Newsletter
Events
Putting Cannabis at the Intersection of Sports, Fashion and Community
Josh Schmidt of Sluggers Hit dishes on the 'first-mover advantage'
Josh Schmidt is VP of business development at Natura and cofounder of Sluggers Hit, a premium cannabis brand known for sports-inspired storytelling, collectible product design and a culture-first approach. At Natura, Josh focuses on business development, strategic partnerships and growth across the company’s vertically integrated platform, while helping guide Sluggers’ expansion across regulated markets.
He began his cannabis career operating one of California’s first licensed medical cannabis dispensaries.
We spent two minutes with Josh to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired.
Josh, tell us …
Where you grew up and where do you live now.
I grew up in Hillsborough in the San Francisco Bay Area and now live in the Sacramento area, which is where Natura is headquartered and where a lot of the Sluggers story was built.
How you first got interested in cannabis.
It started as a consumer interest and evolved into a deeper curiosity about the plant and the culture around it. We saw an opportunity to build something with real identity, nostalgia and community behind it, not just a product.
A recent project you’re proud of.
The Sluggers x Only Grams booth collaboration we brought to Mary Jane Berlin this past June. Taking a California-born cannabis brand to one of Europe’s biggest trade shows and building a full campaign around it—streetwear aesthetic, editorial visuals, international BD conversations—was a defining moment for how far the brand has come.
The biggest challenge cannabis marketers face today, and how to approach it.
Platform restrictions. You can’t run paid ads on Google or Meta the way other CPG brands can. So everything has to be earned—community, partnerships, culture. The brands that win are the ones building relationships and real content, not just waiting for policy to change.
One thing about how the cannabis industry is evolving that you’re excited about.
International legalization and regulation. We’re in the early innings of a global market, and the opportunity to build brand equity now—in North America, the EU and Thailand—is significant. The brands that do the groundwork today will have a real first-mover advantage.
Why you decided to co-create Sluggers Hit.
There was a gap in the market for a cannabis brand rooted in culture—specifically the intersection of sports, streetwear and community. Baseball has this rich, blue-collar, working-class legacy that we felt deeply connected to. Sluggers was about honoring that and creating something aspirational.
Your main strength as a marketer/creative.
Storytelling through relationships. I think the best marketing comes from genuine community-building and knowing your audience well enough that they feel seen. That’s how we’ve built Sluggers. Not through ad spend, but through trust.
What you’d be doing if you weren’t working in the cannabis industry.
I’d go deep into food and travel content, exploring cuisines around the world and building a media brand around that. Either that or real-estate development. I’ve always been drawn to creating spaces and experiences, not just products.
2 Minutes With is our regular interview series where we chat with creatives about their backgrounds, creative inspirations, work they admire and more. For more about 2 Minutes With, or to be considered for the series, please get in touch.
