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Liesl Bernard, the founder and CEO of CannabizTeam, one of the leading staffing firms for the cannabis industry, is this week’s guest on The Green Rush! Liesl is a veteran of the staffing industry having spent over 20 years working at one of the largest staffing firms in the world helping to recruit finance and accounting professionals. Tapping into her own entrepreneurial spirit and recognizing the immense staffing needs for the burgeoning cannabis industry, Liesl launched her own company, CannabizTeam, just over three years ago.   

In this week’s conversation, Liesl discusses with our hosts the trajectory of the cannabis economy and how the growth of the industry has helped it quickly become the sexiest industry to work in. In addition, Liesl touches on what type of candidates cannabis companies are looking to hire, which states are hot for those looking to transition into the industry and how cannabis jobs compare to non-cannabis opportunities in terms of compensation and benefits. She also shines a light on the need for continued development of workplace culture within cannabis companies and how federal regulations can prevent some companies from being able to offer things like 401K plans and other types of benefits that traditional industries can offer. 

If you have an entrepreneurial spirit or have ever thought about making the transition to the cannabis industry, this is a must listen episode filled with tremendous advice and insight into how to achieve your dreams. 

Don’t sit back, lean forward and enjoy!

Liesl Bernard – Founder and CEO of CannabizTeam 

Liesl is a single mother of two teenage sons who saw the opportunity to launch a top notch Executive Search and Staffing firm in the Cannabis Industry in 2016.  She left a very successful career at the world’s largest staffing firm and used her personal savings to start CannabizTeam. CannabizTeam now places candidates at an Executive Level in all verticals in the cannabis industry across the US, Canada and Europe and is soon launching CannabizteamTemp to tap into the temp and temp to perm cannabis job market.

Liesl and her team have developed trusted relationships across growers, retail, manufacturing, distribution, R&D and related industries in the US and Canada.  Liesl has more than 20 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies searching for and placing executives all over the world.

Her passion for finding exceptional talent and her curiosity to hunt down emerging opportunities led her to discover unmet talent needs of the Cannabis Industry and placed her in a unique position to head up one of the fastest growing Executive Search and Staffing firms in the Cannabis and related industries. Her fine-tuned ability to understand the underlying cultural and interpersonal dynamics of each executive search and her  grounding in business enables her to deliver superior talent and cultural fit for each search they complete. Liesl started her career as a CPA with KPMG in Cape Town specializing in organizational development before joining global Executive Search firm Robert Half in Australia, eventually rising to Managing Director Executive Search in the USA.

Links to guest’s social media:

• CannabizTeam LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cannabizteam/
• CannabizTeam Twitter: https://twitter.com/cannabiz_team
• CannabizTeam Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cannabizteam
• CannabizTeam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cannabizteam/ 
• Liesl Bernard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lieslbernard/ 

Links and Mentions:

• https://www.cannabizteam.com/ 

Show Credits:

This episode was hosted by Lewis Goldberg and Anne Donohoe of KCSA Strategic Communications.

Special thanks to our Executive Producer Nick Opich Program Director Shea Gunther at Marijuana Today

You can learn more about how KCSA Cannabis can help your cannabiz by visiting www.kcsa-cannabis.com or emailing greenrush@kcsa.com. You can also connect with us via our social channels:

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