Purpose, People, and the Power of Place
This article is a part of the monthly July edition of Leadership &. View full version below:
An Interview with Jen Millard: Building Mainelove™ for the Future
When I think back on my conversation with Jen Millard, CEO and Founder of mainelove™, what lingers most is how energized I felt after hearing her story. Jen is one of those rare leaders who brings relentless drive, hard-earned experience, and a deep sense of place to everything she builds. She’s not just starting a company—she’s curating a movement rooted in Maine values, local talent, and a fresh take on what the future of consumer products and leadership can look like.
With over 25 years of experience building consumer, retail, and technology-enabled marketplace businesses, Jen has held executive roles at Mastercard, ZoomSystems, Lifefactory, Saks Fifth Avenue, and various venture firms. Her resume includes helping high-growth startups scale and sell, but what drew her back home was something simpler and more powerful: water.
Bringing the Best of Maine Forward
A 12th-generation Mainer, Jen founded mainelove™ to create a water brand that celebrates and protects the state’s natural resources. After years in big tech and fast-paced VC environments, she wanted to build something that reflected the values she grew up with—sustainability, authenticity, and community. Mainelove™ is more than bottled water. It’s a circular economy initiative that partners with Maine brewers to can local water, keep production in-state, and share the purity of Maine with others.
"Everyone in Maine is proud of their beer," she told me. "And great beer takes great water. So we start there."
And it turns out, the market is thirsty for it. With Gen Z reducing alcohol consumption and demand rising for purpose-driven products, Jen saw a gap—and an opportunity. Mainelove™ water is sourced from one of the purest bodies of water in the U.S., and the entire operation is built to keep jobs, money, and pride within the state.
Entrepreneurship Meets Ecosystem Thinking
As a founder, Jen is all in. “Are you in?” she asks, not rhetorically. It’s a leadership principle she lives by: heart, mind, stomach—everything has to be fully committed.
That same intensity shapes how she builds her team. "I've curated people from my past to join me here," she says. "Everyone on the team has worked with me before. They believe in the product and in the way we work together."
It’s not just about relationships; it’s about agency. Jen gives her people the space to pitch, test, fail, and try again. Salespeople are encouraged to find their own voice and connection to the brand. Whether they resonate with the water, the forest, or the circular economy, authenticity is the only real sales strategy.
Keeping Young Talent in Maine
A core tenet of mainelove’s mission is to stop the brain drain in Maine. With few tech or data jobs, young people often leave. Jen is working to change that. Her team includes a group of paid summer interns from top schools like Villanova and Boston College. They're not fetching coffee—they’re doing real research, leading activations, and learning the art of sales and marketing in the wild.
"I always say, hire students before the world spoils them," she laughed. "They still believe they can change everything."
Leading with Heart and Humility
Jen’s leadership style today is deeply informed by her past. Having led 100-person SaaS companies, wrangled VC boards, and driven revenue under pressure, she’s learned to keep her cool and trust her people.
"I had a big distributor fall through in January. My sales guy thought I’d lose it. But I just said, 'Onward. We’ll get two more.'"
That steady hand comes from experience—and from understanding that early-stage businesses are about learning fast. "You can’t screw up anything that bad this early," she said with a smile.
Flat Teams, Shared Success
Mainelove™ is built as a flat organization. Titles don’t equate to power; everyone shares in the profit. It’s structured as an LLC designed for long-term dividends for both employees and investors. Jen wants everyone to have a stake in the business’s success.
"That’s how people buy into the vision. And that’s how we keep them in Maine."
By the end of our chat, I was seriously considering a move to Maine. Jen’s vision is magnetic, but more than that, it’s grounded. She’s building a brand that doesn’t just sell water—it reflects a way of life. Purpose-driven, sustainable, deeply local.
As she puts it: “As an entrepreneur, ask yourself: are you in? Heart, mind, stomach—all of it.”
With mainelove™, she is. And the results are already rippling far beyond Maine.
Meet Jen Millard
Jen Milliard is an energizing leader with 25 years of experience successfully building consumer, retail, and technology-enabled marketplace businesses. Passionate about helping fintech and commerce startups achieve their full growth potential, Jen brings her intensity for revenue and growth as the CEO of the
emerging brand mainelove™.
A 12th general Mainer, Jen’s current project, mainelove™, culminates in bringing her previous experiences back to Maine. Jen is an active trustee on the board of her alma mater, Colby College, and she has helped shape the entrepreneurship effort at Colby and supported the start-up ecosystem in Maine. After researching several new venture ideas with the intention of bringing the best of Maine forward, she realized one thing everyone in Maine was proud of—their great beer. Great beer takes great water–so
shifting focus from beer to water was a logical place to start.
Jen has a diverse background of experiences that includes executive roles at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP, Sutter Hill Ventures, K2 Ventures, Function Ventures, as well as Mastercard, ZoomSystems, Lifefactory Inc., and Saks Fifth Avenue. With her focus on creating GTM strategies, driving revenue growth, M&A guidance, and fostering innovation, Jen has been instrumental in numerous successful exits
and partnerships, including Dosh, Chowbotics, Nomadic VR, Liquid Death, and Truaxis. With mainelove™, she combines her expertise and passion for the place she calls home.
Some quotes have been edited for clarity and length.