Behind the Buds: Meet our Lead Budtender, Tony Beaudrie

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Budtending is no walk in the park, but our Lead Budtender, Tony Beaudrie, effortlessly handles the role with style. And you might be surprised to learn that his skills extend far beyond just serving up buds — he’s spent years mastering the art of growing cannabis, too. This expertise has allowed Tony to provide our customers with invaluable insight and advice into all things cannabis. 

Before joining us as Lead Budtender, Tony held the prestigious role of Head Grower at State Flower, as well as other senior positions at top dispensaries and cultivations. His tireless efforts have paid off, as this year, he’s been nominated for the coveted Best Budtender award at the upcoming 2023 Nevada Cannabis Awards Music Festival.

Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at Tony’s captivating journey and discover how he has charmed the hearts of our customers, making himself a household name in the Las Vegas cannabis scene.

Take us through your journey, how were you first introduced to cannabis? 

I started way too young, I was like 12. I started selling it by the time I was 13, and I’ve always had a passion for it. Growing up, I saw my uncle use it for his leukemia. Out of high school, instead of going to college, I attended Oaksterdam, which is like a weed college in California.

After I got that degree, I started growing at a very large scale for a family that I later learned was a part of the cartel. They were the nicest family I’ve ever met, but me being naive, I didn’t fully understand the situation. It wasn’t until a documentary on Netflix came out called Murder Mountain that I realized it was called Murder Mountain. Again, I was just being super naive.

Wow! So you were a field hand for an outdoor grow in Humboldt? 

I was the hand. It was a 26-acre farm, and I was in charge of the entire thing – just the plants, though. Once I found out what was really going on is when I left. 

That was the start of my career. I stopped doing that once I found out how sketchy it was. My parents then moved to Phoenix, and I moved with them there, and I went back to my day job at a tire shop. 

When I moved to Las Vegas in my early 20s, I got a call from State Flower that they were starting a grow out here, and they wanted me to be a part of that. I was part of their ground team and worked my way up. I was their first Master Grower, which was pretty cool. Once I got the opportunity to do it legitimately, I left the tire shop and started going.

I have a picture of my first grow that passed state regulations, and you can see it on my face how happy I was.

I bet; you no longer had to hide it. 

Exactly! That’s the biggest thing. When it went recreational, I cried, because my whole life I felt like a criminal – and I’m not. I like to grow and smoke weed. I’ve never hurt anybody, robbed anyone, or anything bad like that. But my whole life, I had to watch over my shoulder because I like a plant.

A lot of people grow up hearing stereotypes like that –“only criminals use cannabis”– but you were exposed to cannabis at a really young age. Was it different for you growing up since you saw your uncle use it for his leukemia? 

Honestly, I grew up the same way most people did. My parents put me in rehab when I was 14 years old for weed. I got kicked out of school for it, and them being Roman Catholic, they took it to the extremes.

So what made you start using it despite their best efforts to stop you? 

The reason I tried it for the first time is that I am adopted, and my biological parents kept losing me because they couldn’t pass a drug test. Eventually, I wanted to know what was so special about the plant that they’d lose their firstborn child over it. Jokes on me, though, because I fell in love with it that day. 

I’m not going to say I understand where they were coming from, because it wasn’t just because of weed that they lost me, it was all the other drugs and things they were doing.

That’s one way of processing your childhood. It’s interesting, did you always anticipate you could make a career out of cannabis…because it seems like everything kind of led you down this path.

Absolutely not! I always thought it would be a small segment of my life. I thought I’d tell my grandkids about a time I moved to California to grow weed, and that’s it. I never thought my biggest passion could become a career. It was never in my mind. I don’t know why I did them, I just did them. It kinda worked in my favor though, haha.

Did you have a separate dream path? 

I wanted to join the Marines, and I did do that and was discharged shortly after. It sort of resulted from getting high and getting a tattoo, so I guess I can blame weed for that, too. But now I am 7 years, 8 almost, into the legal industry.

That’s incredible! Take us from when you got your first legal cannabis job at State Flower to where you are now. What’s in between all that? 

I left State Flower and started working for Blüm, which was Green before it was Green. I started as a Budtender, and a month later, I became the Assistant Manager. I ended up managing all 3 locations in town. When Blüm sold, I was let go. So I went to Show Grow as an Inventory Manager. I decided to leave eventually, and then I went to AMA as their Supervisor for their cultivation floor. 

Once COVID hit, I took a voluntary layoff. I didn’t want to grow anymore. I was over it at that point.  After 9 months, Show Grow called me back up, and a year and a half later, I left again to join Green as a Receptionist. A year later, and now I’m the Lead Budtender!

Sounds like you’ve worked most positions in the cannabis space. Are you happy being a Lead Budtender?

I’m definitely happy with my position and my journey! But, I am always open to more. The key to success is you’ve got to stay hungry.

What’s life like as a Lead Budtender at Green? 

I love my people. I have regulars who come see me often, sometimes they’ll stop by and not even buy cannabis. The people I work with are amazing, every single one of them. Now that I’m a Lead, I don’t help customers as much, I’m more there for backup, hands-on stuff, the codes, etc. I’m really enjoying that, too.

Having the extensive background you do, if I wanted to join the cannabis industry but didn’t know where to start, what advice would you give me? 

The only thing I look for when hiring is the individual’s passion for cannabis. I can’t teach you that. Anything else I can teach you. I can teach you how to run a POS, what a terpene is, and all the knowledge you’ll need to help customers, but I can’t teach passion. 

It is a long road. I was doing well in my previous career at the tire shop, but I quit that to make $12/hour as a Trimmer – are you willing to do that? 

Lastly, always protect yourself. Never let anything slide. If a customer says, “Come on, my ID expired, just let me in this one time” – you can’t do that. Everything in the cannabis industry is very strict and changes. You have to always be informed about the regulations.

You mentioned earlier that you felt like a criminal because you loved cannabis. Has that changed now that it’s legal? 

I still feel like a criminal. It’s wrong that I feel that, but I think it’s because I had felt that way my entire life. The regulations definitely help other people see it as more legitimate, though.

What would need to change so you didn’t feel that way anymore?

I think it’s a societal thing. 22 states have recreational weed legalized, so we’re on our way to federal legalization. I think that’s what it will take. The fact that if I travel, I can’t bring my joint with me, but I can have a pack of smokes is crazy. 

One of the skills of a budtender is knowing how to best help customers of all experience levels. How do you approach first-time consumers? 

We get that daily! I always ask which way they are looking to try cannabis first. Do you want something you can smoke, eat, drink, or put on your skin? What’s going on? Next, what are you feeling right now that made you want to come in? Is it anxiety, stress, sleep – we have products that can help with all of that. 

Usually, first-time consumers enjoy edibles. I like Wyld because they have edibles with different ratios of THC to CBD, meaning it can also help people who don’t want to feel high…I feel like I’m budtending you now. 

I love it! I was just about to say I can tell why you were nominated for Best Budtender. Congrats again on that.

It’s super sick! I know it’s something small, but still, out of how many budtenders in the city, only ten end up on this website. I would have never thought I would be nominated for it. I’ve always been in the shadows of everything. So now that I’m someone people recognize is crazy. And the fact I’m getting votes – I did not think I had the people behind me that I do! 

It’s not small, it’s amazing. Last question, what’s the secret sauce? 

I’m a people person. I moved around a lot, so if there’s one skill I’ve gained it’s to be able to build a relationship with somebody in seconds…and to leave a lasting impression in a matter of seconds. 

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Tony Beaudria is nominated for the Best Budtender award at the 2023 Nevada Cannabis Awards Music Festival. You can vote for him here. Green Cannabis Co. is also nominated for two honors, Best Dispensary and Best Dispensary Delivery. Thank you to our community for the continuous support and good luck to all of this year’s nominees!

Want to connect more with the Las Vegas cannabis industry? Check out our other Green Ambassador Spotlight posts. We’d also love for you to follow us on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest Green products, news, and events.