George Sadler of Gelato Canna Co on Scaling Empires, Bootstrapping Startups, and Ignoring the Naysayers

As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible”, I had the pleasure of interviewing George Sadler.

George Sadler is the co-founder and CEO of Gelato Canna Co., a San Diego-based purveyor of cannabis edibles, flower, pre-rolls and concentrate serving California and Michigan. Founded in March 2022, Sadler has overseen Gelato’s swift expansion into new markets including tequila, retail and water. A born entrepreneur, Sadler is a force to be reckoned with, navigating every challenge (and naysayer!) with resilience, courage and a healthy dose of positive thinking.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better. Can you tell us your ‘backstory’?

I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire adult life. I dropped out of high school and got my GED and started my first company, a flooring company, a couple of years after leaving school. I always followed the philosophy that I can learn to do anything, I just have to find a way to do it better, and that’s what I’ve done with every company I’ve ever owned. It’s proved to be a successful philosophy. Most recently, I sold my first cannabis company I founded with my son back in 2013 for a nine figure sum and started another cannabis company with my son called Gelato Canna Co. We’ve been in business for 18 months and the growth we’ve had has already surpassed the growth of my previous company.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Gelato is getting ready to launch its newest product: canned water. Gelato has always had branded water bottles but now we’re going to mass market our water with a full SKU line in aluminum cans. We also have a tequila product in the works and we’re planning to launch that under the Gelato name in Q1 2024. We’ll be offering premium silver and gold tequila. I want Gelato to be more than a cannabis company. We have so many new markets we want to move into including water, retail, tequila, etc.

As far as helping people, I think it’s not just about the product itself but the bigger picture. As a company, Gelato is dedicated to bringing together the communities we are in and helping them out as much as we can. Whether it’s giving away turkeys at Thanksgiving or hosting weeklong prize giveaways when we launch a new product, we try and give back as much as possible to show our loyal customers we truly care about them. I want them to know we are a family run business, not a corporate goliath.

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?

Our culture. Everyone at Gelato is very innovative. We have an open door policy. Anyone can go talk to anyone that they want. Nobody needs to make an appointment and wait 3 weeks before they can see me in my office. There are no bureaucratic boundaries. We also don’t have job titles to make it feel like a level playing field. We have a familial culture. Gelato hosts company outings like paintball, karaoke nights. We love to have fun and we all have a deep respect for eachother which really shows itself in what we have accomplished in such a short time.

Ok, thank you for that. I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us? What was your idea? What was the reaction of the naysayers? And how did you overcome that?

I have had people tell me “you can’t do that” or “that’s impossible.” I have a very simple solution to deal with negativity and negative people. Don’t listen to them. Nobody wants to look back on their life and think about what they could’ve done but didn’t. The naysayers won’t look back with regret but the ones who didn’t take action will.

In the end, how were all the naysayers proven wrong? :-)

I think my track record speaks for itself.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My dad taught me about business ethics. I learned from my dad that you need a team to be successful. My dad was the kind of guy who was always thinking ahead and planning for the future. That same mentality was instilled in me from a very young age because of my dad.

It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?

I’ve learned a lot from the last 4 companies that I’ve owned. Every company that I’ve started has been from the ground up and that’s the way I’ve always been. I learned from past experiences and try not to repeat mistakes. It’s thanks to this large amount of experience that I have to pull from that I have a frame of reference and can apply one skillset to whatever new endeavor I’m pursuing.

I truly believe anyone can bootstrap their way to the top of whatever industry they are in. Of course in the course of building 4 different companies, there are people who have opinions you don’t always agree with. But it’s who I am to have a vision and go for it. I have to hold on to my truth and ignore whatever negative, insignificant comment might hurl my way.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each)

1. Work Hard: I’m up very early in the morning getting things done. Having a strong worth ethic is so important and what gets dreams off the ground and made into reality. Early bird gets the worm!
2. Bootstrap: I didn’t have a trust fund or access to large amounts of capital when I was first starting out. Instead of focusing your attention on how you want to spend the money you make, focus the money back into your business so you can grow your business and not your lifestyle. I’ve seen so many other entrepreneurs make that mistake. Eventually you will get to a point where you can buy the things you want but prioritizing your business over your material desires is key to success.
3. Have a Vision: I’ve always had a vision of what I want to accomplish with my businesses. This will help you navigate any challenge that comes your way because you know what you want the end result to be. People might think your vision is crazy but don’t listen to them.
4. Stay Positive: There’s always a way. Hiring a team of people who balance out your weaknesses is something I mentioned before that I learned from my father. I don’t let problems stop me from accomplishing my goals. Every problem can be solved when you’ve assembled the right team. It’s one of the main reasons Gelato is so successful- our team is like a well oiled machine that stays positive when faced with a problem.
5. Apply Your Skill Set: I take everything I’ve learned and apply it to whatever I’m working on in the present. It can help prevent mistakes and allows you to build on your current skills. You should never think “okay, this is it. This is the most I will ever be able to do,” you have to keep learning, growing and applying what you know to become the best at what you do.

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

“This train is moving with or without you.”

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

As a father, I would like to see a movement where the use of social media is no longer seeping into family life. I don’t believe children should have unlimited amounts of screentime. TV, iPads, etc. should not be a babysitter! Families need to sit down and talk to each other more often. Being in the same room but glued to a phone is not how I think family time should be spent. I think this can trickle down to every sort of relationship and it’s not good and our social reliance of our phones needs to stop.

Can our readers follow you on social media?

You can check out Gelato’s Instagram at @GelatoCo and my professional LinkedIn page.

Thank you for these great stories. We wish you only continued success!