Meet the Founder

My Background

I’m Josh Pierce, a veteran, husband, father of three amazing daughters, cannabis educator, cultivator and the founder of Mercy Leaf.

Service and the Weight That Followed

Military service taught me discipline, resilience, and responsibility.

Like many veterans, the years that followed brought challenges I wasn’t prepared for, including PTSD and the process of trying to rebuild direction and purpose after service.

Family and Loss

Family has always been the center of my life.

I am a husband and father of three daughters, and those relationships continue to ground everything I do.

The loss of my father in 2011 deeply changed my life. Watching his battle with cancer showed me both the weight of serious illness and the gaps that exist in support, understanding and access to compassionate information.

That experience stayed with me, and ultimately became one of the core reasons Mercy Leaf exists today.

Faith and Purpose

My relationship with Jesus Christ transformed my life.

Faith helped me navigate some of my most difficult seasons and gave me a renewed sense of purpose. It taught me that compassion is not simply a feeling, it is something we are called to live out through service to others.

Mercy Leaf is a faith-informed project because faith is part of my story. At the same time, our mission is to serve people from all backgrounds with dignity, respect and compassion.

You do not need to share my beliefs to receive support, education or encouragement from Mercy Leaf.

Learning the Plant, Firsthand

My interest in the medicinal properties of cannabis began with my father’s cancer journey, but it grew into a long-term commitment to education and understanding.

Over the years, I have spent countless hours studying cannabis cultivation, cannabinoids, extraction methods, patient experiences and emerging research.

In 2025, I began cultivating cannabis personally, gaining hands-on experience with the plant from seed to harvest. That experience deepened my appreciation for both the complexity of cannabis and the responsibility that comes with educating others about it.

Today, I continue to learn, research, grow and share knowledge as part of Mercy Leaf’s educational mission.

Why I Founded Mercy Leaf

Mercy Leaf wasn’t created from theory. It was built from experience…service, loss, healing and learning along the way.

My goal is simple: to make sure no one has to navigate these moments alone or uninformed.

Mercy Leaf is bigger than my story, but my story is part of why it exists.