is so how did you. I mean, obviously, you know, your proposed, you guys got together. But what made you come up with this strain, specifically, or, and tell us a little bit about what he’s talking about and what this special strain is.

Chris Ball 15:49
So um, when Jay Alphonse first, when we first started going on this journey, what I did was I gave him all of our strings to smoke, you know, and I said, Listen, smoke all of these and tell me which ones affect you the best, the worst, the you know, just give me some feedback. I’ll tell you what, I left him up, you know, with all of our strains, I’ll probably get him about an ounce, you know, of estrogen. And I said live with him. I said, don’t call me after the first, the first joint of each one. I said, live with him. You know, smoking, when you wake up, you try one at a time smoking, when you wake up smoking during the day smoking after you eat smoking before you’re gonna go to bed, like, live with it first, and then start giving me feedback. And that’s what he did. And when he did that, he came back with with two of our strings that he really liked. Right? There was one was our lower Charles, which is a straight hybrid. And then he came back and then the other one he liked was our Bruce Leroy, which was a Sativa dominant hybrid,

Nick 16:49
right? That’s exactly what he’s talking about. Kind of keep him.

Chris Ball 16:52
So I said, Okay. And I knew what both the finos were, I knew what both the genetic profile and both of them. I knew what they were right. And we do our own tissue culturing. We do our own fino hunting, we do our own proprietary genetics. So I have the males and you know, and the moms of each one of

Nick 17:11
our strengths. I was gonna ask you, you had all of these before

Chris Ball 17:14
we came into the industry with them. Right? Okay. So, so I said, he said, Is there a way you know, and at this time, he doesn’t, he doesn’t know about germinating? He doesn’t know about, you know, fino hunting, he doesn’t know anything about that process. He just knows the weed. So he’s like, zero way.

Nick 17:31
So it’s okay.

Chris Ball 17:35
For me, because I felt like a teacher and I was excited to be able to teach him this, you know, so I, he’s sitting on my couch, and we’re talking and he said, Is there a way to, like, make to get a little bit of both. And, you know, a little bit of Lord Charles and a little bit of Bruce Lee, Roy, and one and I said, Well, as a matter of fact, there is right. Take him down this journey of how you you know of how you germinate and how you pop seed and how you crossbreed and all that good stuff. So he’s sitting there like, Whoa, I didn’t even know you could do that. So I said, so what we’re gonna do is we’re going to take you know, we’re gonna get Lord Charles, we’re gonna get Bruce Lee Royce. We’re gonna get the mom and I’m gonna get the dad and I’m going to crossbreeding right and then on a little Barry Manilow. Once we birth those seeds, then we’re going to set out to fino hunt your perfect string. And that’s what we did you know, so I just married the two strings that he liked from from high from effects, the flavor profiles, you know, and then when we got the feed, when we got the seeds, we popped the seats and went back through it. And that’s when I told them about the Big Four, right, we need something that it’s going to have bag appeal, we need something that’s going to smell great, we need something that’s going to test great and we need something that’s going to make the high has to be level right it has to be what you love, because this is your expression, that when we put the strain out the world, the people who smoked this need to understand what it is that you’re feeling in your strength, right. So when we talk about it, they know how to shop for it. And so that’s what we did, man and he you know, he chose it’s the actual fino was is GG 23 Right, it was the 23rd fino out of like 100 Wow, nice. And that’s how we got here.

J Alphonse 19:21
It was a beautiful experience, man. Beautiful experience

Nick 19:24
now. Okay, what I love about how you just explained that was so important. When you’re talking about, you’re creating something that you want something, someone to feel what I’m feeling right. When you’re explaining I mean, when was the last time you heard somebody explain something like that meaning when you’re talking about a fine wine. If you’re talking about food, if you’re like a chef, right, you’re talking almost like you’re a chef, right? You’re like this is what I wanted somebody to feel when I’m cooking. I want them to feel the flavors, take them back to my lineage or you know when I’m on a chef talks about where they’re from or where they are. And they just they want to bring up there. Right. So I think that that’s huge in explaining your message of why I think I was getting back to why it doesn’t really matter who you are, right? It matters about the quality. And that is why a celebrity, no offense, nothing like that. It’s just can’t sell what you’re trying to break through. You know, you’ve got to have somebody that says, Look, eyes on me, I’m so and so. But the quality is what speaks for itself. And this is why brings them back. That’s, that’s what brings them back. Right. And I’m with ya good.

J Alphonse 20:39
Oh, go ahead, brother. No, no,

Nick 20:41
no, no, please, if I’m cutting you off at any point, but but but when I’m talking about cannabis is this is what I mean. And so many people don’t understand, like, it’s not just about getting something from down the street. And all it makes you feel a certain way or no, you know, you have no idea. That’s why you have to go out there and understand what’s going to work for you and what you’re trying to accomplish. Right. I just thought it was awesome. The way you explain that, because it’s so important that people understand that this is way more than this. This is not

J Alphonse 21:12
me and Chris, Chris is a master at doing that man. He’s a true craftsman, when it comes to the cannabis industry when it comes to the plant true lover and believer in the medicinal properties of it. And that’s why I fell in love with him and his company, obviously, with the same hue, you know, to see a black man on what it is that he’s done and create what it is that he’s created. It’s very inspiring, but then says here, his intellect on the side of tools like oh, this brother knows what he’s talking about. Like, yeah, he doesn’t actually, he doesn’t have to be the botanist at this point. He doesn’t have to actually plant the seed. But he will though, just like chefs will go in and cooking their own restaurant. It’s like a you know, Chris is kind of the epitome of putting your hands in the dirt and getting it done. And so for me, that’s where I come from, and I come from getting it done. And I think that’s what attracted us to each other as business wise. And also as friends. It’s like, Nah, we’ll get it done. Regardless, you’re fat, my family gonna be good, your children gonna be good, everything’s gonna be taken care of just off of the hustle of the strength, then it’s like, oh, but how sophisticated do we want to be one of our, one of our mutual friends said that to the rest of the day, small family farms is sophisticated. You know, there’s, there’s a thing that comes to when you have the when you walk into the space, you say, you know, the gentleman are kind of scores of this. And so that’s what I appreciate about it. Outside of the acting, I feel like people would go, you know, for lack of a better word was gonna fuck with us regardless, you know, regardless of what my acting career has done, and then we say that to each other all the time. Neither one of us are here like this.

Nick 22:41
Well, I think you guys make a good tea. I’m saying, I’m saying it works. You both have, you know, a part in this, right? I just was saying you like you have Jordan, right? Like you have Jordans people buy Jordans, Jordans, right. But they’re not in Jordan sneaker socks when they didn’t look awesome. Most of them buy him anyway. So it doesn’t really matter. I mean, nobody joins, maybe they’re buying because they’re Jordans. So it’s been it’s a bad example. But

J Alphonse 23:06
but you know, let us also on this fly, man, the product of marketing all across the board. This is the first time that Chris has ever used an actual actor myself a real person and put my put a face on the bag. But what happened? He’s a genius. So he’s like, No, I’m gonna still flip it on. Where’s like, we know, the Fonzie we know who Hey, we know who happened.

J Alphonse 23:34
To know who also is just like, you know, whom he argued. So just like, you may know who Lord Charles is on Nino Brown, it all kind of lays out. And sort of like he said those four things. When he said that to me, I’m like, Yeah, we hit on all four. And so shout out to Bob fan. And that just bringing that whole package together. And Chris, and it all comes from from him, you know. So

Chris Ball 23:54
the minister piggyback Nick, what you said about the Jordans, right? I’ve been a Jordan collector and fans since I was a little kid, right? If I take this phone upstairs to my shoot room, you guys would think you’d think I have a serious problem because that’s alright, that said, you know, there was a time when Jordan left Nike, right? They became two separate companies, right? And Nike was making all of the Nike shoes. They were doing them in Thailand, right? And they were using real leather. This is back in the 90s. Right in the 90s. Right. And then when Jordan took over, they wanted a bigger profit margin because they had to split with Nike. So they started making the shoes in Taiwan. And when they started making the shoes in Taiwan, they weren’t using the same leather. The leather started to hurt your feet. These are supposed to be basketball shoes, of course. So the shoe got a little bit more hard, and it got a little bit more dense and heavy. And the consumer, the real one, we knew. We said something’s off here. This is not the same shoe. Right? So then Nike Jordan was forced To go back to what did I just say? Not Taiwan, the other for Thailand, Thailand, they were forced to go back and get that real leather. So now sometimes you’ll see a Jordan shoe and I want you to pay attention to this. You’ll see a Jordan three or four. Some of them will have the Jordan man on the back. And some of them will have Nike Air on the back of the shoe. When you see the Nike Air. That’s Thailand. When you see the Jordan, that’s that’s Taiwan.

Nick 25:33
Which one do we want that we want? The air? Thailand we want Nike Air. Yeah, right. Exactly. Okay, that’s that

Chris Ball 25:39
soft, buttery leather that you can run up and down according all freaking day. Right? So it’s the same thing, those those principles and rules apply in any industry you’re in. It doesn’t matter whether it’s fashion, doesn’t matter whether it’s food doesn’t matter whether it’s cannabis, it’s the quality, the quality of what you’re doing, if you’re paying attention to it, and you’re not cutting corners with the quality will always win, it will always rise to the top. And you’re

Nick 26:05
differentiating yourself because of that, right? Let’s be honest, I mean, there’s a lot of cat Come on. There’s a lot of cannabis brands, right? There’s a lot everybody’s trying to make their mark in the business and not to go back. But again, bringing all types of cultures together. I always say it right. You know, you talk about obviously, you’re coming from a minority, but it doesn’t matter, right? I mean, black, white, Asian, going green, it brings everybody together. I mean, that’s this that that green universal color is our colors. But I think it’s again, and this is why we loved we wanted to have you guys on it’s about the quality, right? This is how I run my company. I’m the same way I’m in cannabis. On the other side, though, I’m an app. We do customize formulas in cannabis. So it’s a little different. Not only we use our strains, but I use other molecules and we you know, we treat certain conditions, we have

Chris Ball 26:56
a separate conversation about that, Nick, because we need some CBD, we need some before CBD around the world. You got to talk about that offline.

Nick 27:04
Perfect. Perfect. No, I love that. I mean, good. Yeah, absolutely. Um, but what I mean is, is that you know, same thing with with the way I am, you know, and how I live my life. And I see that’s how you are with your craft, of course, my man over there with his, but I’m just saying it’s all about what you put into it your heart, right? What you want to get out of it. He wanted to be a custodian, right. I mean, like, he didn’t care. He just wanted to learn. He was ready to be humble and say, teach me what you know. Because the Yeah, right. Exactly. And, and why? Because you’re doing it right. You know, and people see that and they see that you’re doing it right. They’re doing it the right way. And game recognizes game, right. So and that’s why I wanted to get into it. Now. This strain specifically. It’s kind of you know, look, there’s a whole thing on how you said it, but I want you to explain it from your mouth. Exactly. I mean, I’ll tell you what your word for word what I found. From the nose to the structure. The Fonzie is truly a beautiful strain. It’s smooth taste gives you an excellent high that allows you to move throughout your day calm and relaxed, feeling energized and not too heavy. But you said something about the taste of it. Something about like It tastes like Skittles and cream and smells like a fruit basket. Can you please break that down for me a little bit because I mean come on. That sounds amazing. I want

J Alphonse 28:34
even better than that. I said the other day that it smells like the Garden of Eden

Nick 28:40
come on you need

J Alphonse 28:44
and I know that people thought that it was a forbidden fruit

Pete 28:49
not smells like that apple tree no more

J Alphonse 28:58
focus on that. Focus on the fruit itself is beautiful. So it smells like the garden it truly smells like a fruit basket. Man when you smell it and smell it has this beautiful pungent just burst of like lemon, the a little bit of bury in there for you. And then it actually looks like that too. It’s like when you’re looking at he’s like, Oh, this is a fruit. Like this is what God intended for this plant to look like when it’s properly grown. You on the back here you see that we have grown and live in Seoul, you scan that little QR code there shows you exactly what the plant looks like the facility and how it looks around that you can see things and see how well kept these facilities are because of our family farm staff and the people that Chris had put in place over there. And so when you cultivate a plant like that, now you have something that smells like Skittles. Yeah, and it’s not all these different things put inside of it to make it smell like that. It’s just naturally how it was how it was done. And so yeah, it smells great. So it’s turning heads.

Chris Ball 29:54
I give you all I give you all you know, I bought family farms were known for never Telling or disclosing our genetics, right? We’ll never completely tell you what we did with this one because I just believe from being in the cannabis space so long people, you know, the cannabis user will get caught up in what the name of something is. And because the black market is still really prevalent, and people run around,

Nick 30:18
like a supermarket and 80% of the country, yeah,

Chris Ball 30:21
putting certain strains in this bag and calling it this and calling it that, I’m just like, You know what, I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna tell you what it is, all you need to know is you need to try it, I’m gonna let you know if it’s a hybrid indica sativa, I’m gonna let you know that. I’m gonna give you some some terpene profiles on the back. So you need to do your research and learn what those terpenes mean. And that’s it. But I love that guys. I will give you guys some of it right with the smell that he’s talking about is two of the lineage is ice cream cake and a Tropicana cookies. That’s two of the of the four lineages that are in or that are in that string. I won’t tell the other ones just because that’s just how I moved. You know what I’m saying? Because I grew up in the era of, of, you know, blue dream, right? At one point, Blue Dream was fantastic. As of seven, eight years ago, nine years ago, you can’t even get some you can’t pay somebody to buy some blue dream. But it’s still a wonderful, beautiful string I have, I’m gonna put it back out and call it something else. Right? Because people get caught in a stigma of a name. You know, at one point, purple punch was the shit. And then it just dropped off the face of the earth. Right? Nobody wanted purple punch anymore. Still a beautiful plant. Still a beautiful strain, good color, good structure. Good nose. Good smoke. Right? So that’s kind of why you know, I don’t tell, but I do want to just give your listeners or your viewers some sort of insight. There is some Tropicana cookie in there, and there is some ice cream cake in there. So that’s where you’re getting the fruit basket. But the cream, that’s where that’s where it’s coming from for him.

Nick 31:53
You know, and it’s funny, you know, people say you just said it. No, I’m gonna lose some terpenes on the back. That’s the most important thing people because no one is what you want. Understand, like, the name is really irrelevant. It’s the terpene profile that you’re looking for, or the effect that you’re trying to get. But this is what the funny thing we were talking about is we always talk about THC values. Right? But you don’t go into a liquor store and say, I need moonshine because it’s the highest. You don’t I mean, maybe some people do. But most people don’t go into a liquor store and go I just need the highest alcohol content. Stumbled

Chris Ball 32:37
anyone starting to drink? What’s the highest percentage beer you got in here? Oh, reserve.

Chris Ball 32:46
Okay, let me have that. Put me on my ass. I don’t want to drink that.

Nick 32:54
Might you might even not even like the taste do though. You know what I mean? Like, it’s just it just, I mean, look, I come from, you know, I mean, I’ve even had a malt liquor day in my life, you know, back in the day, and you’re just like, listen, I mean, you know, it gets you messed up. But there’s, there’s a lot better things out there.

Chris Ball 33:10
Right. So to add to that, you know, this year, we’re both family farms. We’re running this big campaign. And the campaign is called Terps over THC. And what we’re trying to do is educate the consumer and the buyer, right? If you were to go to a restaurant, and I give this analogy all the time, if you were to go to a restaurant, and you’re a steak eater, and you have a piece of wagyu steak, that’s supposed to be you know, Japanese wagyu. That’s the best cut of meat on planet Earth, right? And then you got yourself a little a New York strip steak, right? The wagyu steak has no season. But the New York Strip is season to perfection, right? Which one is going to give you a better experience at dinner, right? Even though one is supposed to be the highest quality of meat, but there’s no seasoning on it. So it doesn’t really taste like anything. But then that New York Strip is not the highest quality of meat, but it’s seasoned to perfection. Well, I’m probably going to go for the for the sirloin, right. And so I make that example, because I want people to understand, learn your terpene profiles, learn the experience. It’s not about how much THC is on the plant, when you go to testing that could just be the node that they chose. That particular node could just have all of that THC on them. That doesn’t mean the entire rest of the 50 pounds that we have to test in that batch is going to be the same, right? So don’t even look at that. Look at your terpene profiles. Look at Linnell look at marason Look at all these things. Figure out what those things mean to you and how they make you feel in shot for that shot for two to 3% thc mean terpene profile that means that weed is going to be very tasty. You’re looking at something that’s one one point something below one. Well it doesn’t have much taste, but it’s a 30 fiber. Well you just you smoke in air and you’re gonna be high shit. It may not be a good high, you know? What about all the other cannabinoid profiles that are supposed to be in there? So we’re trying at both family farms and with the Fonzie, with all the rest of our strains, we’re trying to educate the consumer so that they can shop smarter.

Nick 35:12
Well, I like for example, and a lot of the stuff that I do, I’m always doing multiple strains. And you know, we have four good ones that we come up with. And again, I’m just saying, if you really want to know, you know, I guess I’ll tell you, but, but I usually keep about four, we’ve gone through 32 different ones, and it’s just to get terpenes to more cannabinoid profiles on our side, yes, we worry about the terpene terpenes. But it’s more about the other minor cannabinoids that give different medical effects that we try to, you know, specialize on on our side, but it’s the same, it’s the same thing. It’s understanding what’s going to work for you and why you’re doing this. Why are you taking it? Why are you doing it for fun? Are you doing it for you know, because you have medical medical purposes or

Chris Ball 35:57
something like that? Why you drink? Are you drinking face? Are you drinking to just have a buzz? You know, it applies? Why are you eating? Are you eating or just have a snack? Are you eating to get full? You know which one is it all these things determine what you ingest no different with cannabis.

Nick 36:14
I completely agree. I mean, how about in Hollywood? I mean, what’s how I mean? Obviously you got co stars you’re, you’re getting famous. I mean, how are you responding to the brand to cannabis? What’s Hollywood like it with cannabis I mean,

J Alphonse 36:33
go to don’t think about it is that it’s far in between that you have someone actually step out and say that their cannabis use it, you know, you see a lot of people use it, but how many people actually promote you know, the fact that they are, you know, behind the medicinal purposes for so that’s the dope thing about what I’m doing. And what Chris and I are doing ball family farms. The reason they’re behind me on this is because it helps me stand out in my industry, which is something I always want to do not only with my work ethic and my craft as an actor, you know, Producer Director when the time comes, but also like, what else is he doing outside of the craft. And so now that I have the cannabis so I love you know, Seth Rogen has been a huge inspiration to me, you know, his blueprint being an artist, but also have in house plant and doing some dope things with that with the pottery and obviously the flour. So to be able to do this with my my brother Chris ball, it’s like a wiggle Bay to be one of the ones one of the first really actors that just kind of see behind the cannabis industry in that scene and that mix, and I think it’s going to take us pretty far continue to pull other people into it as well continue to make awareness of it, obviously, but also business opportunities for people who want to come in and get some things and partner with ball family farms, which is already happening been happening but now starting to happen even more because the recognition and so for me, man, it’s dope. And honestly, I’m a huge advocate of like, yeah, that’s all you need, baby. Like I don’t I don’t judge anyone. I don’t want anybody to feel like you have to not have you advice. But this is to me one of the safest plants one of the safest medicines around and so Hollywood is a crazy place man. People do all types of things. You see all types of crazy shit. And for me I just stick to what I know my rivers and lakes as my wife like to say she’s I will stick to my ribs. Ribs and the flows that I know and so on family farms, a lot of people that come up to me they’re like, Yo, so So do what’s the smell on the ball family farms like menisci you’re doing your thing and I always tell people it’s not that easy brother you got to earn that and we can’t just give you one of the letterman jackets everybody don’t got one of them

Nick 38:38
adversity team

J Alphonse 38:42
it’s a real mafia tight kind of just vibe kind of like lifestyle and in just when I say that term I don’t mean all the fucking shit that comes with it we don’t obviously don’t condone violence and that type of shit but it’s like not this is my family we want to take care of and ball family farms is that’s no no pun intended when they when you have that family in there people really we stand by that but and so in Hollywood people come up and they want to be an end they want to be in the mix. You know, I bring Chris to my red carpets not like us like my actor friends and shit like It’s like me my wife Chris and his wife this friendly neighborhood you know what would you call that?

Chris Ball 39:22
Friendly? The friendly legalized don’t your friendly neighborhood legalize dope. Can you please show me your chirpy friendly

J Alphonse 39:33
beat let me say let me bring Chris to the red carpets man and all what happens is a lot of people are already actually familiar with ball family farms. But then they say oh damn, that’s owned by this gentleman. Okay, wow, that’s different, and it feels different. And then when they shake his hand, it’s just like, Okay, thank you, brother. I appreciate what it is that you’re doing, and so on and so on. Hollywood’s face, you know, ball, family films is on the way, that’s a real thing that’s starting to happen. And so Chris having his, a mutual friend of ours called sanctuary deliverance, and so so you’ll see us actually producing and directing and at some point, you know, being able to tell Chris’s story which I hopefully I can portray, and play Chris and really bring an elevation to his story and make it dope than a month fucka where it’s just like, Damn seeing a cannabis movie. But it’s fire though. It’s not like a comedy like It’s like drama, got comedy in it and got all that in there. But it’s like, oh, this is a really real life story. You know?

Nick 40:36
I love that. Yeah. And

Chris Ball 40:37
so, Listen, man, we really trying with jet with fines, you know, we are really trying to elevate our space. And I’m really, you know, as a social equity, license holder, and Trailblazer, I’m really trying to come forward and show people listen, the guys from the legal I mean, from the traditional market, right? We are the people that need to be leading this industry. We’re not all criminals. We’re not these bad people, right? We fell in love with something, maybe it was, we had to do it because of our environment. Maybe we just fell in love with the process of the plant. And we knew that there were so many beneficial things to it right. But what Fonz and are trying to do is trying to bring a different light, you know, to our industry. And at a high level at a very high level. We’ve all seen the classic movies how high don’t rent man and met the man we’ve seen a half baked you know, said Dave Chappelle, we seen those stories, right and their shit. I fucking love them. We seen the Friday’s Right, right? It was smoking. But what me and Vaughn just trying to do is trying to take it to the next level when it’s somebody actually seen a real life drama, cannabis picture, right? Well, we’re telling the story, we’re talking about the medical purposes of the plant, it needs to elevate, right, because most of us, a lot of us in this industry are elevated individuals were smart, we know how to do this, right? There was no fucking college degree in how to learn how to sell, we break down weed how to grow, we had to put in our 10,000 hours to figure this out. By trial and error, we had to fail a million times to get to this point. So it’s time for the world. And what finds his platform and how serious of an actor he is, I know this man is going to be nominated for me, God willing, he wins, I know that I know it in my bones and in my heart. So it’s like being able to partner with someone like that, who has the ability and platform to really storytelling. And just for me dealing with him. I’m getting other celebrities with the with that same platform, and that same high level experience that want to come in and do things with us. So it’s been it’s been so mutually beneficial for both of us. And I’m really, really excited about what’s to come, you guys will be when you guys see the shit that we’re going to do, you’re going to be hyped you’re gonna be like, Man, them dudes told us that they really go into shit.

Nick 42:56
But if the perception is all those other movies, the perception of reality is those other movies until you make something that’s different. Correct. That’s, that’s what the dots with the mainstream scenes 100%. And so I love what you’re doing.

Pete 43:15
Yeah, that’s what they hit. It’s great to have that you’d notice the one thing that makes it actually seem to work so well too, and makes it dismembers that you have Chris with all of his knowledge. And you have a fondness with a thirst and willingness to learn something you know, and with that, I think back and forth, is what you need to kind of create not just an amazing stream, but a wonderful it’ll go in

Chris Ball 43:34
partnership is humility is respect for one another, and humility as grown men, knowing what we know, and then revealing what we don’t know. You know, in this thing, man,

J Alphonse 43:45
it’s beautiful man. It’s a wonderful friendship that we’ve been able to cultivate man. And I tell gentlemen this all the time, it’s important man. So I have my circle. I have really tight close people in my life, and Chris does as well. But when you get an opportunity to branch out and build a cross, I say this all the time on my father’s tombstone, it says bridge building. And that’s the type of energy that I share with Chris man, we bridge bill, we build, we build bridges, and we connect for each other and we throw out a use all the time. And it’s it’s just been a wonderful, wonderful experience, man doing this with his brother. And that’s kind of the energy that we put into the plant as well. And so I want people to receive that West like it’s all love man, except people. Be who, you know, have humility, be humble, you know, learn, be able to learn, be able to listen and sit back and kind of just enjoy the ride or be patient. You know, I’ve learned a lot from this relationship from this during this process is that you got to be patient, those plants just don’t pop off the ground and grow funky. They don’t just, you know, it takes time to get to where you want to get into and so similar to building real partnerships, real business relationships, real family, you know, that’s that’s what you want to do is when I can tell you gentlemen are good friends to you working in the same role I had put at the bottom and we gotta get this shit done

Chris Ball 45:04
nice to see

J Alphonse 45:06
people get things done and that’s how we are man we just want to share the love want people to see who you can be you know I tell people all the time what type of provider you want to be for your family you know my wife taught me that you know Chris and I we kind of move in that lane was like you gotta kind of gotta ladies besides I don’t really matter where you see me. She will probably be right there with me. It can be a room sitting full a table, whatever we talking about whatever we hear with it. And I’m going out to get the buffalo put it on my head and bring it back home. You know. So that’s that all family bond energy. That’s the energy I got. You put it together.

Pete 45:39
Well, we can’t wait to see. It’s really you know, do what you’re gonna do in the future here. And I mean, this excitement has gotten me you know?

Nick 45:48
Well, first, I’m about to run a marathon on P Valley.

Nick 45:57
And then we’re flying up to see Chris at the farm. So

Nick 46:05
yeah, my fans are in Colorado in California, but we’re in South Florida.

Chris Ball 46:08
Oh, nice. Okay, yeah. I’ll be out Florida. I’m working on a partnership now.

Nick 46:14
Yeah. Nice. Yeah. When you’re, yeah, we’re in between where Fort Lauderdale West Palm. We’re called Delray Beach, South Florida. So if you’re coming this way, you’re coming in to say I know. Oh, yeah. For sure.

Chris Ball 46:32
Next in two weeks, I’ll be out there two weeks for a whole week and a half. Perfect shot, come visit for sure. That’d

Nick 46:39
be great. That’d be great. We’ll do that.

Pete 46:41
We do appreciate you guys both have set aside for us. And remember everybody, you know, do you feel some favor? Go ahead and support the family at both family farms as well as Alphonse and P Valley. Get the Fonzie everything else you want to find and follow us a cannabis radio I heart iTunes, Spotify and anywhere else you guys listen to your podcasts but this was hempire We appreciate your time getting educated with us.