Please Don't Ask Magazine
Employer: Agency PDA
Role: Marketing Project Manager (Consultant)
Duration: Jan 2016 – July 2016
Team: Design · Sales · Street Distribution Team
What I Led:
Print & Digital Production · Project & Timeline Management · Ad Ops & Billing · Distribution Strategy
Wins:
➤ Launched a monthly zine that doubled as a bold brand statement and content marketing engine
➤ Helped position Agency PDA as a tastemaker in the emerging cannabis marketing space
➤ Created scrappy but effective distribution channels using street teams and low-cost tactics
Why It Matters:
“Please Don’t Ask” wasn’t just a zine — it was a cultural play. It gave Agency PDA a distinct, authentic voice in a crowded market and built buzz that turned into business.
In 2016, the cultural shift around cannabis was well underway in Washington State (where it is legal for recreational use) but most brands still didn’t know how to talk about it, let alone how to market it. Enter Agency PDA, a creative agency working at the intersection of cannabis, culture, and cool.
One of their most boundary-pushing tools? A monthly zine called Please Don’t Ask Magazine, spotlighting musicians, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs with a shared affinity for cannabis. It was half cultural artifact, half business development strategy.
As the Marketing Project Manager, I was brought in to turn the concept into a consistent, well-produced, and widely distributed reality.
I was responsible for:
Managing the monthly production and distribution cycle of the zine
Coordinating across designers, contributors, and advertisers to meet tight print deadlines
Ensuring the content aligned with the agency’s brand tone and marketing goals
Building scrappy but efficient distribution processes to keep costs low and reach high
The zine had a punk-rock, analog aesthetic, built like a scrapbook before being refined in digital tools, I ensured that vision stayed consistent month to month. I coordinated designer workflows, managed revisions, and kept the production timeline on track.
I handled invoicing for advertisers, organized ad placements, and made sure advertisers got real value (and exposure) out of their presence in the zine.
Rather than rely on costly third-party channels, I recruited and managed a street team to handle print distribution. This helped us cover more ground in creative hotspots across the cit, cafés, venues, boutique, and added to the zine’s underground credibility.
RESULTS
Monthly zine successfully published on time and on brand from launch till end of my tenure
Buzz grew quickly, with tastemakers and creatives regularly featured and resharing
New business leads emerged organically, as prospects connected with the agency via the zine
Agency PDA cemented its presence as a forward-thinking player in cannabis marketing
The zine became a conversation piece, a tactile, memorable entry point to a new kind of agency
