We recently had the chance to connect with Jessica Hanson and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Jessica, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I’m absolutely wandering. We moved our company from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale because the taxes in California were just so high we couldn’t afford it anymore. The majority of our 80 person staff made the move as well because the saw Florida as as place where they could get more for their money and pay less taxes, and still keep their jobs. We still have a few remote people in San Diego who stayed due to family ties, but mostly everyone has moved here now.
The path I’m wandering is a winding one. When we started this company, it started as a small logistics and e-commerce company for selling marijuana seeds. We were in San Diego. And then Covid hit and then California locked down HARD. We ended up having so many students from SDSU working for us because they couldn’t go to school and they were bored, and transportation / logistics was one of the few recognized “necessary industries” that could operate.
So many years later, I still have this core group of SDSU fraternity and sorority people, who came to work for me on a lark, that have become major leaders in their fields. They all kind’ve knew each other through sorority fraternity swaps and came on board and have just epically thrived. Alexis, who started during her senior year, opening mail for me while she was finishing her CPA program at SDSU is now my head of finance. Ayman, who I met when he was a junior is now probably one of the top 5 affiliate marketers in the country. James, who was Ayman’s fraternity brother is the head of our e-commerce division and runs several sites that make between 2 and 10 million a year. All of this started out of a shitty little rented office space in Mission Valley.
I think we all miss San Diego a little, but the cost of living out there, the terrible homeless situation downtown and the extreme taxes just made all of us say “screw it, lets do this, lets move to somewhere more business friendly that we can find a place to vibe in”. The last hold out, Chris Robbins, just relocated last month. He is our warehouse inventory manager, and relocated here with his now fiancé, who worked in the warehouse back in San Diego. It’s so funny how everything has gone.
We miss the constant chill weather in San Diego, because good God does Florida get hot and rainy during the summer, but the winters here have been amazing so we are all settling in.
regarding the path of the company, we’re wandering down a road of expansion. We started with this small little cannabis seed company, and now we’re branching out into all things alternative wellness. We fulfill and distribute for Delta 8 companies, THCA companies, Shroom companies, Kratom companies and we’re seeing peptides surge into the marketplace. We’re actually doubling our warehouse size to accommodate the cold storage needed for the peptides. Who would’ve thought 10 years ago that the average Joe consumer would be ok with ordering something online that showed up in a box that they had to jab into their belly. to loose weight or help muscle repair or anything.
I answer this question to you this way because it’s a great way to reflect on how far we have come since the article you did on us nearly a decade ago. Its pretty damn cool
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Our company is called Symple Logistics. We handle everything that anyone in the alternative wellness space needs. Payment processing. Shipping. Supply Chain. E-Commerce help. Affiliate marketing. You name it, we do it. Anyone that is selling non Pharma things to promote consumer wellness, from THCA beverages to peptides, we handle the A-Z for
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
Doug Paul. He was the owner of Project Design Consultants in San Diego – a huge Civil Engineering Firm. I had the privilege of being his assistant for a few years. He let me sit in on meetings that I had no business being in on at that age, where I just soaked up everything and listened. I am eternally grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to work for him.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
The value of money. I made a lot of money in my earlier years. and then I lost all of it. Although I don’t recommend it from a comfort perspective, I do kind’ve think that everyone should have that one humbling event to bring you back down to earth.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely not. There are so many versions of me. I can be very shape shifty. I learned a lot about this when I did my Enneagram (which I recommend everyone does).
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
Yes. I got to a point where I was able to financially retire a few years ago. I lasted 37 days. I cleaned everything in my house. Organized everything that could be organized. Did a million yoga classes. detailed the car. Built a home garden. And I was so bored. That’s when I started this company
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.symplelogistics.com
- Instagram: jessicahanson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HomegrownCannabisCo
Image Credits
Also – I married the other owner In my company, just last month.. We met at a business conference in Vegas (please don’t put this part in because its such trash- but. I was smoking a cigarette and needed a lighter and he gave me one in between presentations at MJBizCon in Vegas) . We clicked, I decided to invest in his company, move it from where It was in Orange County down to San Diego. and off we went. Our Officiant at the wedding was Lexi, the gal who started opening our mail in 2017 and now is the director of finance.Its been an amazing decade
