Cúrador focused on products promoting natural healing
There are few constants in the cannabis industry, but there are certainly some common themes. Motivation to join the industry is often driven by personal experiences.
Cúrador is no exception – founded by two passionate dudes who love skateboard, tattoos, dogs, and cannabis – but more importantly, who went into cannabis as a result of the opiate epidemic and its intrusion into their lives – meet Sean Baltzell and Cory Sanson.
Sean Baltzell. If you’re a hip St. Louis resident, or even a frequent visitor, if you don’t know who Baltzell is, you’ve likely patronized one of his businesses. In fact, if you’re in the Grove, you’re right in the heart of his community.
As an entrepreneur with an obsession for brands, Baltzell has stood up more than 10 new businesses – from barbershops to tacos, arcade games to records, Baltzell has built them all. His long-standing shop, Tower Classic Tattoo, is a landmark in the Grove and a centerpiece of the surrounding neighborhood.
Baltzell’s younger days included living in a community that was wracked with heroin addiction and unfortunately, losing friends and loved ones to opiates repeatedly was not rare. This shaped his attitudes toward opioid pain medication and helped drive his interest in cannabis as a medicine. In fact, it was chance that brought him into the same barbershop where Cúrador co-founder Cory Sanson happened to be getting a haircut.
A casual conversation was the start of a cannabis venture the two would create in Missouri’s medical market after traveling back and forth to Colorado together and developing a cannabis brand that is both meaningful and representative of their mission – make the quality of lives as high as possible using cannabis as medicine.
Baltzell also lived through the ravages of opiates, with is own addiction changing his trajectory personally and professionally. Sober since 2013, Sanson chose to turn to cannabis for his pain after a failed surgery, rather than risk the easy slide back into addiction from using opioid pain medication. His choice supported his journey back from addiction and he spent a large portion of his early career working in substance abuse centers, halfway houses, and getting immersed in the reality of people with a negatively impacted quality of life as a result of addiction. No stranger to entrepreneurship, Sanson and his wife (as well as the adorable Carl the bulldog) are the brains and brawn behind ChemDawg’s, their premium hemp-infused dog products company.
Baltzell and Sanson’s chance meeting and the unexpected partnership has culminated in the form of Cúrador – whose name means “natural healing” and a brand vision dedicated to high-quality medicine derived from nature. Cúrador holds a license for manufacturing and will feature a house flagship brand of the same name. But that’s one of several brands to be manufactured by this team, also on the roster are Moonbeam – cannabis confectionary brand; Atlas – premium extracts; and Peacemaker – a cannabis-doing-good brand with a portion of the proceeds dedicated to urban non-profit organizations. Additionally, and something the team is very excited about, they’ll be producing the GPen Gio. Founded by Belleville, Ill. native, Chris Folkerts, the GPen Gio is a favorite among those who vape.
The Cúrador founders insist that extensive training for both products and cannabis as medicine will be critical for any operator who wishes to carry their brands. Not only will there be flower available, but plans are in place for dabb-ables, inhalables, shatter, as well as pre-rolls and cartridges.
They plan to enter the market with core products, and like other manufacturers, will expand their SKUs for additional products after establishing and understanding more about their patient needs. Core to their success is to bring the highest quality medicine to the largest number of patients – ensuring access for everyone who chooses to use cannabis to treat a variety of conditions.
The other primary tenet in their mission is to support the community they serve – both men are devoted to employing those in their area and ensuring that they support social responsibility and social equity, while also helping to stimulate and contribute to their already loyal customer base, who already support their other businesses with fervor.