Laurie Parfitt, CEO and Principal of LKP Impact Consulting – Interview Series

With the U.S. cannabis industry approaching $30 billion, it’s clear the market is built on hundreds, if not thousands, of local, regional, and national brands. In a market where products carry such personal meaning, a brand’s distinct voice and story can make or break its success. Beyond storytelling, a company’s core values, visual style, and target demographics often make all the difference. In a young industry already bursting with popularity and potential, getting your brand voice and identity right is paramount.

To explore effective brand-building strategies in cannabis—and how they parallel other industries—mycannabis.com spoke with Laurie Parfitt, CEO and Principal of LKP Impact Consulting.

What topics in merchandising management did you mainly study at Michigan State University? Which courses in particular became most helpful while working with cannabis brands?

I started at Michigan State in the James Madison College studying Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy with the intention of going pre-law. I have always been interested in systems, policy, people, and how decisions get made. But I eventually moved into merchandising because I realized I was more drawn to retail, consumer behavior, product strategy, and the customer.

In merchandising, I focused on how products are developed, positioned, priced, assorted, displayed, and ultimately purchased. The areas that became most helpful were consumer insights, category management, retail strategy, analytics, merchandising planning, and understanding how people make decisions at shelf.

That background has been incredibly useful in cannabis because cannabis touches so many parts of the business at once. It is retail, CPG, education, compliance, operations, policy, and customer experience. When I started my cannabis career running marketing and customer experience for Mission Dispensaries, it brought my education full circle. My background helped me think through assortment, pricing, promotions, store experience, customer education, and how to make the buying process feel less intimidating.

It also helped me bring more data-driven discipline into cannabis. In an industry that was still being built, those skills gave me a strong foundation for understanding the consumer, building smarter retail strategies, and connecting marketing back to business performance.

What were the most valuable lessons you learned in brand management and success when working at Mizkan America? With so many popular brands under the Mizkan umbrella, how did your role change depending on what brand you were focusing on?

Mizkan America was a great experience because it allowed me to help build something new inside an established organization. Mizkan bought Ragu and Bertolli from Unilever in 2014 and had never run national brands at that scale. We had to build an entirely new organization around that business, which was originally called R&B Foods.

I loved that experience because I was involved in so many parts of the business: brand management, consumer insights, innovation, category management, trade marketing, and overall business strategy. It was not a narrow marketing role, and that fit the way I work. I like understanding how all the pieces connect.

The biggest lesson from Mizkan was that brand management is not just about the creative. You have to understand the consumer, the retailer, the category, the financials, the trade strategy, the supply chain realities, and the role the brand plays in the broader portfolio. If the idea does not work at retail, if the economics do not make sense, or if the consumer does not understand it quickly, it will not matter how good the campaign is.

My role changed depending on the brand because each brand had different equity, different consumers, and different growth opportunities. With a legacy brand, you are often protecting what people already know and trust while finding ways to make it relevant again. With a brand that has more runway, you may be focused on innovation, new occasions, distribution, or repositioning. Even brands in the same category cannot be treated the same way.

That lesson has carried directly into cannabis. Too many cannabis brands want to be everything to everyone. The better approach is to go back to basics: Who is the target consumer? What does the brand stand for? What problem does it solve? What is the positioning? Why should someone choose it? Once that foundation is built, the rest becomes more focused.

From a professional standpoint, what interested you about joining the cannabis industry? How did you see the industry as unique when compared to the other industries and roles you previously worked in?

Professionally, cannabis interested me because it was an opportunity to help build an industry from the ground up. I had spent years across finance, accounting, sales, operations, trade, category management, consumer insights, analytics, and marketing, and cannabis uses all of those skills.

That is one of the things I love most about cannabis. It is not an industry where you just stay in your lane. You have to understand the consumer, the retailer, the product, the regulations, the operations, the financial realities, the sales process, and the brand all at the same time.

My entry into cannabis came through one of my mentors from my CPG and Topco days. He brought me into the industry, and my first role was with an MSO that had one dispensary in Illinois, although my work was much more national in scope. I quickly realized cannabis was not just another product category. It was a new industry, a regulated industry, a retail industry, a wellness industry, and a consumer education challenge all at once.

What made cannabis different was the level of complexity. In traditional CPG, you deal with competition, retailers, pricing pressure, consumer behavior, and operational realities. In cannabis, you deal with all of that plus stigma, compliance, state-by-state regulations, limited advertising channels, banking limitations, and consumers who are still learning how to shop the category.

But cannabis also became personal for me. We talk a lot about fitting in versus belonging. When I joined the cannabis industry, for the first time, I felt like I actually belonged, both personally and professionally. I could be my authentic self in a way I never fully felt I could be in traditional CPG.

Most of my life, like a lot of people, I adjusted my messaging, my positioning, and even parts of myself to fit in. You learn early how to fit in with other kids, then peers, then colleagues. I do not think I fully found myself professionally until I entered cannabis. The people in this industry are some of the best in the world. It is pretty amazing to work in an industry I care so deeply about, with people I genuinely love.

Cannabis needed the discipline I had built in CPG, but it also had heart, grit, and community. That combination is what made me want to stay.

How did you utilize your experience from Mizkan as well as other companies such as Topco Associates when working in the still mostly uncharted field of cannabis marketing and brand building?

My experience at Mizkan helped me bring traditional brand management discipline into cannabis, but in a very practical way. At Mizkan, we were building a new organization around Ragu and Bertolli after the acquisition from Unilever, so I learned how to build inside complexity. That was very relevant to cannabis, where companies are often building the plane while flying it.

Topco was also a major part of my foundation. I managed multiple product categories and had more than $1 billion in P&L responsibility. I was involved in sourcing, marketing, branding, operations, creative, and overall business management. That experience taught me how to run businesses with limited resources, how to prioritize, and how to connect brand strategy to financial performance.

I am fortunate to have a background across multiple disciplines.  Each one gave me a different vantage point. That has been extremely valuable in cannabis because the industry requires cross-functional thinking. Marketing cannot sit off to the side. It has to support sales, help educate the customer, strengthen the brand, drive loyalty, and move the business forward.

The truth is, you can approach the foundation of a cannabis brand the same way you approach any other brand. You go back to basics. You define the target consumer, the positioning, the value proposition, the role of the brand, the competitive set, the voice, and the reason to believe. Once that foundation is clear, then you adapt the strategy to the realities of cannabis.

The rules are different. The channels are different. The restrictions are real. But the brand-building fundamentals do not disappear.

What inspired you to create LKP Impact Consulting? What professional experiences in particular inspired you to create the company?

I started LKP Impact Consulting somewhat on a whim during COVID. When 4Front started selling off the dispensaries I had been working with, I had to figure out what I was going to do next. A friend in recruiting found me a consulting project, and it fit with what I liked to do. What started as a three-month project turned into fourteen months.

As COVID was ending, I had to think about what came next. My husband was the one who pushed me to look at it differently. He said I could spend my time doing resumes, interviews, thank-you notes, and trying to find the next job, or I could take that same skill set and do business development for myself. He pointed out that I had done well with consulting without even really trying and asked what would happen if I actually tried.

I was convinced I would be refreshing my inbox forever, but that did not happen. That moment was defining for me. It was the first time in my life that I did not let a job, or the process of finding a job, hold me hostage. I had always taken jobs, and even when they were not great environments, I felt like I could not leave without something else lined up. Starting my own business allowed me to take my power back.

LKP Impact gave me freedom. I did not have to be beholden to anyone. I could do great work with companies I was passionate about and build something on my own terms.

There was also a real business need. At the time, the average tenure of a CMO in cannabis was around six months, and even in traditional industries it was often much shorter than people realized. I did not want to put all of my eggs in one basket again, and I also knew many cannabis companies could not afford a full-time CMO with a large compensation package. A fractional model made more sense.

LKP Impact was built to give companies access to senior marketing leadership without forcing them into a full-time structure they may not be ready for. It gives them strategy, structure, execution, and senior-level thinking in a way that is flexible and practical.

From your many years of experience in brand marketing and building, what is so different about your role as CMO for SōRSE? How does the indirect cannabis affiliation of the company add more challenges to the role than it would if the company’s technology wasn’t used by cannabis brands?

My role as CMO for SōRSE is different because SōRSE is not a traditional consumer brand. It is a technology and ingredient solutions company that supports other brands. So the job is not just to make SōRSE known. It is to help the market understand what the technology does, why it matters, and how it helps brands create better, more consistent infused products.

SōRSE sits in a unique place. The company is not selling cannabis products directly to consumers, but its technology is used by cannabis and hemp brands. That means we have to speak to manufacturers, brand owners, operators, retailers, investors, and sometimes consumers indirectly through the brands that use the technology.

That indirect cannabis affiliation adds complexity. SōRSE still has to navigate the realities of cannabis and hemp: regulation, stigma, state-by-state rules, consumer education, and market uncertainty. Even though SōRSE is a technology company, it operates in and around a highly regulated category.

That means the marketing has to be clear, credible, and responsible. We have to communicate the science and value of the technology without making it too technical or too complicated. We have to help the broader market understand why consistency, onset, stability, taste, scalability, and quality matter.

Education is a big part of the role. In beverage especially, we need to help brands, retailers, and consumers understand what makes a product stable, why formulation matters, and what quality should look like. A cannabis beverage is not just a drink with THC in it. The technology behind it directly affects the consumer experience.

How does your role as CMO and the marketing strategies you take change depending on what type of products that your client is producing, such as edibles or beverages?

The strategy changes because different product formats solve different consumer needs. Edibles and beverages may both be ingestible cannabis products, but consumers do not think about them in the same way.

With edibles, consumers often think about discretion, dosage, flavor, routine, and specific need states like sleep, relaxation, or stress relief. The category is more established, so the marketing may focus on differentiation, trust, product benefits, consistency, and repeat purchase.

Beverages are different because they sit closer to social occasions. They feel more familiar to new consumers because people already understand drinking a beverage. Not everyone knows how to inhale, but everyone knows how to eat and drink. That matters. A beverage can fit into moments where alcohol has traditionally played a role, which makes it more approachable for people who may not want to smoke or take a traditional edible.

That said whether the product is an edible, beverage, topical, flower brand, or technology platform, the process still starts with the consumer. What does the person need? What are they trying to solve? What makes them hesitant? What makes them come back?

At the end of the day, B2B and B2C are not as different as people make them out to be. You are still dealing with a person. The decision-maker may be a buyer, manufacturer, retailer, investor, or consumer, but they are still human. They still need to understand the value. They still need to trust you. They still need to believe the product or company can solve a real problem.

The difference is the channel, the message, and the decision-making process. Once the brand foundation is clear, you adjust how you reach people based on whether you are speaking to a consumer, a retailer, a manufacturer, or another business. The basics do not change. The execution does.

Through your work with SōRSE and cannabis brands as well, why do you think that the cannabis beverage sector has become so popular? What strategies are beverage brands taking to become so increasingly widespread and appealing to new consumers?

Cannabis beverages have become popular because they are one of the most accessible and approachable formats in the industry. Not everyone wants to smoke. Not everyone knows how to inhale. Not everyone is comfortable with traditional edibles. But everyone understands drinking something.

Beverages also fit naturally into social occasions. They give consumers an alternative to alcohol and create a familiar ritual. For someone who is canna-curious, a beverage can feel much less intimidating than walking into a dispensary and choosing from flower, concentrates, or high-dose edibles.

The real acceleration came when cannabis beverages moved beyond the regulated dispensary channel. In regulated cannabis, beverages have historically been a very small part of the category, often around 1% to 2% at any given time according to Headset. The bigger opportunity came from putting the product where the consumer already is: convenience stores, liquor stores, grocery, and direct-to-consumer channels where legally available.

That channel shift matters because it lowers the barrier to trial. Consumers already know how to shop those environments. They understand the occasions. They may not think of themselves as cannabis consumers, but they may be open to a low-dose beverage if it is presented in a familiar format.

The category has also benefited from better technology. Consumers want products that taste good, are consistent, stable, and predictable. That is where formulation and emulsion technology matter. If a beverage tastes bad, separates, is inconsistent, or takes too long to work, the consumer may not come back.

The brands doing this well are focusing on approachable dosing, familiar flavors, clean branding, education, social occasions, and broader retail access. For the category to keep growing, consumers need to understand what they are buying and what quality looks like. Clear dosing, great taste, reliable onset, stability, responsible positioning, and strong education will be critical.

From your experience in both Mizkan and cannabis businesses, what are some similarities between successful sales strategies between food/sauce brands and cannabis brands?

There are more similarities than people realize. In both food and cannabis, successful sales starts with understanding the consumer and the retailer. You have to know who is buying, why they are buying, what problem the product solves, and how it fits into the category.

At Mizkan, with brands like Ragu and Bertolli, success depended on strong positioning, retailer relationships, pricing strategy, trade planning, shelf presence, and giving the consumer a clear reason to choose the product. Those same fundamentals apply in cannabis.

Cannabis brands also need to think about velocity, assortment, placement, budtender education, promotions, and repeat purchase. Getting on the shelf is not enough. You have to help the retailer understand how the product will perform, and you have to help the consumer understand why they should choose it.

The biggest similarity is that the best sales strategies are not just about selling in. They are about selling through. Whether it is pasta sauce or cannabis, the goal is not only distribution. The goal is to create demand, support the retailer, educate the customer, and build repeat purchase.

How does the SōRSE technology plan on evolving and expanding as the cannabis beverage market in particular becomes so popular?

As the cannabis beverage market grows, SōRSE has an opportunity to continue evolving as a key technology partner for brands that want to create high-quality infused beverages and other ingestible products. The market is moving toward products that are more consistent, better tasting, more predictable, more stable, and easier for consumers to understand.

For SōRSE, that means continuing to focus on what matters most to beverage brands: emulsion stability, taste, onset, consistency, scalability, and commercial performance. Beverage brands need technology that works not only in a lab, but in real production environments.

As the category expands, education will become even more important. Brands, retailers, manufacturers, and consumers need to understand why the technology behind the product matters. A great cannabis beverage is not just THC added to a drink. It has to be formulated properly, remain stable, taste good, deliver a consistent experience, and meet the needs of the market it is entering.

Consumers also need to know what to look for in a quality beverage. They should understand dosage, onset, consistency, taste, stability, and trust in the brand behind the product. As the category becomes more mainstream, quality will matter even more because consumers will have more choices.

SōRSE can continue to grow by supporting beverage innovation, helping brands solve formulation challenges, and staying close to where the market is going — whether that is regulated cannabis, hemp-derived THC beverages, low-dose social beverages, functional products, or new infused formats. The companies that win in cannabis beverage will be the ones that deliver quality, consistency, and trust at scale, and that is exactly where SōRSE has an important role to play.

Thank you for joining us, Laurie! For more information on LKP Consulting, please visit its website.