Like a Boss from the Portland Press Herald

President of The Boulos Company, Jessica Estes sat down with Portland Press Herald CEO Lisa DeSisto for a conversation at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University on Tuesday, April 4.

President and CEO of Central Maine Power, Joe Purington sat down with Portland Press Herald CEO Lisa DeSisto for a conversation at The Roux Institute on Wednesday, March 1. About Joe Purington Joe Purington was appointed President and CEO of Central Maine Power (CMP) in September 2021. CMP serves approximately 646,000 electricity customers in an 11,000 square-mile service area in central and southern Maine. The appointment brings Purington home to Maine and to CMP where he began his career in utility operations.

President of Baxter Brewing, Jenn Lever joined Portland Press Herald CEO Lisa DeSisto for a conversation at The Roux Institute on October 19, 2022 Jenn is an Auburn, Maine native who graduated from Edward Little High School in 2004, and then attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges, earning a BA in Economics and Sociology. In 2008, Lever ignited her career in the Food & Beverage Industry when she accepted a Warehouse Supervisor role with Pepsi Co. Her upward trajectory included successive leadership positions that took her from New York to Virginia, before returning to Maine in 2014, where she worked for three years in fresh cut vegetable processing with the Curran Company, later Growers Express. She left the role as President to take on a Director of Operations position with Baxter Brewing in 2017 and in September of 2019 she was promoted to President of Baxter Brewing. In her very first year as President, she led Baxter Brewing through the COVID-19 pandemic, launching a successful rebrand and expanding distribution while keeping the health and safety of her staff at the fore.

Don Perkins has served as GMRI‘s President/CEO since 1995. Don works with GMRI's staff, board, and external partners to drive GMRI's evolution as a strategic science, education, and community institution that serves the Gulf of Maine bioregion and to scale GMRI's impact beyond.

Like a Boss conversation between Lisa DeSisto, Publisher of the Portland Press Herald and CEO of Masthead Maine and Andrew Mueller, CEO of MaineHealth on Friday, April 29, 2022

Josh Broder serves as CEO of Tilson, which under his leadership, has grown from fewer than 10 employees to 600, earning a top spot on the Inc. 5000 list for the past 11 years. He is also the founder of Tilson's public utility affiliate, which develops, owns and leases back 5G infrastructure including poles, towers and fiber nationwide. 

Mr. Mazelsky has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of IDEXX since October 2019. Prior to that, Mr. Mazelsky served as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer from June 2019 to October 2019, and he was an Executive Vice President responsible for the North American Companion Animal Group Commercial Organization and key elements of the innovation portfolio, including the IDEXX VetLab in-house diagnostics, Diagnostic Imaging, Veterinary Software and Services, Rapid Assay and Telemedicine lines of business from August 2012 to June 2019. Before joining IDEXX, Mr. Mazelsky was a Senior Vice President and General Manager from 2010 to 2012 of Computed Tomography, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Therapy Planning at Philips Healthcare, a subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics. Previously he held a series of other leadership roles with increasing responsibilities during his tenure at Philips beginning in 2001. Prior to joining Philips, Mr. Mazelsky was at Agilent Technologies, where he was an Executive in Charge from 2000 to 2002, leading the integration of Agilent’s Healthcare Group into Philips. He also served as a General Manager of the Medical Consumables Business Unit at Agilent Technologies from 1997 to 2000. From 1988 to 1996, he was in a number of roles at Hewlett Packard in finance, marketing and business planning. Mr. Mazelsky holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Rochester and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Like A Boss is a live Q&A business event where you can hear insightful, first-hand accounts of the realities of running a business. Our CEO and Publisher Lisa DeSisto interviews local CEOs and business leaders for a behind the scenes look at their career paths, the ups and downs of running their businesses and the trends shaping them. About Clayton Rose Clayton S. Rose, who was inaugurated as Bowdoin’s fifteenth president on October 17, 2015, has consistently underscored the value and essential importance of a liberal arts education for living lives of meaning, for thoughtful engagement in civic life, and for satisfaction and success in work.

Like A Boss Now is a series of live webinar interviews where you can hear insightful, first-hand accounts of the realities of running a business. Portland Press Herald CEO and Publisher Lisa DeSisto will interview Maine CEOs for insights on how they are managing, adapting, and problem solving in these ever-changing times.   As a lifelong advocate for ending food insecurity, Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank, has worked tirelessly to grow organizational partnerships throughout the state of Maine. She and her team of 80 work with a network of more than 400 nonprofit organizations to distribute 25 million meals a year, making Good Shepherd Food Bank Maine’s largest hunger relief organization.

Portland Press Herald Publisher and CEO Lisa DeSisto interviews Tony Shurman at the Portland House of Music in Portland Maine on February 28, 2020. Shurman is President and CEO of Jasper Wyman & Son (“Wyman’s”) the second largest brand in the retail frozen fruit category in the U.S. with its most notable product being wild blueberries. Founded in 1874, Wyman’s is a family-owned business headquartered in Down East Maine with an ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship, corporate social responsibility and product innovation. Prior to joining Wyman’s in 2017, Tony ran the Post Foods breakfast cereal business which includes brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Grape Nuts, Pebbles, and Post Shredded Wheat. Earlier in his career he worked in brand management roles in the gum/mint’s category as well as in consumer healthcare. He has experience working across geographies including Japan, Europe, and the U.S. Tony lives with his wife and two sons in Yarmouth, Maine

Lindsay Skilling is the CEO of Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream in Skowhegan, Maine. Gifford’s is a fifth-generation owned family business with roots back to the late 1800s. Today, Gifford’s sells almost 2 million gallons of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and sorbet each year and serves more than one million cones each summer from 5 family-owned and operated stands in Maine. You can find over 100 flavors in stores, restaurants and universities from Maine to Virginia to Nevada.

Press Herald CEO and publisher Lisa DeSisto sat down to interview BlueTarp Financial COO Shawn Cunningham Friday morning for our ‘Like a Boss’ series of interviews with local CEOs and business leaders. The series offers a behind-the-scenes look at their career paths, the ups and downs of running their businesses and the trends shaping them. BlueTarp Financial is a B2B credit management company in downtown Portland employing over 160 people. Founded in 1999, BlueTarp started with a credit program for building material suppliers, delivering cash flow up front so that they can invest in their business and grow sales while minimizing risk.

Like A Boss is a live Q&A business event where you can hear insightful, first-hand accounts of the realities of running a business. Our CEO and Publisher Lisa DeSisto interviews local CEOs and business leaders for a behind the scenes look at their career paths, the ups and downs of running their businesses and the trends shaping them. About Michelle Hood Michelle Hood is the president and CEO at Northern Light Health in Brewer, Maine. She came to Northern Light Health in 2006 after she served as president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Montana Region, as well as president and CEO of its flagship hospital, St. Vincent Healthcare. As president and CEO of Northern Light Health, she focuses on health care policy and design models at the state and national levels, positioning the system to be successful in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.

Portland Press Herald CEO and publisher Lisa DeSisto sat down with Deanna Sherman, president and CEO of Dead River Co., on Friday, Oct. 26, to chat about her work in the energy industry. Sherman oversees one of the largest energy companies in Northern New England. Founded in 1909, Dead River Co. is family-owned with over 1,000 employees serving customers in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and northern Massachusetts. Sherman joined the company in 1986 and has worked in leadership roles including district manager, regional manager and vice president of the Energy Division. She became Dead River’s president and CEO in 2016. Sherman is active in the community through her present and past board involvement with United Way of Greater Portland, Educate Maine, Junior Achievement of Maine, the Maine Energy Marketers Association and the University of Southern Maine Foundation. Like A Boss is a live Q&A business event where you can hear insightful, first-hand accounts of the realities of running a business. DeSisto interviews local CEOs and business leaders for a behind-the-scenes look at their career paths, the ups and downs of running their businesses and the trends shaping them.

On Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, publisher Lisa DeSisto sat down with Cummings, who began his academic career in Gorham as a high school history teacher and department head. He served as a faculty member at the Southern Maine Community College and was a long-serving member of the USM faculty. Prior to becoming president of USM, Cummings served as interim president of the University of Maine at Augusta. In 2010, he served former Pres. Barack Obama as deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education and took over as president and executive director of the Good Will-Hinckley organization. Cummings is also a former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, Majority Leader, and chairman of the state’s Joint Committee of Education and Cultural Affairs.

Portland Press Herald Publisher Lisa DeSisto talks with Andrew Silsby about his career at Kennebec Savings Bank, which he joined in 1993. Silsby discusses why email isn't the best medium for solving problems, the bank's move into Freeport, and just how far ahead he likes to be with new technology.  This interview was recorded July 27, 2017 in Augusta.

Portland Press Herald Publisher and CEO Lisa DeSisto chats with Chuck Hays, whose career took him from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, to marine nuclear engineering, to the helm of Maine General Medical Center. Hays talks about the role of MGMC in the community, and their objective, "... to be the leading community health care system in Maine, recognized for clinical excellence, customer satisfaction, financial stability and impact on community health."

Portland Press Herald President and C.E.O. Lisa Desisto talks with Laurie Lachance, the first female President of Thomas College, about how she came to that job and what Thomas College means to its students and the business community in Maine.

Mike Vail became president of Hannaford Supermarkets in 2015. He is responsible for all operations, including strategic direction, financial performance, product assortment, pricing, customer service and marketing. He also serves as a member of the Delhaize America Leadership Team. Vail has more than 30 years of experience working in retail. Immediately prior to leading Hannaford, he served as chief merchant and supply chain officer for Delhaize America.

Lisa Whited has played a role in transforming the culture at many of Maine’s top employers.   As the Chief Transformation Office at WTF (Workplace Transformation Facilitation), Lisa shares best practices on how to deepen engagement with your employees.  Learn how food, coffee and fitness are table stakes in today’s most productive workplaces.  Get expert advice on how to improve the morale and culture at your workplace in this episode of “Like a Boss” http://workplacetf.com/

Meredith Strang Burgess, President and CEO of Burgess Advertising and Marketing sat down with Portland Press Herald President and C.E.O Lisa DeSisto to talk about the firm's thirtieth anniversary. They also discussed how a soil science degree at UMO prepared Burgess for a career in marketing, her early work with McDonalds, her time in the Maine Legislature, Burgess' work with the Maine Cancer Foundation, her last-place finishes at the "Tri for a Cure" Triathalon, and moving from Congress Street to Falmouth after all these years. To learn more about the Like a Boss Podcasts and live events, visit likeaboss.pressherald.com  

Portland Press Herald CEO and Publisher, Lisa DeSisto, chats with Leeann Leahy, CEO of the VIA Agency. Leahy grew up as an account planner at big and small agencies in NYC working on clients like Coca-Cola, JPMorgan Chase, NFL, Godiva, and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few. Three years ago she moved to Portland, Maine to join The VIA Agency as President. During her tenure, she has helped the agency raise its profile and win a slew of new business, and as creator of VIA’s “Go. Do.” series, she’s led VIA to be named in the top 10 Best Places to Work in advertising. Just ask Advertising Age.   Get more information about the "Like a Boss" Podcast and events at likeaboss.pressherald.com

Portland Press Herald CEO Lisa DeSisto, chats with Bernstein Shur CEO Patrick J. Scully about what it takes to lead a 100-year-old firm of over 100 lawyers.  They discuss what the firm looks for in new talent, how the city of Portland is a great place for a law career and what keeps him up at night.   And there might even be some singing involved. Links: Portland Press Herald http://www.pressherald.com Bernstein Shur: http://www.bernsteinshur.com  

About Steve Smith Steve began his career in 1992 at J. Walter Thompson in New York City. He moved to Maine in 1997 and rose to become the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Resort Sports Network. In 2011, he joined Walmart International where he gained general management responsibility, integrating e-commerce into the core business and improving annual sales growth. A year later, Steve became Chief Customer Officer of ASDA (part of Walmart International), a $30+ billion food, fashion and general merchandise omnichannel business in the United Kingdom. In 2015, Steve became Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer for Yihaodian (part of Walmart Global Ecommerce) and in November of that same year, Smith was named the fourth President and CEO of L.L.Bean