Embarc

Please join us in welcoming Alyson MacMullan as she joins the embarc team as President of Product #NewFacesAtEmbarc

Please join us in welcoming Kristin Heidelbach as she joins the embarc team as Vice President, Government & Public Affairs #NewFacesAtEmbarc

I have never posted about donating to communities and the work Embarc has done in this area. I’m not sure there is anything more cringe to me than that big cardboard check energy. But a huge part of my role involves spending time in communities that do not support cannabis, and I’ve noticed a massive shift: Reefer madness is back, even in California. It’s drowning otherwise rational communities in outdated narratives, stigma and misconceptions. So, while it feels totally self-promotional to talk about community giving with my peers and colleagues in cannabis (many of us are doing the work)... I’ve realized that we need to get louder about the tangible impact we are all making in the communities we serve to drown out these false narratives. Because I’ve learned you can’t effectively fight fear with facts. You have to meet feelings with feelings. So, I’m going to start posting more about the hard work we and so many others are doing that makes residents across California feel seen, supported and loved. For those in the industry also doing amazing things—and who have been doing it for much longer—I am so grateful to be walking in your shadows. But this isn’t for our industry to pat itself on the back. It’s for everyone OUTSIDE our industry who has no idea how interwoven many of our businesses are into the fabric of the communities we serve. Keep being exemplary community members. It matters just as much now as it did a decade ago.

Moments after Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to move forward with reclassifying cannabis, I put my phone on silent for 90 minutes. Because I wanted to take a beat and process without all the noise. To be clear: this is not legalization. It does not undo the real harms of the failed War on Drugs. But it IS progress. So many of us are fighting for something simple: for the plant to exist openly, freely, and without shame. Reclassification signals growing federal recognition of cannabis’ medical value and the positive role it already plays in people’s lives. Yes—there’s still a long way to go. Rescheduling is not descheduling. An EO is not policy clarity on next steps. And of course, it is surrounded by political theater. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that progress almost always comes incrimentally and messily. So I took 90 minutes of silence to pause. So my brain didn’t immediately jump into tearing this apart for what it doesn’t do, and instead so that I could find the ways where this is forward movement. For far too long, the idea of seeing the federal government loosen restrictions on cannabis was utterly unthinkable. In an industry that lives in constant chaos, it’s worth pausing to recognize this as a big step in a multi-decade journey of destigmatization. And as with all policy, the devil is in the details, and there are more questions than answers. But today matters. Recognition matters. This is one step. We’ll keep pushing alongside so many to keep additional reform moving forward.

Growing in cannabis means learning fast..and unlearning even faster. In this Beard Bros Pharms feature, our CEO and Founder, Lauren Carpenter, shares seven lessons from 2025 that guide how we think about growth, leadership, and staying true to our values at embarc. If you’re an operator, founder, or considering a leap into cannabis (fair warning? 😅), this one’s for you. Link in the comments.

Our winter collab with Humboldt Family Farms and Powder Magazine celebrates California sungrown cannabis, ski culture, and the active lifestyles that define the West. Available now at all embarc locations. 🎿⛷️🚠❄️

Looking for a unique holiday gift to give this holiday season? Or maybe you’re looking to treat yourself and tap into that self-care, you-deserve-it-all energy? This one is for you. 12 jays from California’s best independent sun grown farms. Available at every embarc location. Big thank you to Judi Nelson for leading the way and connecting 12 independent California farms to create this beautiful holiday gift.

Join our CEO, Lauren, at the Sacramento Cannabis Chamber event next Tuesday.

We want to share some incredible news and take a moment to brag about our fearless leader, CEO and founder Lauren Carpenter— she’s been named one of the Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 Under 40! 🤘 This is a huge honor and a powerful sign of how far we’ve come in normalizing and cannabis. Plus, Sacramento is her hometown which makes this even cooler! Lauren’s grit, heart, and belief that cannabis can be a force for good have shaped embarc into one of California’s fastest-growing companies. Under her leadership, we’ve built something that gives back to communities, pioneers change, and proves that doing good and doing great business can go hand in hand. As Lauren likes to say, embarc started at her dining room table. What she doesn’t often talk about are the countless times she and Dustin were laughed out of rooms when they first started pitching this idea. “That won’t work.” “You can’t.” “You’re crazy.” And yet, here we are. embarc exists because she refused to listen to the people who said no. She believed in the power of community, in doing things differently, and in building something meaningful. That belief continues to inspire everything we do. Spending years working with communities— listening, learning, and changing hearts and minds? ✅ Being the first to bring cannabis sales and consumption to the State Fair? ✅ Bringing cannabis to major music festivals? ✅ Showing cannabis can do good, one community at a time? ✅ Fighting for what’s right, even when it’s hard? ✅ Ohhhh and she’s a first time mom? And runs a cannabis company? Bad ass. Go Lauren! Go team embarc!