Danielle Rosellison
Co-owner
Trail Blazin’ Productions
Bellingham, WA
In the early years of owning Trail Blazin’, I used to get so frustrated at internal management meetings. “Everyone else is cheating!! Why aren’t we?!?! It would be so much easier,” I would cry, usually throwing my head back for a little added effect, just to get my frustration out.
But no matter how many times we felt this way — and trust me, everyone vocalized this sentiment at least a handful of times — we’d always come back to the same conclusion: “Do what is right, not what is easy. And if you do that enough, doing what is right just becomes easy.”
My husband, Juddy, taught me this, and he practices what he preaches.
Yes, put one more coat of paint on, even though the uneven spots are on the ceiling and who’s ever going to notice?
Yes, go to the store and get the right part, even though you are fully capable of jury-rigging something that makes it work.
Yes, test at the lab with real, justifiable results, even though consumers and stores are buying based on THC and there are labs that consistently inflate the numbers.
Yes, do the work (and pay the money) to be completely pesticide-free, even though a bottle of Eagle 20 is WAY cheaper and easier.
Just do it right.
But what about that “doing what is right just becomes easy” part? How does that work?
Well the simple answer is that it makes company brainstorming sessions way more streamlined. We might come up with all sorts of ways to address environmental control, integrated pest management systems, work with retail partners, etc. But when all solutions must be justifiably legal and ethical, and that those solutions cannot include short cuts, it usually makes the decision pretty cut-and-dry. And an added bonus? Meetings are shorter!
The larger answer, though, is that once you get through the initial brutality of how “unfair” the system is, life gets better. Things break less because you fixed them right the first time. Pests never evolve into damn Superbugs and there’s no need to burn your entire building down because the expense you put upfront for beneficials insects and clean practices saves you money in the long run. And when the state changes its quality control rules, and companies are scrambling to adapt, your testing costs actually decrease by 85%.
Basically, all the curve balls thrown at you in the future become exponentially more manageable.
Doing what is right literally makes everything flow smoother in the long run.