Icons, Rock Stars, & Innovators: Mary Pryor
What makes you an Innovator?
You’re not the problem, you’re the solution! You are traveling the roads not taken…being a pioneer of change…and fearlessly creating groundbreaking initiatives and solutions!
Amongst her colleagues, Mary Pryor is known for being a trendsetting, innovative, passionate and strategic problem solver. Mary has always been ahead of the curve due to being immersed in automotive design, electrical engineering, music, education, digital arts, and marketing while being raised in Detroit, Michigan. She is a bicoastal media expert with an impressive roster of employers and clients.
Mary has worked for major brands across the music, media, technology, and marketing industries including Sony Music Group, Viacom, Attention PR, City Parks Foundation, Mirrorball, Black Enterprise, CBS News, Ebony Magazine, Essence Magazine, Rolling Stone, VaynerMedia, Mindshare, SheKnows Media, McCann XBC, McCann Health, Byron Allen Group, Sean Combs Enterprises, and McGarryBowen. Having realized there was a pressing need for agencies that catered to culturally rich and niche audiences through digital and social marketing integration, Mary founded her own firms, WeFancy (consulting) and UrbanSocialista (digital marketing consulting).
Mary participates in speaking engagements nationwide to share her expertise in digital innovation. In 2014 she was recognized as SXSW’s Innovator of the Year. Mary’s goal is to provide online branding and digital trend-forecasting for the general market by empowering communities through the utilization of digital tools. She is the co-founder of Cannaclusive, a collective focused on inclusive marketing and business advocacy in the cannabis industry, New York Chapter President of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and she serves as Chief Marketing Officer for Tonic CBD and Tricolla Farms. She currently serves on the board for Possible Plan, a Cura Cannabis social equity effort and serves as an advisor and judge for Eaze Momentum Accelerator. She advises three cannabis and non-plant-touching companies: Kanna, Dieux Skin, Flor De Maria Chocolates. She is a proud native Detroiter and graduate of the University of Michigan.
Follow Mary on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn!
The ACNY Foundation is proud to recognize outstanding industry professionals, during our 4th Annual Black History Month recognition series titled, “Icons, Rock Stars & Innovators”.
It is our way of shining the spotlight on exemplary talent, integral to the evolution and growth of the advertising industry. Each day during Black History Month we profile a selected “Icon, Rock Star & Innovator” across all our digital platforms. Though we cannot be together in person, the spirit of our history and the legacy of our excellence lives on in us. Follow the series on Instagram, Meta, Twitter, and LinkedIn!
P.S. Check out our other content from previous years
2020 – Honorees
2019 – Sizzle Reel
2019 – Online Exhibition