Neko Catanzaro

Neko Catanzaro always expected to be on the other side of this equation, as the journalist writing about the industry instead of the president of Proven Media, one of the cannabis industry’s top boutique PR firms.

But the Brown University graduate and Rhode Island native is still a storyteller at heart and loves putting those skills to good use.

“I love telling stories and bringing success to companies that are deserving or doing great things within the industry,” she says. “We like to say our clients might know their story, but we know how to tell it.”

Catanzaro joined Proven Media in 2013, answering a Craigslist ad in Arizona. Always a strong writer, Catanzaro says she “learned the ropes” of public relations during those early years at Proven and credits CEO Kim Prince for giving her the freedom to make mistakes and learn the various facets of the industry.

And when Proven Media was one of the first PR firms to move into the cannabis space back in 2015, Catanzaro moved with it. Today, the cannabis industry is the company’s primary focus, which she says is like any other industry except more regulations and a difficulty sometimes in convincing traditional media outlets to cover an industry they often think is just “fun and games.”

Catanzaro says her highlight so far is getting an article about client Copperstate Farms placed in the Sunday Style section of the New York Times, “a six-month endeavor.”

“The great thing about cannabis is it really does touch all sectors,” she says. “You just get to have a little bit more creativity when you’re talking about it in a narrative space within the media landscape.”