Lisa Marie Semerly
Lisa Marie Semerly is a seasoned executive leader with more than two decades of experience spanning pharmaceutical sales, business development, and wellness innovation. She currently serves as Chief Revenue Officer at Halotherapy Solutions, where she leads global revenue strategy, partnerships, and commercial expansion for the company’s Dry Salt Therapy technologies. She holds a master’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Michigan State University and brings a strong foundation in respiratory health, performance science, and competitive athletics as a former NCAA Division I tennis player at Northeastern University.
Before transitioning into the wellness industry, Lisa spent 15 years in pharmaceutical sales at Merck & Co., where she became one of the company’s top-performing sales representatives and held a rare tenured lead executive position as one of only nine in her division. Following a successful career in pharma, she accepted a buyout and pivoted into wellness, driven by her respiratory health expertise and early exposure to salt therapy around 2012. She went on to open Remedy, a medical spa and wellness facility in Greater Lansing, where she introduced halotherapy to the market and quickly built a thriving practice. This success led her to Halotherapy Solutions at its early stage, where she has spent over 11 years and played a pivotal role in scaling the company from a small team of 5–7 employees to a multi-division organization of approximately 35 people. During this time, she was instrumental in growing the company 21-fold within six years while leading sales and business development efforts.
Lisa is also the Founder and President of the World Halotherapy Association, an organization she established nearly a decade ago to advance education, standards, and global collaboration within the salt therapy industry. After stepping back for a period, she returned to actively lead the organization with a renewed vision to further its original mission. Over the past several years, she has also focused on mentorship and legacy-building, bringing her two daughters into the organization—her eldest serving as Executive Director of the WHA and her youngest, a Babson College graduate, leading logistics operations. Today, Lisa’s work is driven by a deep commitment to sustainable growth, industry advancement, and building organizations that prioritize both innovation and the people behind them.
• USPTA Certified Teaching Pro
• Valedictorian of 350-person Bristol-Myers Squibb Training Class
• Michigan State University - M.S., Kinesiology & Marketing
• Chaminade University of Honolulu - B.S., Marketing & Business
• Northeastern University - Undergraduate studies (D1 tennis)
• Valedictorian of 350-person Bristol-Myers Squibb Training Class
• Graduated Magna Cum Laude
• Third in Class
• One of Highest-Paid Sales Representatives at Merck
• One of Nine Tenured Lead Executive Positions at Merck
• Founder and President of World Halotherapy Association
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being open to the signposts in life and following opportunities that call to you, even when they're not what you originally envisioned for yourself. When I started my pharmaceutical career, I joined a 350-person training class with no pharmaceutical background, just coming from being a tennis teaching pro, and I was so uncertain. But I became valedictorian of that class, which launched my career in a really great place. The athletic background turned out to be what mattered most because companies like Merck loved athletes for the discipline, competitiveness, and transferable skills we bring. My advice to younger people is that you have to earn it. Go into everything ready and prepared to outwork everybody else, because there are hundreds of thousands of people graduating every year, and if you don't differentiate yourself by showing you're willing to commit and go the extra mile, you're going to fall behind. That effort is rewarded and recognized. I also believe that 90% of life is just showing up, so always show up and take those opportunities, even when you don't feel like making that call. You'll be amazed at the fruit that comes from that. What I've found at this stage of my life, in my 50s, is that it's not about proving myself anymore. I feel like I've proven everything I set out to do. Now it's about the networking, the lifting, and collaborating with like-minded women who want for you the same thing you want for them. It's less competitive and more collaborative. We're happy to celebrate each other and use each other in ways that lift us all. My drive and ambition now has more direction, and that wisdom only comes from having lived it and walked it.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be open to the signposts in your life, because we start on a journey and we have to be open and flexible and versatile so that we recognize opportunities and follow the opportunity that seems to be calling us. It may not be what we originally envisioned for ourselves, but those unexpected turns can lead to incredible places. The other thing I'd say, and this is tough because I see a lot of younger kids graduating today with their degrees and having these expectations of where's my money, where's my title, is that you have to earn it. Go into every single thing you're doing ready and prepared to outwork everybody else. There are hundreds of thousands of you coming out of colleges every year, and if you don't differentiate yourself by showing you're willing to commit and go the extra mile, you're going to fall behind. That effort is rewarded and recognized. And I've always told my kids, 90% of life is just showing up, so always show up. Take those opportunities, even when you don't want to or you don't feel like making that call. You just do it, and then you'll be amazed at the fruit of what comes out of that.
Locations
World Halotherapy Association
Boston, MA 02045