Hippo ONE YEAR Anniversary

Baby Hippo Turns ONE YEAR Old!

I can’t believe it’s been a year already! And, what an exciting, exhausting, stressful, euphoric, nail-biting year it’s been! My baby has grown faster than I could have ever imagined…I feel like I’ve been running just to keep up! On this momentous occasion, we take a look at the evolution of Hippo Premium Packaging, the highlights and milestones over the past year.

We officially launched on March 1st, 2016, once I successfully resigned from corporate America after serving it for over 20 years. It was just me in the beginning—wearing all hats; sales, production, billing, marketing, the whole shebang. It was a super cool time. I started attending festivals and Industry tradeshows to develop relationships. I met many of my most important connections at the High Times Cups. It was there I met the founders of Utopia Farms, Speakeasy 710, Chong’s Choice and many other clients.

It was at the 4/20 High Times event that I was fortunate enough to meet their editorial staff and in particular the Edibles Editor, Elise McDonough. She asked me to review the top cannabis packaging in the nation for an on-line feature article in August - High Hopes, 21 Cannabis Brands to watch. That was such a fun project for me to collaborate on, as I totally geek out on good packaging and branding. As a follow-up to that article, she then asked me to lead a branding break-out session for the High Times Business Summit in LA this past January, where 300 attendees enjoyed learning what it takes to build a winning brand.

The Hippo’s growth has been driven by client demand. I’m so grateful for our team and in particular my business partner and Hippo’s COO, Julia Gosnell, who jumped in on July 1st. In September, we hired a few part-time folks for print production and digital marketing. Still hardly able to keep up, in December we hired a full-time print production expert as well as three CA-based Senior Account Executives. On February 1st, we offered Stewart Huey the Creative Director position and are now moving to increase our LA sales presence.

I’m also very proud of the creative work we’re doing (can’t wait to show you what’s in development!). From Brand Development & Strategy for Pt. Loma Co-op to a Brand refresh for Utopia Farms, plus website builds, pewter medallions for glass jars, elevating the packaging for Speakeasy 710, Chong’s Choice, Herbalizer, Gem and of course, Pt. Loma/Golden State Greens.

I am grateful for the loving support of my friends and family, who’ve kept encouraging me to ‘grow a pair’ and get on with it! I’m grateful for my team who are working just as many nights and weekends and who are just as committed as I am to successfully kicking this rock down the road. I am grateful to our clients who have honored us by entrusting us with their brands.

It’s hard to look back without looking forward. As we kick-off year two, we are in brand and packaging development with many additional growers, cultivators, and cannabusinesses. So excited to see what we create together. We’re looking to expand our national footprint by adding regional sales support in the Western US. But mostly, we are going to focus on doing what it takes to make our clients successful as we navigate a new recreational market in the sunshine state.

Happy Birthday, Baby Hippo…
Happy Birthday to you!