Marvina Thomas
CEO | Fourtwenty Collections
After acquiring a vertically integrated license in March 2023, Fourtwenty Collections founder and CEO Marvina Thomas not only became the first Black woman to operate a dispensary in Arizona, she also joined the incredibly small number of women of color across the country to helm a multi-state operation.
Thomas opened her Fourtwenty Collections retail store in Safford, Arizona, on July 7, 2023. Prior to that, her first Fourtwenty Collections retail location, which opened in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on December 17, 2022, was the first dispensary in the city owned by a Black woman.
“Now, with operations in both Arizona and New Mexico, I’m not only able to provide new patients and consumers with quality products but also become a part of those communities through my philanthropic work as well,” she says.
Although Thomas has spent more than eight years as one of the industry’s few Black female entrepreneurs, she remains more than happy to continue claiming industry milestones.
“We plan to continue to grow our Las Cruces, New Mexico, location as well and, overall, continue to open up opportunities for BIPOC, women of color and minorities to succeed in the cannabis industry.”
In addition to furthering industry diversity, Thomas has spent more than 20 years working to help rehabilitate members of underrepresented communities suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues, through her 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Start Living. As a former nurse, Thomas had seen the debilitating effects drug addiction had on her patients and established the nonprofit to help them “get their lives back on track.”
“To do this, a portion of every sale from Fourtwenty Collections goes toward Start Living Inc., a nonprofit recovery operation that encompasses multiple group homes throughout Arizona and soon-to-be New Mexico,” she says. “Through the proceeds from Fourtwenty Collections, I’m able to help patients go through these programs and often can employ them after they graduate from the program.”
Thomas has built Fourtwenty Collections from its humble roots as a producer of CBD-infused soap bars in 2015 into a multi-state operation that includes skin care lines, edibles and a fashion line, as well as its new cannabis dispensaries — all of which were started by Thomas and bear the same Egyptian-style design and branding she incorporated when she began this journey more than eight years ago.
“I’ve always been into Egyptian influences because women are all goddesses and the cannabis plant is female,” Thomas says. “Added to that, the Egyptians all used natural ingredients in their beauty products, such as sea salts and essential oils for preserving beauty.”