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If your impact-based organization needs incredible executives, Visit YScouts.com now to find your next purpose-driven, performance-proven leader.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Heralded as “The Queen of Legal Weed” by Inc. (May 2017) and “The Martha Stewart of Edibles” by Entrepreneur (Jan. 2019), Nancy Whiteman is co-founder and CEO of Wana Brands, a top international brand already available in more than 3,000 dispensaries across the United States and Canada.
Nancy leads the company’s strategic vision and has been instrumental in Wana Brands’ growth into new and emerging markets. She also directs the development of partnerships and licensing agreements domestically and internationally.
Nancy founded Wana Wellness Hemp Herbal Supplements leveraging her expertise in cannabinoid innovation and product development.
Nancy serves on the Marijuana Business Daily Advisory Board and the Benzinga Cannabis Advisory Board. She was recognized as one of Green Entrepreneur’s 35 Most Influential Women in Cannabis (May 2020) and named MJBizDaily’s first-ever Industry Impact Award Winner (December 2019). She was one of six women included in High Times 100 (March 2019) and was listed as No. 1 in Cannabis Business Executive’s 2017 Power Women in Cannabis (November 2017).
She is a member of the Colorado Cannabis Manufacturers Association, National Cannabis Industry Association, Cannabis Trade Federation and Marijuana Policy Project.
Prior to Wana, Nancy was a principal with The Whiteman Group, a sales and marketing consultancy, and previously held a range of senior-level marketing and business development positions including Vice President, Marketing and New Corporate Ventures for the Paul Revere Insurance Group in Massachusetts.
Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Connect:
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Vishal Rungta is Co-founder, President and Chief Financial Officer of C3 Industries Inc. To date, Vishal has overseen approximately $100 million in capital investment for C3, leveraging his expansive network of business professionals in addition to his expertise in business strategy, capital structure and risk management.
Vishal also co-founded and now serves on the board of Nickel City Pictures, a production company based in Los Angeles and New York known for films like John Wick 2, November Man and Mother’s Day, just to name a few.
Previously, Vishal worked at investment banking at Moelis & Company and Texas Pacific Group before transitioning to a business and operations strategy role at Google. Vishal’s work across these industries and performance in some of the top companies in the world has provided a wealth of experience and a rich network of contacts in various industries around the world, which he now brings to C3 Industries.
Vishal earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2008.
Beyond his success in business, Vishal is a true family man and lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife and son. He loves to scuba dive, play table tennis and eat great food.
Connect:
Connect with Vishal on LinkedIn
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Jocelyn Sheltraw is the Director of Industry Relations at Headset, responsible for internal and external strategies to build Headset's brand awareness, community development, and market expansion across North America.
Jocelyn is a vocal cannabis advocate and industry thought leader, involved in various cannabis associations, committees, social equity programs, as well as regular speaker at various industry events, podcasts and webinars.
Prior to the cannabis industry, Jocelyn spent 10 years working in mobile advertising and technology developing advertising and monetization strategies for apps including: Flipboard, Spotify, SoundCloud, Pandora, and Uber to name a few.
Outside of her work in cannabis, Jocelyn is the Chairperson for the Mono Lake Kutzadika Cultural Preservation.
Connect:
Headset - Best Cannabis Data & Analytics
Connect with Jocelyn on LinkedIn
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Shuchi Sarkar is currently CMO of a biotech start-up, Creo Inc. Creo, is an ingredient platform, producing rare and novel cannabinoids, through a fusion of technology and fermentation, with multiple benefits to humans. In her current role she is responsible for driving the go-to-market strategy, brand building, PR and communications, category growth and demand generation for Creo, as well as building the team and the marketing ecosystem in this nascent but fast-growing industry.
Previously, Global Head of Marketing for HP Graphics, a growing $4Billion, B2B digital printing business for HP. Shuchi currently manages a budget of roughly $100M and 150 FTEs in a complex category. She helped transform the marketing model to a more strategic, integrated marketing campaigns, encompassing AI, account-based & closed-loop marketing, social & digital, content, customer advocacy & PR. And drove the re-skilling and transformation of a 140 people diverse team spread across the globe.
Previously, Shuchi led a similar transformation in the Americas Print Business by redefining HP’s approach on printer security, reinventing home printing and omnichannel for all products. AMS Print business saw solid market share increases. Shuchi won the Women-In Marketing Award for her work on launching Sprocket (a pocket printer) and Instant Ink (Subscription based ink plan) via 100% social, programmatic, data and dynamic content-led campaigns with strong influencer programs.
In her 2 years stint in Enterprise handling storage marketing Shuchi used her ‘consumer marketing skills’ to engage ITDMs in a very different manner. Her guerilla marketing efforts resulted in an award-winning initiative that also led to increase in market share and repositioning of the brand.
Shuchi was previously the Head of Marketing for HP India and Retail Marketing Head for HP Asia-Pacific. Shuchi led many innovative campaigns and programs, complete retail makeover, developing the SMB segment and raising the profile of HP through PR and communication efforts. Shuchi was closely associated with the launch of the iconic ‘Computer is Personal Again’ campaign in India and APJ Region including at Retail.
Shuchi is a transformative, global marketer with consumer and enterprise marketing experience, and worked in country, region, WW, and global leadership roles in Asia, Americas and WW. She combines strong strategic abilities with clear vision with strong execution and thoughtful innovation. She has worked across all marketing disciplines with P&L experience. She has many ‘firsts’ in her portfolio, winner of 24 marketing awards including EFFIES, Cannes and ‘WIM Digital Marketer of the year 2017’. She inspires her team and others with not only her marketing knowledge & skills, but passion, humanity and honesty with a bias to action & innovation. She loves developing and mentoring others in the organization. Shuchi lives in Palo Alto with her husband and 17-year-old daughter.
Connect:
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Friday Dec 17, 2021
Friday Dec 17, 2021
In 2017, Armen was named to Vegas Inc.’s prestigious “40 Under 40” list and in 2018, he was named as one of High Times’ “100 Most Influential People in Cannabis.”
Armen Yemenidjian began his career at Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in August 2009 in the Marketing Department, subsequently moving to Casino Operations and Player Development. He served as Special Projects Manager, Director and Vice President of Player Development before becoming Vice President of Casino Marketing and Operations. He was approved for a Non-restricted Gaming License from the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2009 and served as a member of the Tropicana Las Vegas Executive Committee as well as the Casino Credit and Compliance Committee.
After the sale of Tropicana in August 2015, Yemenidjian founded a number of companies in varying industries, including Armenco Capital, a commercial and residential real estate investment company, Armenco Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Jersey Mike’s in Las Vegas, and Integral Associates I & II, medical and recreational cannabis companies that own and operate three Essence Vegas dispensaries and two state-of-the-art cultivation and production facilities (dbas Desert Grown Farms and Cannabiotix NV). In 2018 and 2019, the company was approved for an additional eight licenses in the State of Nevada and was approved to move forward in the commercial cannabis licensing process in West Hollywood, Pasadena, and Culver City, California. Under Yemenidjian’s leadership, Essence Vegas has received numerous accolades, including being named Business Insider’s number one dispensary in Nevada and top-25 dispensary in the United States; a 15-time Leafly List Winner, the most among dispensaries in Nevada, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s 2016 “Best of Las Vegas.”
In 2019, Green Thumb Industries acquired Integral Associates and Armen joined the GTI team as President. Armen stepped down from GTI as President in April of 2020.
Armen was a member of the Nevada Dispensary Association and the Nevada Cannabis Coalition, was appointed by the Clark County Commission to serve on the Cannabis Green Ribbon Panel March 2017 and was selected by the state of Nevada to participate in the Governor’s Task Force on Cultivation.
Yemenidjian holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
Connect:
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Ankur Rungta is co-founder and chief executive officer of C3 Industries Inc. Under his leadership, the company has raised over $100 million of capital and currently employs almost 400 people. Ankur and his team have overseen the development of six award-winning cannabis production facilities as well as twenty-one retail stores in Michigan, Massachusetts, Missouri and Oregon.
Ankur is also a co-founder and board member of Nickel City Pictures, a film and television production company based in Los Angeles and New York City that has produced such box-office hits as “John Wick 2,” “November Man,” and “Mother’s Day,” among others.
Prior to launching these companies, Ankur worked as an investment banker at Moelis & Company in New York and as a corporate attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, advising clients on capital markets and M&A transactions.
Ankur earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2004. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law school in 2008, when he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Order of the Coif.
In 2014, he was nominated to the Michigan Opera Theatre Board of Directors. He has taken an active role in the arts organization – where he serves as Vice Chairman of the Board and leads the Nominating and Governance Committee, the youngest person to hold those roles.
Ankur is also a dedicated family man. He and his wife reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with their two children. He enjoys traveling, spending time with his family, playing basketball, watching college and professional sports, and keeping up with current events and politics. Ankur was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Buffalo, New York.
Headcount: 350-375
Markets: Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Massachusetts
Capital Raised: $65M to date / $100M including sale leaseback
Connect:
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Laurie Parfitt is an accomplished executive, leader & coach who inspires companies with her vision for what's possible and her ability to execute and drive results.
She has over two decades of driving innovation & execution across multiple functional areas within companies from start-up to Fortune 500.
Laurie has honed her skills at organizations such as Kraft Foods, Beam Suntory, Topco Associates, Mizkan & Mission Dispensaries.
Through her company, LKP Impact Consulting, Laurie works with cannabis and consumer products companies on brand strategy/design, consumer insights and commercial go-to-market strategy.
Parfitt’s background includes experience in large-scale, integrated cross-channel marketing and experience campaigns, including a background in traditional marketing, category development and sales strategy in an omni-channel environment.
Parfitt served as the Vice President of Customer Engagement and Marketing for Mission Dispensaries, which currently owns or manages nine retail locations in six states.
In that role, she oversaw consumer experience and marketing/brand strategies for the booming cannabis dispensary operator, as well as developed the concept of joint business planning, which includes strategic sourcing, assortment optimization and activation.
She is also the fractional Chief Experience Officer of Union Cannabis Group which owns the Dabstract Concentrate brand.
In addition, Laurie is a recognized speaker at Cannabis Conference, Cannabis Beverage Expo and The Hatchery.
Connect:
Connect with Laurie on LinkedIn
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Monday Oct 18, 2021
Monday Oct 18, 2021
Patrick McCartan is Co-Founder and CEO of Regennabis, the leading ESG & Sustainability advisory firm in the global cannabis industry and Co-Founder of Regenerative Cannabis Live, the world's premier sustainable cannabis conference.
Patrick is also Co-Founder of Regennabis Ventures, a private equity impact fund investing in cannabis startups with a commitment to sustainability and ESG, and is the Co-Founder of Honeyoil, a licensed producer in Colombia.
With a background in corporate sustainability working with Fortune 500 companies, Patrick operates within the global ecosystem of the public and private cannabis space and is pioneering the incorporation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into the global cannabis industry.
Connect:
Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Andrew DeAngelo, Cannabis Industry Consultant and Strategic Advisor, Co-founder of Harborside & Last Prisoner Project, Founder of Andrew DeAngelo Consulting
Andrew DeAngelo is a visionary leader with a proven track record of enacting systemic social change and developing best practices in cannabis — he is the very definition of a trailblazer and someone who has proudly walked the road less traveled.
During his almost 13-year tenure at Harborside, where he currently serves as an advisor, Andrew has pioneered legal cannabis business processes and provided groundbreaking political engagement and thought leadership to the cannabis community. Andrew also lends his vast cannabis business and political expertise as a consultant for hire to the global community at large, including several strategic partnerships with the world's leading cannabis-centric service firms.
Andrew led the design and development of gold-standard cannabis retail by innovating many “firsts” for the industry. These include: introducing CBD medicines to heal severely epileptic children as documented in Discovery Channel’s Weed Wars, implementing the first lab-testing program in the history of cannabis dispensing, creating child-resistant packaging for edibles, standardizing inventory tracking, initiating senior outreach, and successfully preventing the federal government from seizing Harborside in forfeiture actions against the company in 2012.
Andrew is co-founder and Chairperson of the Board for the non-profit Last Prisoner Project (LPP). LPP’s mission is to free and re-integrate all cannabis prisoners on earth into mainstream society. Since its inception in 2019, LPP has successfully re-integrated the formerly incarcerated and 2020 will be the year LPP frees its first constituent.
Andrew is also a founding Board of Directors member of the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), the premier cannabis industry trade association in California, where he served from 2013 to 2020 building the organization from zero to 500 member companies. CCIA continues to represent the industry in California as it works on reforming Prop 64 to improve the legal and regulatory framework for cannabis trade throughout the state.
Graduating with honors from Chapman University with a BFA degree in Communications & Theatre, Andrew began his political career as an activist while studying for his MFA in acting at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Over two decades as an activist, Andrew worked on a variety of voter initiatives which legalized medical and adult-use cannabis in San Francisco, Washington D.C, and the State of California.
As an actor, Andrew starred in the feature film Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore which premiered at Sundance in 1997, and on national television shows like Superior Court (1987); Homicide: Life on the Street (1998); as well as dozens of plays across the United States. Andrew also stars in Discovery Channel’s reality television series Weed Wars (2011, 2012). Between 2002 and 2005, Andrew served as a professor at Chapman University teaching acting.
Andrew and his brother Steve recently formed DeAngelo Brothers Productions (DAB), which intends to produce, support, and distribute cannabis content over a variety of mediums and platforms. DAB’s mission is “to create new mythologies for cannabis in pop culture, smashing the stigma of the lazy stoner and replacing it with fresh and positive representations of cannabis in society.”
As a speaker, Andrew has appeared at the MJBusiness Daily Conference in Las Vegas, ICBC, NCIA conferences in Chicago/Boston/San Jose, Emerald Conference, and the U.S Cannabis Conference in Miami. Andrew is scheduled to present at 2020 conferences across the globe. Courses on cannabis business training led by Andrew are available online through Green Flower Media.
For more information, please visit: https://www.andrewdeangelo.com
Connect:
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Keith Stroup is a Washington, DC public-interest attorney who founded NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) in 1970.
Stroup obtained his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois in 1965, and in 1968 he graduated from Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC. Stroup first smoked marijuana when he was a first-year law student and has been a regular smoker since.
Following two years as staff counsel for the National Commission on Product Safety following law school, a job that allowed him to avoid the Vietnam War with a critical skills deferment, Stroup founded NORML and ran the organization through 1979, during which time 11 states decriminalized minor marijuana offenses. Stroup has also practiced criminal law, lobbied on Capitol Hill for family farmers and artists, and for several years served as executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).
In 1994 Stroup resumed his work with NORML, rejoining the board of directors and serving again as Executive Director through 2004. He is currently NORML’s Legal Counsel.
In 1992 Stroup was the recipient of the Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform presented by the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, DC. In 2010 he received the Al Horn Award for Advancing the Cause of Justice from the NORML Legal Committee. And in 2012 Stroup received the High Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2013 Stroup published the history of NORML entitled It’s NORML To Smoke Pot: the 40 Year Fight for Marijuana Smokers’ Rights.
Connect:
NORML:
NORML.org: Working to Restore Marijuana Laws Since 1970
Y Scouts is a leadership search firm that finds purpose-aligned and performance-proven leaders to help organizations achieve their missions faster. Ready to supercharge your leadership search and get the right person in your organization? Contact Y Scouts.