Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: Rubicon Organics CEO Margaret Brodie is cultivating high standards for cannabis production

THE KICKOFF: “I can’t work in the cannabis industry, you’ve got to be nuts.” That’s what Margaret Brodie was saying to herself when she agreed—reluctantly—to do some part-time work for a brand-new cannabis producer called Rubicon Organics back in 2015. A CPA by training, Brodie says her resume was “fairly blue chip” prior to going green. She was intrigued by stories of the health benefits of cannabis, but the social stigma was still high (and not the fun kind of high). “There were people that told me, ‘This is absolutely horrible, you’ll never work again,’” she recalls. Despite the naysayers, she decided to roll with Rubicon and come on board as CFO.

ACTION PLAN: According to Brodie, the industry lacked focus. “People were chasing the next opportunity, looking left, looking right,” she says, “and I’m fairly pragmatic and consistent.” Instead of being distracted by the buzz, she zeroed in on building a sustainable supply chain, delivering a premium product and building trust with consumers. “Everything we do, we do with quality,” says Brodie. As weed was legalized and cannabis stores started sprouting up everywhere, Rubicon supplied to provincial distributors and consistently ranked highly with customers; in turn, it scored more product listings. The company’s house of brands steadily expanded, and now includes Simply Bare Organic, 1964 Supply Co., Homestead Cannabis Supply and Wildflower CBD products.

CLOSING STATEMENT: Brodie was appointed interim CEO in January of 2023 and took the full-time job about a year later. Rubicon, which has an office in Vancouver and a facility in Delta, is the number one premium cannabis company in the country and is growing rapidly (a new vape product launched this past spring reached 40-percent national distribution—meaning it’s available in 40 percent of Canada’s cannabis stores—in under two months). In a male-dominated industry that has always leaned “a little bit more cowboy,” as she describes it, Brodie leads her 185 employees with laser focus and often dedicates her time to mentoring young women who are new to the biz. Women make up four out of six spots on the Rubicon executive team, “which is highly unusual in cannabis,” she says. “But we just operate with integrity and do what we do.”

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