There have been several misconceptions about cannabis and psilocybin in the past few years. However, some states have legalized the use of these by studying and having reliable knowledge about them. Many individuals in the health care and public safety industry have taken a step forward to spread the awareness and utilization of cannabis. Kimberly Stuck, the Founder and CEO of Allay Consulting, is one such individual who guides companies through the hazards of budding cannabis and psilocybin industries by navigating compliance pitfalls.
With years of experience in the public health industry, Kimberly, through her venture, ensures best practices according to the new rules and standards as they evolve and enables organizations to focus on a bigger picture. She brings a regulator’s keen eye and wide-reaching knowledge on evolving compliance and safety mandates to support businesses in tightly regulated industries.
The Overview of Journey
Kimberly’s career started as a restaurant and wholesale food investigator for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE). In 2014, when Colorado legalized cannabis for adult use, she began inspecting cannabis facilities for health and safety, educating herself about the processes and products involved. The industry was complicated, and coupled with her innate curiosity and passion, she was quickly named the first cannabis industry-specific public health investigator.
Over the next three years, Kimberly immersed herself in the industry. She soon realized she could have a more significant positive impact if she were a consultant rather than a regulator. She started Allay Consulting in 2017 with the goal of making the industry a safer space, so consumers were protected and businesses could thrive. Currently, her team works in all 50 states and internationally, focused on operational compliance such as state-specific regulations, FDA, OSHA, cGMP, ISO 9001/22000, Organic, and GAP/GACP.
The Mission
Allay’s mission is to assist the cannabis industry in providing consumers with safe cannabis. To do this, it advises on regulations and train regulators, encouraging normalization and destigmatization. Allay is allied to companies that want to invest in consumer and worker safety.
Standing Strong
Cannabis is a unique and emerging market, and many states and governing bodies need help regulating the creation, production, and sale to ensure consumer safety.
Allay acts as advisors to its clients and regulatory workgroups in various states, ensuring the nuances and risks associated with cannabis products are understood and considered. Kimberly’s team educates government officials and regulators to end the stigma around cannabis, promoting safe yet fair regulations.
Building Up the Work Culture
What made Kimberly start the company and bond her team together is the core value of Allay – Passion. Her team believes in the power of the plant and knows it can and should be regulated in the same manner as any other industry.
Allay is a team of certified CP-FS, CQA, and ex-cannabis regulators who function at the highest quality of professionalism and ethical standards. Kimberly believes that customer service is paramount, and she prides herself in distilling complicated regulatory subjects into digestible information that companies can put action behind. Kimberly and her team genuinely care for their clients and want them to be as successful as possible.
Client Friendly Approach
Allay has always been a mobile company, which allows it to provide its services remotely, saving its clients’ money on travel. It can securely share documentation and conduct video audits suiting the needs of its clients regardless of budget.
Getting Ready for The Change
Kimberly states that there was much debate over what instrumentation and approach should be used for specific analyses in the early stages of regulations; however, multiple states didn’t address these issues.
Currently, states are taking safety and quality seriously by implementing parameters for testing. What Allay does is help companies understand these new standards while supporting newly legalized states to lessen the likelihood of contaminated products on the market.
What Comes Next?
While expressing thoughts about the future, Kimberly says that Federal legalization is on the table. Allay’s goal is to implore companies to begin preparation by aligning with basic FDA and OSHA regulations. This will ensure compliant operations and minimal facilities shut down when these regulatory bodies make surprise visits. Additionally, she recently started a psychedelic plant medicine division of Allay.
Bequeathing Up-and-Coming Entrepreneurs
Kimberly says, “Whether you are a plant-touching or an ancillary business like Allay, be prepared for lack of access to banking, funding, and payment processing. This is rooted in bias against the industry that we’re trying to change.”
“If you’re passionate about cannabis, you will find a way to make it work, and as we inch closer to normalization, more and more opportunities open up. For Allay, it hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it,” concludes Kimberly.
Kimberly Stuck, CEO and Founder, Allay Consulting LLC
