Allie Marconi
Age: 34
Title: Vice president of marketing
Company: Copperstate Farms
After years in the hospitality industry, Allie Marconi says that transitioning to the cannabis industry felt “like a natural progression.”
“Creating a welcoming space that people trust and enjoy coming back to time and time again has always been what drives me,” says Marconi, now Copperstate Farms’ vice president of marketing.
Since 2018, Marconi has been instrumental in establishing Copperstate Farms as an industry leader in Arizona. Working closely with the company’s retail, cultivation and processing arms, Marconi has helped launch several of the company’s award-winning cannabis products and had a key role in the development of the Sol Flower dispensary brand.
She includes the transition to adult use among her biggest milestones with Copperstate Farms.
“For people in Arizona to have access to cannabis, help destigmatize, and be able to discover how it may better their lives is a huge step in the right direction,” Marconi says.
Marconi says making sure Sol Flower had a strong web presence with online ordering helped streamline the process for many buyers. It also offered a “seamless” experience for users by tying it to the company’s marketing efforts, all helping the brand resonate more with its customers and leading to an increased market share.
“Regardless of what hurdle is in front of you, being able to pivot and remain flexible is very important,” she says.
Q&A
What prompted you to join the industry? What were you doing prior?
I’ve always been involved in the hospitality industry and transitioning into cannabis felt like a natural progression. There’s a lot of parallels between both retail spaces — especially as it pertains to connecting with the customer. Creating a welcoming space that people trust and enjoy coming back to time and time again has always been what drives me.
What has been your biggest milestone so far?
Working in the cannabis industry feels like living in dog years. So. Much. Happens… it’s challenging to pick just one, but I will say going live for recreational use in Arizona was a huge milestone. For people in Arizona to have access to cannabis, help destigmatize, and be able to discover how it may better their lives is a huge step in the right direction.
What were the most important aspects to incorporate in developing Sol Flower and why do they resonate with customers?
Creating a website that highlights the online menu and streamlines the ordering process. With 80% of our online orders coming from mobile, offering a seamless online shopping experience ties hand in hand with our marketing communications. Emails and text are distributed several times a week and if the link we send them to isn’t easy to navigate we potentially lose a shopper that day.
What was the biggest challenge in transitioning from medical to adult use?
We were still in somewhat of a post-pandemic world at the time so how to navigate crowds was top of mind; however, the biggest hurdle was probably the time we had to prepare for recreational going live. We were one of the first dispensaries to offer recreational sales because we did move so fast to make it happen. Regardless of what hurdle is in front of you, being able to pivot and remain flexible is very important.