TILT Story Names Joel Cessna as Chief Growth Officer
News related to:TILT Story · 2 min read
DETROIT, Oct. 22, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- TILT Story, the agency that shapes health moments into business momentum, has appointed Joel Cessna as its Chief Growth Officer. Cessna brings to TILT Story more than two decades of experience in healthcare marketing, having previously worked with fast-growing healthcare marketing companies such as Medicom Health and Eruptr. The newly created role reports to CEO Joanne Thornton, and Cessna starts on November 2.
The appointment comes as TILT Story integrates the capabilities of its recently merged platforms, TILT Story and LionShare. The merger, completed in September, combined TILT Story's brand strategy, creative, and content capabilities with LionShare's healthcare CRM and marketing automation. Cessna will lead growth strategy across the full TILT Story platform, focusing on helping health systems and healthcare brands maximize the potential of the combined platform's capabilities.
Joanne Thornton, CEO of TILT Story, emphasized the strategic importance of Cessna's role.
Cessna's career highlights include his time at Medicom Health, where he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and later at Eruptr, where he held the same position. After Eruptr combined with DECODE to form Unlock Health in 2023, Cessna continued as Vice President of Sales, helping to carry out the larger company's growth strategy. Most recently, he built LionShare's business development infrastructure in a fractional role while advising several noncompeting healthcare organizations.
Cessna holds a bachelor's degree in management from The College of St. Scholastica and master's degrees in management and project management from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. He will start his role at TILT Story on November 2.
LionShare, founded in 1995 and based in Kansas City, is a healthcare-exclusive CRM, PRM, and marketing automation firm serving hospitals and health systems nationwide. Its proprietary DIATA® platform combines data analytics, business intelligence, and automated marketing execution to help healthcare organizations build measurable, ROI-driven relationships with patients, prospective patients, and physicians.
Cessna's extensive experience in building scalable sales teams and standardizing sales processes will be crucial as TILT Story continues to grow and scale its platform. His background in both sales and business development will help TILT Story deepen existing client partnerships and build a client development team that can scale alongside client needs.
The appointment of Cessna as Chief Growth Officer marks a significant step in TILT Story's strategic growth and integration of its combined platform. As TILT Story continues to build momentum following its September merger, Cessna's expertise will be instrumental in driving growth and helping health systems and healthcare brands achieve their marketing objectives.