Maria Johnson

Director of National Sales, Verano

Chicago

Maria brings nearly two decades of sales management, manufacturing, and marketing experience from her work in the personal care industry, where she was at the helm of a global leader in prestige beauty and luxury personal care products. In ultra-competitive and diverse environs, with experience in publicly traded companies as well as private entities, she has directed, and refined sales teams of well over 300+ skilled sales consultants, who she deployed in several states.

Now, in the ever-burgeoning cannabis space, she works closely with purchasing managers and owners of dispensaries, always ensuring that Verano’s portfolio of brands are best-represented and proliferating. As Director of National Sales, Maria has developed systems, where from concept to creation she oversees distribution channels and logistics, inventory and order fulfillment processes, mentors and manages sales teams across the country, and all minutia related to a strategic top-down customer service experience. With her unique and dynamic approach to leading cross-functional teams nationally, Maria has been instrumental in bringing unique luxury brands to scale in an unheard-of fashion.

Prior to her joining Verano, Maria served as Agent-In-Charge, and Director of Business Development, where she adeptly and deftly constructed and shaped a superior dispensary in the Illinois Medical Cannabis community. From the Program’s genesis in 2014, her attunement to consumer needs and the cannabis marketplace’s trends, is what distinguishes her outstanding talents in the biggest way, as a true steward of the cannabis industry. Her laser focus on outstanding product matched with outstanding white-glove service are unmatched.

Maria is a member of Illinois Women in Cannabis, a non-for-profit whose focus is to educate and mentor strong women in the industry. She has experienced the life changing benefits of cannabis in a very personal manner and her mission is to ensure others have access to that same experience while pioneering a burgeoning, new industry.