A military brat with a criminal justice focus in college might not be the typical cannabis industry backstory, but for Sabrina Wheeler of Stone Rod Farms, it is a path that has served her well.
Wheeler, 28, is the Chief Operating Officer of the California-based cannabis brand Stone Road Farms, which has partnerships with companies in a growing number of legal cannabis states.
A military brat who grew up in Hawaii and Massachusetts, Wheeler spent her childhood with parents who were “super not into cannabis.” At age 16, she started college at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a focus on criminal justice. She does see the irony of her initial focus but added that today the dream remains and she hopes to retire someday and become a private detective.
She said she thrives in the start-up role, which has served her well at Stone Road Farms. She joined the company in 2022 as the Director of National Brand Expansion and became the company’s Chief Operating Officer in June of that year. Prior to coming to Stone Road Farms, she worked for two and a half years as the territory manager for the cannabis brand Old Pal.
She also spoke briefly about the “green glass ceiling” that women face in cannabis. Mainly, she said that people see her and often assume she’s a sales rep or a brand ambassador as opposed to an executive.
She added, “I do think it [cannabis] might be trending in the right direction in terms of just more women being in leadership positions.”
Wheeler described her cannabis journey in a way familiar to many others in the industry. She said she consumed cannabis frequently in her younger days and was drawn by the holistic health benefits of the plant.
But she was also drawn to the cannabis industry by her desire to be part of a new, expanding, and dynamic industry.
“Building something from the ground up and getting into something when it’s brand new is a lot more attractive to me than jumping into an established industry.”
In the cannabis industry, multi-state operators (MSOs) are the heavyweights, the big-time companies - including publicly-traded ones - that operate in cannabis states across the country. Stone Road Farms is also an MSO but of a wholly different nature.
“I’m familiar with probably 90% of the brands and companies in California and we are by far the smallest team. It’s literally just myself and our founder and CEO.”
She added that being a small, nimble company definitely has its advantages.
“If you call us, text, or email, you’ll have an answer in an hour. We keep things tight, but it also makes it easier having full control knowing exactly what’s going on with every part of the business.”
But also, Wheeler said that in the majority of the states in which they operate, they mainly handle licensing deals. They sell companies Stone Road Farms packaging and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and then they “basically act like their on-hand consultants.”
She also refers to the company as “a multi-state brand.” Wheeler described how they seek out partnerships with small, family-owned, and sustainable cannabis cultivators in various states and visit their facilities and farms to make sure the operations meet their standards - including not using shake in the pre-rolls.
“If we’re presenting to a group and then we go see their facility in person and we see hundreds of pounds of shake and trim that’s a red flag for us because then we know they’re doing something with it.”
Stone Road Farms was founded by then-23-year-old Lex Corwin in 2016. The company operates a 57-acre, off-grid biodynamic family-run farm in Nevada City, California. On the farm, the cannabis is grown in greenhouses with water drawn from an artesian well and the company uses only sustainable packaging.
Stone Road Farm’s products include pre-rolls, flowers, and concentrates. The company’s website describes its approach to cannabis as going beyond simply a good time with some weed.
“Cannabis is nature’s best unifier, bringing together people from every place, background, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion. It brings out your inner child, turns parties into sacred happenings, and expands your mind,” the company writes.
The company’s products are now available at more than 350 retail outlets in California, 55 dispensaries in Oklahoma, 25 in Massachusetts, and 10 in Michigan. In October, they will begin operations in New Mexico.
Wheeler said that the company believes that quality must remain consistent across all states, but that little differences can be made to meet the demands of each market. For instance, she described how in California they sell 10 packs of 0.7 gram joints, while in Massachusetts, the company’s 10 packs are made of 0.5 gram joints.
Maintaining a level of consistency across several states can be complicated. According to Wheeler, they make sure that companies are fully versed in our SOPs and before we even go out to their facility we’ll do a Zoom or Google Meet and go through every item and make sure they understand.”
If the company decides to go forward with a partnership they’ll fly out and train the entire production team.
Stone Road Farms also has to place a big emphasis on compliance, especially when it comes to packaging.
“It would be a tough situation for all of us if there was a huge compliance change that did make the packaging not compliant for whatever reason. We put a lot of focus on that because it can be make or break for your brand.”
When asked what it all comes down to, she says “I think just having very clear SOPs and processes and making sure that you keep consistent communication with the team and then you’re golden.”