Since opening in November 2015, JAYNE has garnered a reputation as a beautiful shop with a friendly staff, knowledgeable budtenders, and great deals. Iowa native Aaron Heisler, 31, a former bartender and longtime cannabis connoisseur, said the dispensary suits him. A year ago, Heisler packed up his car and headed to the the City of Roses to join the cannabis industry.
“Cannabis has always been something I have enjoyed,” he said, “and I believe it to be one of the few budding industries left in the country.”
While Heisler initially thought his ten years of bartending experience would have been the most helpful training for becoming a budtender, the year of counseling work he did was vastly more helpful. It makes sense: Budtenders are in the business of conveying the experiences different strains and methods of ingestion may induce in patients.
“The listening and communication skills I learned in a counseling setting mirror this job very closely.”
Good budtenders are key to a profitable business because…
“People come back for people,” noted Heisler. “Prices are pretty consistent in all shops and ambiance can only take you so far. If a customer doesn’t have a good experience with the people behind the counter, they will go to other places. Always hire budtenders who will give customers a good experience, and [consumers] won’t go anywhere else, period.”
Best ways to attract and keep customers
“You have to genuinely care about the people who are your customers,” said Heisler. “Being able to connect with the individual people that come into your shop and make them feel like people instead of customers is key.”
What’s hot
“Empower makes soaking salts that are my favorite topical product,” said Heisler. “Edibles-wise, She Don’t Know makes a bake-less coconut cookie that is both vegan and paleo, while Peak Extracts makes strain-specific chocolates. On the flower side, Cascade High Organics, High Valley Organics, and Pilot Farm.”
Passion
“Cannabis has always had a very positive influence on my life,” Heisler said. “Budtending gives me the opportunity to help people explore the ways in which cannabis can improve their lives. Helping people find their cannabis is something I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to do.”
JAYNE
2145 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Portland, Oregon 97212
(503) 719-5665
|Opened November 2015|
