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Josh RAW: RAW Paper Empire, Rolling Secrets, Exclusive Factory Tour, Culture That Rolls
Josh RAW: RAW Paper Empire, Rolling Secrets, Exclusive Factory Tour, Culture That Rolls
Sometimes when you’re the owner of the biggest 🍃rolling papers and accessories company in the world, you might seem larger than life. For this episode abroad in the heart of Benimarfull, Spain, the FSOTD team heads to the factory for a once-in-a-lifetime conversation with the man behind the curtain to dispel some of the myths and learn some of the real-deal lore.
Blackleaf and Co. diverted during their Spannabis trip to take a private tour of the RAW Factory and sit down for a heart-to-heart with Josh Kesselman, who many have called the “Willy Wonka of W**d,” where they discuss his (almost unbelievable) journey from Florida into Spain, securing mentorships from legends, the history of counterfeit papers, why RAW papers have the intricate imprinted designs, how thinner papers equal slower burn, the amount of fresh water needed to produce massive amounts of papers, the first time Josh heard Wiz Khalifa rap about RAW, the truth behind the common misconception that he’s always happy, and so much more.
A little backstory, Josh Kesselman is the founder and CEO of RAW Rolling Papers, a brand renowned for its natural, unbleached, and vegan-friendly rolling papers. His passion for rolling papers began in childhood, inspired by his father's magic trick involving a disappearing paper, which led him to collect various types of rolling papers. In 1993, he opened a smoke shop called Knuckleheads in Gainesville, Florida, where he imported specialty papers from Europe. After facing legal challenges, he relocated to Arizona and, in 2004, invested $1 million to develop RAW Rolling Papers, which gained popularity among herb enthusiasts and mainstream hip-hop artists like Wiz, Curre$y, and more.
During the pod, you’ll hear Josh talk about the old seshes being the backbone of RAW’s success. If you’ve ever wondered how to take guerrilla marketing to the utmost extreme, you can’t miss this part of the interview. Josh even speaks on giving out multiple boxes of papers to smoke shops, and as a favor, begging them to literally give out at least one full box to their regulars. Beyond the topical questions that you’ll get to hear, like what Josh’s go-to papers are, or how he celebrates big company wins on his farm with his donkeys and his family, there are countless tidbits of free game on building a business brick-by-brick jam-packed in between every iconic story.
Whether you’re here for the wild stories about Josh smoking on the Jet Life Tour with Curren$y and exchanging entrepreneurial dreams and ambitions, or for the intimate understanding of his factory employees (some with 50+ year tenures), how he got the factory and why they name each machine, or how to build a globally-recognized brand that generates millions in revenue, or even the best way to handle people infringing on your copyrights—there’s something for everyone in this interview. It’s truly hard to convey the entire scope of this conversation in one description.
You might even catch some sneak peeks and backstories on exclusive collaborations between RAW, such as the Phatty Elements with FSOTD, The TenCo x RAW at Zalympix, and how Cole Bennett and Josh came together to create Lyrical Lemonade papers. And, if you’re chomping at the bit by the end of this pod to see the rest of the facility, tap in with our exclusive VLOG on the channel showing you the inside of the RAW Factory on some Golden Ticket-type energy.
Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture during our 2025 Spannabis trip you can’t find anywhere else.
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