Get to Know Us: HLI Faculty & Staff
Meet Kayla Beyer ’18
CEO of Deeply Rooted™ Farms
Food Law Center Advisory Board Member
What inspired you to create Deeply Rooted™ Farms while practicing law?
Having worked for Hormel Foods’ contract manufacturing division right out of college, I negotiated 30+ page contracts with other very large CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies and was enamored with the culmination of regulatory, contract law, and business dealings. Having grown up on a dairy farm and raising my children on a crop and beef farm, I promised myself that I would find a way to commercialize healthy, clean food that would make a difference. Upon graduating from law school, I created a sustainable alternative protein option and launched the Deeply Rooted™ Farms product portfolio.
What are your goals with Deeply Rooted™ Farms?
First, to diminish the stigma of incorporating plant-based foods into one’s diet. Our industry focus is K-12, and we are elated, as a woman-owned business, to not only nourish school menus daily with high-quality protein sources but to educate today’s youth on healthy food choices. A close second is paying attention to our impact on a global footprint; we ship less food given we offer a shelf-stable, dehydrated product where the end-user adds water, as opposed to shipping a protein that requires cold-chain distribution/storage and demands 70% more diesel-burdened semis.
What kinds of challenges did you face starting your own law firm and food business?
My biggest challenge was that I had an identity crisis. I wanted to keep practicing law in areas that appealed to me, especially being based in a mostly rural area where folks needed help, but on the other hand, wanting to be the CEO of a food company. I was unsure what people would think if I did both. They are completely different, and I wear different hats all the time—it’s a must when starting your own business—so what’s one more hat? Where the law firm helped me professionally was when things were stressful with running Deeply Rooted™ Farms, I could hunker down and use a different part of my brain by focusing on the law. Of course – negotiating school contracts or vendor/supplier contracts for Deeply Rooted™ Farms or understanding how to label our plant-based items is where it gets fun for me as it brings my two worlds together well.
What have you enjoyed most while serving on the Health Law Institute’s Food Law Center’s advisory board?
Our goal is to bring more awareness to food law and business law here at the Food Law Center, and we are well on our way by offering courses and having a dedicated annual symposium agenda to share with the world. I have enjoyed the intangibles such as meeting other members of the food law community in the metro area who share the same level of passion for regulating and supplying food as I do. There is so much opportunity with residing in a mini food mecca and providing a runway for law students to learn more about the importance of bringing safe, quality food to consumers. It’s such an honor to be part of such an esteemed group of professionals.
What’s something people might not know about you?
When I worked at Hormel, I was part of a team that created dog water – water fortified with glucosamine and chondroitin to help with hip dysplasia. It was when the economy took a dive, and no one had money to buy vitamin water for their dogs. It was a great experience but not a story I share very often.
Healthy Dose of Good News
Meet Abdur Amin ‘23
Senior Safety Professional, Disneyland Resort with The Walt Disney Company
Tell us about your role at The Walt Disney Company?
I work as a senior safety professional at Disneyland Resort with The Walt Disney Company. I support over a hundred food and beverage locations. As the food safety subject matter expert, I advise operational and culinary leaders on food safety best practices, regulatory compliance, and aligning the brand’s long-term strategic goals or growth initiatives to our food safety and regulatory frameworks. I also serve as a liaison with our local regulatory authorities, work with our 3rd party auditors and vendors, analyze and forecast safety performance metrics, and manage other food safety projects and programs.
How did your law school experience enhance your ability to perform as a food safety specialist?
I believe the skills that you learn in law school are infinitely more valuable than the actual content you might learn in a class. Personally, my critical thinking and analytical reasoning grew substantially in law school. I can now critically assess local and state regulatory health, safety, and food codes to read what a specific statute or rule means and how I could creatively interpret it differently. Additionally, the advocacy skills that I learned are immensely useful when I am interacting with local government and regulatory agencies. I was also able to enhance real-world skills in “non-law” related areas such as monitoring, auditing, compliance, leadership, and communication by taking classes in the Health Law and Health Care Compliance Certificate programs and ultimately getting a Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) certification.
What were some of your favorite experiences at Mitchell Hamline?
There were a lot of fond times reflecting on my Mitchell Hamline experience. I found a great community with the Health Law Institute and Food Law Center. I was able to channel my interests and passions in these areas by researching and publishing some papers in the health law sphere. I was lucky to be able to work with like-minded students by serving on the Health Law Society and Food Law Student Network boards. Most of all, I was able to build a great community by networking with fellow students, mentors, and professors who are real-world practical experts in these fields.
If you could give one piece of advice to current law students, what would it be?
I would encourage students to fully embrace going out of their comfort zone and learning about things that they find interesting or more about things they are very passionate about. I am happy that I had an open mind to participate in different activities, take different classes, try new things, and most importantly, meet and interact with some awesome people throughout the journey. Most importantly, find a mentor. They are a great asset and enrich your life during the challenging days in law school. I was lucky to have found a great mentor with Professor Barbara Colombo, whose relationship I cherish to this day.
What are you most proud of?
Law school itself is a great challenge. For many of us who graduated from Mitchell Hamline in the blended or part-time programs, there were additional responsibilities that we juggled whether it was our careers, families, or other obligations. I am most proud of being privileged to mentor many 1L and 2L students during my latter years. I am proud of our resilience during this journey and being able to learn a lot from the people I met along the way. I am grateful that we had the opportunity and privilege to pursue this endeavor and are being given a chance to use this tool to give back to our communities.
We welcome the opportunity to highlight you in one of our upcoming newsletters, and encourage any students or alumni to email us!
Faculty & Staff News
Congratulations to the HLI faculty and staff on their accomplishments in December and January! Follow the links to view their most recent presentations, publications, events, panels, and media highlights.
Health Care Compliance Certificate Program
Gain a competitive advantage in one of the hottest job markets by obtaining your Health Care Compliance Certificate through our 11-14 credit program, completely online! More information and application details for J.D. students and for working professionals.
Accepting applications for the August 2024 cohort.
Health Law Institute’s Rankings
The Health Law Institute has been awarded an ‘A+’ by preLaw. Read more on page 40 in their Back to School 2023 issue.
U.S. News & World Report
Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s Health Law Institute was ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report for 2023-2024.
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