The Hotbox with Dustin Hoxworth isn’t your polished PR interview. It’s me getting stoned and asking people the questions they probably aren’t ready for. These aren’t cold reads or copy-paste Q&As; I sit with my guests, usually multiple times, and I’ve likely met them in person, which gives me a window to learn who they really are before I ever send the questions. By the time the words hit the page, it’s smoke-thick honesty, not surface-level bullshit. These are cannabis conversations that showcase the voices, stories, and truths that won’t show up in the boardroom.
The Hotbox with Johari Rahim
This week in The Hotbox, we sit down with Johari Rahim, Co-Founder and Executive of Marketing for Social Cannabis Dispensary in Colorado. Johari’s journey starts in Malaysia, where cannabis laws were among the harshest in the world — possession of more than 200g once carried a mandatory death sentence. That beginning instilled in him both a profound awareness of the stakes and a conviction in the need for reform after emigrating to the United States. Through building a 20-year marketing career in the printing, educational curriculum, and luxury hospitality industries, crafting brands defined by discipline, creativity, and vision, he brought that expertise into the cannabis industry.
Today, as a founder of one of Colorado’s leading retail chains, Johari channels his unique perspective and global experience into shaping Social’s identity, telling its story with depth, and advancing initiatives like the Be.Social Community program, which donates to causes in food insecurity, local community organizations, and cancer support.
Johari’s journey is a testament to loyalty, execution, and the belief that marketing can be a bridge between business growth and community impact.
The Hotbox Q&A: 5 Questions with Johari Rahim
You spent a majority of your career in luxury hospitality and are now bringing that experience into cannabis. How has your background shaped the way you approach building and marketing a dispensary brand?
My experience taught me that brands are built not just on products, prices, and promotions, but on creating an emotional connection through the customer experience. Guests expect consistency, creativity, and authenticity, whether they’re staying at a five-star resort or walking into a dispensary.
In cannabis, I’ve applied that same lens—creating a brand that feels elevated, trustworthy, welcoming, and more importantly, genuinely relatable. It’s about delivering an experience where every detail matters, from how dank the buds are, to the interactions with our budtenders, to the way our story resonates with the customer and makes them feel.
Cannabis in Colorado is both celebrated and heavily regulated. What are some of the unique challenges you face when marketing in this environment, and how do you navigate them?
The biggest challenge is balancing creativity with compliance. Unlike other industries, we are limited in how we can reach our consumers, so we’ve had to be innovative, building direct relationships with our customers through community engagement, unique in-store experiences, and connecting with our audience. We show up where it matters most to them: participating in neighborhood events, giving away tickets to concerts and ski resorts, and providing more fun in their everyday lives.
I see regulation as an opportunity to be more resourceful; it forces us to think differently and create narratives that not only meet the rules but also stand out in a crowded market.
Social has built its identity around community engagement with the Be.Social initiative. What does this program mean to you personally, and how do you see it changing the relationship between cannabis businesses and local communities?
Be.Social Community is personal for me because it reflects why I wanted to enter this industry in the first place. Coming from a place where cannabis could cost you your life, I know the importance of reshaping the narrative around this plant. By connecting with our neighbors in an emotional way focused on charitable giving, we’re proving that cannabis businesses can be positive forces in the community. It shifts the perception from cannabis being a taboo to cannabis being a force for good — supporting the causes, groups, and organizations that matter to us and make a difference in our neighborhoods.
Politics and perception continue to shape the cannabis industry nationwide and beyond. From your perspective, what role should marketing play in influencing the broader narrative around cannabis?
We’re living through a unique moment in history at the vanguard of ending prohibition in the United States. Yet globally, cannabis occupies an incredibly varied spectrum: in some countries it’s federally legal and openly embraced, while in others it remains punishable by the harshest penalties imaginable.
Marketing has a role to bridge these extremes by showing what a regulated, responsible, community-minded cannabis industry can look like. It’s not just about selling products; it’s about building trust, dismantling stigma, and demonstrating that cannabis businesses can be legitimate forces for economic growth, wellness, and social good. When we tell that story well, we’re not just shaping perception here in Colorado—we’re contributing to a larger shift in how the world sees this plant.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of Social and the impact you hope to make as you continue to grow both the brand and its community reach?
What excites me most is the chance to keep building something bigger than a weed store. Social is about creating spaces that are not only welcoming to customers but also impactful to communities. I want our legacy to be that we didn’t just sell cannabis—we helped change how people experience it, talk about it, and benefit from it. As we grow beyond Colorado into markets like New Jersey and other states, that mission only expands. Every new store gives us the opportunity to prove that cannabis can be synonymous with professionalism, community investment, and social equity—and that impact is what truly drives me.
Johari Rahim shows us that marketing is more than a playbook of ads and campaigns. It is about trust, storytelling, and responsibility. His work at Social Cannabis Dispensary proves that cannabis brands can not only thrive in competitive markets but also give back in meaningful ways.
In a state where cannabis has become both a cultural staple and a political flashpoint, Johari’s voice represents a new kind of leadership: rooted in authenticity, creativity, loyalty, and the belief that growth and community service go hand in hand.
