Megan Stone Age: 32 Company: The High Road Design Studio Position: Owner and founder Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Using her experience as a customer, retail manager and interior designer, Megan Stone aims to bring a new level of sophistication to design in the cannabis industry. Stone’s work has captured the attention of mainstream design experts. Earlier this year, she was a finalist for an Association of Retail Environments Award for her design of the cannabis concentrates bar at Tru Med in Phoenix, Arizona. She took top honors in the Designer Dozen Awards in 2015 from Visual Merchandising and Store Design Magazine. Stone says she starts developing a retail floorplan by looking at the function of the space before working on the aesthetics of the design. “I understand every facet of my customer’s business,” she says. Stone says marijuana is one of the coolest things that can be bought from any store, “yet, when you walk into these shops, the experience is — most of the time — terrifying.” She wants to normalize that process for the customers and draw parallels to traditional, high-end retail experiences. After graduating from design school, Stone wanted to work for a design firm that was already targeting cannabis retailors. To her surprise, she found no one in pursuit of the emerging market. With the legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington and Colorado, Stone founded The High Road Design Studio to help transform the new industry from the stereotypes tied to its black market past. “If these businesses were known to be safe, beautiful, positive places, that image could do wonders for the growth of the industry and the people in it,” she says. The High Road Design Studio has designed 15 dispensaries in eight states since opening in 2013.
