IAM458 – Founder and CEO Offer Solutions to the Growing Agriculture Industry

Cullen Raichart, Founder and CEO of GreenBroz, Inc. has more than 12 years of experience as an entrepreneur and inventor. A Veteran of the United States Armed Forces, Cullen is driven to create American-made products that offer solutions to the growing agriculture industry.

Prior to founding GreenBroz, Inc., Cullen worked in the corporate world for a Fortune 500 company until realizing his passion for creating innovative products. His goal became the streamline the harvesting processes and, in turn, reduce growers' time and costs.

Cullen is considered a distinguished inventor whose drive has earned him a reputation as a pioneer in automation in emerging agricultural markets.

Cullen’s vision for end-to-end harvesting technology has led GreenBroz, Inc. to become a world leader in automated harvesting solutions.

• CEO Hack: Sticking with the instant decisions I make
• CEO Nugget: Don't hire your friends
• CEO Defined: Leading, executing, and managing your team in the right direction

Website: https://greenbroz.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenbroz_inc/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greenbroz?lang=en

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:30

Hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and have a very special guest on the show today. I've Cullen Raichart of GreenBroz Inc., Cullen, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Cullen Raichart 0:39

Well, thank you, Gresh. It's a pleasure to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

No problem super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Cullen so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Cullen is the founder and CEO of GreenBroz, Inc. and has more than 12 years of experience as an entrepreneur inventor, and veteran in the United States Armed Forces. Thank you for your service, Cullen is driven to create American-made products that offer solutions to the growing agriculture industry.

Prior to founding GreenBroz, Inc., Cullen worked in the corporate world for a Fortune 500 company and realized his passion for creating innovative products. His goal became the streamlining of the harvesting process and in turn, reducing growers' time and cost. Cullen is considered a distinguished inventor whose drive has earned him a reputation as a pioneer in automation and emerging agricultural markets. Cullen's vision for end-to-end harvesting technology has led to GreenBroz, Inc. to become a world leader in automated harvesting solutions. Cullen, are you ready to speak to the IAMCEO community?

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Cullen Raichart 1:33

Yeah, that was a great intro. Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 1:35

Exactly, you're doing some awesome things. So I'm happy to hear a little bit more about it. But I want to start everything off and hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. What led you to get started in business?

Cullen Raichart 1:44

Well, I come from a family of business owners, my brothers all have their own businesses. And my dad was a small business owner. And so I kind of have that ingrained, if you will, in me from a young age, so I've always wanted to do it. But the opportunities that I was presented in my life kind of led me down the corporate path, especially since you know, my service in the military gave me my secret, my top secret clearances.

And so it's easy transition to go into military contracting and stuff like that. But, it was more of a desire to be able to bring my ideas to light. And it seemed like a company was the best avenue for that. Plus, I mean, at the time of that we launched that company that was just, you know, it was perfect. So it made a lot of sense.

Gresham Harkless 2:33

Yeah, absolutely. And maybe that's where, that entrepreneurial sense came from where they are, it was kind of in your blood, and it kind of sounds like it came from business owners. But I know when I was reading your bio on introducing you that you had a lot of those ideas and kind of that, I guess that interested me to be scratched Sounds like.

Cullen Raichart 2:49

Its a little bit. Yeah, you know, it's interesting, when you're sitting, working for another company, and you have innovative ideas that you think are valuable, and they're not necessarily they're not competitive with the company you work for, but I mean, how do you take time to bring something to life out when you're working, you know, 40-60 hours a week, it's tough, you know, to go out and, and find somebody to help you do that is difficult. So it made more sense to walk away from the one and kind of devote time and energy to the other.

Gresham Harkless 3:23

Yeah, you're absolutely right. And times that most precious resource that you can always try to get more out, but it's only 24 hours in the world for everybody. So it's kind of hard to kind of, you know, burn both ends of this of the candle, so to speak, and then still be able to kind of, be able to work on your ventures and your business and things that you want to work on. So I appreciate you for sharing that with us. And also for, of course, venturing out. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about GreenBroz, Inc. Can you take us through exactly what you're doing with it with the company?

Cullen Raichart 3:51

Yeah, the company started in 2012. The first machine that I invented, which is a dry sifting machine in the cannabis space. That machine was a little out of place in timing, but I do have a patent, I got this patent issued on it. And it was back in 2013, I think and it has cannabis in the patent in the title, which I thought was we always thought was so great, you know, because at that time, it was California's medical community that was the above-ground community.

And we weren't sure that they were going to even look at products that were claiming to be for this industry, but they do and they and they did so that's kind of how it started. Shortly after that, I saw that there was a huge need and other mechanical needs, huge open space actually in the mechanical area for the industry. And I embedded a trimmer that kind of completely took the whole market by storm and that product basically launched the company.

Gresham Harkless 4:55

Nice I definitely appreciate that and I feel like you. It sounds like you were ahead of the curve. So that's because that industry is blowing up and is growing. And it seems like you were able to get a patent and be able to create products before that industry became what it is, I guess today, and probably will be the next 10 years or so.

Cullen Raichart 5:12

Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, as you said, timing is pretty key to everything in life, right? And it just happened to be, I was too young to be involved in the real computer revolution, although I was in computer technology, my whole adult life. But I mean, I grew up after Microsoft had exploded, right? So I didn't catch the early boom, there. And then, of course, the .com thing, I missed that. And I'm like, I'm not, missing out on this one. Right away. There's not a lot of these left, I can sit through.

Gresham Harkless 5:42

Exactly right. Well, it's funny, and I'm glad you mentioned that. Because I think a lot of times, like, when you start thinking in an entrepreneurial way, too. There are always opportunities that pop up. And I think sometimes we think if we miss one that there's another one coming. But of course, when you do feel like there isn't one, you want to hop in on it as quickly as possible.

Cullen Raichart 6:02

Yeah, it's interesting, because right now that this industry has changed, like the barrier to entry, which you know, is the cost to get into the game now has significantly increased. I did it based on, MTL, and my 401 K, and going full force at it. But you know, you can't do that right now. Because there are established brands, and you've got a completely different group of people who are evaluating equipment now than you did even three years ago.

Now, when we talk to companies about their needs, we're talking to CFOs, CTOs, and CEOs. And those, we're not talking to the head growers anymore. Or guys on their farms as much. I mean, those people are still very valuable customers, but the conversation is switched to be a very different one. So, when a company, that's well-funded, starts looking for equipment. They're looking for longevity, they're looking for, quality equipment, they're looking for a different reputation. So it's hard for a guy, not harder for a guy to get to get in at ground level. It's just how it is.

Gresham Harkless 7:10

Yeah, it makes perfect sense kind of sounds like the industry itself has matured from what it was before. And it sounds like, you see that in different industries, but seems like that. I guess that barrier to entry, as you kind of spoke to has moved back a little bit farther than what it was in the beginning when you got started.

Cullen Raichart 7:25

Yep, certainly, yeah.

Gresham Harkless 7:26

Awesome. So I wanted to ask you, and you might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. It could be for yourself personally, or it could be for your business, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Cullen Raichart 7:38

You know, I look at this all the time. And I think about what that is, and I just remember, I remember making a decision, and I just remember like this, I thought about it. And I spent a lot of time going through it, and I had made this decision. I'm like, This is it, I'm going to do this. And I chose to walk away from something that was very successful and very lucrative and had a great career running.

But it was a decision. And once it made it, it was obviously from the beginning, the right thing, but every obstacle you can imagine shows up, whether it's your significant other, your kids the community, or whatever's around you. It's so interesting when you're starting, you know, you're not changing anything drastic, right? Because Oh, yeah, man, you should do it, you should follow your dreams, blah, blah.

And then you jump out and you start following your dreams. And people are like, You're crazy. To do that. What are you thinking you shouldn't be doing? So you get this. It's like, this is the same people who were just telling me 20 minutes ago, I should be following my dreams. But, for me, it just, it was just that moment, and I don't know that that makes me special probably makes me you know, kind of, I think my wife would tell you, I'm a stubborn guy.

But, that's what it was, it was just like, no, I'm going to do this. And I in that every time I ran into that obstacle, it seemed insurmountable. I just said that's, I'm just going to do this, I'm just going to do this, this is what I'm doing. I'm not listening to myself, I'm not listening to anybody else. And I'm gonna go down this road. And then, as the opportunities come, that's part of it. I think that people don't, maybe don't see from the outside. I'm not rigid in certain things. I'm rigid in what I'm going down this road.

But I'm always looking at the opportunities because, there's nothing guaranteed and most successful companies aren't even making the product that they started with after 20 years, you know what I mean? Like they've moved on to something else. And if you're not prepared to grow and change with the industry, especially in this industry, I think you're in real, real trouble.

So I'm rigid in certain respects, but I'm also very flexible. I see that I look at life like this hallway, you know, and the doors are open in front of you and you have to decide which one you're going to go down. But you're going to miss some doors that are in front of you when you go about a different pathway, but everything behind you is done. Don't even start thinking about those because those are gone, man, you just got to keep going forward. Other ones will come and other ideas and possibilities. But you know, don't, worry about it. For me, it's Don't worry about the decisions I've made in the past. It's about making the right decisions in the future.

Gresham Harkless 10:19

I appreciate that perspective. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app book or habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Cullen Raichart 10:31

For me, because I'm learning all the time. And my role changed, right? I mean, in 2012, I was working out of my garage and building machines at a place called The Maker Place and, struggling along and spending what I didn't have on things, and now we're, you know, a multinational multimillion-dollar company with 50,000 square feet, and, millions of dollars of equipment, and, it's like, this is night and day, different thing, but it's always the same, like, my job has changed so much.

You know, I always try to just look at that moment, when you call it an instinct, when you have, you're faced with something and you go, and you make that instant decision, when that's a decision I like to stick with. I like to have that moment and make it and stick with that kind of decision. But sometimes, and a lot of times for me, that means I have to go learn something.

Gresham Harkless 11:27

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, if you could happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Cullen Raichart 11:38

Don't hire your friends. I mean, unless you really, I mean, you'll find out if they're your friends, that's what will happen is, you know, if you do hire people that you have a friendship with, you're gonna find out what they're really made out of, and whether then, you know, whether or not, they're your friends.

Gresham Harkless 11:58

But now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is a definition of what it means to be a CEO, and we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on this show. So Cullen, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Cullen Raichart 12:08

Well, for me, I think that there's a big difference between management and leadership. And I think that people have varying degrees, I look at those as two kinds of pillars, of my personality. And I'm much more effective in leadership and parting, vision and direction, passion than I am in managing detail and, and keeping track of minutia.

There are other people who are the other way. But you need to have both. And I think, for me, you know, it's the captain of the ship, he's not steering the ship, you know, but he knows where he wants to ship to go. And he knows how the best way to get that ship to get there is he may not have all the details about what ropes need to be pulled, and what buttons need to be pushed. But, you know, that's where your management side is, right? Your management side is the one who understands how to execute, and keep the ship moving.

So I look at the CEO as, more from the vision and leadership perspective, because, that's my skill set. More so than the management perspective. You have to have the management. But, if you're at the top-heavy with, a manager, you get micromanagement and, attentiveness to certain, or potentially destructive details. And so there's all this, there's all this balance, you have to have both, but I think, for me, that's the difference, or that's what a CEO should be.

Gresham Harkless 13:45

Exactly. Well, awesome. Well, Cullen, thank you so much for your time, what I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out all the awesome things you guys are working on.

Cullen Raichart 13:59

Well, thank you, first of all, for the opportunity, it's always nice to have conversations like this because it reminds me of, all the things that I've been through. And it's only a short time and we've only I've only been in business since you know 2012 And in that short window feels like a lifetime ago. And I think that's what I would say is, there's it's like second child, the early days are difficult and then you're full of work.

Then it grows a little bit and, and you're not having to do as all the little details anymore, and then it grows a little bit more and you all sudden you have something that's become, a young adult and you're having completely different communication and you know, I should say completely different interaction with it. So, I think it's great, but I look back at the early days like I do my you know the growth of my children.

And I go oh, I remember when I was so, okay, I'd love that time fall out, you know, but it's gone and it's never going to be the same. And my, my oldest son has just graduated from college, and he works for me, you know, so there's this whole different relationship with him. But this is also a company now of 50. And it's a whole different relationship inside of this, too.

So it's a very similar experience to me. To find us, we're on the web at GreenBroz.com. And all of our social links are there. I don't know all of those man, I could barely keep up with the work that I have to do, let alone those social media stuff. But we are on Facebook, I know. And we're on, you know, Twitter and Instagram and all that kind of stuff. And you can always reach out directly on those platforms.

We have our 1-800 numbers on the web. Also, we're easy to get ahold of anything that you want to address. We want to ask me personally if you just send an email to Info@GreenBroz, and reference, Cullen, the CEO, or the podcast, or whatever, I'm happy to answer. I do take time out to talk to people. I think it's really important. And yeah, I think that's about it.

Gresham Harkless 16:01

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Again, Cullen what we'll do is we'll have those links in that information in the show notes, but appreciate your time appreciate all the wisdom that you kind of imparted upon us everything from you know, if you're going down that is so to speak, don't pay attention to those doors that are closed because they're behind you. So that's something great to kind of remember. But again, I appreciate you and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Outro 16:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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