Jade Beutler is an accomplished natural products industry executive with a 25 year history of leading innovative and cutting-edge companies. During his career he has been responsible for the research, development, sales and marketing of several award-winning and best-selling natural products. As CEO of Barlean’s Organic Oil he created Omega-Swirl, an Omega-3 emulsion that completely disrupted and reinvented the Omega-3 category. As CEO of Lignan Research, he won two biotechnology research grants in the development of Brevail, a recipient of a Komen Foundation grant for the prevention of breast cancer. Jade was honored as a recipient of the Ramzanov award in 2008 for excellence in product creation and innovation. He is the author of Understanding Fats & Oils, and Flax for Life.
Emerald Health Bioceuticals is a natural progression allowing him to practice his multidisciplinary skill set in one of the most exciting and promising frontiers of human health in the endocannabinoid system. Jade is a licensed health care practitioner with dual credentials in respiratory care, R.R.T. and C.R.T.T.
Where did the idea for Emerald Health Bioceuticals come from?
Emerald Health Bioceuticals was born in 2017 from our Canadian parent company, with now over 25 businesses in the cannabis space including a pharmaceutical company, and one of the first licensed to sell medical cannabis in Canada. I was brought on to expand the Emerald business into the US, despite the challenges surrounding the legality of CBD. Almost at the outset of my engagement, I challenged our Pharma company’s scientific advisory board, comprised of some of the world’s leading authorities on cannabis and cannabinoids, to identify non-cannabis, herbs, botanicals and spices that positively influence the human endocannabinoid system.
After conducting a meta-analysis of 4000 studies, the creation of our propriety PhytoCann® Complex was born – the only researcher-formulated, cannabis-free blend of six herbal and botanical extracts (clove, Szechuan pepper, ginger, Echinacea, peony and magnolia) in precise potencies and ratio that target the ECS. PhytoCann® serves as the foundation behind our award-winning Endo line of condition-specific products that target consumers’ most common health concerns including inflammation, sleep, stress, mood and cognition (and soon-to-be released immune). This innovation launched the company we have today, with the mission to provide the most advanced products on the market that activate and nourish the powerful ECS system – keeping the mind and body in nature’s perfect balance.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I am almost embarrassed to admit, that like most people, I do a quick check of my email to ensure one of two things – that, nothing is on fire, and or a BIG opportunity ripe for the picking. However, I then quickly transition to focusing on the most important and biggest projects on my plate – what I call my “five to thrive.” This system pervades our company and my team – and they are expected to operate their day by the Pareto Principle – the established method of focusing on the top 20% of your business that will equate to 80% of your result. My team is expected to own their position and perform their purview much better than I could – and in the midst of cooperating and collaborating with each member of the team. The result is an amazingly productive and cohesive team. Tom Brady of New England Patriots fame may be a great quarterback, but he is nothing without great coaches and an excellent team to back him up.
Last but not least, is work-life balance which I believe is critical to not only work performance but mental and physical health. I enjoy nature in all forms, hiking, biking, yoga, weightlifting, massage and meditation.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I was a clinician for over a decade, and medicine is both a science and an art, much like product development or marketing. At Emerald, we are lucky enough to have at our disposal one of the world’s leading cannabinoid research centers, the science if you will. Many of our products are driven from the hard science that comes out of our research center. The art comes in when we take the science and apply beautiful graphics and sales materials as well as the branding, positioning and storytelling. At the end of the day, we must address consumers’ pain-points – that is our job.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Artificial intelligence is exciting, especially when thinking of how it can be applied to increase the speed and rate of science and technology. I’m also fascinated by the work that’s being done with genetics. There’s far less guessing with the help of companies like 23 and Me, that gives us the ability to narrow our focus and more profoundly impact our health. Specifically, I’m a big fan of the Bredesen Protocol which dials into the best of science and medicine in the effort to reverse and prevent Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.
Within our industry, old trends seem to be reappearing with the popularity of vegan and vegetarian lifestyles and kombucha, to name a few. CBD is also exciting, but as we now know, it’s only the tip of the iceberg and a small part of a much larger picture with the discovery of other plants (besides cannabis) that have the ability to activate and support the endocannabinoid system.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
You have to be able to prioritize, focus and stay the course.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Have more fun. Mix business with pleasure and make them one in the same. I’ve always loved the idea of “having fun making a living and making a living having fun.” You should always strive to make your vocation your occupation and enjoy what you do.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I love to be proven wrong and no one on my team believes it! And it’s not so much a matter of being wrong, but someone on my team being proven right. I love when my perception or belief on a topic can be completely changed. Being proven wrong is a welcomed surprise especially when I’m so certain about an idea. My team will say it’s not true, but it is!
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I always tell my team to develop healthy work habits and to get to a place with your work that’s important but not urgent. That’s where you want to be to think clearly and plan. Most of us, it seems, work at the zone of urgent and important, which may seem like the right idea at the time, but is usually stressful, unproductive and not very practical. So really it’s the attempt to get into that “sweet” zone where you’re more relaxed, calmer and really laying down the track for the train. We should all strive to get to the point. That’s where we feel in control. Proactive is always better than reactive, in my opinion.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Consistency. As soon as you can find that groove, the key is always consistency. It sounds boring, but consistency in business leads to predictability. Finding (and keeping) good people is a huge part of this too, especially in the beginning stages of a company where everything is incremental. Consistency takes you from the incremental stage to eventually exponential gains. The key is to build a machine, tune, optimize, manage and maintain the machine. Once done, you can conquer with consistency.
An antithesis to success is micromanagement and does not allow companies to scale. Those that micromanage are either control freaks, or – don’t have the right people on board. If I am micromanaging any of my team, it is not a good sign for the longevity of that particular person.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I’d actually rephrase failure as a disappointment because I like to think of those experiences more as a learning lesson than a failure. We’re all going to fail. We all have ideas and concepts we think will kill it and it doesn’t always work out that way. I launched a product called Brevail that worked as a proactive product for breast health and in preventing breast cancer. I won two biotechnology research grants and a Komen Foundation Research grant for this project which was all original work and science. The research was done at Kansas City Medical Research Center and the result was that we had a product just as effective as Tamoxifen without the toxicity.
My disappointment was that the product didn’t take the world by storm in terms of sales, awareness or interest. What we found is that when someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, a person will do whatever their doctor tells them to do – not go out to their local health food store and take Prevail. The other thing that was disappointing was that people weren’t as prevention-minded as I had thought or hoped. I don’t get up every day and say I’m going to take a prostate cancer prevention supplement. What I learned is that most people will not address a health issue until it becomes a problem. It seems obvious, but I wasn’t looking at health and wellness through the eyes of the average consumer. And at the end of the day, to sell something there has to be an almost immediate promise and benefit. I was disappointed that more women couldn’t find value in it or benefit from it, but in retrospect I totally get it.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I’m not sure I want to give away the next big idea, but I believe, ultimately, that no matter what the idea (or project) is, you should always enjoy the work. It should, of course, serve the company, the employees and hopefully, in some small way, humanity as well.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Well, I will tell you that I just bought a new tablet you can write and take notes on. It was $600, so a little over the stated range, but it’s been a life changing tool for me. You can easily save files and find what you need. (Remarkable Tablet)
Now I also recently bought a few items all under $100. I just cut the cable and bought an antenna which saves me about $100 a month while still getting the basic channels. The other purchase was a camp shower which is something I love to use in my van office at the beach. It has a lithium ion battery that sits in a bucket of water and pumps the water through to the shower head. It was only $36 on Amazon and it’s handy after yoga, working out or on a camping trip.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
I’m a big fan of Basecamp and Smart Sheets, so much so that I run my entire company with both. They allow myself and my team to be organized and focused.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I’m a big fan of Principles by Ray Dalio and anything by Al Ries and Jack Trout for marketing. Built to Last and Good to Great are also favorites.
What is your favorite quote?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Key Learnings:
- Develop healthy work habits and to get to a place with your work that’s important but not urgent. That’s where you want to be to think clearly and plan.
- You should always strive to make your vocation your occupation and enjoy what you do.
- Mix business with pleasure and make them one in the same.
Connect:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.