About Us

Learn more about the team that’s dedicated to taking your brand and vision to the next level.

Let's work Together

Creating a platform for our clients to be heard.

CMW Media is the leading PR and Marketing Agency for clients operating in new and emerging markets. We are award-winning industry leaders and producers whose inherent talent is capturing messages worldwide and educating the public. With hundreds of news clips from AFP, Reuters, Associated Press and more, the overall fundamental understanding about CMW Media is this: if you are our client, our focus is putting the spotlight on your business or organization’s initiatives.

Full Service

We are a full-service public relations and marketing agency.

Award Winning

CMW is comprised of multiple award-winning documentary filmmakers, journalists, and marketers.

Efficient

We strive to be unprecedented in our efficacy of publicizing our clients’ key initiatives

One Stop

We are a one-stop resource for all your PR and media needs.

Our Values

Integrity, ethics, professionalism & community – the foundation of success.

Our Mission

Educate the public on your truths, uniquely, through headline news.

Our Vision

Catapult life-changing ideas into the mainstream.

Our Team

Andrew Hard

Founder

Kyle Porter

Chief Executive Officer

Cassandra Dowell

PR Account Director

Kathryn Reinhardt

PR Account Director

Brooke Benavides

Director of Marketing

Ashley Rose-Niemiec

Marketing Manager

Ryan Shatto

Digital Marketing Manager

Maryse Ayub

Multimedia Manager

Peyton Moon

Creative Manager

Kyle Ankney

PR Account Executive

Beth Adan

Sr. PR Account Executive

Nicole Farah

Sr. PR Account Executive

Pablo Perez

Graphic Design Coordinator

Lindsay Santiago

Graphic Design Coordinator

Javier Cardenas

Digital Marketing Coordinator

Andrew Hard

Founder

With more than a dozen years of experience as an investigative journalist, Andrew Hard has a passion for strategic communications and helping clients achieve national and international exposure for their products, brands and messages. Hard spent nearly a decade at FOX and FOXNews.com, and has won two prestigious NEAL Awards for his work at Corporate Counsel magazine. Working as FOXNews.com’s Front Page Editor, Hard helped the site achieve a period of unprecedented growth; in his tenure, Hard was responsible for doubling site traffic from 20 to 40 million hits a day, and driving it to a record 80 million page views for the month of October. Now a global spokesperson for the legitimate cannabis industry, Mr. Hard is proud to serve as CMW Media’s Founder, which already has a track record of demonstrated success for clients such as KannaLife Sciences, Axim Biotech and Medical Marijuana, Inc. Before joining CMW, Mr. Hard was the Director of Marketing at ForwardMetrics and Social Media and Communications Manager at Directed. Hard holds a journalism degree from NYU.

Kyle Porter

CEO

With a passion for business and marketing, Kyle Porter got his first taste of success while in college working as the Advertising Director for the school newspaper. Upon graduation with a marketing degree, Kyle began his agency career at a small start-up agency as a Marketing Assistant. With a "knack for numbers", Kyle eventually took over accounting, HR, and logistics as well as continued to grow his marketing responsibilities within the company. After transitioning to a larger agency in Scottsdale, Kyle began his management track as the Director of Operations for Steve LeVine Entertainment & Public Relations managing a team of over 25 staff across three departments. Using the sales skills he had acquired in his time in advertising, Kyle eventually took on a business development role landing the largest contract the agency had ever been awarded that resulted in new revenues in excess of $2million. Realizing that building agencies had become his career path, Kyle transitioned to CMW Media with the hopes to grow the agency to become a worldwide leader in PR and marketing for the Cannabis industry.

"All our dreams can come true if we have but the courage to pursue them." ~ Walt Disney

Cassandra Dowell

Public Relations Account Director

Cassandra's experience working as a business reporter and most recently with cannabis startups in roles spanning public and investor relations provides her with a nuanced understanding of the communication challenges and opportunities in heavily regulated markets.

Notably, Cassandra served as V.P. of Communications for Revolution Enterprises, Illinois’ largest licensed medical cannabis cultivation and laboratory company. Independent investment bank Ackrell Capital recognized Revolution as one of the top 100 privately owned cannabis companies in 2016. Prior to joining Revolution, Cassandra was a B2B reporter covering finance and business trends within the cannabis and healthcare industries. During her time as a Chicagoland newspaper editor, she received more than 10 Illinois Press Association and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards for her coverage of mental health and housing issues. Cassandra holds a journalism degree from Roosevelt University, where she was also an active member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Kathryn Reinhardt

PR Account Supervisor

Kathryn Reinhardt is a seasoned professional who has experience in consumer, B2B and non-profit public relations. Pioneering her career in New York City, she has worked for a number of global agencies with a number of internationally-recognized food, beverage and beauty clients. Her writing skills and knack for nourishing meaningful professional relationships has led to a number of top-tier media placements such as the Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail, Today Show, Good Morning America, Real Simple and many more.

Kathryn also has an array of marketing skills and accomplishments that have helped start-up companies flourish and find growth and success. She has led all-inclusive marketing and social media campaigns and donated her time to several non-profit organizations pro Bono.

Kathryn holds a public relations degree from Murray State University where she was a board member of the school's Public Relations Student Society of America and Vice President of Sigma Alpha Iota fraternity.

Brooke Benavides

Director of Marketing

With more than 10 years of industry experience, Brooke has held nearly every position within a PR and marketing agency. A communications professional who began her career in sports and entertainment, she has continued to exercise her knowledge to include traditional public relations, social media, event planning, advertising, digital marketing and overall agency operations. Now the Director of Marketing at CMW Media, a full-service PR and marketing agency serving cannabis and emerging markets, she is dedicated to bringing a holistic approach to the development of successful MarCom strategies for its clients. Brooke has an MBA in Marketing from Grand Canyon University. My favorite part about CMW Media is the talented, dynamic and passionate team that I get to surround myself with every day. Together, we inspire each other to be as disruptive as the emerging clients we represent. Outside of work, my hobbies include petting every dog I see and wishing they were mine, hiking, cooking and eating all of the samples at San Diego’s many Farmer’s Markets. I am a determined, curious and caring person who looks at the bigger picture when working alongside our clients.

Ryan Shatto

Digital Marketing Manager

Ryan is a transplant of Arizona where he grew up and graduated from Arizona State University. As a proud Sun Devil, Ryan received his Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Technology from ASU in 2012 with a concentration in Energy, Materials and Technology.

Professionally, Ryan has been working as a Web Developer and in the Digital Marketing space for 7+ years now. His background is in entertainment and events where he has designed websites and developed digital campaigns for some of the biggest acts in the industry. He is also a self-taught graphic designer with his work being featured at music festivals, fashion shows and other events both locally and on the national level.

At CMW, Ryan has developed more than 40+ websites in his year and a half with the company ranging from e-commerce to creative brands. He works directly with the digital marketing team on developing content and messaging to promote each client's unique brand.

He is involved in the local Arizona State Alumni Association San Diego Chapter where he serves as Communications Chair as well as managing their digital marketing and alumni outreach.

Maryse Ayub

Senior Multimedia Manager

Maryse is a transplant from Albuquerque, NM, where she received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media. She loves spending time behind the camera. Specializing in Behind the Scenes and lifestyle photography; utilizing natural light and capitalizing on candid moments.

A self taught videographer and editor; Maryse loves collaborating with talented, like minded individuals. She not only cares about the client's expectations, but is passionate about everything she creates. A Multimedia Producer for CMW, Maryse is looking forward to all the new creative challenges.

Peyton Moon

Creative Manager

My name is Peyton Moon and I am a Creative Manager at CMW Media. Born and raised in the Gem State, I made the journey to join my team in sunny San Diego circa 2017 and have thoroughly enjoyed my time both in and out of the office. As an artist, I love finding and creating the design solutions perfect for each individual client that comes across my desk. Whether I am freshening up a room in my home or hard at work on the computer, design is an application to my everyday life. I believe it is essential to the world in both function and form. I am a focused and driven team player in the office while in my free time I enjoy digital drawing and painting, the outdoors and furthering my skills as a designer. I love spending time and collaborating with my talented, close-knit team daily. When we put our heads together nothing is out of reach.

Pablo Perez

Graphic Design Coordinator

My name is Pablo, Graphic Design Coordinator/3D Modeler at CMW Media. I was born and raised in the beautiful city of San Diego. My passion for creative design has a significant influence from when I was young. In pursuit of professional and artistic development I honed my skills through academic study and practical freelance work -- ranging from logo / personal branding to 3D Modeling. I am a meticulous, imaginative, and highly motivated creative that can turn a vision into reality. I love to provide quality work for my clients and am eager to continue propelling the company forward with my peers.

Javier Cardenas

Marketing Controller

My name is Javier Yamir Cardenas and I joined the CMW team as a Digital Marketing Coordinator. Growing up, daily commutes from my former home in Tijuana to and from school in San Diego were fueled by an eagerness to develop English as my second tongue and become the first in my family to graduate high school. During my academic career I discovered an aptitude for investigative research, social media techniques and journalism that molded all of my hobbies into an ambitious venture; leading me through multiple years of freelance work in the hip-hop music industry. The entire CMW team accepted me with open arms upon my arrival, providing me a place to share my ideas and opinions working alongside self-motivated people with an appetite for success. I am an organized, perseverant, go-getter who takes on any challenge with a positive attitude and look forward to creating long lasting professional relationships with my clients and coworkers during my time at CMW.