Gene-ius: Sherbinskis Founder Mario Guzman
The iconic Gelato strain turns 10 years old this year, and its creator Mario Guzman, founder of the Sherbinskis brand, is still going strong as one of the industry’s biggest players. Famous throughout the cannabis space as a groundbreaking breeder, Guzman pioneered the entire Gelato lineage (including Bacio [Gelato 41], Mochi, Gello, Acai Berry] and cultivars like Pink Panties and Sunset Sherbert. Other cultivators around the world grow his strains, his most notable having been name-dropped in over 300 hip hop songs. He’s also founded the Voice of the Plant collective, a global movement connecting people, communities, and plants with creative interactions.
Sherbinski (Mario Guzman), Founder Of Sherbinskis, Talks New York Cannabis Legalization
Born and raised in California, Guzman is currently based in New York, where adult-use cannabis was legalized only three years ago.
“[New York] has a lot of action,” he says. “I'm about that action. I like diving in and dipping out. When you're in the city, you're in the energy, the flow of the world, in the coolest place on the planet. It's just a really creative, energetic hub.”
Yet much work needs to be done before New York’s recreational market matures. There are legal kinks to iron out, licensing confusion, and a flood of people rushing to get in on the action before it loses its cachet. For Guzman, it’s total déjà vu.
“I already see a lot of the same shit that we've been dealing with in other states,” he says. “And when it was our turn in California to go through what New York's going through right now, everybody in California was like, ‘Oh, not us. That's not going to happen to us. We're not Oregon, we're not Washington, we're not all these other states.’ And sure enough it happened.”
He says that the massive influx of funds into new cannabis businesses, brought on by excitement and optimism, is a gamble. This is especially the case with startups—only about 10 percent are successful. Guzman thinks that the cannabis industry is worse in this regard because of the competition and the fact that the market’s split between recreational and medicinal.
“Everybody thinks that they're going to win and very few do,” he says. “But I'm here to be part of it and bring a realistic approach to what I feel New York needs.”
Because of his longevity in the industry, Guzman is in a unique position to offer a more educated, authentic approach to the business side of cannabis. He emphasizes that the cannabis industry is never stagnant: laws change, markets change…if you’re going to build a brand, you need to be flexible.
“One of the keys to longevity is knowing how to roll with the punches. [You] also [need to be] nimble and able to change your approach to your business.”
Before Sherbinskis: Mario Guzman's Journey To Cannabis Genetics
For Guzman, cannabis isn’t just a business—it’s a calling.
At 19, he got involved with a Pentecostal church and felt a spiritual calling through the services and community. He even considered relocating to Pensacola, Florida to pursue a religious education.
“Spirituality is dope,” he says. “I had my weed, I had my incense, I played drums…from a young age, I was tapping into [that] energy and understanding that there was way more to life than what was on the surface.”
But after a while, Guzman started to see inconsistencies in the church’s teachings. Instead of becoming a pastor, Guzman went down a different path.
“I just felt pulled away from it… I felt like a spiritual leader, but not in the confinements of the four walls of a church. I felt like the world was our oyster. Spirit is all over the world.”
At the time, he was living in Sacramento, but soon moved to San Francisco—the birthplace of the medical cannabis movement— to go into real estate. But a few years into his twenties, the real estate market was on a downswing, so he started growing cannabis in his garage to make money.
“I just loved it,” he says. “When I started working with plants, I really connected with it. I could use my hands and build things. I could care for the plants and then I would get almost an immediate return from that. Every day you see growth, every day you see health. I just fell in love with the process.”
He built relationships with dispensaries in Northern California and became well-known as a skilled grower. In those initial years, he met countless people who told him how much his cannabis helped them with various physical and mental maladies.
“I feel like it hit me not only monetarily, but [spiritually]. I felt like the plant really called me. I was there, ready to serve the world.”
What Is Voice Of The Plant? Mario Guzman Merges Community And Cannabis
His spirituality carries over to his work with Voice of the Plant, which has started educating and fundraising through concerts and art events. “Voice of the Plant is about connecting people to plants through different activations to [help people realize] we’re not much different than plants energetically… They give a lot more to us than we give to them. Think about it. For a lot of people, it’s everything to them; it pays for their kids’ school, food on the table, and the air we breathe…. We all come together to celebrate the plants we eat and smoke, cannabis, mushrooms, psilocybin, across the board. They’re all intertwined.”
Guzman says that he’s been smoking “good weed” since high school, and credits the strains Cookies and Cherry Pie as being “game changing genetics” that led to him cultivating his own.
“When I had the [Sunset] Sherbert medicinally, I knew it was special because it was really uplifting,” he says. “That's why a lot of veterans tell me that it's their favorite strain. It does a lot for depression and PTSD. It’s a really good daytime smoke.”
Sherbinskis Goes Global: Mario Guzman Joins B Noble
Guzman turned his genetics into a booming business, regularly working with top brands and great cultivators. It’s not just about seed sales, though; developing solid relationships with others in the industry is crucial. He’s acted as a mentor to others and served on the board of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. Three years ago, he started collaborating with the cannabis education and advocacy organization B Noble, co-founded by hip hop icon Fab 5 Freddy with partners Ron Samuel and Bernard Noble, which raises awareness about the hundreds of thousands of people imprisoned nationwide for nonviolent cannabis offenses.
Guzman lauds B Noble’s leadership, as well as their partnership with Curaleaf, which creates and sells pre-roll 2-packs and whole flower, with 10 percent of the proceeds dedicated to supporting formerly incarcerated people. He calls their social equity model “revolutionary,” noting that most of the brand’s work is done quietly.
“They're not out advertising it all over the place,” he says. “[They’re] just creating different ways to give back without looking for a big pat on the back, also doing the work by paving the way for not only minorities and showing how successful we could be, but also just all the other brands that want to go down that path as well.”
Taking on the position of Global Head of Genetics with B Noble, Guzman has traveled with the brand to different countries where they have cultivation partners, learning about Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines for the U.S. and Europe, and sharing his expertise with others.
Having visited Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain among other nations in this role, and particularly watching the international cannabis community mingle at Spannabis, Guzman asserts, “This year I’ve really cracked a code… This is what I’ve been preparing for. To have the global supply chain and what I’ve experienced with everything previously, it helped me prepare for what really mattered: my ultimate goal of sharing my genetics with the world… It’s really gotten me excited about cannabis in a new way that I haven’t felt in a long time.”
For more on Sherbinskis, follow @Sherbinskis415 and @voiceoftheplant on Instagram.
*A version of this article originally appeared in Honeysuckle's 18th print edition. Click here to order and choose your element - Fire with Bun B or Ice with Queen P!
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Written By:
Chloé Harper Gold is a writer and editor with ample experience across media and diverse environments, covering everything from pop culture to politics and nonprofit management. She regularly contributes to Honeysuckle Magazine and Dread Central; her work also appears in Horror Film Central and 71 Magazine among other outlets. She was previously the Digital Editor for High Times and Adweek and a Staff Writer for NightmarishConjurings.com.
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Featured image: Mario Guzman, AKA Sherbinski, founder of Sherbinskis (C) Honeysuckle Media, Inc.