Brenda Smith, MBA, CFP®
Founder, CB Capital Concierge™
Brenda founded CB Capital Concierge, a boutique capital advisory firm, to further commerce and science in the legal cannabis industry. Drawing on a foundational Wall Street career working in a B2B environment, she’s driven top line revenue and managed to bottom line results as an operator and strategist where she led a $34B product P&L, as well as a $22B District Sales Channel. She brings an expanded definition of capital to her entrepreneur and investor clients: financial capital while essential, is amplified by social, intellectual and human capital into diligence that builds enterprise value. Networking, connecting and building synergistic alliances are her avocation, and she has formalized these resources for client’s business success in her firm’s ‘concierge.’
In addition to raising significant capital, Brenda has been trusted as advisor to the world’s global leaders, entrepreneurs and enterprising individuals to commercialize business growth in capital markets, navigate complex regulatory environments and grow market share. Today, through CB Capital Concierge, she is trusted by private investors, family offices, private funds and companies to fuel growth in the legal cannabis industry by forwarding financial capital to drive sales, distribution, market strategy, talent, operating efficiency and management.
Brenda has worked to commercialize new technologies through Carnegie Mellon’s Tech Transfer office; advised Launch-cyte, a bio-tech incubator on capital formation, scientific marketing and operations, and has served as a confidential thought partner to multi-national CEOs on business strategy during times of mission-critical transition: Deloitte Partners on the integration of Sarbannes-Oxley regulations, and Transocean as Big Oil deliberated on the Macondo blowout in the Gulf. Other multi-national clients include: DBS Bank Singapore, FedEx, Booz Allen, Harley Davidson, the U.S. Air Force, Microsoft, Asia and the post-perestroika medical systems in the former U.S.S.R. Later, she led the U.S.-Israel Economic Development initiative for the exchange of entrepreneurial ventures. She has advised Next Act Angel Fund on strategy, as well as the Financial Women’s Association on investment management. She serves on the Board of the American-Israel Cannabis Association (AICA), where she builds strategic alliances and furthers commerce between advanced Israeli medical cannabis and US companies and investors. Prior employment includes: National product marketing and regional sales for Merrill Lynch; Launch of consumer and capital market investment lines of business for PNC Securities; Private placements, alternative investments and business advisory at Bernstein Private Wealth; Managing Director, Private Equity at BlackShire Capital, a Toronto, Ontario Cannabis Private Equity Firm, and CEO of Peoplesmith Global, Inc., an international advisory company she founded and successfully exited. Today, Brenda also chairs a group for Tiger 21 in New York City.
Brenda earned her BS from Boston University, her MBA from New York University and studied behavioral finance at the London School of Economics. She is a CFP® professional as well as a professionally certified coach applying decision science to executive decision-making.
