Stephanie Thomas

Stephanie Thomas is the founder of Fifth and Olney, LLC, a boutique cannabis consulting firm. Stephanie has over fifteen years of experience guiding startup, application process, site acquisition, buildout and ongoing operations support for state-legal dispensaries and cultivation facilities in multiple states. Stephanie is also a Real Estate and Project Management professional with over twenty years’ experience in commercial property development, management and leasing. She has a resourceful and efficient approach to completing projects in a wide array of disciplines.

Stephanie’s cannabis consulting career began in October 2004 when she was invited to assist with the planning for a medical cannabis dispensary to be located in Oakland, CA. Though based in Philadelphia, she leapt at the opportunity to help develop the facility, and quickly began evaluating rental agreements and zoning documents to identify real estate opportunities. Once the perfect site had been secured, Stephanie reviewed and commented on construction documents, and provided advice on construction management during the buildout process. The facility opened and began serving California cannabis patients in October 2006, and has since become the most well-regarded cannabis dispensary in the world: Harborside Health Center, Oakland CA.

From the opening of Harborside and through the end of 2018, Stephanie frequently provided consulting services to its founders and executive team. She completed various assignments for HHC over the course of 14 years, including financial analyses, writing projects, application support, and facility design guidance.

Beginning in 2015, Stephanie’s consulting work in the cannabis industry expanded to include clients in multiple states. She has written application sections for hopeful applicants in 24 states. She has provided financial and management consulting for cannabis companies and ancillary cannabis companies operating in the US and Mexico. Stephanie was the Founder of Women Grow Philadelphia and successfully ran its monthly networking events from 2015 through 2017.

Stephanie holds an undergraduate degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Science in Economics, concentration in Real Estate), maintains Real Estate Sales licensing in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and is a member of Mensa.