Goodbye, Mary Lavin

A true people leader is moving on

At Sartorius, the end of the year brings along a farewell that goes to the very roots of the organization in the North America: Mary Lavin, President of the region, will retire after almost 35 years of service to the company.  

_{^{This article is posted on Sartorius Blog.}}

Since becoming President for the region in 2002, sales revenues in this region have grown more than tenfold, the number of employees has increased from around 450 to almost 2,800 and Sartorius has completed eight acquisitions where Mary’s leadership and experience were essential.
 

During her time at Sartorius, Mary was instrumental in the successful development and strong expansion of the company's activities in North America. Most recently, she pursued diversity and inclusion initiatives in North America, again with great personal and professional commitment.

Sartorius CEO Joachim Kreuzburg

In this interview, Mary shares her thoughts on past, present and future

Mary, you are in your final days as President at Sartorius North America, let’s look back on your career at Sartorius. How have things changed in North America since your early days at Sartorius?

Our biggest change is the size of our footprint in North America. With size comes a dramatic change in the number of people working here. I’ve been here 35 years and we’ve probably increased sixfold since 2002. That’s a big difference when you go from 450 to more than 3,000 employees.
 

North America is in focus as a high growth region. In your view, why is this region important to the business?

It’s the largest market for biopharmaceuticals and the U.S. has the highest concentration of innovators, technology companies and suppliers. Many of the new pharmaceuticals come from innovation occurring in the United States. It may not always be manufactured here, but a lot of the discovery is coming out of the U.S. 

Learn more about our capacity expansions

What do you feel are your strongest accomplishments? And, your frustrations?

I’m proud that I have helped the organization manage through all this change and the sheer growth – from being a small entity to 20 sites in U.S. and Puerto Rico – to where we are today. Navigating these changes was not easy when you’re adding so many new people and working to hold on to existing people to make a good mix.

As for frustrations … when a company grows, sometimes you lose flexibility and must be more structured in the organization. As we get larger, people can become more siloed because the workload is much larger. So, that’s a challenge. There is a lot of opportunity when you’re working across different activities and divisions, enabling a more worldly view of the business.
 

I’m proud that I have helped the organization manage through all this change and the sheer growth.

You climbed the career ladder during a time when there weren’t many female leaders – you were one of the first, what was that like for you? What did you learn?

In hindsight, it was unique to be one of the early women to assume a senior role at Sartorius, but I don’t feel like my gender held me back. The work I produced propelled me to where I am today. You need to be fully engaged in what you’re doing, do it well and keep your eyes open for opportunities to step outside of your comfort zone to grow professional skills and visibility in the organization. In addition, I’m proud I’ve been able to raise my children with my husband and grow my career at the same time. It was a challenge to strike that balance.

Learn more about careers at Sartorius
 

What have you learned about being a leader?

As a leader, you must be clear and communicate often. It’s good practice to talk to someone and then follow up in writing. Always be honest. It takes people time to absorb information and when you’re communicating, people may hear what you're saying but understand it differently from what you meant. It’s important to take time to make sure people hear the message you’re trying to convey.
 

As a leader, you must be clear and communicate often. It’s good practice to talk to someone and then follow up in writing. Always be honest.

Learn more about Leadership at Sartorius

What advice do you have for the next generation of leaders? 

It’s a challenge today when so many things are digital and there are fewer in-person conversations. This is why it's important to take the time to visit sites and talk to people. Listen and hear what they have to say. Sometimes the best advice or feedback is received while you’re in the kitchen slicing a bagel, so open yourself to those opportunities. If you’re active in communicating, people will talk to you.
 

Your successor is already quite familiar with Sartorius: Maurice Phelan already worked for the company from 2018 to February 2022, most recently as Head of Operations Marlborough. He rejoined on November 1. Since then, you have been working closely to ensure a smooth transition. How’s it going?

There’s lots for Maurice to do and we’re off to a great start. He will integrate into all the things I was doing, but also will get more involved in some of the commercial business side. I’m confident he’ll embrace this challenge and, together with the organization, it’s going to be another successful growth story in North America.
 

What do you look forward to in retirement?

I’m looking forward to not thinking about work, dreaming about work, and working all the time. It’s hard to turn off. The first six months will be about downtime and getting a new routine. My first grandchild will arrive soon, and I will do some traveling for leisure. I’m eager to see something new, eat some place new and meet new people. I’m looking forward to the next phase of life.
 

Farewell from Sartorius also means farewell to many existing and former colleagues. What would you like to say to them?

To all the wonderful people whom I have worked with over the past almost 35 years: thank you for being part of my amazing journey. The times shared, friendships forged and the incredible successes which we have enjoyed have been an extraordinary part of my life. I am very proud of what we have achieved.
 

Everything has a beginning and an end. The timing to end my chapter at Sartorius seems about as right as it could be. All the best, Mary.