Lena Caponigro
Lena Caponigro is a seasoned sales and account management professional serving as a National Account Executive at Steritech in the Greater Chicago Area. In her current role, she partners with multi-location retail, foodservice, and customer-facing brands to strengthen safety, cleanliness, and regulatory compliance programs. Her work focuses on building scalable, customized solutions that reduce operational risk, improve consistency across locations, and enhance the overall customer experience.
With more than two decades of experience in national and regional sales roles, Lena has built a strong track record of advancing through progressively senior positions across multiple industries. Her career includes leadership roles at Arctic Glacier Premium Ice, Franklin Machine Products, and a long tenure at Aramark Refreshment Services, where she developed deep expertise in key account management and business development. She began her professional journey after studying Business Administration at Robert Morris College and steadily grew her career from early administrative and entry-level sales roles into national-level account leadership.
Throughout her career, Lena has been recognized for her relationship-driven approach, persistence, and ability to deliver measurable results in competitive markets. She is known for cultivating long-term partnerships built on trust, collaboration, and responsiveness to client needs. Passionate about helping organizations improve performance and brand integrity, she brings a client-first mindset to every engagement and is committed to helping businesses elevate operational standards while achieving sustainable growth.
• Robert Morris University - Illinois
• Women's Food Service Forum (WFF)
• Restaurant industry forum
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to staying persistent and focused, and never losing hope. New business is hard - it's a grind every day. It's chasing people, trying to get people to get back to you. The biggest challenge is being able to stay focused and persistent and not lose that belief that it'll happen, that I can do this. But once you overcome that, there's nothing more rewarding than winning new business. For example, I just won an account that I've been working on at this company, Ceratech, for 5 years since I started, and it finally closed - it feels so good. I also believe strongly in building relationships. I build very strong relationships, and I feel that people trust me and know that I will do the right thing by them and for them. Sometimes I believe that it's those relationships that actually win the business. That's one of my favorite things about this work - the relationships and the journey along the way. I've also been inspired by mentors throughout my career, especially at Aramark and where I'm at now at Ceratech, who have shown me success by never giving up. That inspiration has taken me from inside sales to field sales to regional and now to national sales.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've received is to stay true to yourself, stay focused, be persistent, and know that you can do it. I've also been told to be committed, because in the sales industry, it can be challenging - we're on a solo island sometimes. But you need to stay focused and not lose that work mentality. When things are slow or go bad, or you lose accounts, you need to just pick yourself up and keep going. I've had several mentors throughout my career, especially at Aramark and where I'm at now at Ceratech, and they've all reinforced the importance of believing that it can be done and never giving up.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is that hard work truly pays off—stay consistent, keep learning, build strong relationships, and trust that dedication and persistence will open doors over time, even when progress feels gradual.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in my field are staying persistent, staying focused, and not losing hope. New business is hard - it's a grind every day. It's chasing people, trying to get people to get back to you. You have to be able to stay focused and persistent and not lose that belief that it'll happen, that you can do this. But I also feel that once you overcome that challenge, there's nothing more rewarding than winning new business. For example, I just won an account that I've been working on at this company for 5 years since I started, and it finally closed. Sometimes closing accounts doesn't happen until later down the road, but when it does, it feels so good.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are building strong relationships and doing the right thing by people. I'm a firm believer that in addition to working hard and being persistent, it's really about relationships. I build very strong relationships, and I feel that people trust me and know that I will do the right thing by them and for them. Sometimes I believe that it's those relationships that actually win the business. That's one of my favorite things about this work - the relationships and the journey along the way. Personally, I love spending time with my niece and two nephews, even though I don't have children of my own. My fiance and I love being outdoors and enjoying the summer in our yard and at Summerfest. I'm also an avid football fan - I'm out of Chicago and have season tickets to the Chicago Bears, which people think is crazy since I never played sports a day in my life.