Meet Astrid’s Lisa Nguyen: The mind behind Australia’s first boutique female-led cannabis dispensary

Founder and CEO of Australia’s first female-led dispensary, Lisa Nguyen, is hard at work growing her business so that more women can experience the healing effects of plant-based medicine.

An Australian-trained pharmacist, Nguyen gained extensive experience early on in the medicinal cannabis industry as a clinical pharmacist and a medical science liaison. As an early adopter in the Australian medicinal cannabis sector, her journey in the corporate pharmaceutical cannabis space commenced shortly after legalisation passed. She worked with early-prescribing doctors to navigate the complex regulatory prescribing process in various therapeutic areas.

In 2020, Lisa left the corporate cannabis world and founded Astrid – Australia’s first boutique female-led dispensary specialising in medicinal cannabis. Lisa’s vision for Astrid has always been people and patient-focused; with the dispensary designed to help remove the stigma associated with cannabis.

Lisa Nguyen at Astrid Dispensary. Source: Women’s Agenda.

Now, Astrid Dispensary is about to launch its third dispensary this year, and Nguyen tells Women’s Agenda she’s excited about the design concept.

“We are focusing a lot more on patient experience, cannabis culture as well as nature. I can’t wait to weave all these elements throughout this new dispensary – and bring to life a cannabinoid destination that Australia has never seen before,” she says.

Three years into her business, Nguyen feels “humbled” that the brand and design of Astrid still make her feel “inspired” and “creative”.

And with so much happening across the business, Nguyen knows how important it is to take care of her physical and mental health along the way. She’s learned to make time for herself in the mornings, break up her work days and do what she calls “self-care Sundays”.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.