Manufacturing Success: Paul Schenck of EmmaLeaf
Raised in the idyllic mountain town of Conifer, Colorado, Paul Schenck has spent the last decade and a half helping to form and shape the cannabis manufacturing landscape across multiple states. Now serving as Chief Operating Officer of EmmaLeaf, Schenck brings a rare combination of technical expertise, regulatory insight, and personal passion to Missouri’s cannabis industry.
While cultivation drives the industry, the fastest growing categories, expansive list of products, and most innovation in cannabis are driven by manufacturing. In Manufacturing Success, Greenway speaks to the individuals behind the manufacturing operations producing the products that consumers and patients love.
Schenck entered the industry in 2010, getting his start in cultivation before transitioning to manufacturing.
He spent more than eight years with Colorado-based Love’s Oven, rising from dishwasher and packager to operations manager. Over time, Schenck became a sought-after voice, consulting on facility design and regulatory frameworks across Colorado, Wyoming, and Florida. That experience led him to Missouri, where he first joined Good Day Farm in 2022 before co-founding EmmaLeaf in 2023 with partners he met while volunteering.
“Despite having 15 years of experience working in the Cannabis industry, starting up a new MIP has taught me that nothing ever works the way you expect it to,” he said. “Like Mike Tyson said, ‘Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ Our punches in the face have included equipment that didn’t work as advertised, inventory management that required much more detail than we had originally appreciated, and actual product demand vs our expectations.” but Schenck and the EmmaLeaf team have floated like butterflies, rolling with the punches to create one of Missouri’s most vibrant new brands with a slew of products that patients and consumers alike can’t get enough of.
At EmmaLeaf, Schenck oversees a facility that includes a hydrocarbon extraction lab, commercial kitchen, and preroll production workshop. The company’s brands include EmmaLeaf, Cousin Dave’s, Moonrise Kitchen, Just Right, Pocket Js, and Jumbo Js, with a growing lineup of extracts, edibles, and infused prerolls.
What does cannabis mean to you?
“When I hear the word ‘Marijuana’ however, I have a very different reaction. This term has been used as a way to categorize cannabis in a negative way and to disparage those who brought the plant to North America historically. Getting this terminology correct is an important step in correcting misconceptions about our industry.”
What makes you passionate about cannabis?
“I was in a rollover car accident on my first day of senior year of high school. My injuries resulted in months of physical therapy and near-constant pain. My doctors at the time addressed this with near-unlimited prescriptions to multiple opioid pain medications. Cannabis gave me a pathway to still function, get good grades, and avoid all of the potential downfalls that come along with opioid usage. One plant’s ability to bring healing and a better quality of life, like it did for me, is what fuels my passion.”
How did you get started in cannabis?
“I was 18 years old and living in Summit County, Colorado, working as a Lift Operator at Keystone ski resort. I made friends with a guy who had one of the first OPC licenses issued in Colorado and needed help in his cultivation facility. I was an early medical cannabis patient and therefore was very familiar with the benefits of the cannabis plant, as it had improved my life significantly. So I jumped at the opportunity to work in a cannabis grow after going to class and snowboarding all day. I enjoyed cultivation, but I really found my calling when I started working at Love’s Oven, a MIP in Denver, CO.”
In your opinion, what is the best way to consume cannabis?
“There are so many good options on how to consume cannabis that it is hard to narrow it down to just one. For a situation where immediate relief is the most important factor, smoking some flower or using a Live Resin or Rosin Vape is a great alternative. If I am in a place where smoking is discouraged, I really enjoy edibles, specifically baked goods. When I want more of a rapid onset experience I will take a dab of Live Resin or Shatter.”
Can you walk us through the process used to make EmmaLeaf products?
“Shatter, Sugar wax, and Live Resin begin with high quality inputs, ‘Fire in = Fire out is our motto.’ Then we use a state-of-the-art closed-loop hydrocarbon system to extract the cannabinoid and terpene-rich oil. Once extracted the products are meticulously worked into the form we are targeting, in some cases taking weeks to reach their final form. Doing everything we can to preserve the natural essence of the plant.
“Within our gourmet commercial kitchen, we start with the best raw ingredients and produce all products from scratch. Everything on our label is recognizable by name. If we have raspberry flavor it comes from powderized raspberries, nothing artificial. Our talented chefs have a combined total of over 40 years of experience working with confectionery products both in and out of the cannabis industry.”
What makes EmmaLeaf products stand out?
“Our attention to detail and our determination to create the best and most reliable products in the market. With the precision of a lab and the art of a gourmet kitchen.”
What’s the top-performing product at EmmaLeaf?
“Our wax-infused prerolls sell faster than we can make them. We took great care in the development of this product that resulted in an infused joint that smokes well without running, getting onto your fingers or teeth but has the expected effects from a wax infusion versus a distillate one, and we think the wax infusion is a superior experience.”
Do you have a favorite product?
“The wax-infused preroll is a product that I played with personally before having an opportunity to produce it for other consumers. It represents a better form factor for infused prerolls than I had been able to find anywhere.”
How do you select the cultivars used in your products?
“The question of cultivars is a really critical one, given the need to get separate strain approvals for every strain for every product we produce. We look for strains that are well recognized and valued by consumers or that have shown to have higher medicinal properties than others. We also look to have a range of strains for sale so that different consumers have access to cannabinoids and terpenes that best work for them.”
How do you source your plant material?
“We have been fortunate from the beginning to have had the support of some world-class cultivation partners. While it’s clear that available supply has ups and downs, we have been very happy with the partners we have been working with and some of the new relationships we are developing.”
What’s the biggest obstacle in a facility like yours?
“As a start up our biggest challenge is bringing to market newly formulated products using new equipment and freshly hired staff. We are fortunate to have a number of experienced managers and technicians but they are still working in a set up that, while it was carefully designed, is different from the prior facilities they have experience working in.”
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
“The only thing you can count on in the cannabis industry is change.” — Peggy Moore, Love’s Oven
As we ended our conversation, Schenck left us with a final thought, “You have to believe in what you do. It’s gonna be hard, it’s going to test your resolve, it may take you right to the brink. But believing in what you do is a touchstone that can keep you going through all the challenges.” That spirit of positivity and perseverance is one of the things that helps drive the heart of the cannabis industry, with operators like Schenck and operations like EmmaLeaf.
To learn more about EmmaLeaf and find products from EmmaLeaf brands, visit www.emmaleaf.com.
