Meet the managing director
Astrid McNellis
Astrid McNellis is driven by achieving meaningful results in an environment where everyone
thrives, from the company to the customer.
Since her days at MIT, Astrid has loved solving confounding problems and consistently
achieves targets previously believed to be unattainable. She believes the secret is in the
people – with passion and a clear goal, there is nothing a group of smart people can’t
achieve together. Driven by results, she’s constantly on the lookout for ways to make
team interactions and business processes better, so that everyone works together
toward a target they believe in.
“When things aren’t progressing as they should, it’s often because something is broken
with the team dynamics or it’s because the company’s processes – or lack thereof - are
getting in the way. Finding and resolving those issues, and then seeing the dynamite
performance afterward is truly rewarding.”
While her career has given her experience in such industries as high tech and energy, her passion to make the world a better place drove her to the medical device world, where she has led the cross functional – and often multi-cultural – teams needed to develop and launch new products. She is proud that her fingerprints are on many medical devices on the market today and that her work has saved countless lives.
She has led teams in the hundreds and projects with budgets over $100 million. However, since she also worked in several start-ups and been a small business owner, she knows how to make the most out of tiny teams and modest budgets. With her experience in many functional areas and her extensive network of high caliber professionals, she doesn’t just set mindful strategy but knows when and how to dive into the details.
When not leading teams to greatness, Astrid instigates new adventures. Whether joining a backgammon game with the locals in Athens (and being roundly beaten, of course), or eating chicken feet with new friends in Hong Kong, Astrid revels in authentic connections with others. She loves anything to do with the ocean and gleefully horrifies friends and family by doing hot yoga. Astrid genuinely focuses on making a meaningful difference to people and the planet; always looking for ways to make her family’s carbon footprint smaller and to share our planet better with each other and the natural world.