By Katie Pickard, Executive Director
Two years ago, I made a bold move. I left behind a comfortable corporate role, packed up my life, and hit the road (literally and figuratively!) to build something more aligned with who I truly am. I said goodbye to Cleveland after 30 years and hello to a new life in Colorado. That leap wasn’t just about geography or job titles. It was about trusting my intuition and giving it the volume it deserved.
I’ve talked about intuition a lot (even wrote a workbook about it), because tuning in and trusting my gut is a huge part of what changed my life. Once I dialed into my inner voice and had the courage to follow it, psychedelics found me. After that experience, my life truly unlocked.
Fast forward to today, and I’m thrilled to be stepping into a new role as Executive Director at Unlimited Sciences.
This nonprofit is doing something most organizations aren’t: leading psychedelic education and research with heart and integrity, while staying grounded in real-world data and accessible, free guidance. We believe people deserve evidence-based information to make empowered decisions about their health. And we believe that psychedelic research must reflect the real ways people are using these substances, not just what happens in a lab.
This role feels like an alignment of both sides of myself: 📊 the systems-loving strategist and ✨ the personal growth junkie.
Before Unlimited Sciences, I spent 25 years in marketing leadership: building strategy, organizing chaos, scaling impact and guiding teams toward shared purpose. I’ve led website overhauls, workflow audits, technology migrations, go-to-market campaigns, global rebrands and industry research commissions. And I loved the work.
But over time, I started craving more than KPIs. I wanted to help people reconnect with themselves. I founded Align+Clear, a coaching business rooted in mindset work, habit change and psychedelic integration. Helping people break through limiting beliefs and rediscover their confidence was profoundly rewarding. But if I’m being honest, solopreneurship also proved to be incredibly lonely. I missed working with a team of talented people. I missed collaborating for shared wins. I missed mission-level scale and community impact.
That’s why this opportunity feels like such a full-circle moment. It’s a role that perfectly combines everything I’ve known and loved, with everything I’ve been missing.
Meanwhile, our former Executive Director, Matt Lowe, will stay on in his role as Chief Scientific Officer, where he’ll lead our research initiatives full-time. We’re now a power duo at the helm, and I’m thrilled to be working alongside someone as mission-driven, data-smart and charismatic as Matt.
To our growing community:
Know that we are listening. We’re continuing to lead the growing psychedelic movement with research and education.
Want to move the needle with US?
Tell me what you’d like to see next from Unlimited Sciences. What questions are you still holding when it comes to psychedelics? Where can we plug in our resources to exponentially change the conversation? What’s important to you for the future of psychedelics?
Drop your thoughts here and know that I personally read every response.
🌟 Katie