Meet Shanetta McDonald of Kikoko in Los Angeles County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanetta McDonald.

Shanetta, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I remember from a very early age knowing that having an education was important for the type of life I wanted.I come from a single-parent home in which our finances were always tight (or non-existent). I watched my mother who’s education ended after high school back then, struggle to make ends meet to raise my sister and I. This served as my fuel.

With education being a priority for me, I excelled in school. I was the first to graduate from college in my immediate family and went on to graduate school for continued education. Of course, going to college isn’t for everyone and I have some amazing friends who are happy and successful without that piece of paper and I don’t knock it one bit.

When I was a child I wanted to be a newscaster/TV host. I was fascinated with talk shows and the nightly news. Naturally, I came into college as a Communications major but was discouraged by my mother who wanted me to find a more ‘secure’ (aka money-driving) career. I then changed my major from Communications to Computer Science (hated it), to Accounting (hated it even more), ultimately to Business Management and Marketing after taking a Consumer Behavior course. That way I had more options to decide my career path. Shortly after, I researched careers under Marketing and discovered Public Relations (PR). I loved to write and loved media, so it was a great fit. I did PR for nearly ten years before transitioning into sales at a cannabis wellness company called Kikoko last year.

I wanted to leave PR because I lost my passion for the work. I am however grateful for the PR skills I have learned and still freelance on occasion. PR is a highly competitive, dog-eat-dog industry. If you’re good at doing PR you can pretty much do anything.

I was very intentional about working in the cannabis space in 2018. I wrote down exactly what I wanted in a role and a company. Three months after searching, the universe conspired and I discovered Kikoko and joined the company as their first Southern California employee. We now have a team of five here.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My career path has not been easy. At 24 years old, I landed my first full-time, entry-level PR gig in 2008. In 2009, the recession hit everyone, including me, and I was laid off from my job. I was shocked and devastated. I had worked so hard to get into the industry I was now no longer employed at. I filed for unemployment and went back to job searching. Luckily, one year later I got a job offer, but it was purely for income as the job was not in PR. The job was in coupon marketing – which I didn’t even know was a thing up until that point – and I hated every single day of the job. After one year I bounced to another marketing job (FYI – PR is a subset of Marketing, but more niche and very different) and also hated it. I worked for a tech start-up company with a mean, sleazy boss. Thankfully a few months later I was offered a PR job in Boston (I’m from Chicago, born and raised). I packed up my life in Chicago and relocated in two and a half weeks.

I loved the company I worked for and the work I did in Boston. However, I couldn’t quite establish a life there. I had finally found my happy place with work but needed to uproot again to have a personal life. My top choices were Los Angeles or NYC based on the type of work that I did. Ultimately I chose Los Angeles because of the weather and quality of life I wanted.

My career path has surely had its ups and downs but I wouldn’t change it all.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Kikoko – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Kikoko is a women-owned, women-centric cannabis botanical wellness company offering healthier alternatives to pharmaceuticals and alcohol. It was founded by Jennifer Chapin and Amanda Jones, who wanted to arm women with the necessary information to make smart decisions about their health. They also wanted to create products that guaranteed a consistent, low-dose, healthy, delicious way to access cannabis.

With every job I’ve had and every company I’ve worked with, I’ve gotten more and more comfortable in my skin and being my authentic, true self. Kikoko has given me the space to reach that peak. When I tell people who I work for, I imagine my face is glowing, because I’m so proud of the people I get to work with every day. I’m honored to work with some of the strongest, compassionate, down-to-earth, hardest working women ever.

I’m the Southern California Director of Sales at Kikoko. Kikoko has a distribution partner whose job is to get Kikoko products on dispensary shelves. My team and I work to drive distribution and also to get our products off the shelves by providing sell-through activity to our retailers/dispensary partners. I also drive regional revenue-driving initiatives outside of dispensaries. Kikoko is a start-up in a new industry, so me and my team wear many hats. I’m confident in saying that I’m known for getting sh*t done. I’m a natural overachiever and go-getter and honestly, I’m not sure why it took me so long to get into sales. I love and thrive in doing it. I care deeply about my work and that makes a difference in what I produce and most importantly, my quality of life. I’m also very passionate about educating others on the benefits of cannabis. It has changed my life and I have seen it change others’ lives for the better. I’m honored to be a woman of color working in the cannabis space given the negative impact the war on drugs has had on people of color.

What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
Growing up, I was very outgoing. As a small child, I was called ‘fingers’ because I literally touched/got into everything I could see. I was a tomboy like most girls but eventually grew out of it once I entered high school. I was always the loudest person in the room with an obnoxious laugh and sometimes still am. My interests were school and my friends like most kids. Overall, I was curious about everything but also somewhat reserved (e.g., I was the last of my friends to drink underage because I didn’t want to get in trouble).

Contact Info:

• Website: kikoko.com
• Instagram: @_Iamshan

Image Credit:
George Evan
Riley Westgaard

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