The Pandemic Is Just a Blip on Rebecca Allison's Busy Radar

While many companies’ plans were completely upended in 2020, the pandemic was more like a blip on the already busy radar of Parallel, the farm-to-distribution cannabis company formerly known as Surterra Wellness. “With the cannabis industry growing like it is, and then you throw in regulation changes at the market level and at the federal level, having Covid come out was just like, ‘That's this week's thing. Let's figure that out and keep going,’” said Rebecca Allison, Parallel’s vice president of marketing. That kind of rapidly changing environment is where Allison thrives. The University of Georgia alumna’s first professional experience was an internship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which she secured by chatting up the person in line behind her at Best Buy. The experience made the then-finance major realize she “didn’t want to live my life in an Excel sheet,” so she switched majors to marketing, “which had the creative side as well as the business side.” She found the challenge she was looking for at EvoShield, the sporting goods maker that was just starting up in 2013 when she joined. Being part of a marketing team of two gave Allison the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects, from distribution logistics to in-store merchandising. Within a year, EvoShield’s products were in Sports Authority and other major retailers. “Being there through all of those transitions for the brand and organization was honestly what set me up for the cannabis industry,” she said. At Parallel, Allison’s challenge became simply finding business partners. “No matter who I talked to or worked with, it was like, ‘Oh, we're sorry, we can't take your money,’” she said. “The amount of change that I've seen in just a handful of years is insane.” Once again, Allison helped build everything from a point-of-sales operation to a delivery system, which has additional legal complexity because cannabis remains a controlled substance—though that’s changing. Currently, 36 states have legalized medical and/or recreational marijuana use. Education also remains an important part of her job, as she regularly explains how cannabis is relevant beyond end-of-life care and recreational overindulgence. “Our organization firmly believes that cannabis is relevant to everybody,” she said, “from extreme medical conditions to personal well-being and everything in between.” Big mistake “Do not confuse experience with knowledge,” she advised. “Someone can have 20 years of experience, but if they aren't open-minded, if they aren't flexible, then what they believe to be true isn't necessarily always right.” Lesson learned In a rapidly changing business like cannabis, “You're constantly having to go here, but all the regulations tell you you can't go there. You have to figure out how to get there anyway.” How she got the gig When a friend was starting up Parallel, Allison took some convincing to come onboard. “I'm from Atlanta—the Southern Bible Belt,” she noted. Research dispelled her preconceived notions and “really lit a fire in me” to change the perceptions of others. Pro tip Being successful in the cannabis industry means “you have to love and live and thrive in the gray,” she said. “You have to have a really strong appetite to be challenged very seriously, every single day. You can't get exhausted of it; you have to be reinvigorated."

Leadership & Talent

The Pandemic Is Just a Blip on Rebecca Allison's Busy Radar

'Thriving in the gray' with the vp of marketing at cannabis cultivator-distributor Parallel

Eva Kis

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Eva Kis