Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracey Lancaster Miller.
Tracey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Peake ReLeaf is a locally owned and operated cannabis dispensary in Rockville, Maryland.
The idea of Peake ReLeaf started in the summer of 2014, when Nate, Warren and I sat around a campfire and started discussing possibilities. Legislation had just passed that would create the medical cannabis program in Maryland. All three of us grew up in Maryland (Warren in Rockville, Nate in Baltimore and me in Parkville). All three of us share a passion for the cannabis plant and its medicinal benefits. And all three of us had a unique set of skills to bring to the table.
Warren’s expertise came from years of working in the restaurant industry throughout Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. He has worked as a server, as bartender and also moved into restaurant management along the way. This experience gave him the necessary skills for managing operations, safety and food standards, inventory and people.
Nate and I had moved out to Colorado in the late-2000’s. Throughout the next decade, we worked and participated in the fledgling cannabis industry there. Much of Nate’s expertise came from his working at a hydroponic supply store, first as a part time warehouse worker and then moving his way into sales and management at the company. He consulted with customers on cultivation build outs large and small and honed his skills in supply chain management.
My experience began in a few entry level jobs in the cannabis industry – mostly budtending and trimming. I loved learning all I could about cannabis from those jobs and was given the opportunity to be trained in the compliance department. There I really found my niche and quickly moved from inventory specialist to compliance manager for both large and small facilities. Compliance is one of the many hats I wear at Peake ReLeaf and I credit our great compliance record to what I learned from those jobs.
Once we realized that, together, we had the skills necessary to open a cannabis dispensary, we quickly moved forward, incorporating Peake ReLeaf the following year and using each of our lifetimes of connections to friends and colleagues to ensure a successful application. In the end, we won the license to dispense right in Warren’s hometown, in the district he went to high school.
So today, Peake ReLeaf has been open for just over 6 years and employs about 50 people. All Peake ReLeaf staff have been hired at the entry level position and then promoted into leadership and management positions from there. This is the way that all three of us all came up through our respective industries, and we feel that the perspective of working those jobs is invaluable in leadership roles. Cannabis industry experience is not necessary to work at Peake ReLeaf. In fact, many members of our team have started with no experience and a strong passion and respect for the cannabis plant.
We must also give credit to our two Directors who have been with us since 2017, Emily Carden – Director of Operations and Kevin Johnson, Jr – Director of Marketing, who have worked tirelessly over the years to get Peake ReLeaf’s doors open to the public and to grow Peake ReLeaf into the company that we are today. Peake ReLeaf wouldn’t be the company that it is today without the dedication of Emily and Kevin and all Peake ReLeaf staff, past and present.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The first challenge that we had as a company was the multi-year road to opening our doors. After waiting over a year to hear if we would have a successful application, we were finally able to begin the work to build out the facility. Despite a relatively welcoming local community, we hit bump after bump in the road due to zoning and parking related issues. The timeline pushed longer and longer until it overlapped with winter holidays, further delaying build out.
In the meantime, we were doing all the necessary business to ensure that we had the structures in place to be able to open our doors once build out was complete and final inspections from the state were approved. Even in this, the road was bumpy, as company after company assured us they could work with a cannabis company, only to tell us that they in fact could not work with us after months of planning. We like to say that whatever takes one step in normal businesses takes five additional steps for a cannabis business. And always multiply all time estimates by at least three!
Eventually, the stars aligned for the build out to be complete, inspections from the state complete and the final approval from the state handed down. We opened our doors to the public in May 2018. We experienced the normal ups and downs of a new business as we solidified operations and found our stride.
Then came the second major challenge, the challenge that affected everyone – COVID-19. Our operations had to change completely to ensure the safety of our team and our patients. In the very beginning of the pandemic, we had to balance extremely reduced staffing onsite while seeing an increase in demand from the community. Operationally, this was a challenge. We like to compare the workflow shift to the restaurant industry – we went from basically a sit down restaurant to 100% carryout. In the end, we were able to become incredibly efficient and even explored new opportunities to reach patients in the most vulnerable communities, which led to the roll out of our delivery service in the summer of 2020. We are also very proud that we never had to lay off anyone during this challenging time and created and continue to enforce a safe environment for both staff and customers.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Peake ReLeaf?
There are a few different areas that set us apart from other cannabis dispensaries in the state.
We are locally owned and operated – all 3 of us founders grew up and live in Maryland!
We have a huge selection of products with rotating daily and weekly specials. We are known for our flower selection and scaling discounts for flower quantities purchased.
We sell hemp CBD products in our lobby, including Peake ReLeaf brand CBD gummies and tinctures.
We offer a same day delivery service. Our delivery radius is set by zipcode and is approximately 12-15 miles. Medical patients and caregivers can give us a call to see if their home zipcode is within our delivery radius! We are unfortunately unable to deliver to adult use (21+) consumers at this time
Our loyalty program. Every dollar spent is a point and points can be redeemed for rewards like $100 off a purchase, vaporizers and even some products like cartridges, shatter and more. Most unique to Peake ReLeaf is that points never expire and we have extended our loyalty program to adult use (21+) consumers since day 1, so customers can choose the best rewards for them without worrying about losing or not receiving points for purchases.
Our knowledgeable and compassionate team. They have a deep understanding of the products we carry and how they can help ease symptoms to improve quality of life. Whether a customer is new to cannabis and needs help getting started, whether they have been shopping for a while and know what works for them or are somewhere in between, our staff is here to help!
We believe it is incredibly important to support the community and we do this through regular donation collection drives (such as book drives, food drives, coat drives, toiletry drives and more), donations to local non-profit organizations, sponsorships of community events, and support to environmental initiations
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memories are stargazing. There was a power line field behind my house growing up where I could look at the stars, and my parents would drive my siblings and I to rural areas of Maryland close to the Pennsylvania border where we got to have clear, unobstructed views of celestial events like meteor showers and planetary alignments.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.peakereleaf.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peakestagram/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peakereleaf/
- Linkedin: @peakereleaf
- Twitter: https://x.com/PeakeReLeaf
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@peakereleaf
- Other: https://peake-releaf.myspreadshop.com/
