Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin & Bob Walloch.
Hi Erin & Bob, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our story begins 22 years ago, when Bob began his first day working security at a 55+ housing cooperative for older adults in Minneapolis. Erin was scheduled to train him in, which took about an hour so the remaining 3 hours of their shift we chatted the whole time, we quickly gained a connection. After a year of friendship, things turned serious when Erin learned Bob was moving home to Milwaukee to finish school. In our early years together, we prioritized college and careers. At one point, Erin was working 3 jobs and in school full-time at St, Catherine’s University while Bob was working overnights full-time and going to school at the U of M. Any chance we could spend together, even doing simple things like taking a drive and discovering a new coffee shop, always felt so wonderful and brought us great joy. Many adventures ensued included a weeklong camping trip to Sylvania in the UP of Michigan as well as taking a surprise 17-hour road trip to St. Louis, Missouri. The 2008 crash took us both to Kentucky for work before landing back in Minnesota.
In 2011, we married and had Cooper, our 12-year-old son. He is our joy every day and loves playing clarinet, playing with friends and gaming. During all of this time, we talked about wanting to start a business together. Our shared love of art and creating led us to start Creative Joy, our art and woodworking business, in 2018. Bob has always enjoyed gardening, woodworking and turns bowls on his lathe. Erin loves dot art, painting and knitting. We wanted to share the joy creating brought us with others. Connecting with other artists and creators always warms our hearts.
Then, a few years ago, Bob had a health scare that became a catalyst for our next adventure, CannaJoyMN. You see, we’ve always enjoyed working together over the years whether it be on projects, house renovations, building furniture. We like to say, “It’s better together.” Knowing how precious time is and how joy is at the heart of everything we do, why not turn our passions into another business, which we launched in January of 2023.
Bob has always enjoyed gardening and connecting with the earth. His love of plants sparked an interest in home growing a number of years ago. For him, gardening led to growing cannabis. He liked being able to choose specific strains and know exactly how it was made from seed to harvest. Trying to get seeds online can be cumbersome, challenging and there is definitely an opportunity to get scammed. As Minnesota was facing legalization, we thought Minnesota should have a place to provide resources and premium cannabis seeds for people to be able to buy. There are a very small number of in-person seed banks across the country, seeds are mostly an online only route for purchasing. This was an avenue for us to turn our passions into a business. For Bob, being able to grow cannabis and share his knowledge with others and learn from other home growers has been such a beautiful experience these past couple of years. We have one short time here and creating our vision together and seeing it come to fruition these past few years has brought us so much joy.
Building CannaJoyMN together since 2023 has meant the world to us. We are thankful to find joy in the work we do and share it with others who we meet along the way. We look forward to 2025 and the adventures that await us.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The cannabis industry is known for having obstacles and challenges. Things usually take longer, cost more, and require some pivoting along the way. The slower roll out for Minnesotans to purchase legal flower has been hard on most hemp farmers and businesses, including ours. Supporting small businesses means the world to us. We are thankful for the progress recently provided by the Office of Cannabis Management and look forward to applying for our micro license next month.
When Bob began home growing, buying cannabis seeds online was challenging and difficult to navigate. It’s also some of the few options to get them in general. It can feel like you are operating in a black hole by putting in a credit card number and hoping some seeds show up at your door either in a few days or a few months.
When a pathway was presented for Minnesotans to have home grow laws with legalization, this became the opportunity for us to provide MN home growers with an in-person seed bank to find premium seeds and grow your own. We wanted to provide resources, education and a place for community and connection. After a lifetime of prohibition, shame, stigma and judgement, having places and spaces to connect is vital and imperative. Creating a retail store and hosting events to build community and bring people together was a way for us to create solutions to these challenges.
We like to say that “everything is figure-out-able.” We’ve said so many times to each other, “Be like Dorey and just keep swimming.” The cannabis industry has always been resourceful, ingenious and innovative. Building community over competition is key because we are stronger together.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a mom & pop premium seed shop. We sell cannabis seeds that are MN made and also from around the world. Additionally, we carry MN made edibles, drinks, tinctures and topicals. We plan to apply for our cannabis license to sell flower, vapes, etc. when adult recreation flips later this year.
Providing education about the plant with people who come into our shop is one of our favorite parts of our work. Being a place to gather and provide resources for home growers is another highlight. Prohibition has made it challenging for cannabis users, home growers and breeders to openly have places and spaces to connect. Our weekly Home Grow Get Together events are a place to do just that. Having a variety of events in our shop allows for community and connection to grow. It helps normalize the plant and destigmatize people to use it. Last year, we had 116 events at the shop bringing people together in a variety of ways from painting to yoga, a wellness sauna event to sound baths and a seed breeder panel.
Bob and Erin find joy working side by side as partners, best friends and co-founders. When you come to our shop, you will be able to support multiple MN businesses and creators. We look forward to the future of cannabis here in MN and seeing the remaining states throughout the country continue to legalize as well. We must stop criminalizing cannabis.
We are proud be a part of the cannabis community. It is wonderful having the opportunity to meet people where they are at on their weed and seed journey.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Some of Erin’s favorite childhood memories are camping with family and friends all around the state. She also traveled to over 20 states and across Canadian before graduating high school, which helped expand her understanding of the world, people and cultures.
Bob’s favorite childhood memories include riding his bike all around the neighborhood with friends and helping his mom plant fruits, vegetables, and flowers in their family garden. He planted a rose garden one mother’s day on his own as well, which gave years of gorgeous flowers.
Pricing:
- Cannabis seeds range from $8-25 per seed to provide a range of price points for people to grow
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cannajoymn.com
- Instagram: cannajoy_mn
- Facebook: cannajoymn
