"I am a big proponent of deploying empathy, which in my opinion, is the key to being able to communicate with your team effectively."'
Chris Roth is the founder and CEO of Highline Wellness, a premium CBD products provider. Before going into the CBD business, Roth served as a Director for six years at a multinational independent investment bank and a financial services company, Cowen and Company. Here, he directed equity research and sales to institutional asset managers across e-commerce, internet, consumer, and Cannabis. During this time, Roth served as the deal captain on the Tilray IPO, the first Cannabis company to list on the NASDAQ.
In 2019, Roth founded Highline Wellness, making available high-quality CBD products that range from beauty to skincare essentials, recovery & relief offerings, oils, and gummies. Roth has dedicated himself to helping make life more relaxed and enjoyable, a feat that saw him win Men’s Heath’s 2021 CBD Awards for the brand’s proprietary Energy Gummies.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Chris Roth: Hi! My name is Chris Roth, and I am the Co-Founder and CEO of Highline wellness. I grew up in Long Island, about an hour from the city, and spent much of my time here playing sports and being outside. I did my undergraduate degree at Siena College in upstate NY, where I was the captain of the lacrosse team and studied finance.
After college, I worked at an investment bank for 7 years focusing on emerging markets, specifically cannabis and e-commerce. The research that I was doing in this role, specifically the learning about the links between CBD and mental health, led me to discover the personal benefits CBD had on my life and overall mental and general wellness.
From there, I decided it was time to accomplish a lifelong dream of starting a company with a mission of providing natural, affordable, and effective supplements that give everyone access to a happier, healthier, and more peaceful state of mind and body. Mostly because I was looking for that too and when I found it, I wanted to share it with the world!
Today, Highline wellness is a premium and fast-growing consumer wellness company that specializes in making best-in-class CBD products that help support mental health and overall wellbeing.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curveballs into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple of years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Chris Roth: We’ve learned a lot the past few years but none more important than the power of an amazing team. Working at a fast-growing company always has its challenges. But as long as you surround yourself with good people that share the common goals of both being their best every day and health and wellness world domination, everything will be ok! Since 2020 We’ve grown our team of employees by 300%, and as we look into 2022, we’re excited for what the team can accomplish together.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Chris Roth: Businesses should focus on their customers and on making sure they are doing everything in their power to meet their ever-changing needs. Forget about the things that are out of your control and focus on where you can make an impact.
For the CBD industry specifically, we would have hoped there would have been an FDA decision by now that would lift some of the old-school stigmas from the industry. But unfortunately, that has not happened yet. What we do know is that this timeline is totally out of our control. So we focus on today. And the customers we do have, the channels we can be a part of and making the best, most premium, and effective CBD products that we can make.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Chris Roth: The pandemic was a natural filter for our industry, leading to many brands going out of business. While as a company, we never like to see others in the same boat as we fail, it created an opportunity for us to continue to differentiate ourselves from the remaining market. It’s a huge opportunity for those brands, such as Highline Wellness, that were (and are) able to weather the storm.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Chris Roth: I wish I had a crystal ball and could see that this would not last only 4-6 weeks like originally planned and that it would last several years. Though, I am not sure that had we known that much would have changed, to be honest. We worked hard, fought through, and leaned into those things that we could change rather than those we could not.
As we look forward to 2022, we’re focused on growing the business, reaching more people, and providing more relief to many of the stressors of the past years – sleep and anxiety being among the functions people need the most help with in the past couple of years.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Chris Roth: We are in a unique position in that we pretty much started Highline in a pandemic. Because of that, 2020 was a massive year for online sales due to the fact that it was our first full year in business, compounded by the shift in consumer behaviors due to Covid. But in 2021, online sales as a percentage of total retail sales actually shrank. In 2022, we expect to see some normalizing of the online sales industry, which will include significant growth, taking share back from offline or brick and mortar shopping.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Chris Roth: 8-10. I have a new puppy that is not too fond of all the screen time and is a good reminder to take a break here and there
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Chris Roth: As a leader, storytelling is everything. Being relatable is half the battle. And frankly, learning from mistakes and being candid about those mistakes in a way that allows others to learn from them is the other half! Without someone at the helm that is able to process the world around them, pivot based on information, and communicate effectively to the team about the direction the company is headed in, prioritization becomes very hard, and the team will not be aligned on the direction of the company.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Chris Roth: The whole industry is one big challenge! As a CBD company, we are not able to use the main customer acquisition tools that all other non-cannabis industries are, IE Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and google ad words. And of those that we are able to use, there are extra parameters, restrictions, and special regulations that make every day harder. While this is certainly an obstacle to achieving growth, it’s also an opportunity to distinguish ourselves and think outside the box to acquire customers so that when the laws and rules around CBD do change, which we think happens in 2022, we will benefit greatly from that change, quickly.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Chris Roth: I am a curious person, so I find myself reading and investing in crypto, NFTs as well as trading cards. I’ve been a collector since I was a young boy, and I enjoy spending my time away from work researching rookies whose cards could increase in value over time. Let’s go, Joe Burrow!
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job in 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Chris Roth: I think it’s important as a leader to have a high tolerance for self-reflection. If you’re unable to take an objective view of yourself as an operator, a leader, or, most importantly, a fellow human, you’ll almost certainly experience shortcomings within your company culture or your personal or professional relationships. I am a big proponent of deploying empathy, which in my opinion, is the key to being able to communicate with your team effectively because you’re able to put yourself in their shoes.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Chris Roth: I would know how to speak every language, and I’d use that skill set to go to other countries that are not as educated around cannabis as the US and provide that education. I truly believe it helps people, and everyone has the right to health and happiness.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Chris Roth: Enjoy our time working together, hit our goals, have fun, spend more time outside of the office with the team.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Chris Roth for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Chris Roth or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Did you enjoy this article? Check out similar stories:
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
