When Giving Tree Dispensary owner Lilach Mazor Power decided to apply for one of the state’s 126 medical marijuana dispensary licenses in 2011, it wasn’t like jumping into any other business.
“You had to have a business plan; you had to secure a location that the city approved,” she recalled. “You had to show proof of funds that you could start this business. If there was more than one application that had all their checkmarks then it would go into a lottery.”
There were 12 qualified applications in her area in north Phoenix; six of them were from the same person. Power remembers watching the lottery balls pop in the air. When the dust settled, her ball was picked.
“I just got lucky,” she said.
Power has parlayed that one fortunate draw into a 10-year success story based on moxie and motivation — and as the only female majority-owned cannabis company in Arizona. The dispensary first opened as part of a wellness center in 2013 and celebrated its 10th anniversary with events and specials in May.
Power said being born and raised in Israel helped show her how to succeed as a risk-taker and entrepreneur. She and her husband, Keith Power, leveraged everything to open