How Lucky Green Ladies delivers authenticity with every cannabis order

“Your luck is how you treat people.”

The quote from Bridget O’Donnell rang true after an inspiring conversation with Alissa Nowak, Founder and CEO at Lucky Green Ladies.

Alissa got into cannabis to fight opioid dependence and was eventually arrested on felony charges for illicit distribution. Now she’s putting her legacy market experience to work in the legal industry.

Lucky Green Ladies is a delivery-only cannabis retail service in Norton, Massachusetts—it’s also the manifestation of a young woman’s ambition to turn things around by selling the same plant she was arrested for.

Navigating the legal cannabis industry isn’t easy, but Alissa takes on each new challenge with a smile. She mentioned she’s learned to “celebrate the little wins, stay focused, and just keep hustling.”

This story captures Alissa's personal and professional growth while founding Lucky Green Ladies. Her authenticity and resilience embody all the right reasons to open a cannabis business.

Early challenges

Alissa had to learn on her feet to get Lucky Green Ladies off the ground. She started in 2020, just trying to find a municipality that had available licenses, but even if they did, the next challenge was trying to find real estate in the appropriate zone.

She originally tried for a retail license, but lost to two larger companies because they had more business experience (on paper) than she did. So Alissa shifted to delivery and secured a social equity license thanks to her previous arrest for cannabis distribution.

“I ended up as the general contractor for the build out of my facility, even though I had zero construction experience. That saved me around $200,000,” Alissa explained. Her bootstrapped approach was enough to cut through the red tape and become operational by October 2023.

Starting slow, but steady

As a delivery-only cannabis business, Lucky Green Ladies has no physical storefront to attract foot traffic to the shop. Plus, many new consumers don't realize cannabis delivery is even an option in Massachusetts.

To spread the word, Alissa relies on marketing strategies like search engine optimization (SEO), social media, and sheer hustle.

“I go to the bar every single day after work and hand out flyers,” Alissa said with a grin. “It was slow at first, but we're gaining momentum. It's just a grind.”

Building momentum with Flowhub

As Alissa builds her brand’s visibility, it's been crucial to make every customer experience positive. She realized "there’s a pattern where people hear about our service, give it a try, and love it. For that reason, a lot of our first time customers end up returning.”

The secret to Alissa’s effective cannabis delivery process is a combination of tight internal workflows and a partnership with Flowhub to power their operations.

The delivery process at Lucky Green Ladies is simple. Orders come in through Dispense, receipts print automatically, the order is prepared, it’s marked as “Ready” in Flowhub, a manifest is printed, and the driver is on their way.

Flowhub's robust Metrc integration makes delivery operations much simpler by automatically creating the sales delivery Metrc Manifest, meaning Alissa never has to log into Metrc during the fulfillment process.

“The most convenient thing about Flowhub is the platform’s built-in compliance," said Alissa. "You just hit the ‘Compliance’ button and Flowhub automatically submits everything on the manifest to Metrc.”

Getting deliveries to customers quickly is the key to retention. Alissa proudly told us, “From the time someone places an order to the time we're out the door is under 10 minutes. That speed is a testament to the processes we’ve built, as well as Flowhub’s intuitive software.”

A bright future ahead

Finding success in cannabis retail isn’t easy, but it’s a dream Alissa is determined to accomplish.

After a slow start, Lucky Green Ladies doubled its sales month over month.

“I’m trying hard to celebrate the small successes. The fact that we've doubled our sales is a huge accomplishment, but we’re still not where I want to be.”

Since we last spoke, Alissa is already expanding. Lucky Green Ladies has been approved to open a dispensary in Kingston, New York—a feat that will make her a multi-state operator.

Thank you Alissa and the entire team at Lucky Green Ladies! You’re an inspiration to this industry and we can’t wait to visit you in Massachusetts, New York, and wherever else you open up next.