AACE INTERVIEW: Jayson Won of Puffco
Jayon Won builds his future on the foundations of his past.
I have been blessed to know what it feels like to have absolutely nothing to becoming a multi-millionaire in my late 20's and having everything I ever dreamed of and more to losing it all and having to start all over again. - Jayson Won
Wow. Last week I had a TGIF conversation with Jayson Won of Puffco (innovative and award-winning producers of tabletop and vapes) and my Friday night after that call was about traveling within Jayson’s words and life story. AACE covers the Asian American experience and it is common that most of our interviewees came from Ivy League colleges and have multiple degrees, here we have Jayson who not only broke that mold, but crushed it and turned it back to a new life as his super fantastic multi-colored sled for others to join him. There are so many touchpoints in his story that struck me as “I know that!!!”, and others that sparked a comet of thought of how to help break the barriers and fears for ourselves and others. - Ophelia Chong
AACE: As a first-generation Korean American, your parents did not fit the mold of the stereotypical Asian Tiger Parents, they understood who you were back then and gave you the freedom (and their utmost trust) to chose. Your parents bridged two countries that were rendered in half by war and with that, they are more in tune with the realities of the world that most Americans have never experienced, how do you think their life experiences shaped how they raised you?
As children of immigrants, we all face a unique set of challenges. In addition to a generational gap, cultural gap, social gap and economic gap, our parents immigrating to the U.S. with next to nothing, I also developed a language gap with them, after arriving English quickly became my first language as my parents struggle to learn this new language, so on top of everything else just simply communicating with my parents became challenging. As a six-year-old child, it was easier for me to learn and adapt. Looking back...in the early to mid 70's when we arrived, there were no Korean restaurants, no Korean markets, no Korean TV shows...all the things we take for granted now that we have access to had to all be built, the seeds needed to be planted in order for us to all be able to enjoy the harvest. There was nothing familiar for my parents, this was truly a new world for them.
My mother was from South Korea, but my Father is North Korean. He escaped the horrors of the Korean war and was a refugee in his own country and faced a lot of discrimination being a North Korean in South Korea. I think this gave my parents a sort of rebellious and anti-establishment attitude and a need to seek opportunities outside of Korea. My mother instilled in me a "you can do anything, you can be anyone you want to be so don't let anyone tell you otherwise" attitude. Honestly thanks to my mother I was fearless, she gave me the tools and the values I needed to chase every dream with reckless abandonment. Sadly, my mother suddenly passed away when I was 19 years old, but she has always been and always will be my guiding light and the reason that I am the man I have grown to be today. To this very day and until the day I am called to be with her again I just want to make my mom proud.
AACE: Tell us how the set of drums changed your life.
Growing up in the housing projects of Carson California, I was surrounded by a lot of negativity, the stench of poverty and lack was relentless and all around us, all the time. My mother got up at 4:30AM every morning to take a bus, several buses to go work in some sweatshop in downtown LA 10 to 12 hours a day to some abusive boss taking advantage of immigrants who couldn't speak the language so that she could buy me a drum set. I always had a love for music because of my older brother who played piano and guitar, but I wanted to play the drums! So, my amazing mother worked very hard to buy me my first drum set, then my second drum set, and then my third drum set. She wanted to give me something to focus on, work hard at something, learn to be obsessed, passionate to get really good at something. I am also pretty sure she figured if I am inside playing the drums, I am not outside getting jumped into a gang or taking part in illegal activities.
This changed the course of my life forever! I got really good at something, I learned that I can get good at anything I put my mind to! I was accepted, more than accepted I was adored and was the envy of many who wanted what I had worked so hard to achieve. I was no longer that strange skinny Korean boy who they were calling a chink just a few years ago! By the time I was 15 my band Justice could headline every club in Los Angeles, I had long hair, ears pierced, tattooed, wore makeup, and was looked up to by my peers for being the drummer of one of the most popular local bands. I dropped out of school at age 16 to pursue music full time. I was a full-blown rock star...It became my identity!
AACE: As a traveling musician in a successful band “Justice”, you were surrounded by the accouterments of that life, you mentioned in our conversation your aversion to drugs. In the last decade how has that changed now that “plant medicine” started to come to the mainstream, how and why did you decide to try cannabis?
I was so young and naive...everyone around me hid their drug use in my immediate circle, but at the same time I got to see the negative side of consumption outside of my circle, we lived in a decade of excess and debauchery. Blow, crack, heroin...it was all available and almost always abused. I saw so many people who I knew personally fall by the wayside due to substance abuse. To be completely honest with you I was too scared to try anything, the main reason being the heartbreak and disappointment I would cause my mother, who sacrificed so much so I could have an opportunity to pursue my dreams and have a better life. Never wanted to take the chance of possibly disappointing or hurting my mother. I know that's so not Rock and Roll but I have to be real! I am embarrassed to admit it, but I tried smoking a joint maybe a handful of times at most until I was in my late 40's. Hey...better late than never. It was sex, no-drugs, and Rock and roll for me!
Although it has its perks, being in a band is hard, hard work. You work hundreds of hours for that hour or two of glory on stage. My sleep cycle was ass-backward! After my music career I was blessed enough to have an opportunity to find my second love which was design, so all the passion, dedication, obsession, and hard work I put into music...I was easily able to transfer into my newfound love! Also, coincidentally my newfound love required long nights and crazy sleep schedules as well. It was all good until I hit my 40's and realized that Father Time is undefeated, and I was tired, and I need to get some sleep! CBD and THC to my rescue. I got off all the poison my doctors were prescribing. Ambien, Lunesta, Valium, Xanex...it just kept getting crazier. I was drinking an insane amount of coffee throughout the day to combat the daze and haze I was in from the sleeping pills and was jacked on caffeine so I couldn't fall asleep without taking a pill or two and it became this vicious cycle. I got introduced to CBD at first then Edibles and finally to dabbing. This amazing plant saved me and got me off these tranquilizers and the poison that I was putting into my body every single night. To steal a quote from Roger Volodarsky the founder and CEO of Puffco...I fell in love with the plant and the plant loved me back! Now I am being of service to this beautiful plant that has served me so generously.
AACE: In the cliche of “starting in the mailroom”, with no college degree and a head full of ideas, tell us how your life after music led to your position now as Head of Creative at Puffco?
Armed with a 9th-grade education, a tiny sliver of 10th grade, and big dreams I was by all accounts not qualified to do anything but play music. I had to learn the meaning of humility...and start all over again, and suck at something again until I got good at it. I have to be honest with you it was a tough transition and very humbling...borderline humiliating going from being a local Rockstar, playing in front of hundreds of people night after night to taking a janitorial job at an industrial design company and working my way up the ladder rung by rung. I was blessed to learn this valuable lesson called "humility" in my early 20's. I had to learn, unlearn and relearn, and shed any sense of entitlement. I had to embrace the suck!!!! I had to learn to go back to zero again. After working at various design studios I got to work on the 1996 Olympic Games on NBC which earned two Emmy Awards. In 1998 I was named top 25 20 somethings to watch by the Los Angeles Business Journal. The same year I founded my own creative agency 1K Studios. After the acquisition of my agency in 2011, I freelanced at various startups and agencies until I found my calling at Puffco!
AACE: With your 3D chess game of life, how have you passed on your life experiences to your children?
My kids are my world, my greatest accomplishment, my crown achievement, and the pinnacle of my existence! I have 2 daughters and a son...Jayna is 23 years old and an amazing tattoo artist who just recently opened her own Tattoo Studio. Saria who is 21 and a Senior at Otis school of design getting straight A's majoring in Video Game Design and last but not least my main man Jayson Jr. who is 9 years old and has such an amazing passion for life and sees everything and everyone with such wonder, amazement, and compassion. He is Jayson 2.0 certainly going to be a better version of his old man. If you ask my kids what does your dad wants for you? They would answer without missing a beat..."HAPPY"!
My mission as a parent is to not treat my children like property but to give them all the love and support they need to grow, flourish and be their authentic self. Armed with my love and support and without any conditions they can pursue what brings them true joy, have the option and freedom to change their minds, and freely pursue the pursuit of happiness! I give them the freedom to make their own choices and not to impose any selfish demands, but at the same time help them and guide them by being honest about my shortcomings, my failures which all equaled to my success. Failures are the building blocks to success! My kids have a tremendous sense of pride in who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. I introduced my oldest daughter Jayna to dabbing and she loves it! Like her old man, she uses it medicinally, but I taught my kids early on to just be honest with me and to make sure we can talk about anything and everything...nothing is taboo, I may not have all the answers, but I do have google!
I have been blessed to know what it feels like to have absolutely nothing to becoming a multi-millionaire in my late 20's and having everything I ever dreamed of and more to losing it all and having to start all over again. I want my kids to really know their dad...warts and all, the good the bad, and the ugly. I want them to love without fear, don’t judge unless you passed the bar exam and been a lawyer for 30+ years, be open to and respect different perspectives, and above all be kind...it's like having a superpower!
AACE: What is your favorite strain? And the favorite way of consuming?
I went from no weed to wanting all the weed I could get my hands on...not in an abusive way but thanks to Puffco I have learned to truly enjoy and honor this amazing plant! I still love edibles and I love dabbing good quality hash on either my Puffco Plus or My Peak...thanks to the advice and counsel of the connoisseurs at Puffco! Currently, my go-to is Live Rosin Sugar to dab or 30 to 40mg of sour watermelon or green apple edibles if I am not dabbing. I consume every night, my reward for an honest day's work!
Where to find Jayson Won:
Puffco - The cleanest, most potent, and flavorful consumption experience with no learning curve. Industry-leading innovation, strictly done in-house. No glues, fibers, or chemicals in any airways. The most awarded vaporizers and products.
