ARMEN YEMENIDJIAN, CEO, ESSENCE CANNABIS DISPENSARY & DESERT GROWN FARMS

Armen Yemenidjian is all in. The founder of Essence—a local dispensary with three locations, including the only shop on Las Vegas Boulevard—was on a fairly traditional career track before he went green: He was vice president of both casino marketing and casino operations at the Tropicana. In order to start Essence—and its affiliated cultivation facility, Desert Grown Farms—he had to surrender his Nevada gaming license. He doesn’t regret it. “It’s really exciting to create something new, to start off with a blank canvas,” Yemenidjian says.

Read More