🎙️ From Store Merchandiser to COO: Lynnette French's Path to Nova Farms

In this episode, Lynnette French, Chief Operating Officer of Nova Farms, shares how 18 years climbing the ranks at Urban Outfitters led her into Massachusetts' earliest cannabis dispensaries, through a multi-state restructuring at Parallel, and eventually into the COO seat at a company built around large-scale outdoor cannabis farming. Lynnette opens up about the layoffs that wore her down over years, the leap of faith that took her back to business school in her forties, and why Nova Farms is betting on scale over overhead in an industry that keeps eating its competitors alive.

✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:

• Spent 18 years rising from store merchandiser to senior district manager at Urban Outfitters

• Left retail after a single visit to an early Massachusetts dispensary changed how she saw the industry

• Joined Neta as director of retail operations after cold-emailing the founder a compliment

• Spent a full week managing the fallout after a disassembled vape battery ignited on the sales floor

• Learned hard lessons about product quality after a rushed edibles launch produced “sweaty gummies” in Florida

• Led an executive team through roughly a decade at Parallel, including years of repeated layoffs during a 2022 restructuring

• Left the unfinished restructure to protect her own wellbeing after years of delivering bad news

• Enrolled in an MBA program at Boston University's Questrom School of Business to close a private equity knowledge gap

• Became COO of Nova Farms, overseeing cultivation, manufacturing, and retail across four Northeast states

• Champions Nova's outdoor-grow model, betting that scale without heavy overhead beats indoor cultivation's cost structure

🌟 Lynnette's Key Mentors:

• Her Leader at Neta: First taught her about ego, a concept she initially dismissed before it reshaped her entire approach to leadership

• Her Longtime Extraction Expert: A trusted technical partner of nearly eight years who helped her master cannabis chemistry she never learned in retail

• Derek Ross (CEO, Nova Farms): A foster-care system survivor turned successful entrepreneur whose story shapes Nova's Puffers with Purpose giving program

• Her MBA Peer Cohort: A group of fellow driven professionals who gave her the feedback and camaraderie she'd stopped receiving as a C-suite executive

👉 Hear how a retail veteran who once ran Urban Outfitters stores now runs cannabis farms across four states, betting that radical transparency and outdoor-scale growing can outlast an industry full of costly restructurings.

🔗 Connect with Lynnette French:

Website: novafarms.com

📄 Transcript Available: Highland Cattle and Outdoor Grows: Inside Nova Farms' Unconventional Cannabis Model

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📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line

Website: addbackbenefits.com