I Didn't Come to Cannabis Finance From a Spreadsheet.

I came from the floor of a dispensary in Santa Ana, in 2017, during one of the most uncertain moments in California's cannabis history.

Why I Do This Work

I've always believed that cannabis has a genuine and meaningful role in human health — particularly for conditions that conventional medicine struggles to address adequately. That belief isn't abstract for me. My grandmother, Wilma Jean Lovelady, passed away in 2010 from Crohn's disease, scleroderma, and a host of compounding conditions that wore her down over the years. She lived in Oklahoma, where cannabis was highly illegal. She never had access to something that may have meaningfully eased her suffering.

 

That stays with me. It's part of why, when the opportunity came to work in cannabis in 2017, I didn't hesitate. And it's part of why, over the years that followed, watching patients and customers experience real relief — watching their lives improve — only deepened my commitment to this industry.

 

What I didn't fully anticipate was how much I would come to love the financial side of it. Cannabis operations are genuinely complex — regulatory pressure, cash constraints, tax structures unlike any other industry, compliance requirements that touch every corner of the business. Getting the finances right isn't a back-office problem. It's an existential one. Operators who don't have solid financial infrastructure don't just struggle — they close.

 

That's what drives me now. Every business owner who finally has a clear picture of their margins, a defensible 280E structure, and a cash flow forecast they can actually use — that's a business that survives and grows. And for a lot of these operators, that survival means real people continuing to have access to something that genuinely helps them.

 

I started Ledger & Code because cannabis operators in California deserve financial leadership that actually understands what they're up against — not a bookkeeper who learned about 280E from a webinar.

  • Santa Ana, 2017 — Learning the Business From the Inside

    I joined the cannabis industry as a General Manager in Santa Ana, arriving just as California's licensing framework was taking shape. Leading our dispensary through the transition from the collective model to the new state and local licensing structure taught me things no accounting class covers — the intersection of regulatory compliance, operational continuity, and financial survival under pressure.

  • Long Beach — Building Licensed Operations From the Ground Up

    The Long Beach location was my first full licensed dispensary launch — building operational and financial infrastructure from scratch under the full weight of California's regulatory requirements. Everything had to work on day one.

  • Port Hueneme — From Empty Shell to Grand Opening

    Port Hueneme is the project I'm most proud of. I took an empty retail space in a strip mall and built a fully licensed, operational dispensary from the studs out — coordinating directly with the local police department on physical security requirements, inventory cage specifications, bullet-resistant reception window standards, and signage compliance. From permits to ribbon cutting to sustained daily operations, I was there for every stage.

  • San Bernardino — Vertically Integrated Consulting

    I consulted on the opening of a vertically integrated operation in San Bernardino — working across retail, cultivation, and distribution under a single structure. Vertically integrated operations carry their own financial complexity, and this engagement deepened my understanding of intercompany allocations, multi-license COGs tracking, and compliance reporting across every tier of the business.

Where I Am Now

Today, I serve as a controller in the hydrogen and clean energy manufacturing sector — one of the most financially complex operating environments in the country. That role keeps my financial skills sharp across cost accounting, variance analysis, inventory management, internal controls, and executive reporting.

 

I built Ledger & Code to bring that controller-level expertise — grounded in direct cannabis operational experience — to operators who need more than bookkeeping but aren't yet ready for a full-time CFO or controller.

Credentials

  • Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting

  • Master of Accounting — currently pursuing

  • QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certified

  • Cannabis Operations Experience: 2017–present (retail, cultivation, distribution, vertically integrated)

  • Current Role: Controller, Hydrogen & Clean Energy Manufacturing

Where Ledger & Code Is Going

Ledger & Code is built as a platform, not a solo practice. The financial leadership services we offer today are the foundation — and we're actively expanding to include technology and software development services, bringing web design and engineering capabilities to the same clients we serve financially.

 

The goal is simple: to be the firm that cannabis operators in California call when they need to get something done — whether that's their month-end close, their tax strategy, or their next digital build.

Let’s Talk

If you're a cannabis operator in California who's ready to build real financial infrastructure — or even if you're just not sure what you need yet — I'd genuinely enjoy the conversation.

Contact us

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