Alyse Thompson-Richards has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served as managing editor of Cannabis Products magazine since March 2019, and is currently the editor-in-chief of Food Engineeering magazine. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.