What defines being the best dispensary in Rockville? What defines being the best medical dispensary period?
The answer always begins with you, the patient. Of course, you give us money and that keeps our lights on and quality cannabis in our inventory. That’s not why we’re in business. After our first cannaversary of many in Rockville, we want to share our reflections on having such a great year with a great community. Yes, again, we’re talking about you! You’re great! And you’re great because cannabis is helping you feel great. And that’s what we’re committed to.
Keep reading to learn how we shaped our history and mission around our patient-first business model. And get into why our team is so solid.
Peake History
Origin
With the industry full of big out-of-state businesses juggling multiple licenses in Maryland, it’s reassuring to know some dispensaries have humble beginnings. Ours certainly does!
It all started in 2014 with our captains Warren, Nate and Tracey—the trio have been friends for a good 15 years. All are founding members and are in these respective roles: our President is Warren and our double-team Executive Vice Presidents are Nate and Tracey.
Anyway, sitting at a bonfire at our Executive VPs’ wedding, our founders discussed putting together something really special with their combined backgrounds. Tracey and Nate combined their years in Colorado’s cannabis industry with Warren’s restaurant management expertise to create Peake Releaf!
And so our dispensary was born. That “something really special” is the heart of our devotion to patient-first medicine.
The Mission
What’s special that the cannabis industry needs more of?
Ethics and consciousness! AKA give a damn about everyone involved—patients and workers—to contribute to the healthy development of our community and market.
Specifically, Nate, Tracey and Warren have woven these values into the backbone of our dispensary:
- Workers’ Rights
- Social Justice
- High quality medicine
- Community Engagement
You see all these when visiting our dispensary, engaging with our social media, and reading our blog and email content.
Low-Point & Comeback
As with any hero story, we had a low point that we’ve grown from. Our rock bottom happened before we began!
In December 2017, we got our license, so our search began for a location. Just when we settled on a place and were about to sign the lease that subsequent January, our landlord got spooked. Thanks to Jeff Sessions flying off at the mouth about the cannabis industry, we lost that and had to begin again.
April 2018, we found our current location! But we had to pay a full year’s rent before opening our doors, on top of just more piling problems. Zoning and parking was a major obstacle, and there were additional delays from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.
The only answer was to band together in stubbornness and bulldoze our way through the obstacles.
It hurt A LOT to miss Maryland’s first 420. But thanks to our solid team of founders—plus Emily, our assistant manager, and Kevin, our director of creative marketing—we were able to pull through and hire our awesome staff. Many of our employees are still with us to this day.
Because of our commitment to the entire cannabis community, Peake ReLeaf belongs to our workers as much as it belongs to the founders.
And we know we wouldn’t be half as great without patients like you.
Team Profile
“As a new comer to Maryland, Peake ReLeaf has turned into my east coast family. I have never worked for a company with such little to no turnover. It speaks volumes with how well Peake treats their employees. I can not wait to continue to work along side my Peake family for many years to come.” – Emily
Emily is our assistant manager and she’s been with us since November 2017. She has a solid background in cannabis, having worked several years prior in Colorado. She’s a newcomer to Maryland and our company helped her make a home and family here.
“I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to come back to my home state and operate a dispensary. This past year has not been without it’s challenges, but I am extremely proud of our Peake ReLeaf team, and happy to see Maryland patients get access to medical cannabis. We will continue to work hard, and look forward to the road ahead!” – Nate
Nate is one of our two Executive Vice Presidents and a founding member. His experience in cannabis almost accounts for a whole decade. He’s provided input before, proving he knows a thing or two about high THC and the merit of it. He has a clear love for cannabis and when it comes to our Cannaversary, he’s full of gratitude and hope.
“This year has been an incredibly rewarding. The whole year has been a whirl. I can’t believe it has already been a year. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to operate Peake ReLeaf with my longtime friends and new friends and to be able to run Peake ReLeaf in a way that we think is right. I’ve worked for others before and always thought that there is a better way to do things. Now we have the opportunity to do this thing right. And I’m thankful our patients and larger community have responded so positively to us. I can’t wait to keep this up and keep challenging ourselves to be better and better.” – Tracey
Tracey is one of our two Executive Vice Presidents and one of the three founders of our dispensary. Her personal experience when it comes to Cannaversary is rewarding and grateful satisfaction. From older stories, you’ll know that though she got her industry experience in Colorado, she’s originally from Maryland. Tracey is virtuous when it comes to her work with us: she’s committed to creating opportunities to do the right thing.
“It has been a exciting year where I have seen some of my dreams manifest into reality, but it hasn’t been easy. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people, friends and family to spend the long hours with as we built and operate Peake ReLeaf. It has been a great opportunity to provide an experience to our patients reflecting how we would like to be treated as patients and see that resonate so well within our community. It has been an honor serving the community I grew up in and I look forward to working with and for our community in the years to come. I’m grateful to the patients for all of the positive feedback and trust in us to provide them with their medical cannabis needs.” – Warren
Warren is our President and the last of our three founders. A man of mysterious employment origins, he’s gained and honed his cannabis industry with Peake Releaf! He’s been going steady since we registered our LLC in 2015. He’s a native to not just Maryland, but to Montgomery County. So it’s only inevitable that we’re the best Rockville dispensary!
That aside, he values patients, our entire company team and the overall resonance of Peake Releaf’s effect on the cannabis community.
“I’m thankful to have been a part of this industry for over a year. What started as looking into alternative medical care options for my son has transformed almost every aspect of my life for the better. It’s also allowed me to speak to additional communities that I’m a part of that have been standoffish toward the possibilities of cannabis for decades. I feel fortunate to be here and will continue to work tirelessly to make the industry better for the community in any and every way I can.” – Kevin
Kevin is our director of creative marketing. A recent medical patient and father of a brilliant and autistic son, he’s good friends with Tracey and Nate. Former techie and all-around nerd, he feels fortunate to be apart of the Maryland medical cannabis community. He uses his experience to bring more people to cannabis.
Thank YOU for being apart of Rockville’s best dispensary’s celebrations!
Many thanks if you made it out to our cannaversary week and we look forward to seeing you at the next one!
We love our patients and love doing whatever we can to get you the relief you deserve. Here’s to more years of patient-centered care.
Let us know how we’ve created a positive experience for you and be sure to share.
