“Our mission is to help our clients achieve large-scale goals with confidence without watering down their purpose. We do that by stepping in to remove roadblocks, amplify the effectiveness of teams, and build for sustainable growth.”
– John Bull, CEO
Who We Are
xCanary is a bespoke business consulting and talent services firm built on decades of hands-on leadership and high-impact achievements. We marry practical C-suite experience with meticulous operational execution across sectors—from retail and healthcare to the dynamic cannabis and gaming industries.
Retail Turnarounds: Partnered with Bain Capital to overhaul warehousing, logistics, merchandising, workflows, payroll/scheduling, and rebranding—driving an IPO at $14/share, a peak stock price above $330, and doubling both store count and revenue.
H.I.G. Capital Engagement: Led a three-year revival of the nation’s 13th largest retail footprint (a major Walmart partner), restoring profitability post-bankruptcy and positioning for a successful exit.
What We Do
We embed as fractional executives and program leads to tackle your most urgent challenges and accelerate growth, organized around our core service lines:
Fractional Leadership & Advisory
Plug-and-play executives in Operations, HR, Compliance, Finance, IT, Sales, and more—scaling up teams or filling leadership gaps instantly to keep your business moving.
Strategic Planning & M&A Advisory
- Orchestrated one of the gaming industry’s largest mergers by integrating nearly 6,000 stores—aligning operational systems, supply chains, and financial controls.
- Provide buy-side and sell-side due diligence, valuation support, and post-merger integration planning.
Operational Excellence & Transformation
- Healthcare Manufacturing: Developed a go-to-market and operations model for a surgical suite bone-grinder that culminated in its sale to a leading U.S. Human Tissue Bank.
- Cannabis Operations: Designed a multi-state framework for one of the nation’s largest operators—balancing debt conservatively, maintaining a positive P&L, and securing licenses in eight states.
- Retail Operations: Designed, rolled out, and supported a world-class logistics process and tracking system that improved merchandise processing efficiency, enhanced team productivity, reduced labor costs by over $1M annually, increased sales by $90M through faster merchandise turnover.
Rapid Rescue & Scale-Up
- Executed rapid asset liquidations and expedited license activations for another major cannabis operator, then built and scaled a robust manufacturing & retail model.
Talent Acquisition & People Operations
- Data-driven recruiting and retention strategies to ensure you have the right people in place—across executive, technical, and frontline roles.
- Employee engagement, performance management, and leadership development programs to drive productivity and culture.
Compliance, Risk Management & Loss Prevention
- Rigorous compliance frameworks and in-house loss prevention (co-founded by a former PI) keep shrinkage below national averages and counter organized retail crime.
- Enterprise risk assessments, policy development, and audit support to safeguard assets and reputation.
Technology & Systems Optimization
- IT strategy, systems selection, and implementation roadmaps—ensuring your technology stack scales with your business.
- Workflow automation, data analytics dashboards, and process documentation to drive efficiency and visibility.
Why We Succeed
Our clients trust us because we don’t just talk—you’ll see us doing:
Operator-First Approach: We roll up our sleeves—and our backgrounds in operations, managed services, and employee retention mean we know what “works” in real time.
Financial Discipline: Deep expertise in budgeting, forecasting, M&A due diligence, and capital raising ensures every recommendation is data-driven and ROI-focused.
Facts-Based Execution: We reject empty rhetoric. Every project—from healthcare and cannabis to retail and gaming—follows a disciplined methodology, delivering measurable results and lasting impact.
