Author Floyd Wooderson shares the dark side of the CBD industry in his memoir Wolves of Hemp Street: Memoirs of the CBD Green Rush

Courtesy of Floyd Wooderson

Floyd Wooderson moved to Colorado in 2013, starting work as a waiter at a popular burger joint. Around this time, recreational marijuana was just being legalized in the state and Wooderson began to witness the chaos of its popularity. After working abroad in Australia for a year, Wooderson found himself eager to return to Colorado. The CBD business was taking off and thanks to a connection from his prior job he was able to secure a job at a hemp farm where he started work as a farm hand. 

Throughout his journey in the business, Wooderson began to realize the different aspects of the industry that he never honestly expected. Once back in KC, he started categorizing all of the stories he had and found that he had enough to put together a book which is where Wolves of Hemp Street comes in. This memoir is a collection of stories that occurred during Wooderson’s time living in Colorado and working his way through various positions on the farm. From simple farmhand duties to flying across South America, Wooderson shares everything he experienced in his time there including the dark side of the CBD industry. 

The Pitch: How did this move to Colorado come about for you? 

Wooderson: I had family out there and I had always loved visiting them. I went out there when I was 17 and basically decided then that I wanted to move out there at some point. In 2013 I had just gone through a breakup and was working at the Foundry in Westport when I got the opportunity to move to Denver. I worked there in a restaurant for a while before I moved to Australia for a year and when I came back to Kansas City after that I was eager to move back to Colorado. 

Did you move out there with the intention of getting started in the CBD industry? 

No, definitely not. When I moved back there after Australia, CBD was just starting to grow more popular. There was a guy I knew from the restaurant that had connections to this farm outside of Denver. I didn’t know much about it at the time, I think I knew it was hemp but I didn’t realize it was particularly for CBD. I went out there to work as a farm hand not really knowing what I was getting myself into but that’s how my journey started.

Was there a moment in your journey where you realized this was completely different than you thought it would be? 

I could easily say that right when I got there was a defining moment. When I first arrived it was at night so I couldn’t see the plants. When I woke up the next morning and saw all of the plants in the daylight it was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was a sea of green. That was the first wake-up call and it progressed more and more towards the first harvest season. 

Did your role change as you continued to work out there?

I kind of came full circle, to be honest. I started out as a farm hand, working out in the field with the plants. It was mainly watering, building things, and odd jobs like that. Once that first harvest season came around there was a need for security because of how popular CBD was becoming so I stepped up into one of those roles and helped with security. After the harvest season was over I wanted to use my degree in international business a little bit more so I stepped into more of a sales role. 

There was a big trip to South America that I went on when I was working there and I was sure that the pilots were purposefully flying into the big clouds. There was so much turbulence on that trip. On every flight I had they wouldn’t warn me about the turbulence until it was already happening so those were some scary moments when I was working in that sales position. 

What led to you leaving? 

Well, to be honest, there was a lot of bottleneck in the industry. There were a lot of things that needed to be done for it to flow better. And, obviously, COVID didn’t help the industry. I had also hurt my neck snowboarding and I couldn’t work in the fields anymore so with all of those things combined I just started getting frustrated. In 2021 I decided to get out and move back to Kansas City. 

What made you decide to write a book about your experience? 

I realized I had stories to tell. I did a lot of things that were outside of my comfort zone. I just started taking pen to paper and writing down all the stories I had from while I worked there. I think I did a pretty good job of telling the behind-the-scenes of what working in the CBD industry is actually like and the dark side of it that a lot of people don’t realize is there. 

What are you hoping people will take away from reading your book? 

I want them to laugh because there are some laughable moments. I obviously want them to realize how cutthroat the business can be and to see the dark side of it. But, I also want them to see the potential in the industry and see the things that can be done to make it better. 

Wolves of Hemp Street: Memoirs of the CBD Green Rush is available now. You can purchase it on Amazon and you can visit the website to keep up with Floyd Wooderson and his work.