Throughout her career, Arlyn Davich has never been afraid of the unknown. Instead, she embraces it. After founding and serving as CEO of PayPerks, a positive behavior change platform that utilizes education, engagement and rewards solutions, the self-described serial entrepreneur has helmed such enterprises as Allswell Home, a Walmart-owned upscale mattress and bedding company, and, currently, ShopShops, an innovative livestream shopping platform. 

“If there are any common threads between all those enterprises I’ve worked with, it’s that they are innovative and early technologies in huge and dynamic markets,” she explains. “I really enjoy the process of having to navigate through that ambiguity.” 

“That’s why I felt I was a good fit with Caliper’s Board,” she adds.

I really enjoy the process of having to navigate through ambiguity. ”

Indeed, when Arlyn’s old Columbia Business School classmate Justin Singer—now Caliper’s CEO and co-founder—invited her to serve on Caliper’s Advisory Board last year, she didn’t hesitate. Already an informal advisor to the company for the past several years, she’d been intrigued by the white-space potential of cannabis, and especially the wide appeal of water-soluble cannabinoid-based ingredients in the food & beverage space. Most of all, she was sold on the company. 

“I’m excited about Caliper’s position in the market because, having seen the insides of the company, it is truly a credible and trusted partner for people who want to get into this space,” she says. “We are subject matter experts; we’ve already cut our teeth on our own products that we’ve brought to market. So we can be a great partner to others who want to get into this space, and they can benefit from the learning we’ve already had.”

Caliper is truly a credible and trusted partner for people who want to get into the cannabis space…we’ve already cut our teeth on our own products that we’ve brought to market.”

While Arlyn didn’t come to the Board table with experience in the cannabis industry, she saw parallels in the burgeoning cannabinoids market and her experience creating a new enterprise. “When I started PayPerks in 2009, it was a business predicated on the growth of the prepaid debit card industry,” she explains. “Prepaid debit card adoption was very low at that point, but it had a really strong value proposition, both to customers and to the businesses that adopted it.” 

That combination of low market penetration, plus potential for a win-win value proposition, is where she sees Caliper now. “Those were the ingredients I had to work with at PayPerks, and I feel it’s similar with Caliper.” 

In her weekly meetings with the leadership team and her quarterly meetings with the Board, Arlyn brings solid experience in helping companies navigate uncertainties—and in seeing solutions others might miss. “I think of myself as a creative person, trapped in the body of someone who’s not creative,” she says. “So for me, managing through those undefined complexities is my way of being creative.” 

This kind of thinking also helps drive out old, outdated stereotypes about female leadership, she believes. “In general, women have traditionally been taught to lead by being rule followers. But that doesn’t work in this industry, where the rules are so ambiguous. By definition, if you’re operating in this space, you can’t just follow the rules. You have to follow your instincts.” 

Women have traditionally been taught to lead by being rule followers. But that doesn’t work in this industry, where the rules are so ambiguous. By definition…you can’t just follow the rules. You have to follow your instincts.”

She also prioritizes making employees feel valued. “I focus on,‘what’s the give/get?’” she says. “What are they going to give to my company, and what are they going to get in return?”  She adds that it takes a lot more than money to make people happy. “I think in terms of career pathing—making sure every employee has a career path, and supporting them on that journey.” 

The biggest mistakes she’s seen other companies make in this space?  “Trying to scale up too quickly,” she notes, especially with so many new entrants in the market, and so few regulatory structures to rein in overexuberance. “It’s easy to create a flash-in-the-pan big business,” she says. “It takes more discipline to create a sustainable viable long-term business.”