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 Steve Riparip
This week in The Hotbox, we sit down with Steve Riparip, the CEO and Founder of Tact Firm. If you spend any time online in cannabis circles, you have probably seen Steve’s content. He doesn’t post fluff, he doesn’t chase likes, and he doesn’t hide behind stupid buzzwords. Instead, he focuses on educating dispensary owners and operators on how to actually run a better business.
Steve came into cannabis in 2018, when Michigan went recreational, and he saw the rise and fall of shops firsthand. He watched friends and operators lose everything, not because they didn’t have customers, but because they failed to keep them. That became his obsession and the foundation of Tact, the first agency built entirely around dispensary retention. Today, Tact works with more than 70 stores and has consulted with over 150, leveraging deep data, custom-built integrations, and a no-nonsense strategy to keep customers coming back.
But behind the dashboards and retention systems, Steve is someone who cares about this industry. He rock climbs, plays strategy board games, and spends time outdoors with his wife and their pit mix, Georgie. He lives with a philosophy of Memento Mori, which means waste no time, and he brings that urgency into everything he builds.
The Hotbox Q&A: 5 Questions with Steve Riparip
What do you see right now as the biggest political or systemic obstacle keeping dispensaries from thriving?
Taxes and advertising. Taxes prevent the industry from having more available cash for things like investment into growth & proper systems, and more. Advertising restrictions prevent stores from reaching customers outside traditional organic channels.
On one end though, it reduces sloppy operators. If you give $100,000 to someone with weak business fundamentals vs someone with strong business fundamentals, the outcomes will be very different. To survive and thrive in this industry, the basics have to be mastered. There’s no room for ego-driven executives because one wrong decision will bring the entire operation into receivership.
I’ve worked with fantastic operators who know where every dollar goes and the impact to the business it has. They know the value of spending money to make money. They ask the right questions so they bring on trusted partners, consultants, employees, and agencies.
Unfortunately, I’ve also worked with some bad dudes, and they showed me how narcissism and ignorance can lose tens of millions of dollars. No one’s got time for that bullshit.
You’ve seen the rise and fall of operators in Michigan and beyond. What drives you to keep working in this industry after watching so many friends and businesses get crushed?
I want to reduce the pain. My mission is to help great brands run by great people. Whether it’s a single store or a chain of 20+, if they worked hard, love the plant, appreciate their team, aren’t a dick… then I want to do what I can to help.
Cannabis is still painted by stigma and fear in many communities. Why do you care about cannabis, and what does it represent to you beyond the business side?
Cannabis helped me sleep during years when my brain wouldn’t shut off and helped me manage stress instead of getting crushed by it. It introduced me to wonderful people. I’ve seen how it reduced opioid dependency and addiction.
It’s also a reminder to never get caught in a static mindset. 50 years ago, no one would believe us if we said cannabis would be as legalized as it is. 50 years from now, everyone will think cannabis has always been around and never restricted. It’s a reminder of progress. To keep an open mind. And to embrace our liberties.
You’re open about your personal loves like climbing, strategy board games, time outdoors with your wife and Georgie. How do those passions keep you grounded in an industry that often feels cutthroat and chaotic?
I believe that we’re the average of the people we surround ourselves with, personally and professionally. Personally, I want quality over quantity, and I choose to hang around people who challenge me, push me, and can enjoy being both serious and chill. We have control over our environment.
Same thing professionally. I can choose who I decide to work with, who I hire on my team, and who I associate with online and at in-person events. Avoid the bad folks, embrace the genuinely amazing ones (tons of you out there!!!). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been burned in this industry, but I think my track record is light compared to most because of being picky.
When we do good business, we attract good people who want to work with other good people. Those good people help filter and verify the bad ones. Community is everything, and this cannabis community is the freakin best.
As for my personal interests: climbing gets me outdoors and elevates me into an athlete mindset, strategy board games make me think 20 steps ahead, and time with my family reminds me not to get too buried in solving other people’s problems.
If every dispensary owner in America was in a room with you, and you could only give them one piece of advice to save their business and keep their customers, what would you say?
What stands the test of time: Roman columns or Egyptian pyramids? Build a strong base. Understand how the Customer Lifecycle Funnel works and where you’re leaking customers and bleeding revenue.
Aim to capture emails/phones of 60%+ of every new customer that walks in the door… because 50% or more will not come back.
Message those customers multiple times per week to keep your store top of mind and create a retention system that hits the customers at the right time to get them back in.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Review your data DAILY. Hire marketers with strong fundamentals. Reduce excess inventory to free up cash flow and put it towards marketing & advertising that gives you a verifiable 3x minimum return. Stay diligent. Be patient. After years of strong execution, you and your investors will be happy that you and your team put in the work.
Steve Riparip has built his work around one clear truth: it is not enough to get customers through the door; you have to keep them coming back. His company, Tact Firm, has turned that truth into a system that works, but what makes Steve stand out is the way he pairs data with honesty. He is not afraid to challenge bad practices, call out industry nonsense, and push for strategies that actually work.
In a world where cannabis is constantly squeezed by politics, stigma, and sloppy execution, Steve is proving that loyalty and retention are the lifelines of survival. And he is doing it with clarity, fire, and an authenticity that cuts through BS.
