Christopher Violas
CEOBLAZEChris Violas is the founder and CEO of BLAZE® responsible for ensuring the successful execution of development, strategy, and vision. His experience in the cannabis industry began over 10 years ago after he suffered an injury as a D1 soccer player at Cal Poly University. After seeking an alternative to traditional medicine, his experience with cannabis motivated him to start a cannabis delivery service on the central coast of California which he eventually sold in 2014 to pursue a career in technology. He quickly found himself on the technology team at Rosetta, a digital ad agency, where he helped build and deploy digital technology experiences for Fortune 100 companies. In 2016, Chris started at Amazon Web Services and moved up quickly to the west coast lead for accelerators and incubators for the AWS Startup Team. While at AWS, Chris interfaced regularly with some of the most successful startups in the Bay area and worked closely with their respective CTO’s and technology teams. During this time, Chris began developing a cannabis software platform that could help streamline operations for licensed dispensaries and BLAZE® was born. Since then, he’s led BLAZE® to successful seed and series A fundraising rounds, integrations with over 60 cannabis software partners, and processed over $1 billion in cannabis sales annually for 1600+ dispensaries.
Staffing for Sales: How Retention Drives Dispensary Conversion
Every time a budtender quits, your dispensary loses more than a name on the schedule. You lose product knowledge, customer trust, and the consistency
Every time a budtender quits, your dispensary loses more than a name on the schedule. You lose product knowledge, customer trust, and the consistency that drives repeat sales. Turnover isn't just an HR headache, it's a direct hit to your bottom line
Every time a budtender quits, your dispensary loses more than a name on the schedule. You lose product knowledge, customer trust, and the consistency that drives repeat sales. Turnover isn't just an HR headache, it's a direct hit to your bottom line.
Here's the part most operators miss. High turnover quietly kills conversion rates, weakens service quality, and forces managers into reactive scheduling that burns out your best people. Untrained
Every time a budtender quits, your dispensary loses more than a name on the schedule. You lose product knowledge, customer trust, and the consistency that drives repeat sales. Turnover isn't just an HR headache, it's a direct hit to your bottom line.
Here's the part most operators miss. High turnover quietly kills conversion rates, weakens service quality, and forces managers into reactive scheduling that burns out your best people. Untrained staff close fewer sales, recommend fewer add-ons, and leave customers walking out empty-handed. The cost compounds every single shift.
This session reframes retention as a revenue strategy. You'll see how smarter staffing, structured onboarding, and consistent training translate directly into stronger margins. You'll leave this session with practical cannabis business growth strategies you can apply when you return to the office.
