Sabrina AragonIf Sabrina Aragon were to describe herself in one word, it would be “intense.”
“If it wasn’t for my intensity, I wouldn’t try so many new things,” says Aragon, the chief operating officer of High Desert Relief and Outlaw Extracts. “I always want to try something new. I like to explore. I like to travel. I love to meet new people. That’s who I am.”
High Desert Relief was one of the 15 original medical marijuana licensees in New Mexico — only a handful of which are still in business today, following the state’s transition to an adult-use market in 2021.
Aragon joined the company in 2013, rising from a trimmer to now helping manage the company’s six retail stores and multiple production facilities. She studied sociology in college and fully expected to be a social worker at this point, and though she never expected to pursue a career in cannabis, she believes her educational background helps her connect with patients and customers.
With no cap on licenses, New Mexico could be the most challenging adult-use market in the country. And yet, High Desert Relief, which was founded in 2010, remains successful.
“We joke all the time that the reason we are still here 15 years later is because every leader of each department is obsessed with HDR,” she says. “I think the ownership has done a great job of choosing leadership for each of our departments to help us shine, and they’ve chosen people who are resilient and not willing to give up.”