We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicholas Pride . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicholas below.

Hi Nicholas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My name is Nicholas Pride and I reside in the St. Louis area. In January of 2021, I applied for and received my medical marijuana card for the state of Missouri. After having my license for a month; my assumption was that my available allotment would reset after the 30 days had elapsed. This was and continues to be a misunderstanding for current and new MMJ patients. When I went to a dispensary the following month, I went with the intentions of purchasing a nice amount to hold me over for a while. My order was quickly amended, as the bud tender had informed me that I only had “x” amount of grams available to purchase for the day ! I was confused, I informed the “BT” that it had been 31 days since my first purchase and that I should have my full prescribed allotment available. He briefly explained that my purchased grams from the previous month will hit my new month’s allotment, depending on how much and when my grams were purchased..
With the medicinal industry being fairly new, he couldn’t fully explain the replenishment process any more than that, but the issue intrigued me and I was eager to learn the process for future reference. After speaking to a few GMs and directors of dispensaries over the next few weeks, I was able to gain a full understanding of the replenishment process.
In March of 2021, I started managing my purchases and allotment at home on a notepad. Once my calculations started to match the dispensary’s “available allotment” after my visits, I transferred my data to a excel spreadsheet; where I was able to configure the necessary logic that would automate replenish dates and create the formula for the allotment calculations that made it all work cohesively. I utilized my excel spreadsheet for a couple of months, when I realized there were a lot of patients that I met that were having the same issue with managing their allotment. I felt this new sense of empowerment that I had from always knowing my allotment and when grams are replenished, should be something EVERY MMJ patient should experience.
In April of 2021, I reached out to a trusted co-worker in regards to outsourcing the necessary app dev work for my idea.
I spent the next few weeks familiarizing my dev team with my logic and the specifics of the MMJ industry, i.e: whole and decimal numbers for entering purchases and other details that would make the process easier for everyone involved.
While conducting testing, and reaching out to friends for guidance; my friend and realtor Antoine Lawrence referred me to a law firm, to handle the trademarking of my logo and copyrighting of my app. They were both beneficial in my understanding of branding myself.
By June of 2021, the beta version of my app was complete and I was able to use the app in raw form; this was a exciting time during my process. This now gave me the opportunity to physically show budtenders, GMs, directors and fellow MMJ patients, what my app looked like and how it would benefit everyone involved in the MMJ industry.
July hit and I was ready to submit my app to the AppleStore and GooglePlay store, but my app was rejected for numerous reasons. Although some were rectified with ease, there was one that was giving my dev team trouble and that was classifying my app as an, S.A.A.S (software as a service). This was keeping me from offering my app as an subscription, which was something that was vital to me.
In August 2021, when my dev team couldn’t figure it out, I had to outsource to another dev company that was confident they could accomplish what I needed. Although my app was fully functional and I was using it to get accurate numbers, we couldn’t figure out how to get passed the last hump from Apple. I knew it was a matter of time until we figured it out, so in September I did dispensary outreach, to see if any would be interested in letting me display my rack cards in their lobbies for patient exposure. I spent the downtime to create content, design apparel and create rack/business cards to represent Gramify. When I received the greenlight from general managers and directors from: Heya in St. Ann, Greenlight in Ferguson, Baden and St. Louis City locations, Terrabis in Hazelwood and Feel.State in Florissant; my focus shifted back to resolving my last issue before successfully launching Gramify.

I changed my business model in regards to the app’s content and in October 2021 Gramify was approved for sale on both Apple and GooglePlay stores! In addition to my rack cards being displayed in a few dispensaries, I created a business Instagram page to provide more exposure for my app and to provide valuable content for MMJ patients.
Since launching, I’ve had over 130 downloads, about a dozen subscribers and a 5 star rating for Gramify.

With the urge to approve upon the app, I took and passed the METRC TPV test in November 2021. This gives me access to METRC API key, which would help automate even more aspects of Gramify.
Gramify strives to give Medical Marijuana patients the sense of empowerment, in regards to knowing their available allotment at all times and avoiding instances like below:

“Imagine heading to the dispensary after a long day, or even worse on your day off.
You ordered a new strain released, so there’s a little more anticipation than usual.
You get to the lobby, just to be told you’re .1 short of grabbing an 1/8 !
Now you’re in a predicament where you want to know when you’ll be replenished again ?
Will it be in a couple of days, will it be tomorrow?”

Because of H.I.P.P.A regulations, the dispensary you’re currently at, can only tell you about purchases made from their establishment. So if you’re told you’ll be getting 3.5g back in 10 days, you’ll miss the fact that you’re actually getting back 3.0g tomorrow from another dispensary and 24.5g back the day after that from another. This can be an frustrating dilemma to deal with on a month-to month, week-to-week, day-to-day basis.

My app, Gramify, assists in eliminating these occurrences, along with the constant uncertainty of ones’ available allotment and help keeping the MMJ patient, “in the know.”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

First and foremost, I have over 20 years experience within the I.T field; from conducting Radio Frequency audits on government issued radios, punching PBX boards, help desk tech work, to operating a financial system database on IBM’s AS400. As an MMJ patient myself, I always found myself in situations where I didn’t know my available allotment. Which basically serves as the umbrella to other issues:
* orders being amended
* constant calls to a dispensary before making a visit or placing a order
* the uncertainty of when grams are replenished to my allotment
* Replenished dates (months with different amount of days)
* The calculations to track that along with your current allotment
* Constant expansion of the industry, it was hard to keep up with when and where i made purchases
With H.I.P.P.A a dispensary can only tell you about purchases/or replenished grams from their establishment. So if you’re told you’ll be getting 3.5g back in 10 days, you’ll miss the fact that you’re actually getting back 3.0g tomorrow from another dispensary and 24.5g back the day after that from another. This can be a frustrating dilemma to deal with on a month-to month, week-to-week, day-to-day basis.
When i realized there were no outlets to help keep track, I started logging my purchase dates and amounts on a notepad, converted that to excel sheet where I figured out the formula/logic necessary to automate the replenish dates and available allotment. Once my spreadsheet started to mirror the dispensary, I was elated! I was able to plan ahead for a big purchase, I wasn’t making empty visits to the dispo. From there i outsourced to a co-worker who helped in putting it in the form of a app.
I might be telling my age here, but I remember having to call the banks 800 number to get my checking balance before goin to the mall to shop. There were no mobile apps to check your balances on the fly, you had to listen to the robot lady. Gramify works in the same rationale. It’s a more pragmatic approach to your allotment, a vital tool in your utility belt if I may.
I strongly believe Gramify benefits Everyone involved, from the budtender, receptionist and most importantly the patient.
A good receptionist informs a patient of their available allotment before hitting the main floor.
A great bud tender informs a patient of their available allotment after for leaving the main floor
A excellent dispensary will notate your ‘before and after’ allotment availability on your receipt after making a purchase.

A superb app like @gramifyapp will do ALL 3 and is available to the patient at their leisure; giving the patient a sense of empowerment !

I believe this strengthens the dynamic between the patient and the budtender.
Eliminating the uncertainty of your allotment is one less thing to talk about, leaving more time to exchange dialogue in regards to the medicine. The only time I’ve really seen an irate patient in a dispensary, is when they they don’t have enough and are confused about how their allotment works. Sometimes that puts the budtender in a awkward predicament. As more patients start to use Gramify, the less likely those occurrences will happen

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think the main reasons I was able to build a reputation within the market are, the fact that I am a patient myself so I am fully aware of the issues that concern others, I have a knack for wanting to help others; if I’m in the position to do so and lastly at the tender age of 40, I yearn for information and problem solving. Combine these factors within the MMJ industry and you get the entity, Gramify. Once I came up with a name, I was able to brand myself and my app. Having the idea was one thing, but putting it in physical form to demonstrate to managers and directors of dispensaries was another. Having something I really believed in gave me the confidence I needed to approach and inquire about displaying my cards at local dispensaries. Building relationships with like minded people has been a common theme within my journey.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I instance when I displayed resilience occurred when trying to get Gramify approved on the Apple platform. At the time, we were deep in the pandemic and there wasn’t phone call support, just email. It became frustrating at times trying to decipher the terminology used. After doing more research, I was able to correct a few items off their checklist but ultimately had to outsource to another dev group. Thereafter, not only was the app approved, the dev group was able to add additional features that gave the app more functionality.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gramifyapp.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/gramifyapp?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=