My Portfolio

Projects

Real results from real SaaS partnerships.

“Is Your POS a POS?” – A Collaborative Venture with Cova

During my time as an Account Manager at GrasshopperHub, one of the most impactful initiatives I led came from a simple observation: almost every dispensary I spoke with felt buried under operational inefficiencies tied directly to their POS system. Menus were out of sync, budtenders were stuck updating product lists manually, and the customer experience looked wildly different in-store versus online. It became clear that retailers didn’t just have a POS problem, they had a profitability problem.

That realization set the stage for a collaborative marketing venture with Cova Software, one of Washington’s leading cannabis POS platforms. Together, we launched a bold, memorable, slightly cheeky campaign titled “Is Your POS a POS?”, a headline that captured the frustration retailers felt while opening the door to an honest conversation about modernizing their tech stack.

The concept was built around education. Providing retailers with a clear understanding of how outdated or poorly integrated POS systems were costing them time, accuracy, and ultimately revenue. While GrasshopperHub’s core strength was helping dispensaries manage their digital presence and marketing infrastructure, the common denominator in every menu conversation was the POS. If the POS was slow, unreliable, or unable to sync properly, every digital channel downstream suffered. Rather than complain about it, I wanted to address it.

I took the lead on shaping the message and crafting a narrative that was both approachable and technically grounded. The tone had to be relatable, something a budtender, a manager, or an owner could read and immediately think, “Yeah… this absolutely describes our daily headaches.” I worked closely with Cova’s account managers and local field reps to build this into a co-branded initiative that resonated across Washington’s retail network. This included shared retailer lists, unified messaging, and a consistent handoff process between GrasshopperHub and Cova so stores felt supported at every step.

What made the campaign successful was the way it blended education with actionable insight. Instead of pitching a product, I approached the rollout like a series of consultative conversations. I would visit stores or call into teams and walk through their current workflow: how long it took them to update menus, how often the online inventory was inaccurate, how many customer complaints they received about incorrect stock, and how confident they were that compliance related menu details were being maintained. Almost every conversation revealed the same theme, too much manual work, too many opportunities for human error, and too little understanding of what a modern POS menu integration could automate for them.

Those conversations turned frustration into momentum. By showing retailers how their day-to-day issues connected back to bigger operational inefficiencies, the message landed naturally. Cova provided expertise on POS capability and compliance stability, and I provided the digital strategy perspective. How clean, accurate, automated POS data impacts SEO visibility, menu conversion, customer trust, and staff workflow in ways that aren’t always obvious.

From there, we created a series of co-branded materials: an educational one-pager built around the “POS a POS?” concept, a POS health check guide for store managers, and a simple, accessible walkthrough showing how better POS data leads to better online ordering. I also drafted outbound messaging for both teams so that the tone stayed consistent no matter who initiated the conversation.

The rollout generated a meaningful lift in retailer engagement. Stores that previously ignored POS conversations became curious. Accounts that felt overwhelmed began reaching out for help. I had multiple teams tell me the campaign finally gave them the language to explain their frustrations to ownership. In several cases, it led directly to stores exploring menu integrations, upgrading POS systems, or tightening their tech stack with GrasshopperHub and Cova as complementary partners rather than fragmented vendors.

Beyond immediate outcomes, the real impact of the campaign was how it positioned GrasshopperHub in the market. Instead of being viewed simply as a digital directory or a marketing tool, we became a knowledgeable partner who understood the entire operational picture, from inventory management to digital menus to customer experience to compliance. It strengthened our relationship with Cova, created new referral pathways, and reinforced our reputation as a consultative, problem-solving presence in Washington’s cannabis landscape.

In many ways, the “Is Your POS a POS?” campaign became one of the clearest examples of the value I bring as an account manager: I don’t just manage accounts, I identify operational friction, build creative solutions around it, partner with cross-functional teams, and deliver insights that improve both retention and market perception. This initiative helped shape a local ecosystem where retailers felt heard, supported, and better equipped to deliver the consistent, reliable experience today’s cannabis consumers expect.

Launching Push Notifications in Maine – Weedmaps

When I stepped into the Maine market as an Account Manager for Weedmaps, the region was still in an early, rapidly evolving stage of legal cannabis expansion. Dispensaries were becoming more sophisticated, customers were shifting toward online ordering, and digital marketing was finally starting to matter in a way it hadn’t before. But there was still a major gap: retailers had almost no way to directly communicate with their customers in real time. They relied on static menus, passive engagement, or old school in store tactics that didn’t match how modern cannabis customers behaved.

That gap became the opportunity that set the stage for one of my most impactful contributions at Weedmaps: introducing push notifications as a new, high-conversion marketing capability for Maine’s cannabis retailers. This wasn’t just rolling out a feature, it was changing how an entire market thought about customer engagement.

At the time, push notifications were still new within Weedmaps’ broader marketing suite, and many retailers had no idea they existed, let alone how to use them strategically. The Maine operators I managed, ranging from small independents to larger multi-operator groups, were hungry for ways to reach customers instantly, especially during peak tourism seasons, product launches, flash sales, and inventory drops. I saw the perfect chance to bridge the gap between customer behavior and retailer marketing maturity.

The first step was education. I began building conversations around what a real-time channel could do for them: instant reach, higher open rates than SMS or email, and the ability to drive traffic spikes during key sales windows. But education alone wasn’t enough, retailers needed to see the strategy behind it. So I started coaching them on timing, message style, customer psychology, and how to avoid “notification fatigue.” I developed the narrative that push notifications weren’t just about blasting messages; they were about sending the right message to the right audience at the right moment.

As I walked stores through examples, I tied everything back to their actual revenue opportunities. A new drop of craft-grown flower? Push it. A limited-edition edible? Send it out before the weekend rush. A surprise discount during the slow midweek window? Use push to activate the audience. For many stores, a single well-timed notification drove more revenue than a full week of passive menu traffic. That was the moment it clicked for them.

Once retailers saw the value, I took on the role of architecting the rollout. I helped them craft their first campaigns, built templates they could reuse, and established internal rhythms. Such as sending notifications before store opening, during product launches, or when inventory hit critical thresholds. Some stores even allowed me to write their messaging directly, which helped them move from feeling hesitant to feeling confident. I emphasized short, punchy copy that created urgency without feeling salesy, and I tested different styles with retailers to see what resonated.

From there, momentum took off. Operators who had never used any form of outbound marketing suddenly became consistent adopters of push campaigns. Stores that struggled with slow traffic on specific days began using push to smooth out their weekly sales curve. One of the biggest wins was showing stores how push notifications could support sell-through for craft and premium brands, something the Maine market deeply valued. Retailers started bringing me into conversations with brand partners to coordinate messaging around new drops or collaborative promotions, which expanded the influence of the program and reinforced Weedmaps as a strategic partner rather than just a marketplace.

As the initiative grew, I tracked performance with retailers, showing them how notification-driven sessions correlated with revenue. Conversations naturally evolved from “Should we try this?” to “How do we scale this?” That shift is what cemented Weedmaps’ push notifications as a core part of the Maine digital marketing toolkit.

Beyond adoption, the push notification program became a relationship builder for me. Retailers saw me not just as an account manager, but as a consultant who helped them modernize their engagement strategy. It directly contributed to my ability to maintain 93% retention in the region, because I moved the relationship from transactional menu support to strategic revenue coaching.

By the time the program was fully in motion, push notifications had become one of the most consistently used and highest performing marketing tools in my Maine book of business. Retailers reported stronger customer loyalty, faster sell through on key products, and a clearer understanding of how digital channels could impact their bottom line. For Weedmaps, it strengthened platform usage and demonstrated the value of marketing add-ons in a competitive marketplace.

Looking back, launching push notifications in Maine was more than a feature rollout, it was a foundational shift in how dispensaries communicated with their customers. It showed the market what real-time digital marketing could do and positioned Weedmaps as the platform driving that evolution. And it showcased one of my strongest skill sets: identifying an opportunity, educating a market, and coaching operators through a change that meaningfully improved their business.

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