With N.L. family in politics and business, Chris Crosbie forges unconventional path

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Chris Crosbie got his big idea while studying at American Sports University in California. After a martial arts injury, he became a medical cannabis patient, and he noticed that the quality of the cannabis there was exponentially better. He was determined to figure out why.

Today Crosbie, 40, is the founder and chief operating officer of Atlantic Cultivation Ltd., a vertically integrated cannabis company based in St. John’s, N.L. He was born and raised in St. John’s, where one side of his family was all about politics and everyone knew “the Crosbie family.” The other side were business owners.

In getting his start, Crosbie left home before he turned 20 and embarked on an 11-year journey living around the world and competing in martial arts. At one time he lived and learned near China’s Shaolin Temple.

Later, during his years in university, Crosbie became an experienced grower of cannabis and really thought this was his calling. But the timing wasn’t right – cannabis was not yet legal, and he also lost his visa when he graduated and had to come home to Canada.

He worked in the family oil-and-gas business in project management for a while, but he felt unmotivated. Then Justin Trudeau was elected and cannabis was legalized. Crosbie thought “This is it!”

Where were you born and where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in St. John’s. I grew up with a single mom and we jumped around a lot from apartment to apartment. I felt a lot of anxiety around that, and I also had some tough experiences being bullied at school. Everyone knew “the Crosbie family” and I was always worried about defending my name. … I felt insecure and I definitely had a chip on my shoulder.

This insecurity drove me to find a way to cope – I started using cannabis at around age 14 or 15. I was also obsessed with watching kung fu movies. A large part of my life has revolved around cannabis and martial arts.

Did your parents talk with you about money and/or success when you were young?

My mom has been one of my mentors all of my life, and she had a great influence on my desire to become an entrepreneur. She was the manager of a travel agency (prior to the internet) and was the highest paid manager in the Atlantic Canada region. I was deeply affected by her work ethic and determination. She eventually moved into the family oil-and-gas business when they were expanding and today she works three days a week here at Atlantic Cultivation.

My biological father wasn’t around, but my stepfather John Allan had a strong influence on me. Not only was he the former Liberal Party president of Newfoundland, I watched him create a variety of businesses (a promotional agency, a snow clearing company, land development, and now on the board of a mining company). This was great coaching for me as an aspiring entrepreneur.

How did your early interest in martial arts evolve into a grand adventure?

Serendipity played a role in shaping my fate. One day in a cab I noticed the driver had a binder with a “way of the fist” symbol on it. My driver, Dennis, was a martial arts instructor who was trained in California by Bruce Lee’s protégé, Dan Inosanto. Jeet Kune Do is a hybrid philosophy of martial arts that emphasizes that every situation (in fighting or in life) is varied, and to obtain victory it is essential not to be rigid, but to be fluid and adaptable in any situation. Lee’s famous saying is “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water.” I was infatuated, got my certificate in Jeet Kune Do and became a junior instructor, which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gotten in that taxi.

Martial arts is a competitive world and I love that. I competed in martial arts internationally. At one time I lived and learned near Shaolin Temple, a very rural farming area in a place with no doors – just beaded curtains. There was no hot water. … In winter, I trained in my long johns! I got tired of being so cold and there was no access to cannabis in China. I moved on and set up my own training camp dedicated to Muay Thai in northern Thailand, and then later moved to Brazil to train in jiu-jitsu.

How did your career in cannabis come about?

At age 25 I saw an internet ad: the American Sports University in California was offering a full scholarship for martial arts athletes. I called my mom and she said, “You are 100% doing that!” I got accepted to study for a Bachelor of Science in Sports and Business Administration. Unfortunately, after doing so many fights I separated my shoulder and tore my meniscus and couldn’t train, and I became a medical cannabis patient for the first time. The quality of the cannabis was exponentially better, and I was determined to figure out why it was so different.

I joined the Ocean Grown Caregivers Collective during university and became one of their main growers. I really thought this was my calling, but the timing wasn’t right because the legalization vote failed and I also lost my visa when I graduated university and had to come home to Canada. I worked in the family business (oil and gas) in project management for a while, and I didn’t consume cannabis at all. I felt very unmotivated. Then Trudeau got elected and cannabis got legalized. I thought, “This is it!”

In 2017, there were no licensed cannabis producers in Newfoundland and Labrador. I worked with the city to understand zoning and their bylaws and then I presented a proposal to my immediate family and two other strong Newfoundland and Labrador families. Long story short, we received our license from Health Canada, and we finished building a state-of-the-art, 110,000-square-foot production facility that allows us to grow extraordinary hydroponic cannabis.

What is the current status of Atlantic Cultivation?

While we were building the facility, we started opening our retail cannabis stores, originally called Spiritleaf. This was a kind of reverse-engineering way to approach the industry; we used our retail stores and our presence in the community to build relationships with consumers. Newfoundland and Labrador has many cannabis consumers, and we engaged with them as our resource for success and are building from that standpoint.

We rebranded to Atlantic Cannabis after Spiritleaf was acquired by Sundial Growers in 2021 and we now have eight store locations, each with six or seven employees. Our corporate office has 20 full-time employees, and our retail locations and production floor at the licensed facility has 140 full-time employees. We recently acquired Tantalus Labs’ brands – one of the first-ever legal cannabis growers in British Columbia – and we will soon be a coast-to-coast cannabis company.

The cannabis industry is compressing and financial opportunities have diminished. However, with regulatory changes and potential changes to taxation, we see the light at the end of the tunnel and a tremendous opportunity for growth. For the past couple of months we have generated over $5 million a month in revenue.

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What is the No. 1 thing you have learned so far as an entrepreneur?

It is critically important to pick the right business partners and have shared values and full transparency. At the outset we had some relationships that were not successful and this caused us to reassess our process. Rather than getting into joint ventures where there is a 50/50 profit split with standardized fees, we now discuss manufacturing costs on a unit-by-unit basis and the cost for your brand and bringing that brand to market. We are extremely transparent about all of the costs that will affect everyone.

What is in your investment portfolio?

Just Atlantic Cultivation! The cannabis industry sure doesn’t provide a lot of stability, and I suspect that within a year to 18 months 50 per cent of all the licensed providers in Canada will go bankrupt. It took every single dollar I had along with financing from three shareholder groups (Newfoundland families with multi-generational businesses) to build a $30 million facility and eight retail stores.

Atlantic Cultivation needs my full focus, and it is my fiduciary duty to create value for my investors. As a result I don’t allow myself to invest in other opportunities.

What do you do for fun?

Oh my! My earlier years were focused on martial arts with some cannabis on the side. Now I am all cannabis – I eat, drink and sleep this adventure!

Believe it or not, fun for me revolves around travel for trade shows. I enjoy the socializing and this feels like a bit of a vacation to me. I hope one day to start doing martial arts again to bring myself back into balance but, until then, I am laser-focused on making sure that our shareholders made a wise investment in me.

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Writer Barbara Stewart is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 30 years of investment industry experience. She spent five years as a foreign currency trader, more than two decades as a portfolio manager for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and for the past six years she has been performing interview-driven research for financial institutions around the world.  Barbara is a keynote speaker for CFA Societies, banks, stock exchanges and industry conferences globally, and she is a columnist for CFA Institute and Canadian Money Saver magazine. She is on the advisory board of Kensington Capital Partners and also is the Ambassador for the Kensington Women’s Forum. In addition, 13 years ago Barbara saw a need to challenge outdated financial industry stereotypes and share positive messages about women and money. Today, Barbara is recognized worldwide as one of the leading researchers in women and finance. Her Rich Thinking® global research papers quote smart women and men of all ages, professions and countries and are released annually on International Women’s Day, March 8. To find out more about Barbara’s research, visit www.barbarastewart.ca.

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