Pioneering Progress: California’s Cannabis with a Cause - General Manager Embarc (CA) Employee Review

Having been in this industry for nearly seven years, I can confidently say that Embarc stands out in the best way. This is the first company where I’ve truly felt heard, valued, and appreciated. Embarc’s genuine commitment to its people, communities, and the industry as a whole is both inspiring and motivating. It’s incredibly rewarding to be part of an organization that upholds such strong, positive values.

One area for potential improvement is our application of the ADKAR model. As a company that consistently strives to be our best, we occasionally miss communicating smaller changes. While this doesn’t happen often and is always addressed quickly, being more intentional about change communication could help us stay even more aligned.

You might end up meeting some cool people amongst your coworkers, but you'll probably be pitted against one another at some point as this industry can be very clique-y.

This dispensary was consistently short-staffed, yet staff were still expected to perform multiple roles at once. I was often required to run both reception and then run behind the counter to budtend simultaneously. This setup was overwhelming and unrealistic, especially during busier periods. Also despite being stretched thin, mistakes that were a direct result of being understaffed and lack of support were very often used to single out and blamed on individual employees rather than being addressed as systemic issues. There was no accountability from management for scheduling or staffing decisions, but plenty of scrutiny when something inevitably went wrong. Instead of supporting staff who were clearly stretched thin, management chose to pile on with micromanagement and criticisms over any mistakes made. The environment felt stressful and unfair, with unrealistic expectations placed on employees who were doing the work of multiple people. I would not recommend this dispensary to anyone looking for a supportive or well-managed workplace. For a union shop, it feels very much anti-worker.