FAY POWELL: CREATING GROUNDBREAKING CANNABIS EDUCATION PROGRAMS
While the cannabis industry is booming, many in the U.S. lack expert-level knowledge around the benefits of cannabis and the variety of products available. For those new to the plant and walking into dispensaries for the first time, they likely rely on store employees to advise them on the right products for their wants or needs. If they’re unhelpful or unknowledgeable on the plant and products in the store, this can present a clear problem when it comes to selecting the right product.
Fay Powell, Director of Education and Training for Unity Rd. and Item 9 Labs, has made it her mission to ensure that patients and consumers are able to receive a high level of knowledge from those working in the cannabis industry to select the products that best fit their needs and lifestyles.
TIES TO CANNABIS AND EPILEPSY
When Fay entered the cannabis industry in 2013, she knew exactly what her purpose was and what she aimed to accomplish. Her dad suffered from a severe form of epilepsy, and she wanted to provide an alternative medicine to patients like him. Pharmaceuticals that are often prescribed to epileptic patients typically impair the patient’s ability to function normally because it reduces brain activity.
“My real push was to help that community,” said Fay. “I knew I wasn’t going to be a brain surgeon or a pharmaceutical representative but getting into the cannabis industry was the way I could help.”
IMPROVING THE INDUSTRY THROUGH EDUCATION
Early in her cannabis career, Fay oversaw the opening of a brand’s second dispensary location and got the store into operation. Soon after, she realized the company was faced with a problem that’s common in the industry.
“I walked into one location, and it was an entirely different experience from what customers would experience in our other store,” she explained. “You want it to be a consistent experience across the board.”
So, she decided to take it upon herself to ensure consistency for the brand and learned how every employee in the dispensary did their job – from the person greeting customers at the door to the person packaging product in the back — she streamlined their method and created a training manual for every position in the store.
“What I wanted at the end of the day, with my father in mind, was to know that if my dad walks into a location that he will get the level of service that someone with epilepsy deserves — is the customer going to leave with a product that is going to help them, or are they going to leave more confused than when they walked in.”
SETTING THE BAR WITH EDUCATION PROGRAMS
After creating her first dispensary education program, Fay joined Item 9 Labs to design educational materials for local dispensaries about Item 9 Labs’ products. The training material went beyond the premium, award-winning Item 9 Labs’ offerings to include education around cannabis as a whole and the physiology between the plant and the consumer. So, instead of educating the team at one dispensary, Fay was able to educate employees in all dispensaries that carry Item 9 Labs product.
“My role is so fulfilling. When an employee is talking to a patient, they likely hear my voice in their head. How cool is that? I taught them, and now they are teaching the masses,” said Fay.
After tackling education with dispensaries that carry Item 9 Labs products, Fay built a comprehensive training program that details every task completed inside the cultivation facility. While all cannabis businesses include Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) in their license applications to the state, those SOPs are often challenging for employees to learn from in order to do their job.
“I took the SOPs and created a description of what we actually do and compiled it into comprehensive guides so that I could crack open a book with someone on their first day and walk them through the instructions,” explained Fay.
With Unity Rd., Fay led the development of our robust training and education program for franchise partners and team members working within their Unity Rd. shop. The training program walks them through everything there is to know about operating a dispensary — from ordering product and creating a consistent in-store experience, and much more.
“Knowledge is truly power, and to give that to someone and for them to be able to give that to someone else, is the greatest gift,” said Fay.
In the future, Fay will continue training and developing educational material for Unity Rd. to ensure our franchise partners and their team members are up to date on SOPs, product knowledge and more.
ON THE HIGH ROAD
Cannabis has been Fay’s way of giving back to the community that she cares deeply about while helping several others in that pursuit. Her ability to see problems and seek a solution has allowed her to develop some of the best comprehensive education programs in the industry. As Unity Rd. continues to grow as the first cannabis dispensary franchise in the U.S., Fay will be guiding our franchise partners and their team members through everything they need to know to successfully help anyone who walks into a Unity Rd. shop.
“Unity Rd. is going to be huge, it’s going to be everywhere — that’s a lot of people with my voice in their head,” said Fay. “It just feels like the world is my oyster. And I love oysters.”
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