MJBizMag April 2021 - 70

IndustryPlayers | New Hires & Promotions
By Omar Sacirbey
A look at some recent
hiring moves in the
marijuana industry
Family-Friendly Grow
Draws Marketing Exec
I
f cannabis
companies need
proof that benefits
such as maternity
leave matter to the
executives they're
recruiting, look no
further than Esther
Song. The former
fashion marketing
executive left
MedMen Enterprises
in November and
is now the chief marketing officer at Canndescent,
a marijuana-cultivation company based in Santa
Barbara, California.
The Los Angeles-based marketing guru gave birth
to her first child in late March 2020, shortly after
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide
shelter-in-place order to slow the spread of the
coronavirus.
" The process of looking for a job when you're a
new mother during a pandemic is not easy, " Song
told Marijuana Business Magazine. " It made me
really ask the hard questions. I asked the leadership
at Canndescent and all the other companies I was
speaking with, 'What does your work-life balance look
like? What does post-pandemic work-life balance
look like?' "
A big reason Song ultimately took the job was
Canndescent's willingness to accommodate childcare
responsibilities, such as allowing her to work
from home when needed.
Cannabis executives, take note: " If this industry is
going to attract top talent, maternity leave, paternity
leave and certain benefits need to be competitive
with other industries, " Song said.
Before joining MedMen in 2019, Song spent
about 15 years in various senior public relations
and marketing posts in the fashion sector, including
nine years with national fashion brand Tory Burch,
where she was vice president of public relations and
partnerships.
" I think the way we are taught to do storytelling in
fashion is not that different than in cannabis. People
want to be educated, " Song said.
Compliance
Firm Nabs Twitter,
Omnicom Execs
Katie Ford,
Twitter's head
of global brands
for the past two
years, joined
Fyllo, a cannabis
compliance
software company
in Chicago, as its chief operating officer. Ford's
experience includes more than 20 years at Publicis
Media, where she was the lead executive on Procter
& Gamble, Coca-Cola, USAA and Kellogg's accounts,
ultimately rising to president. From there she joined
Amobee, an advertising platform, as chief client
officer. Ford, once recognized by Ad Age among its
" Women to Watch, " was also the first person to join
Fyllo's board of directors in 2019. She will step down
from that post to take her new role.
Joe Raaen, formerly the director of global strategic
partnerships for Annalect, is joining Fyllo as vice
president of product management.
The company also added Roxanne Taylor to its
board of directors. Taylor is the chief marketing
and communications officer at the Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
 IPO-minded
Parallel Taps
Walgreens CFO
Atlanta-based
Parallel appointed
Walgreens
veteran Jeremy
Kunicki as its chief
financial officer on
March 1, a few days
after the vertically
integrated multistate
operator announced
plans to go public
through a merger with Ceres Acquisition Corp., a
special purpose acquisition company.
Kunicki joined from Walgreens Boots Alliance, a
holdings company where he spent 20 years and most
recently served as CFO for the Walgreens division.
Kunicki was responsible for financial oversight
of investments, financial planning, performance
management and business development.
70 Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2021
Esther Song
MJBizMag April 2021

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