Who is Aaron Zeeman really?

 
Aaron “Professor Potgrower” Zeeman — A Biography


Aaron George Zeeman was born at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 27, 1968. Early childhood took him from the bayou to Chicago and then California. He attended roughly twenty-three different schools, the kind of constant uprooting that forges adaptability but also invites headwinds. Small for his age and outspoken, he was bullied often. At nineteen he answered that chapter with discipline: martial arts. Over the decades he trained across Tang Soo Do, Karate, Sanshou and Shaolin Kung Fu, Muay Thai kickboxing, and Dala Ninjitsu Ryu, all filtered through the philosophy of his north star, Bruce Lee—Jeet Kune Do. Years later, over forty, he climbed into the Tough Man Hawaii ring in Hilo, winning his first bout and dropping the second by TKO to the reigning champion. The point wasn’t the belt; it was the stance: get up, go again.
The One-Way Leap to Hawaiʻi
In his twenties, Aaron bought a one-way ticket from Southern Nevada to Hawaiʻi. He landed with two dollars in food stamps and fifty cents cash, chasing a future that hadn’t been told yet. He settled on the Big Island, near Kīlauea, where the rainforest and lava fields meet. Work became survival, and survival became purpose.
Guerrilla Grower, Cultural Custodian
On Hawaiʻi Island, Aaron grew cannabis guerrilla-style—hiking gear, rain, mud, helicopters overhead, cat-and-mouse with the drug war. He grew a lot and harvested comparatively little, but in the jungle he earned an education few ever get: how plants behave in real weather, on real land, under real pressure. That experience anchors his lifelong mission—to preserve, protect, and proliferate Hawaiian heirloom genetics that reach back 40–60 years.
Aaron’s activism put him at the center of the state’s cannabis story. He was swept into the “Green 14” federal case tied to the THC Ministry/Roger Christie era. He fought, negotiated, and ultimately pled to a lesser charge; he sued the federal government pro se for his right to use cannabis under Hawaiʻi law. Later, probation issues tied to cannabis use cost him time in custody and a halfway house. Through it all he remained the same person: a public and stubborn advocate who believes all cannabis use is medical and sacred.
Founder: Big Island Genetics (2016)
In 2016 he founded Big Island Genetics (BIG). The company breeds and releases heirloom strains and F1 hybrids with an ethic rooted in place and history. That same year he won first place for the Big Island and second overall statewide at the Hawaiʻi Medical Cannabis Expo’s Aloha Cup. He’s been published multiple times in High Times. BIG’s guiding line—“Spreading Aloha around the world, one seed at a time”—isn’t a marketing quip; it’s a mission statement.
Speaker, Organizer, Community Builder
Aaron earned two associate degrees from Hawaiʻi Community College—Arts (Liberal Arts) and Science (Agriculture)—and built community well beyond cultivation. He ran the Hawaiʻi Island Sports Association (HISA), organizing adult flag football seasons for a dozen years and three-on-three basketball tournaments for adults and kids. He volunteered with Hospice of Hilo and coached the Volcano Vixens women’s roller derby team.
As a public voice, he’s been a featured speaker at the Hawaiʻi Cannabis Expo in Honolulu and expects to return. He’s appeared on multiple podcasts—including the Adam Dunn Show—and in conversations with activists such as Paul Stanford and Seattle Hempfest founder Vivian McPeak. He wants more of that—travel, stages, microphones—because advocacy, like seeds, spreads by hand-to-hand exchange.
Author and Artist
Under the pen name Jason Lamoore, Aaron writes and makes art. He draws, designs packaging, and produces graphics for his brand. As a kid he earned one of only two scholarships to a Nevada School of the Arts summer program—early proof that he’d always make things.
He’s the author of the nearly finished Hemp Ritual Handbook (a comprehensive, diagram-rich guide), and Hawaii High: The Life and Times of Professor Potgrower, a pseudo-autobiographical adventure. The ambition is straightforward: finish Hawaii High, chase a New York Times bestseller, and translate that story to film.
Health, Loss, and Resolve
About fifteen years ago, Aaron contracted rat lungworm disease. Hospitalized for ten days, he endured two spinal taps, rapid weight loss, and a bleak survival estimate relayed to family. He lived—but with permanent nerve damage and chronic pain that flares with exertion. Recovery has been partial (roughly 60–70%). He’s considering SSI disability while navigating the financial hit that chronic illness and industry headwinds can bring.
The last year brought more grief—his mother Diana’s passing, the loss of his dog Zane, and the death of his puppies’ mother. He names the depression out loud. He also names his medicine: cannabis. To Aaron it’s sacred; he uses it daily, not as escape, but as practice—like breathwork for the nervous system.
Life in Full
Aaron lives in Mountain View on the Big Island, just miles from Kīlauea. He loves Hawaiʻi—the land first, and then the people—and he treats Aloha as a discipline, not a slogan. He’s a Saints fan because New Orleans is blood-deep, a Cubs fan because Chicago was childhood. He plays tenor ʻukulele (you can find videos under Jason Lamoore), listens to Zeppelin, Floyd, classic rock, reggae (Marley, Tosh), Cypress Hill, Sublime. He plays poker and once beat the legend Doyle Brunson at Sam’s Town—four kings over aces full—a story that sticks because it captures his favorite theme: long odds don’t scare him.
He’s single, hopes for love, and is a father—Tyler Kay (born in Las Vegas) and Kehena (born 1999; her mother, Makaila Meeks, is an ER nurse in Panama City). Family includes his stepfather Douglas Pence, and a complicated, currently strained relationship with his sister Rachel. The newest anchors are four half Pit Bull/half Australian Shepherd dogs—Buster, Bingo, Sweetie, and Nibbler (Miss Nibbles)—all with white-tipped tails. They are, in his words, the love that keeps him going.
How the Community Sees Him
Ask around and you’ll hear a profile that repeats: a resilient grower, a straight-talking advocate, a man who will take a hit (literal or legal) and come back with more resolve, a keeper of Hawaiian cannabis culture who treats genetics like family heirlooms. People also see the artist and writer—the guy who designs his own labels and is building a bookshelf of work. They know the speaker who can hold a room and the organizer who will still show up for youth sports, hospice, or roller derby. They see someone who, despite poverty and pain, refuses to back off the mission.
Legacy and Direction of Travel
Aaron’s legacy is already visible in three layers:
1. Genetics & Culture: Heirloom Hawaiian lines preserved and propagated. A credible, hard-earned voice on cultivation in real Hawaiian conditions. A living archive carried seed by seed.
2. Narrative & Voice: Books, talks, podcasts, and art that preserve not only techniques but the why—Aloha as practice, cannabis as sacrament, Hawaiʻi as teacher.
3. Example: The one-way ticket with fifty cents; the ring walk in his forties; the court filings; the recovery from rat lungworm; the willingness to keep rebuilding when income drops and systems gatekeep. It adds up to a durable pattern: persistence under pressure.
Conclusion — Who He Is
Aaron “Professor Potgrower” Zeeman is a builder who starts from almost nothing and makes culture out of what he has: a seed, a melody on a tenor ʻukulele, a story typed late at night, a field lesson from rain and red dirt. He is stubborn about plants and principles, soft about dogs and family, and relentless about Aloha. He believes cannabis is medicine and that sharing it—responsibly, legally, and with reverence—can heal more than bodies; it can reconnect people to place and to each other.
He stands today at the edge he’s known before: low resources, high conviction, and a path forward that depends on showing up. The bet is the same one he’s made his whole life—that persistence plus craft can beat long odds. Whether the next win is a bestseller, a film, expanded seed lines, or a packed auditorium in a mainland city, the core remains: Spreading Aloha around the world, one seed at a time.