Conversations with Alex Basaldua

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Alex Basaldua.

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got started at Curaleaf as a budtender in 2019. I was there for a little under a year before I ended up at Ponderosa, which was absorbed by Sonoran Roots.

While I was there, I was promoted to management and expressed interest in getting into marketing; with the help of Kyle Laureano getting my foot in the door, I was asked by the original owner of Ponderosa if I was interested in starting a street team. That was the only green light I needed. I then put together an S.O.P. for street team members, how to become one, etc.

And then the Sonoran Roots Street Team was founded. We went out to a few events like First Friday and a couple of concerts until we found Trap Culture. I took the new marketing director of Sonoran Roots to his first-ever cannabis event, “Mangia Ganja,” out at the Phoenix Sports Complex in April of 2022, and after that, we ended up getting on 2 of their events. We did a “Gathering,” which was originally a social mixer or industry people with one spotlight sponsor, and we killed it. We had over 300 people lined up for an event with a capacity of 250. We sold it out and showed it out.

Unfortunately, soon after that event, Sonoran Roots let me go. But on my way home after being let go, I made a phone call, and I was hired by Trap Culture before I made it home. I helped the then-event planner throw the Aeriz Gathering, Cannafest 2022, and Mangia Ganja before he ventured off on his own endeavor. After that last Mangia Ganja in October of 2022, our current team took the reins of the company, and we haven’t looked back since.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It wasn’t a smooth road at all. Like I had mentioned in the previous article I did I went homeless soon after I got into Trap Culture. I was living in my truck from September of 2022 to May of 2023 and I continued to show up to work and throw these events. Not many knew what I was going through except for my coworkers and a couple of close friends.

But without the support of the owners of this company, my coworkers, and my friends, I wouldn’t have made it. I owe a lot to them for helping me keep going and not stopping. So many times, I could have just given up but the satisfaction of gaining everything I had lost was too overwhelming that I couldn’t give up on myself, my son needs to know that his father fought to get here he’s going.

As far as internal struggles within the company, there really haven’t been any other than the things that hinder any event company, like venues backing out, things not being ordered quickly enough, and vendors not showing up or pulling out of events, those are everyday curve balls every event coordinator goes through, and it’s inevitable, you just have to have to be quick to adjust which time and time again our team has shown, we do it and do it very well.

But aside from that, everything else has been falling into place. Our venues changed, our events got bigger and better, and they’ll continue to get better as long as our team is here.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might not be as familiar with your work?
There’s a lot that goes into doing what I do personally. I’m the project coordinator and one of the event coordinators for Trap Culture, and I also work as the inventory merchandiser for all the brands under our ownership.

I design all our apparel for Trap Culture along with 4 other brands including all promotional items. And since we no longer have a graphic designer, our operations director and myself have started dabbling ourselves with graphic design for our flyers and apparel, which has actually been really fun.

Now, that’s what I do now, but what I actually specialize in professionally is Harley’s. I’m actually a certified Harley-Davidson mechanic. I went to school for it, and I worked at Chandler Harley for a while. But cannabis is my passion.

What am I known for, though? You would have to ask the community, but I would have to say it would be my personality. I get along with everyone, and I’m told I carry very positive energy.

What I’m most proud of? I’m most proud of what we have built as a team and the relationships we have built not just as a company but as individuals. Each of us has created relationships with different individuals in our own way, And these relationships benefit one another in both personal and professional aspects.

What sets me apart from others is my mindset and personality. I have a unique personality, and I have a unique way of thinking when it is either creative or problem-solving. I would say being a person who uses more perspective rather than perception has helped me tremendously.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I love about our city is that no matter where you live, we all come together.

We have one of the best communities for cannabis I have ever been a part of. What I dislike most about this city is the number of venues that allow us to do what we do and how hot it is outside.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.trapcultureaz.com
• Instagram: @Ajbas22
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@TrapCultureAZ

Image Credits
@raulitoj and @just_jesse_