After Jennifer Wells left the world of finance, she headed north to join her husband Randy Wells in running fishing charters out of Seward, Alaska. It was an idyllic life of brutal hours, harsh winters and hard competition. And they loved it.
“We made sure all of our customers were able to check off those bucket-list fantasies they had of catching a big fish in Alaska,” Jennifer Wells says. “It was a great lifestyle and at that time we had no intention of changing. That was the way we wanted to live.”
The couple had established themselves in the state’s tourism industry when Randy slipped off of a dock, aggravating a previous back injury from a car accident and consequently making the physical demands of running the business much harder. Their youngest son was already set to take over their fishing business, and their oldest son was set on working in cannabis, so the couple decided to keep the family close, opening the Tufted Puffin cannabis retail store in Seward in 2019.
“It was quite a change of pace there,” Wells says.
While the pace was considerably different than taking tourists out for leisurely fishing trips off the Alaskan coast, there was quite a bit of overlap in the skill sets needed for both industries, “in sales especially,” Wells says.
Despite making three career changes in a very short span of time, Wells helped build the Tufted Puffin into a chain of three stores across the state, including one of the state’s stand-out consumption lounges, drawing large crowds to their music events. Wells helped foster a partnership between Tufted Puffin and the Seattle coffee roaster Caffé D’arte for infused coffee served at the retailer’s Amsterdam-style lounge and she also worked with the state to change its consumption lounge rules so that edibles are allowed to be consumed indoors.
“People from all walks of life come into the lounge and it’s amazing because no matter who walks in they come out chatting it up with new friendships,” Wells says. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”
Marijuana Venture’s 2026 Women to Watch feature was sponsored by Leading Retirement Solutions
Leading Retirement Solutions (LRS) is a women-owned national retirement plan service provider that helps businesses design, implement, and manage retirement plans tailored to their unique goals and workforce needs. With over a decade in the cannabis industry, LRS helps operators offer competitive 401(k) plans and employee benefits through customized plan design, administration, consulting, and recordkeeping services. LRS helps employers strengthen financial futures for both their organizations and workforce.