Nathan Russell, CEO, CUSTOMPACKCO, The Lab
Nathan Russell, CEO, CUSTOMPACKCO, The Lab
After graduating from Humboldt State University in 2012 with dual degrees in English and Botany with a focus on Ethnobotany, Nate managed some of the first large scale medical grows and extraction labs in Northern California that fed the early So-Cal dispensary market.
As true operational legality remained in limbo, Nate left Northern CA and cultivated as a caregiver in Northern MI for several years, until he stepped away from cannabis, and build his first ‘legitimate' business: a music festival merchandise company, which sold lapel pins and apparel at events across the country.
During that time, I spent extensive time developing manufacturing relationships in China and domestically, and launched a second business based on retail product design, manufacture, and logistics, ultimately producing merchandise and packaging for entertainment industry clients ranging from Kim Kardashian to the NCAA.
As the cannabis market grew in legitimacy, Nate leveraged his relationships and staff to expanded his company's offering to include an array of packaging products for the cannabis industry. Several years later, CUSTOMPACKCO has expanded to offer a broad range of supply chain solutions to cannabis companies, including packaging development and production, branding, logistics and import, marketing support and promotional integrations.
Most recently, Nate opened the doors to his new full-scale processing facility in Northern Michigan, The Lab, which offers white label, co-packing, and distribution services to the legal market in the state. The Lab's goal is to create a true end-to-end service model in which cultivators can focus on doing what they do best, while The Lab does all the dirty work of processing, packaging, warehousing and distributing products
Outside of his core mission of brand building in regards to clients, Nate is a firm believer in worker's rights, worker's value, and using the industry as a tool to right some of the wrongs brought on by prohibition. The Lab employs felons, drug offenders, and those with large gaps in their work history. The company also continues to build a progressive workplace, including 4-day work weeks, industry leading pay rates, shared profits for completed projects, a hire-from-within policy, and 1 day of PTO earned per 15 days worked.
Aside from CUSTOMPACKCO and The Lab, Nate grows in living soil for personal rosin and flower, plays with legos, reads avidly, and travels as much as possible, especially to see Phish.
IG: @natesaysdoless
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-russell-5b2136113
www.CUSTOMPACKCO.com
www.TheLabMI.com
www.RoadTripSupply.co
www.Mikrodos.com
