OUR STORY
After more than 20 combined years of providing consulting services to the cannabis industry Co-founders Ashley Picillo and Kaelan Castetter started to dream up innovative ways to support the clients they had come to love, striving to build a best-in-class solution that provides high quality regulatory compliance — without the need for constant consulting or legal support.
Growv is part Membership program, part knowledge center and part boutique consulting, delivered economically and on-demand. Our team is composed of writers, financial professionals and cannabis compliance experts representing over 50 years of hands-on experience in regulated cannabis.
OUR NAME
The name Growv (pronounced grove) is inspired by our team’s shared love of nature, most especially forests and the ways in which a grove of interconnected trees support the growth of one another. In some tree grove’s, the trees are actually connected at the root level and are considered to be a single organism.
While cannabis operators are certainly independent from one another, we believe that there is great potential for economies of scale — most especially when it comes to knowledge sharing and information access.
Democratizing information and presenting it in a way that is actually useful to a cannabis business operator (and their team) is our entire mission.
Meet Our Co-Founders
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Ashley's cannabis career began in 2014 at the start of adult-use legalization in Colorado when she was charged with overseeing operations and revenue growth for one of the State's largest vertically integrated facilities. In this capacity, Ashley oversaw cultivation, product manufacturing, retail, distribution, QA/QC, and a team of 70+ people — arming her with operational knowledge and hands-on experience, steering a large-scale cannabis operation.
That same year, Ashley founded Point Seven Group (Point7), an award winning, 100% women-owned cannabis consulting firm that has supported 300+ cannabis companies across 37 states and 4 countries.
Recognizing that states across the country were rapidly building cannabis programs of their own — and evaluating the successes and failures experienced by Colorado — Ashley founded Point7 to offer management consulting services to both newly established cannabis companies preparing to pursue a business license and more mature cannabis companies exploring exit and expansion opportunities. Point7 has been recognized as one of Colorado’s fastest-growing privately held companies and was also featured on the INC5000 list.
In 2023, Ashley began to consider how to make operational, licensing and regulatory compliance services more accessible, not only in price but in terms of understanding for owners and their employees. By December of 2023, Ashley and Kaelan decided to form a new entity on a mission to do just that.
Ashley is also an active Board Member for the Minnesota Marijuana Association, Cannabis Media Council and a few nonprofits. She is also a member of Rolling Stone’s Culture Council, frequent speaker, and Author of Breaking the Grass Ceiling: Women, Weed and Business.
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Kaelan has been in the New York cannabis industry since 2015 as the founder of Sovereign Vines: America’s Only Hemp-Infused Wine – a restart of his father’s venture from 1997. During the launch of this business and several other hemp operations including a compliant cannabinoid hemp process – he experienced a plethora of regulatory roadblocks that ignited his passion for advocacy while helping develop deep-seated relationships with regulators.
Kaelan comes from a legacy grower family and credits this with providing a foundational understanding of how the cannabis business works. Kaelan also leverages his relationships to educate local, state, and elected officials on industry issues – effectively translating the complexities of operating a cannabis business into policy solutions.
He is the Founder and Managing Director of the Castetter Cannabis Group and, similar to Ashley, began contemplating how to provide regulatory compliance services in a different way, designed specifically for cannabis operators.
Kaelan is also considered to be a subject matter expert as evidenced by his appearances at industry conferences, and comments about the industry featured in the press.
Our Values
OPERATE WITH INTEGRITY
We are honest, fair, and guided by an unwavering moral and ethical compass. People trust us to do what we say we are going to do.
ENGAGE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES
We engage with the communities where we — our team and our customers — work, listening and learning in order to provide better service, resulting in greater outcomes, for our customers.
TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
People. Planet. Profits. We measure our success in three ways and are unwilling to compromise on how we operate without consideration for all three.
THINK LIKE AN OWNER
We hold ourselves accountable, and to the highest standard, owning our work through completion. We anticipate challenges, encourage and welcome feedback as a way to continuously refine and improve our products and services.
BE A CHAMPION FOR THE UNDERDOGS
We put ourselves in the shoes of our Members customers and communities around us, advocating for others and making their voices and needs heard.
CELEBRATE & PROMOTE UNCONVENTIONAL THINKING
We think big. We refuse to rest on our laurels and instead remain curious, relentlessly questioning the “how” in an effort to reinvent, explore new frontiers and break away from convention — endeavoring to consistently reimagine how we work for the betterment of our customers.
Press & Thought Leadership Since 2014
Growv is new to cannabis, our founders (and our team) are not.
Testimonials
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"Coming from nearly 7 years of experience in the cannabis industry and having done extensive research into lobbying, consulting, and advisory firms, I wish [they] were in every market. If you’re not working with Kaelan in some capacity, you’re missing out on one of the most well-rounded organizations fit for the industry to help you launch and scale." - Vince Ning, CEO Nabis
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"In my multi-year experience with [them], it has been nothing short of Amazing! From the resources to the knowledge they provide, to even the doors they have helped open; Kaelan and the team have been heaven sent and taking on the weight of chasing down a NYS Cannabis license would have been unbearable & nearly impossible without their guidance and assistance. We are Forever grateful & eternally appreciative." Reggie Keith CannaHouse
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"[They] are a truly professional outfit. Kaelen Castetter is one of the most knowledgeable players in the cannabis industry and can help clients achieve if not exceed their objectives and goals. [They] are the first and only call I make to get answers and put clients on the right track to licensure and proper guidance in the complexities of compliance in this burgeoning market." David Holland, Prince Lobel Tye LLP
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"I work in the cannabis industry and it really is a volatile industry. There are so many opinions, so many issues.. It is hard to find great solutions accompanied by great leadership. I can honestly say that [they exemplify] those characteristics in everything they do." Damien Cornwell, Just Breathe