Prepare to be Civilized
Re-introducing Derek Riedle
Sometimes you come up with an idea that is so timely that you feel you must seize your opportunity. Derek Riedle had one of these eureka moments recently, but did not sit by and wait for someone else to grab the opportunity. Derek is the head of Revolution Strategy and also the co-producer (along with our own Greg Hemmings) of Hemmings House’s new series, “The Real Houses of…” However, Derek’s new idea had him so excited that he went from concept to launch in a half of a year.
Derek saw disconnect between the way that cannabis culture was being expressed in popular media and the true face of the people that partake. The stereotype of the lazy, slacker pot smoker doesn’t reflect on millions of successful, motivated people that use cannabis recreationally. While there has been content developed for the cannabis community, Derek saw a void for the millions of upscale, high income, educated and profession smokers. So, starting last week Derek and his team launched Civilized, which provides content for the elevated cannabis culture. The online publication doesn’t just discuss cannabis however; there are articles about travel, business, entrepreneurialism, science and technology as well because the elevated cannabis culture doesn’t define themselves by what they smoke.
Check out this week’s bonus episode to find out how you too can become Civilized.
In this episode
- Derek tells us about his steps into the digital publication world.
- We hear how civilized leverages both Derek’s home base of Los Angeles and his hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick.
- We hear how Derek’s knack of spotting trends led him to launching Civilized.
- Derek tells us about a unique, and early opportunity to talk with singer Melissa Etheridge about her new brand of cannabis infused wines.
- Derek tells us about his success with finding start-up investment and how you still have the opportunity to get in at the ground floor.
- We also learn about the amazing team of content creators and advisors that Derek was able to gather.
- Dave is inspired by Derek’s capability to see an opportunity and seize it.
- He also appreciates Derek’s choice to find opportunities around the world but to include his hometown in the execution.
- Greg notes that Derek has proven that things like this can be done and quickly.
Links