Our Brain Trust Expands, Again: Dalton Valette

Our newest team member, Project Manager Dalton Valette, brings a perspective to cannabis consulting that is rooted in ethics, compliance, law, and politics. Dalton’s work in cannabis dates back to work with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s campaign in 2017 where he helped bolster statewide support for adult use.

 

Learn more about Dalton in his bio and below:

What inspired you to work in the cannabis industry?

I wanted to be in an industry where I could tangibly see the net-positive impact of the work I was doing. To me, cannabis felt like the perfect industry to best reflect my skills and knowledge in ever-changing regulations and how best to approach complex situations with professionalism and speed

 

Tell us something you do every day, without fail: 

Every day I read, for fun! Not just emails. I am a voracious book reader, so I try and read around 50 pages a day, usually rotating between fiction and non-fiction (right now it’s “Cloud Cuckoo Land” by Anthony Doerr, next up is “King Richard: Nixon and Watergate” by Michael Dobbs). 

 

Describe a really big accomplishment:

I ran for local public office when I was in law school and I was extremely proud of the work I was able to accomplish with that. The endorsements I secured from other elected officials and community leaders. And just being able to meet so many people in my hometown and hear about their local concerns. All politics is local after all and being able to interact with thousands of people I’d never been able to do before while also raising awareness about issues I thought were important led to some of the most fascinating conversations I’ve ever had.     

 

Where are you from? If not from Colorado, what brought you here?   I am a Colorado native, born and raised in Superior, a suburb of Boulder. 

 

What cities have you lived in?  Superior, CO, Madison, NJ, Washington DC, Newark, NJ, and Denver, CO. 

 

What do you do in your spare time?   I love to read, write, watch movies, hike, hunt, fish, ski, and spend time with friends. 

 

Tell us a little about your family:

My immediate family all lives in Colorado. My mom and dad moved to Colorado in the 1980s and met here through their work. I have three younger sisters, two adopted from India and one biological. 

 

Travel memories/trips of note or travel “wish list”?

One of my favorite travel memories was being able to spend some time in the United Kingdom with my boyfriend, since he studied abroad there, and he was able to be my travel guide which was incredible.   

 

Interesting/little-known/unique fact about you?

I am a huge presidential history nerd which led me to running my own presidents page on Instagram. Ever since I was a kid, I could name all the presidents forward and backward. 

 

Favorite smells?  Fire, pine trees, honey, coconut, red wine, ocean

 

Favorite sounds?  Bird calls (owls, jackdaws, loons, woodpeckers, morning doves), elk bugle, lion roars, fresh snow under skis 

 

Favorite places?  Any used bookstore I can find, side streets in Paris, the Met, top of Mount Evans and Pikes Peak, Breckenridge downtown 

 

Favorite foods:  New York-style cheese pizza, steak, loaded baked potato, chocolate chip cookie, raw oysters

 

Favorite way to consume cannabis?  Edibles 

 

Will you name a few items on your bucket list?  Publish a book, visit each of the seven continents, skydive 

 

What do you order at a bar or coffee shop?  Sherpa chai and a bagel or blueberry muffin 

 

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Time manipulation 

 

If you were an MLB player, what would your walkout song be?  “Toxic” by Britney Spears 

 

What else should we know about you?  I secured a patent when I was 14 for the “Popup-Kernel-Cup.” 

 

If you created a cannabis strain, what would you name it?  Epicurus