Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. Today’s guest is Kim Stuck. Kim is the founder and CEO of ALLAY Consulting, a compliance strategy and services provider serving the hemp, cannabis, and psychedelic industries nationwide. 

She brings a regulator’s keen eye and wide-reaching knowledge of evolving compliance and safety mandates to support tightly regulated businesses. Kim Stuck previously held a pioneering role as the nation’s first cannabis and hemp specialist for a major metropolitan public health authority during her tenure with the City of Denver, home to hundreds of cannabis businesses. 

She worked as an investigator, covering cultivation, manufacturing, and retail. Their duties included facility inspections, conducting investigations into improper pesticide use and worker safety, trading regulations, instituting recalls, and public outreach. 

She holds numerous certifications, such as Certified Quality Auditor and Certified Professional in Food Safety. In addition to serving on several industry advisory boards, she’s a TEDx speaker and a South by Southwest Speaker, and she has been a member of ASTM International’s Cannabis Standards Committee since its 2017 inception. 

And she’s also the vice chair of the GMP Standards Subcommittee. Kim is an extraordinary American, and I’m glad. To have her. On the show, Kim, are you there?

Yes, hi.

Yeah, Kim, thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time to do the show with me. I’m honored to have you. Have you been over here?

Yeah. And thank you for having me. It’s exciting.

Yeah. So, Kim, can you tell me more about your story, background, and how you started?

Yeah. As you said, I started as a regulator. So, I was in wholesale food and restaurant inspections for the city and county of Denver before cannabis became legal in Denver, Colorado, or all of Colorado. And so, in 2014, when that change happened and got voted in, everybody was basically like, OK, we have to regulate this now. Right. This is it. These are edibles. These are tinctures. These are things that people are consuming, so the health department had to get involved.

And so, I was the first person to be like me. What do you want to do? I would much rather do cannabis. I was kind of tired of the restaurant and wholesale food. I wanted something different. I wanted to change. I wanted to learn something new. And so, I dove into that. It was wild back then. It was a total Wild West in the beginning. People didn’t understand what being regulated looked like. You know, people didn’t know what they were doing yet. In the cannabis space, it was just a little wild.

So, I learned a lot very quickly, and a little over three years later, I fell in love with the industry. I’m a true believer in plant media. And I, you know, just loved the people I was working with, and being a regulator, you really can’t help them. You state the regulation, and then they must comply with that rate compliance with that regulation, or you know or have to write them a ticket, find them, or, do you know, dispose of their product, whatever it might be. And so, you’re not allowed to guide them or solve their problems.

And so, I was in a hearing with my boss once, and I looked at my boss, and I was like, hey, why can’t we just tell them to do this? Because it would be really easy if we could just do that. And she’s like, no, no, no liability. That’s what a consultant is for. They need to hire a consultant. And I was like, huh? So, I went home and googled like consultants in. The cannabis space That deal was with GMPs, FDAs, or OSHA, and there were none. 

So, these people were alone, trying to figure stuff out. There are very complicated things and types of compliance you must be an expert in to understand. And so, I was like, I should just be that consultant.

And so I launched a lay consulting firm in 2017. So, we’ve been in business for over six years, and it’s been great. We love what we do. We love our clients. And now I get to solve problems instead of just being the bad guy all day, so it’s very fulfilling.

Well, Kim, so one of the things that I wanted to ask you is because, you know, on a national level, there’s so many polarising opinions on cannabis, like there are some people that support it. Others think this is not good, like while the legalization is taking place. So, can you tell me and the audience more about your opinion on this? What is the truth about this industry?

Yeah, I think. There’s a lot of bias against the industry. We’ve dealt with that a lot, and different politics come into play on different levels, right? The war on drugs was one of the craziest things that has ever happened to the United States, especially with the way that it affected black and brown communities. It was almost just targeting them to be in trouble, right?

And there’s a lot of data on that. So, you know, there’s a lot of rhetoric, you know, this is your brain on drugs during the, you know, Nixon and all of that, but it’s still kind of in the heads of a lot of people and a lot of generations about cannabis. Still, it’s a gateway drug that if people are smoking cannabis, they’re, you know, in a month, they’ll be on heroin, and that’s. Not really. And not only that, but cannabis has a lot of medical things that it can help with, right? We’ve seen a lot of studies that are coming out with cancer patients, PTSD, anxiety, and ADHD.

And you know all of these things that it can help with. It’s becoming pretty overwhelmingly true that cannabis can help people rather than hurt them. I don’t think that it would become legal at that rate. That is it. If that weren’t true, in most states, it was really funny when Colorado was legalized; every other state was like, well, we’ll just see what happens in Colorado, and if so, Sky Falls, and then we’ll know not to legalize it here. 

And instead, it, you know, improved everything, right? Revenue went through the roof. We were able to build like four different schools with the tax revenue that we got; people were getting fewer DUIs, and, you know, crime was going down because there’s no more cartel delivering cannabis. After all, you can just buy it from a dispensary. You know, so it was really interesting how that happened. Teen use went down by about 40% because it was easier for a team to find it on the street than it is to go to a dispensary and get it. After all, you need an ID for everything you know. Became more difficult.

So many great things happened, and I think that’s why more and more states, and even some more conservative states like Alabama, are realizing this. OK, this is not as bad as we thought it was. Because it’s helpful to the economy, you know, and right now, in the COVID world, we need that revenue for our government. I mean, it would, I don’t know, be great if they just legalized it. Federally, some people will always have that bias, though I think that’s just something. You know, everybody’s going to have their own opinion, and some people won’t, you know, be able to handle that cannabis is not bad, but I think more and more—I mean, I even see it in, like, my parents and stuff like that. This isn’t so bad. This is doing some really good things. And that’s what I’m hoping, you know, to do and spread that good word. And with what we do and make, we ensure that the companies we work for are making safe products, right?

So, the fewer and fewer recalls we have, the fewer and fewer, you know, the bad things that happen because of wholesale food manufacturing. Bad things happen, too. There are recalls every day. OK, allergens and contaminants are a normal part of making a product. Still, if we can minimize the number of black eyes in the cannabis industry, then it’ll also cut down on the biases against it as well. So that’s where our company is trying to help. Picture for sure.

So, Kim. One of the things that I wanted to ask you right, like when I was looking at Dubai, so you know how, like in 1849, they had the massive gold rush, all right, and then a lot of people were looking for gold and everything. And it was kind of a crazy time. 

And so, I feel it was almost like a gold rush in the last decade when they legalized it in certain states. But for cannabis, like for entrepreneurs, that took hold of that opportunity like there was a lot of money to be made. Oh, was it a similar analogy? What was the situation in the first few years when, from your perspective, Colorado finally legalized it?

Yeah. So, we called it the green rush, so it was that way in the beginning. People were snatching up licenses and trying to figure it out. Some people became very wealthy by selling their companies early on. The companies that are in it now are the ones that are in it for the long haul. I wasn’t in it to make a quick buck, but I wanted to build a brand and a reputation and have something long-term and substantial. Well, there is a huge misconception that there is a lot of money in cannabis. It looks like it, but it really can’t. Most cannabis companies that I know of and work with are either operating at a loss or coming around. Even most cannabis companies are not profitable.

They might be profitable. And they’re not making millions and millions and millions a year because of the tax structure. And all of the compliances. They have to follow. There’s 280 E, where they can’t write anything off for their company because they are not federally legal. Yeah. 

So, they’re running a company with all these overheads. Buying facilities, payroll They can’t write any of that off, so they must pay full taxes on everything, which is insane and incredibly hard to do as a business owner. The other issue that they have is that they have many. Of them, I can’t bank. Most companies Most major FDIC banks will not work with cannabis people at all, so for a long time, there were no banks, and so they were doing everything in cash and keeping boxes of cash in the back of their businesses, right? and not putting it in a bank. At all. So. We are not allowed. Upper Banking I’m an ancillary company. I don’t even plant a touch. I just work for those companies. And even I’ve been kicked out of two. Banks.

So, I’m at my third bank because of federal legality and because they feel they shouldn’t be banking us. So, there are some major financial hurdles that the cannabis industry has that other industries do not have. And when I talk to people from other industries Without it, they’re usually completely blown away. Like, how do you run a business without a bank? How do you run a business without being able to write off, you know, all of your business? Not very easily, right?

So, we’re hoping that when federal legalization happens, those two aspects of the industry kind of go away, and they can become profitable at that point. So mainly in the cannabis industry, the people doing well are usually lawyers, you know, and consultants, some of them, so the picks and shovels of the gold rush are doing well.

How was? How was it? I was thinking of the person who supplies the food to the gold miners. You know, like they had a restaurant or food; they offered the shovels and the axes, but they weren’t buying the gold. So, he did that, and then he came up with an idea. Analogy. 

That is what I mean right now, you know. Hiding companies, equipment companies, and those kinds of companies are doing OK because they can write off many things, and actual license holders are suffering. And then, in some states, Oregon is one of them. There’s so much competition that they give out too many licenses, and so the competition is so high that the price of cannabis is high. Really, low. So they cannot write anything off or bank correctly without paying an enormous amount or opening a bank account, but they are also selling. You know it costs more money to grow than it does to make it.

So, it’s a really difficult situation. business right now, and you know I think about it. All. It’ll all even out if they can hang in there long enough, but many companies have thrown in the towel. Because it’s almost impossible to run a cannabis business, it’s very, very difficult.

Well, basically, like you know, when the gold rush happened in 1849, many gold miners didn’t even get rich. The opportunity brought them, but the people who became rich were the ones who sold the axes and the shovels, and then the food and everything else. You’re telling me? 

The people with the equipment—the lawyers and the consultants—are more likely to make money in this green rush.

Right now, yeah, I feel like that’s the case. Yeah, the license holders are struggling. And that’s, you know, just because of the circumstances that they have right now, fortunately, you know, with the way economies work, you know, some people will go out of business, it’ll even out, and hopefully, you know, prices of cannabis will start to increase again. 

And then, on top of that, hopefully, something with a safe banking act will come through. Or something like that to help with the 280 E and the banking problem, but it’s an issue.

So, Kim, what was the biggest revelation you had while investigating and looking into this industry, whether manufacturing or retail, about how people are doing business? 

I think. I don’t know if there was like one big revelation about anything. It was really that people were so passionate about the plant, right? Everybody who got into the industry early on was a risk-taker, right? They were the people who were like, hey, cannabis helped me in some way or helped a loved one in some way. And I am getting involved, and my heart is completely in it. But that doesn’t always make the best business owners right. And if they’ve never owned a business before or thought about, you know, how businesses work or anything like that, you’ve seen a lot of failures. And I think that was one of my biggest shocks because they didn’t think about it. Branding. They didn’t think about, you know, just structuring the company in a certain way. You know they’ll have six partners, and then, you know, two partners are not agreeing with the rest of them. And you know, I saw these terrible business breaks.

It’s really interesting to me how many companies you know fell apart early because they didn’t set their company up in a way that made sense. And I did not know how to run a company before I started running it.

And kind of, you have to learn. You know, through trial and error, but thankfully, I didn’t take on any partners or anything like that. And so, a lot of my issues were not as detrimental, but there. Yeah, it. Was it? It was rough because many people were very passionate about the thing and wanted to do it, and they had this dream. But the practicality of running a business had eluded them because they had never considered it. I had never run a business before and had never been regulated before. 

Many of these people, you know, came from growing cannabis in their basement and selling it on the black market before they became business owners in a legitimate market. And so it was hard for them to follow or understand why the rules existed or why they had to do these things. And it created just the perfect storm for people to be unable to Make it. But the ones that did are thriving because they learned to roll with the punches and figured out how to run a business, and now they’re stronger than ever. But there were a lot of failures. We saw a lot of failures early on.

So, if you had to tell the audience, what character traits make a successful cannabis business owner, like in these states where it’s legalized? Like, what are the traits that you notice that make these people successful?

Adaptability. If you can adapt to situations because the regulations in each state change regularly, and if you can’t roll with the punches and figure out new ways of doing things pretty quickly, you probably won’t be successful.

And also professionalism if you can be professional and you know how to be kind to regulators and realize that, you know, they’re not out to get you. But this is just part of the system that must be in place for this to be legal. You know, those are the kinds of people. That did well. You know, people that can adapt and have an air of professionalism where they understand, OK, this is just the way the world is, and we’ve just got to figure out how to exist. 

And, you know, paying attention to legislation, right? If a bill that will affect you negatively is up, you need to reach out, speak up, and, you know, make public comments and be involved to stop that from happening.

So, there are many different things in the industry. It’s helpful to have, but I feel like those are the things it’s like to be involved, be able to roll with the punches, and be a general professional.

So, Kim, like for you personally, what is the biggest challenge you had to face while consulting all these people, and how did you overcome it?

Oh my gosh, we have hit many road bumps in having this company, but I think we had to learn quickly that we’re only going to work with clients for whom we’re serious about compliance. Many companies out there want to hire us just to tell people that they’ve hired us and, like, look like they’re doing, yeah, look like they’re doing well and doing these great things. And then, in actuality,

They’re not listening to us at all, right? Or they’re doing illegal things and not, you know, responding to us and not wanting to change the way that they’re doing things. Our clients are the best in the industry, and people know it now; you know, we’ve been around long enough that you know the clients we work with are doing things that are not even required of them now, trying to make the safest products and be good to their employees. And have great worker safety in place and that kind of thing. 

If we ever sign a client who isn’t receptive to us or doesn’t want to change, listen to us, or do anything else, they’re just not a good fit for us. 

I usually move on from that client, and that was a really hard decision because turning down money is very hard to do. But in the long run, it makes so much more sense because we’re trying to build this industry, and we want the real players, the good people, that want to do well. And care about the industry as a whole to be the ones that stick around. And so, that’s our goal as a company.

So, OK. Like, let’s say there’s somebody from any state. Where it’s all legalized, they go to Colorado, and they’re like, OK, I want to start a cannabis business, and I want to sell. This stuff, but they have no idea how to do that, and they come to you for advice. How would you advise them to make a successful business?

That is a really hard question to answer because there are many things. You know, there’s a moratorium on a lot of licensing.

So, there are states where you just can’t. Get a license. At all. So, I applied for that license. This is the first step. If you don’t have a license, there’s no reason for you to do anything else. Right. And that’s usually where you want to be. And there are a lot of really great consultants that help with licensing. We write SOPs for licenses but don’t help with licensing from beginning to end. That is a whole intricate, crazy prop. Does, and each state does it differently, so that’s kind of the first step. It’s like you have to be able to get a license. We help companies evaluate facilities to see if a facility will work with whatever product they’re trying to make, or, you know, if they’re trying to grow cultivation, have cultivation. You know, there have to be certain things in place. To be compliant with, you know, certain standards. And that’s kind of where we would start, right? OK, can you get a license in this place?

And on top of that, do you have a facility that will work for what you’re doing? And then we also have a lot of financial partners because financing in this space is difficult. People won’t give money to the cannabis industry because they think it’s kind of risky. Still, entire financial institutions work with our clients to find capital because the overhead of owning a cannabis business is high. It would be best if you had a lot of money. Front to build a facility and build the brand, and you know, buy all the plants, and you know everything.

So, it takes a whole, whole lot. It is not a business for the faint of heart. It is not a business that, if you know nothing about cannabis, you should be getting into, honestly.

So, yeah, it sounds pretty intense, especially with the fact that banks will not even give money because of federal regulations and everything. I was under the misconception that, you know, states have the right to regulate and, like the federal government, think about this matter with enthusiasm. 

Yeah, yeah. And most of what we do is like GMP and OSHA, which are federal, right? That’s the FDA and OSHA. And so, what we are doing for our clients isn’t necessarily required in every state, like Florida, New York, and Maryland, to name a few others; you have to have GMP certification from an accredited certifying body. So those are areas where they need help, and they have to get it. But in most of the others, in almost every other state, it’s not required yet.

And so, it’s interesting to be a company that is hired only if it wants to go above and beyond. Right. And somehow, we’ve been in business for over six years. So, there are enough clients and businesses out there doing the right thing, wanting to be a better company, making safer products, and all that. We can stay in business, which is incredible. It’s becoming increasingly common, especially with the D scheduling that might happen. GMPs will be required if that happens, so everybody must get on board and follow those federal guidelines.

So yeah, we’re just trying to. Prepare as many clients as possible so they will be ready and won’t have to stress about it when that happens. You know, it’s like we help our clients sleep better at night and not have to worry that they will be shut down in a month.

So, Kim, if you could, go back in time, right? Like when you were like, let’s say, a teenager or something, and you had all the knowledge that you know right now, and then you knew that you’re going to go into the cannabis industry, like, what would happen, and you could go back in time. What would you tell your younger self about the entire thing, like the journey? Or what advice would you give? Your younger self knows about it.

I probably would tell myself to go to school for business because that was a big hurdle for me. After all, my degree is in human nutrition. So, it’s very likely that I didn’t gain much sales experience. I didn’t get a lot of business.

You don’t necessarily need that, but I sometimes wish I had that experience because I think it would have been easier for me to start the business. After all, I still, to this day, have to call friends and be like, hey, what are you doing about this, this, and this? And how do you? Set up a website, and how? Do you know all of that stuff? In the first few years, doing payroll, figuring out QuickBooks, and invoicing was overwhelming. And you know, all that stuff I had to figure out alone. I think I would have told myself to take a few business classes. At least just to have. It’s some kind of baseline before starting a business, but it’s fine now that I’ve been in it for so long. But it probably would have. It made it a little less stressful.

Many people like that, which prevents them from starting their own. Businesses feel overwhelmed by, like, OK, what do I have to do this? I have to do this. I have to do this. How am I going to go about doing that? And it’s kind of like a lot of people don’t take the jump in the first place.

Right. Yeah. Well, it isn’t very safe. It isn’t very safe to start a business, especially, you know, your first one. But you know you can; anybody can do it. And I think everybody should do it. So I think it’s great.

Yeah. And Kim, on a different note, right? I want to because the Green Rush is similar to the Gold Rush. It made me think of, like, the American history of the entrepreneurial spirit and how it has, like, this entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and like, it has this ability to take massive risks. We, as a people, 

And so, from your perspective, when you were like, because what you noticed was similar to, like, a gold rush, but it was like for cannabis, what was your perspective on the entrepreneurial spirit that you saw in a lot of these people that wanted to start businesses in this regard?

Well, it’s rare in our society that an entirely new industry just emerges. That doesn’t happen very often, and so it did. Great. It is an opportunity for people who had never owned businesses or never, you know, had the chance to achieve the American dream, if you will, to do that, including myself, like you know. Six years in the cannabis industry is like 60 years. You know, it’s because it’s so new that if you’ve been in it for as long as I have, which is almost ten years, I’m like considered an OG, which is like crazy to me because I’ve only been doing this, you know, for a little while, but there are a lot of really great opportunities. Many people could have never owned businesses, especially the social equity people we like.

There are entire regulations aimed at you. Assisting socially equitable people, minorities, and women in having these businesses and only granting licenses to them for a while It’s really interesting. Still, there are a lot of people who can deny that the war on drugs hurts those who served prison time and other punishments. Now, get loans from the social equity programs to start these businesses. So it is a cool place to be because it is you. You do see the American dream thing. It’s kind of happening a lot around me, like most of my friends. 

I was like a bartender and a health inspector. You. I knew before I did. This is so it’s. Seeing how far you can come if given the opportunity is interesting. And we are willing to take the risk because that’s what it is. I mean, most people look at cannabis, and they go, Oh, it’s just too risky. They could make it illegal tomorrow, and then all of it goes away, which is true.

They could, but it would be dumb for them to do that. And it wouldn’t make a lot of sense because of all the revenue they bring in from a tax perspective. But yeah, there is a lot of risk. There’s a lot of bias, so it’s a hard industry. But at the same time, I’ve seen so many people come from the bottom to the top, and they’re just crushing it and doing something they care about. And what they love. And I think that’s really what life is about. And that entrepreneurial spirit is like It’s a beautiful thing when you can see it thrive. So, I love it here. I love this industry because of it.

Well, Kim, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to interview you because, like, what you are going through, right, like in the cannabis industry, is something that has not been seen in a long time in America. It’s basically like a gold rush. But, as you said, it’s called a green rush. And there’s a lot. And then you saw, from your perspective, a lot of people just jumping into it; they don’t know how to do it. Business and everything, but they’re like they have a dream that they want to. They wanted to be wealthy, and it’s just like a repeat of American history, playing out within a 5- to 10-year period. And it just, like, amazes me from my perspective.

Yeah, yeah, no, it is. It’s pretty incredible. I never thought this would happen in my lifetime, like if you told me ten years ago that this is what I would be doing with my life today. I would have thought you were crazy, but I love it. This is the best place to be. And it’s the best industry in the world. Yeah, you get to see. There are certainly many success stories. It’s amazing.

So, from your perspective, what is it like for somebody who went to Colorado and other states to start a business? What is your perspective on what the American dream looks like for these people, and from your perspective, how do they attain it?

That’s kind of a hard question, too.

My bad.

I feel like I’m living the American dream because of my origins. And, you know, I never thought I would own a business, and it just kind of happened, right? It’s the right place. Right time. You just say, OK, this is an opportunity. You either jump or you don’t, and most people don’t. And because it’s scary, it’s really scary to start your own thing, do your own thing, and do something different, especially in an industry with so much. Bias.

And so I think many people are the same as me, where it was the right place at the right time, and it was kind of like, why not you? Know what’s there. The worst that could happen is, let’s try it. Let’s at least try it and see what happens. And I’m so absolutely. It was a great poll that I did, and I know that everyone else in this industry is in the same boat. And now that we’ve been in it for a while, we’re starting to see, OK, this, you know, these people were struggling for so long, and now they’re starting to thrive.

Now, they’re starting to hit the middle of their business type. In areas where they’re making money, they can do things outside of work, which is kind of funny, like when you can take your first vacation after owning a business for about four years. It’s like, really incredible. It doesn’t happen much. But yeah, I mean, it’s just hitting that stride. I think that grit is the biggest factor. Not giving up, not letting the bad days keep you down. Having a positive attitude and just keeping going, like knowing that **** will be hard, especially through COVID and everything, was wild. They are keeping a business going. But they are just not letting themselves. Get down to it. Right. There’s always going to be hard times.

There will always be bad days, but as long as you can fight through them and keep your end goal in mind, you’ll be fine, you know? And if not, you know, if you decide, hey, this is too much. You just pivot and do something different, right? And that’s kind of the way it’s got to be. You know, you just figure it out eventually. Anyone can find a way to have an American dream and, like, come up and get out of what they were and do something they love and care about. And I think that’s what life is about: having work that doesn’t always feel like work because you like it so much.

And then also, you know, that work-life balance. I’m a millennial. I want to take three weeks in Spain someday and not have to worry about work that much, or do you know what I mean? Like, that’s where the new American dream is going. It’s like living life to the fullest because we only have one, so

No, totally, and basically, I like it; it sometimes amazes me, right? I’ve heard so many things about when the legalization happened, and it was almost like a wild wild West, and it was just like I saw the entire American spirit manifest in that period. And yeah, as in your words, I didn’t think about myself. That is what I would see something like. That is in an industry where it did happen, you know. The same thing happened with crypto, like the crypt; the crypto industry had a similar vibe. 

So, cannabis and crypto are similar in that they’re unknown chartered territory, but then you have all these travelers that are going to these unknown places. You don’t know what’s going to happen or how it’s going to happen. It’s unregulated for the first time, and then the government starts to regulate it. And it’s like, “How do you go about in this brave new world?” And yeah, it amazes me.

Yeah. Yeah, it’s an It’s an interesting time to be alive, that’s for sure. A lot is going on every day. I feel like there’s something new, and it’s great. I’m excited about it. I think the future is going to be amazing. So. fingers crossed for federal legalization someday.

So, Kim, can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about LA Consulting and the premise of UH? I know you mentioned a little bit, but a little bit more detail, like how you started and all of that.

Yeah. So, I mean, I told the story just like I realized early when I was a regulator. Unfortunately, being a regulator wasn’t as helpful to the industry as I wanted it to be. And so, yeah, I took a leap of faith. I put in my, you know, two-week notice at my cushy government job that was going to give me a pension and all that fun stuff and went out on my own instead. And it was, you know, just getting the LLC, writing the business plan, and figuring it out. And thankfully, the overhead for my company was low. It was like a laptop because all of the things that I needed were there. My head and so I went out. And it was a lot of me.

I went to many happy hours and did a lot of networking, which hasn’t stopped since Day one. You know, you get to go out and, like, really promote yourself. I speak at a lot of conferences and things like that as well. That’s kind of what? Going from being a consultant to being the CEO was a hard transition because I like working with clients, doing audits, helping, and everything else. But it didn’t make sense for the growth of my company for me to keep doing all of that.

And so I delegate. Now, my team takes on everything, like the client’s work. And I do more of this kind of thing. I do podcasts, webinars, and social media; I speak at conferences and do most of the sales calls and things like that. And that has been working well for the company. I’m sad that I don’t work with clients every day. You have a kind of change. You have to roll with the punches, right?

And if something isn’t benefiting your company, it’s hindering it because, you know, doing what I do takes a lot of time and effort. Having clients on top of that would slow me down and make me less efficient and productive. 

So, you know, you kind of have to look at it from that person’s perspective. Effective. But yeah, I don’t know. Building a company is interesting, and you must change it every year. You have to reevaluate. OK, is this how we want to be structured? Is this, you know, how we want to run these meetings? Is this how we want our business cards to look? We just revamped our website. And all that fun stuff.

So. The good thing about being a small company and the only owner is that if I don’t like something, I can change it. It is a really powerful and wonderful thing for not only me but also my staff. If they come to me and they’re like, this is an issue, this isn’t efficient. I wouldn’t say I like how we’re doing this. I’m. Like cool. Let’s change it. We can change anything.

 We want and can do whatever we want. There are no rules in business like you can do and structure things however you want to, and it took me a while to realize that in the beginning, I thought there was a certain formula. You. I had to follow. And that isn’t the case. You can kind of do what you want, so it’s freeing knowing that. And yeah, it’s been a great journey. I feel like I’ve grown a lot in the last six years. And I feel like I understand things a whole lot more, but I love running a business. I should have been doing it for a lot longer than I have. And I love it. It’s like the greatest thing that I’ve ever done.

That is awesome, Kim, and amazingly, you took a leap of faith, got rid of the safety, and then went into this. It’s a brave new world, and it’s very, very intense. I see the American spirit and all of American history play out in your story.

I mean, I think that’s it. That’s what the American spirit is all about, right? It’s like taking that risk and being like, “You know what? I have a dream, and I’m going to do it.” If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. But that’s OK. I’m just going to do it anyway. And putting one foot in front of the other is usually all it takes. Honestly, it’s that first step that’s the hardest. So, you know, I don’t know. I encourage everyone to try to get out there and do something like this at least once. I know it’s hard in their lives, but everybody should. Try to run a business. It teaches you a lot about yourself.

No, I agree.

Yeah. So.

So, OK, are there any projects you’re working on right now that you’d like the audience to know about? Get a glimpse into it.

You know, we have a couple of things going on right now. 

Right now, I’m co-owner of a nonprofit called the Cannabis Business Practice, which is like online training for business owners in the cannabis industry. And the Cannibal Consortium, oh my gosh, is like an ancillary group of other ancillary companies. So, I have a couple of different things going right now. I’m unsure how that will look because it’s fresh and new. We just named it like last week. But yeah, it will be cool; we and they are. The consortium had a big Happy Hour in Vegas this last time, 

and it was really fun. Great networking, but no, huge projects are on the horizon that we, you know, aren’t insane that I’m launching. Like I said, we just did a new website, new cards, and, you know, all that fun stuff, freshening up everything. And that was a huge project in itself. And now, yeah, we’re just going to take on 20/24 with Fresh Eyes, and, you know, really go out there and work with some compliance. We’ve also just gotten into the kratom space, which is interesting to add to our docket. But there’s a need for plant medicine. We’re usually OK with going there. So, it’s pretty exciting.

That is awesome. Kim and Kim, how can our audience connect with you and get to know more about you and your work? And what’re you doing?

You can always go to our website and check this out at ALLAYconsulting.com, or you can contact me directly at my e-mail: KIM.STUCK@Allayconsulting.com.

Awesome, Kim; I appreciate that you took the time to come here and talk about this industry, and I see the American Dream and the American spirit play out in such an industry in such a short time. It’s amazing. And I would want you to return and appear on this show later.

Yeah. Just let me know. Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah. And I would want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know that, hey, look, there’s an extraordinary within every one of us. We must awaken it and unleash it until next time. Bye for now.