Allie Schwartz, Founder of Back in A Bit Dispensary – Interview Series

As cannabis companies expand rapidly and total industry employment directly surpasses 420,000 jobs, having a robust, professionally minded human resources department can make all the difference. An involved HR department is a cornerstone of any successful business, and licensed cannabis companies are no exception. From overseeing hiring practices to explaining benefits for W-2 employees and resolving workplace conflicts, HR leaders and VPs of People are crucial to both operational success and employee well-being.

To gain a closer look into the responsibilities of a VP of People across multiple businesses, as well as a boots-on-the-ground perspective on New Jersey’s current dispensary licensing process, mycannabis.com spoke with Allie Schwartz, Founder of Back in A Bit Dispensary.

What were the most worthwhile parts of your MBA program at Baruch College? Particularly with the VP of People-related roles you’ve held, what courses proved to be the most useful?

Learning Accounting, as hard as it was, was strangely the most useful thing I learned at Baruch. I didn’t anticipate how far ahead that would put me when I started working on my own business idea, even though those two events happened ten years apart. As a VP People, the most useful thing, truly, was learning on the job, making a million mistakes, and doing it differently the next time.

What duties did you hold as Operations Team Member with UJA-Federation of New York? How would you say that role with a non-profit provided you with a greater understanding of the duties of a Director or VP of People?

At UJA, my job was to write thank you letters to major donors – people who gave $10,000 or more. At times that job included responding to peoples’ concerns, and the best lesson I learned from my boss there was, “A complaint is a gift”. That was such a useful concept as a VP of People, where your job was largely fielding concerns 5 days a week! 

What were some roles you held while with Stack Overflow? How monumental was it to work alongside the founding team of the very popular platform Trello?

Stack Overflow and Trello were two members of a trio of companies founded by famous Software Developer, Joel Spolsky. The third company was the original, Fog Creek Software. I worked under Joel for 7 years at all 3 companies. I started as an Office Manager, worked in recruiting and sales, and ultimately ended my time there as VP People. I was there during the formation of Trello. In fact, one of the first Trello boards that existed was called, “Which Jelly Bean Reigns Supreme,” and it was framed around the bowl of Jelly Bellys on my desk. A coworker would come to my desk, try a jelly bean, then go back to the Board, add a card, and move it up or down depending on rank. It was incredible watching Trello take off, and watching the team that created it work together to make it what it is. I’m so proud of that time and those people who I still love and respect.

What did serving as VP of People for Tempest usually entail? How did working with that platform change how you viewed alcoholism, other similar addiction issues and how technology could assist in sobriety journeys?

Tempest was an online platform for people suffering from Alcohol Use Disorder who wanted an alternative to traditional recovery methods like AA or rehab. It was a community founded by Holly Whitaker, who wrote the book Quit Like a Women. Working there and reading Holly’s book completely changed my relationship with alcohol. Many, if not most, of my coworkers were in recovery. Learning from their experiences and learning about how alcohol is really a poison to our bodies led me to largely stop drinking all together, which probably increased my affinity for cannabis!

What caught your professional attention about joining the cannabis industry? Given your extensive background in VP of People roles, how did you first envision helping New Jersey cannabis businesses?

As a semi-bougie white lady who loves cannabis and loves to shop, I’d always been bummed about the lack of cool, chic smoking accessories available for girls like me whose style diverges from the psychedelic cannabis iconography from the 70s and 80s that’s still around today. When I moved to New Jersey and started shopping at dispensaries, I was surprised that I still wasn’t able to find those items, and at how cold and uninviting dispensaries felt. I started to imagine what a dispensary for ME would look and feel like. When I dug in a bit more and started to learn about women in cannabis, why they come to cannabis and how it’s different from the reasons why men do, it really hit me that there was a service gap in the industry. I want to be the woman who fills that gap.

What have been some of the most rewarding aspects and experiences of working in the New Jersey cannabis industry? Why do you feel like the New Jersey industry in particular is special?

I worked as a budtender at Story Springfield for 8 months and being there, working with the team there, and serving the customers who came back time and time again, was more rewarding than I could have imagined. I loved the community at Story. My coworkers and my customers felt like friends. There was nothing better than suggesting a product to a customer, and hearing on their next visit that they loved it or that it helped them sleep or deal with pain. It’s a dopamine hit to help people in that way. And budtending in general is just really fun.

What all is going into the founding of Back In a Bit? How would you describe the New Jersey cannabis licensing process and requirements?

The barrier to entry to the cannabis industry in NJ is high, which is part of the reason why you see so many carbon copy dispensaries: by the time you’re getting to the store design, you’ve probably already spent all the money (and then some!) that you were prepared to put up to bring the store to fruition.

I’ve been working on Back and a Bit for nearly 18 months. I started by taking the free Cannabis Training Academy (CTA) courses offered by the NJ CRC to learn about the landscape and what it takes to get a store off the ground. Through the CTA I found Lauren Rudick and Kelly Whyman, two amazing women who helped guide me through the initial process of figuring out a roadmap to getting a store opened. From there it’s been about fundraising, brand building and finding real estate. The licensing, in my opinion, is the easy part because it’s basically just paperwork! Finding a spot to open the store is really the most challenging bit and it’s taken me a year to find a spot in a municipality that allows dispensaries, that’s appropriately zoned, and that will lease to a cannabis business. Those spots are so few and far between, you really have to stay with it to figure out where you’re gonna go. The important part is to be patient and take lots of shots at the target until one sticks.

How does Back in a Bit plan on marketing to and appealing especially towards female demographics and cannabis consumers? In your experience, what are some common ways that some dispensaries miss opportunities to better market towards female cannabis consumers?

I don’t want to give away too many of my plans but I’ll say I’m working with a marketing team that’s helped open some of the most successful dispensaries in NJ to create campaigns that appeal to female consumers, and it’s going to be amazing! 

How have you utilized your experience in the VP of People roles you held to build a business plan of a dispensary that best appeals to as many people as possible?

My HR and recruitment experience comes into play when it comes to building operating procedures for employees and training. I am an expert at team building and designing compensation plans, so I think I’ll be able to put a package together for my future employees that incentivizes them to educate and build loyalty with our customers. And hopefully I’ll be able to lead a team that’s engaged and excited to work at the store. 

Why is it so vital for a cannabis company to have a VP/Director of People in their operations? How could having someone in that role benefit the overall health and success of the cannabis company?

I think good HR and management is essential to any company in any industry. People are the backbone of any successful business, and people are people: they come with emotions, pet peeves, strengths and weaknesses. Treating employees like human beings seems like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how often this doesn’t happen, especially at bigger companies. A little bit of kindness, understanding, and honesty goes such a long way. I am a true believer that “Clear is Kind,” so having a leader who can deliver feedback in a kind yet direct way, is a magical success lever. It can’t be understated how important that is!

Thank you for joining us, Allie! For more information on Back in a Bit and the opening of the dispensary, please visit Allie’s Instagram.