Paddy Donnelly, lead cannabis specialist at Bern Gallery Smoke Shop Cannabis, fits the stereotype of someone you might expect to hold the job — he's a bass player for several local jam bands with a laid-back, friendly demeanor. His customers, though? They're not stereotypical at all. "One of the first things I learned was that there is no one type of person that comes in the door here," he said of the clientele at the dispensary on Main Street in Burlington. Donnelly sees it all, from just-turned-21 college students to octogenarians. Their needs vary, too. He hooks people up with the right product to pregame a Higher Ground show and listens attentively to customers who come in with stories about chronic pain. "I've had a consultation with a customer that ended after two hours with both of us bawling," Donnelly said. "It can get heavy as hell, and you have to be ready for that. It's a unique job." Bern Gallery, founded in 2004 as a pipe shop, specializes in glassware that's both functional and inspiring. There's a glassblowing studio on-site, and the gallery offers lessons. Bern Gallery won the Seven Daysie award for best place to buy a pipe in 2018, 2019 and 2022 — back when it was advertised "for tobacco use only" — and the Daysie for best dispensary in 2023 and 2024. Donnelly arrived at the shop in 2016. A self-described "jam-band kid" who studied environmental science and music at Saint Michael's College, he landed a summer job there and stuck around full time after graduation. When it became clear that the state was going to legalize cannabis for recreational use, Donnelly hit the books again. He took a budtending course through Oaksterdam University, an industry trade school located in Oakland, Calif. It offers classes in horticulture, business, manufacturing and budtending. "When you google something you want to know about cannabis, it's really hard to know what's good information. It was great to be exposed to scientific and historical data about the plant that way," he said. Donnelly, 29, rattles off the names of strains and terpenes faster than some people can recite the alphabet, but his approach to helping people find products is simple: "I assume nothing and try to meet people where they're at." Seven Days sat down with Donnelly and asked him about his work and some of the questions… ...read more read less