Our Story

A family business with a passion for wellness.

Our Background

Far & Dotter is a patient-first, pharmacist-led dispensary, holistic pharmacy, and wellness space that helps individuals achieve better health outcomes through medicinal cannabis and holistic wellness alternatives. We provide personalized, unintimidating guidance on the patient cannabis journey through a distinct focus on education and experience, and an emphasis on quality. Our name, Far & Dotter, celebrates our start as a father-daughter business. Our approach honors the wisdom and personal care we remember from the early days of family doctors and neighborhood pharmacists, while striving for innovation and change.


Founded by leading cannabis brand, Curio Wellness, we are a group of local entrepreneurs who believes in empowering other local entrepreneurs to become cannabis leaders and pioneers in their communities through ownership with our inclusive franchise model.

How We Help People Enter the Cannabis Industry

1. Getting a License & Securing Funding

While all prospective franchisees with Far & Dotter are responsible for securing their own dispensary license, our team can connect you with attorneys and additional experts who can support you with navigating the licensing process.

 

Starting a dispensary can be expensive. We established the Curio WMBE fund to support entrepreneurs of color, women, and disabled veterans with funding to open a Far & Dotter location in the form of a low-interest loan. You can read more about the estimated costs of opening a location and how to qualify for Curio WMBE funding here.

2. Preparing to Open a Store

Once you are approved as a F&D franchisee and secure a license, our next step will be to support you with finding high quality real estate, navigating local zoning regulations, signing a lease, and managing the construction of your store.

3. Opening a Store & Operations

Once a lease is signed and construction begins, we officially launch your brand opening timeline. This process includes a comprehensive training program, operations manual and corresponding SOPs, hiring guidance, marketing guidelines, product sourcing and vendor relationships, compliance support, all the technology needed to operate the business, and the tenets of our best-in-class customer service.


We are not just here to get you to grand opening. Our headquarters team will continue to meet with you and your team on an ongoing basis to provide continuing education, operational guidance, and any additional support needed to ensure your success.

Christine Rhett

Graphic Designer
Your eye for design, Christine will ensure that your content, in-store collateral, and marketing materials are on-brand and visually striking. Christine previously founded her own design company, Chris X Creative, and led visual development for the Nature of Umi wellness brand.

Stephanie Schultz

Digital Marketing Specialist
Your marketing extraordinaire, Steph will support you in developing effective marketing campaigns that expand your customer base and grow your sales. Steph previously led marketing efforts for VOLO Sports and KETTLER Property Management.

Ashley Alberts

Training Manager
Your in-house professor, Ashley develops the training programs and educational content that ensure you are well-prepared to lead a F&D franchise location. Ashley previously served as a training manager for Texas Roadhouse and a Patient Care Advisor at our flagship location.

Andrew Mallinoff

Communications Manager
Your communications confidant and HQ project manager. Andrew previously worked in the political organizing world, managing campaigns and strategic communications for a variety of candidates at the federal, state and local level.

Nathan Podrid

Director of Real Estate
Your expert in navigating the real estate market as a potential cannabis business operator. Nate co-founded One Two Tree Holdings, a real estate investment firm specializing in the cannabis industry. He also served as the Director of Operations Development for Holistic Industries, a multi-state cannabis operator.

Jerel Registre

Fund Managing Director
Jerel comes to Curio having spent most of his career working with firms to drive financial, organizational, and analytical initiatives designed to maximize cashflow and value to investors. Prior to joining Curio, he led a private consulting firm that worked with small- and medium-sized businesses to drive financial and operational improvements by evaluating capital opportunities and identifying operational efficiencies.

Erica Tarnowski

Senior Director of Franchising
Your welcoming party and guide through the franchising process. Erica is steeped in experience in the franchising world, both inside and outside the cannabis industry. Before joining our team, she served as Director of Business Development at 919 Marketing and Franchise Development Manager for Unity Rd Cannabis Dispensaries.

Anthony Darby​

President​
Anthony Darby is the acting President of Retail at Far & Dotter and a three-time CEO within the medical cannabis space, having led multiple local dispensaries as well as consulting for cannabis start-ups nationwide. Anthony’s passion in providing high quality alternative medicine paired with his entrepreneurial experience, hands on industry knowledge, and understanding of unique challenges faced by cannabis operators has helped position him to lead the national expansion of the dispensary franchise developed by Curio Wellness and oversee brand marketing strategies to create heightened brand awareness as Far & Dotter scales.

Wendy Bronfein​

Founder
Wendy is the Chief Brand Officer and Director of Public Policy at Curio Wellness. As a member of the executive leadership team, Bronfein drives the company’s legislative agenda across multiple states, oversees the Curio brand, and all corporate communications. Under her leadership, Curio Wellness has become Maryland’s leading medical cannabis company, securing 90% brand awareness within the first year of operations.

Michael Bronfein​

Founder
Michael is the Chief Executive Office of Curio Wellness and an entrepreneur and investor focused on innovation and competitive advantage in healthcare services, healthcare technologies, software, and distribution. He has founded, co-founded, invested in, and rapidly grown a number of leading healthcare service companies, including NeighborCare, Remedi SeniorCare, and Sterling Partners.