Promotions and new hires underscore organizational development under new CEO Scott Miller

BOTHELL, Wash., October 1, 2020 – Essentia Water, the pioneer of ionized alkaline bottled water in the U.S., today announced key promotions within its Senior Leadership Team effective immediately. The leadership changes reflect Chief Executive Officer Scott Miller’s passion for developing internal talent, focus on cross functional collaboration and integration and his commitment to fostering a “People-first” culture. For Essentia’s Senior Leadership Team, the following individuals have been promoted and named:

Zola Kane, Chief Marketing Officer
With her promotion to CMO, Zola Kane will lead and oversee Essentia’s marketing efforts and operations across advertising, social media, website, retail marketing, influencer marketing and sponsorships. She also leads the expansion of the department’s focus on CPG performance marketing with a heightened emphasis on sales integration. Zola is an award-winning marketer and advertising veteran with expertise in consumer insights and brand strategy. She held prior leadership roles at global brand Starbucks and consumer electronics manufacturer HTC in addition to mobile brands Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile. Zola began her career with global advertising agencies Ogilvy and McCann Erickson.

Kazumi Mechling, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications & Strategic Alliances
Kazumi’s expanded role elevates Essentia’s corporate communications discipline including areas of focus on sustainability, innovation and thought leadership, and expansion of its corporate social responsibility through its Believe+ platform. Strategic alliances will include external business and philanthropic partners as well as an internal focus on cross functional innovation. Kazumi is an accomplished international communications professional having led corporate communications, PR and marketing for global brands including Disney, Starbucks, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Sony and Canon as well as advising numerous fortune 500 CEOs. She began her communications career in technology with Fujitsu Japan.

James Konsmo, Senior Vice President of Operations
In this capacity, Jim will continue to focus on leading Essentia’s Operations team including Supply Chain, Quality Assurance and Engineering, which he has been developing and scaling over the past four years. He will have a greater emphasis on Essentia’s manufacturing capabilities, product availability and bringing new products to market to enable the company’s significant growth and expansion plans. Jim started his career in supply chain, consulting for KPMG and Ernst & Young and subsequently developing operations for multiple high-growth beverage and CPG companies.

“Over the last several months, I’ve had the honor to observe and work closely with Essentia’s departmental leaders including Zola, Jim and Kazumi,” said Scott Miller, CEO, Essentia Water. “I have been impressed by their visions and voices and am confident that their leadership will help drive Essentia toward its goal of being the no. 1 premium bottled water globally.”

In addition to internal promotions, Scott shared that the company is bringing on new hires with strong consumer packaged goods (CPG) and beverage experience to help further evolve the organization’s expertise as well as its “People-first” culture.

The promotions establish the first two women of color, Zola Kane and Kazumi Mechling, as members of Essentia’s Senior Leadership Team. They also follow CEO Scott Miller’s first 100 days at the company, where he has shared his philosophy of galvanizing a workplace culture of empowerment. Scott holds a strong track record of fostering internal talent and growth, having built a robust Executive Leadership Team in his 15 years at Tampico Beverages, Inc., and joined Essentia with the same goal in mind.

“At Essentia, putting People-first will always be our number one responsibility. In these unprecedented times of health, social and economic crises, we will continue to give back and support our communities in meaningful ways. As an organization, we are committed to doing our part towards solutions from the inside out and making a difference each day by our actions,” stated CEO Scott Miller.